October 2016 - Page 2 of 2

10 Easy Exercises For Your Child

October 14, 2016 kidloLand Comments 0 Comment

Any form of physical activity or exercise is a must for every individual. Children are active little creatures and running all around the place comes naturally to them. Being agile right from an early age has health benefits which will be useful even when your child grows up.

Unfortunately, childhood obesity is the number 1 health concern in the United States according to heart.org. Childhood obesity, in turn, leads to other health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. An overweight child can also suffer from low self-esteem and sadness, which is extremely worrying.

This can be prevented by maintaining a healthy balance of a good diet and sufficient physical activity for your child. ShapeAmerica.org has great guidelines for the exercise duration and requirements of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Remember, exercise doesn’t have to be boring!

Here are 10 fun and easy exercise ideas that your child can do easily : …

10 Strategies To Teach Your Toddler To Listen Better

October 12, 2016 kidloLand Comments 0 Comment

A toddler begins to exhibit non-compliance at the age of two! Common behaviors during this stage are frequent use of the word “no,” difficulty sharing, claiming possessions as “mine”, picky eating, and throwing tantrums when they do not get their way. Below are a few strategies for minimizing non-compliance and increasing listening.

Top 10 Strategies To Teach Your Toddler To Listen Better Are:

1. Be genuine and sincere

Use phrases such as “I need you to” instead of “You need to” when you need your child to do something.

2. Use directives and questions rarely

Avoid firing questions or instructions to your child that they fail to respond to.

3. Be a good listener

Be a role model for good listening by showing that you are listening to your child by imitating and reflecting back what your child says.

4. Provide information

Give information in a non-demanding manner like “It is time to get changed” or “I’d like you to get changed,”, hoping that your child will consider the information and change their behavior.

5. Give choices with acceptable parameters

State all requests or directions as choices when you can. Instead of saying, “You need to get dressed now.” Try, “Do you want to put on your shirt or pants first?”

6. Reinforce your message

Along with verbal messages, give visual cues, physical cues, and demonstrations. Say, “Time for bed!” by flicking the light switch, laying a hand on baby’s shoulder and steering her toward her bed and pulling down the covers and patting the pillow.

7. Get down to the child’s level

Eye contact is important. Squat down or pick up your child, so you can look him in the eye and get his attention.

8. Practice friendly and a positive tone

Make use of positive terms that tell your child what to do (e.g., “Walk!”) instead of what not to do (e.g., “No running!”).

9. Give warnings

Practice giving advance notices before a big change will take place, especially if your toddler happily involved with toys or a friend.

10. Use appropriate language

Make use of positive terms that tell your child what to do (e.g., “Walk!”) instead of what not to do (e.g., “No running!”).

Image Credits: PublicDomainPictures, Kasman, ImagesBG

Free Word Activities Book For Your Kids

October 12, 2016 kidloLand Comments 0 Comment

words-activities

KidloLand presents the all-new word activities book for your kids! It comprises activities like completing the words with the help of pictures. Learning words made easier with FREE KidloLand Printables! Today, we are giving FREE Word Activities Book for your kids. These activities keep the brain active and improve language and word-finding skills. Try these fun-filled word activities for your kids!

Checklist: Packing Your Baby’s Diaper Bag!

October 10, 2016 kidloLand Comments 0 Comment

A well-organized diaper-bag can save your day! But what items do you really need to stock in your bag? It mainly depends on how old your child is and for how long you’ll be out.
Explore the following checklist to stock items in the diaper-bag of your toddlers :

1. Diapers and wipes

Ensure that you carry diapers and wipes as you’ll need one diaper per hour and a few extra sometimes. Take a minimum of 10 wipes for diaper changes, sticky hands and dirty surfaces.

2. Disposable bags

Carry disposable bags for storing soiled diapers. Make sure that your child can’t get to them since plastic bags (including the biodegradable versions) pose a suffocation risk!

3. Thermometer

Carry a thermometer with you as it is a compact and discreet method of checking for fever.

4. Hand sanitizer and towel

Carry a hand sanitizer for cleaning your hands after changing diapers especially when there’s no time or place to wash them. Pack a towel to wipe your hands as well.

5. Bottles and sippy cup

Keep sippy cups and bottles handy to feed milk and water to your little one.

6. Extra outfit (including socks)

Take extra outfits as you never know when spit-up, drool, spills or poop explosions will necessitate a change of clothing.

7. Pacifier and bibs

Carry bibs and pacifiers as baby bibs are the best way to keep your baby’s clothes spit-up free. Pacifiers offer a temporary distraction and enable your baby to fall asleep easily.

8. Snacks

Fill the diaper bag with a jar of baby-food and spoon or finger foods depending on your baby’s age.

9. Favorite blanket

Carry a blanket to cover your baby or as a changing pad, nursing cover, bib, shade, or burp cloth.

10. Books or toys

Carry toys according to the outing and your baby’s age.

11. Sunscreen or a hat

Take sunscreen or a hat to protect your child from the sun.

12. Emergency contact numbers

Save the phone numbers of your family’s doctors in your cell phone and keep your health insurance cards in your wallet.

Image Credits: PublicDomainPictures, annca, Gadini, TaniaVdB, Counselling

Christmas Craft Activities For Toddlers

October 7, 2016 kidloLand

Let’s get crafty this Christmas! Encourage creativity, keep little hands busy and enjoy your holidays all while making fun crafts!

Looking for some fun craft activities to keep your little ones busy during the Christmas holidays? Here are some fun-filled and amazing Christmas activities for toddlers!

1. Advent surprise box

There’s nothing more fun than a special Christmas craft just for toddlers. This cute toddler advent surprise box will create cherished memories as your toddlers grow! Each morning during the countdown to Christmas, your toddler will find a special treat, craft, or activity in the box they painted on the first day of the countdown. The cute chalkboard tag makes it easy for you to change the date as you and your toddler countdown to Christmas day!

2. Christmas ornaments

When it comes to Christmas activities for toddlers, the toddler made Christmas decorations are one of my favorites. They are really simple to make, and they look fantastic. We hang some of them on our tree and wrap up a few as presents too!

3. Book inspired counting activity

Read any storybook! Put together a basket of tangible objects to represent each page of the book. Then count them together with your toddler!

4. Jingle Bells Sensory Bin

In this activity, you will have to fill your bin with paper shred. Hide the jingle bells making sure to count how many you hide. Instruct your child to find the all the bells. I added a cup for their found bells. This is a great sensory experience as they will feel the texture of the paper shred, hear it crunch and hear the bells jingle.

5. Paper plate wreathes

With Christmas so close, toddler made paper plate wreathes would be a fun place to start! Grab some stickers or Christmas stamps to get the wreathes decorated!

6. Christmas tree sensory bin

Put a layer of cotton balls on the bottom of a plastic container. Cut the tree branches or garland into pieces that are about 4 inches long and place the pieces on top of the cotton balls. Add the tinsel, jingle bells, and plastic bulb ornaments. Sensory Bins are always fun, tactile sensory activities for kids. Your children are sure to love exploring the parts of a Christmas tree in this Christmas tree sensory bin.

7. Sorting Christmas hats

First, cut three sizes of red triangles. I cut 4 of each. Add strips and white and pompoms to resemble Christmas hats. Add it to the tray, mixed up. Give the instruction to sort the hats by showing your child the different sizes. Place one of each size in each space provided for your child to copy. Let your child sort and count the hats too!

8. Christmas song basket

There are so many Christmas songs for kids and you only get the chance to sing them for about one month a year! A fun way to teach the kids some new songs and have fun singing together would be to make a Christmas song basket. Then let toddler take turns choosing one of the Christmas props out of the basket and start singing!

9. Gift Tags

Arrange a selection of the Christmas stickers, hand out the cards and let them stick the stickers wherever they like. For the younger toddlers try to use bigger stickers. Use the raised foam stickers as they are easier for little fingers!

10. Creating gift wrapping paper

Creating beautiful gift wrapping paper with your toddler is as easy for you as it is for your toddler who loves counting to three. Be prepared with all of the art supplies. Let
them hold the paintbrush however they can, let them splash paint wherever they can on the paper and let them mix all the colors to make one big amazing color on a
gift wrapping paper.

Image Credits: Prawny, Markusspiske, stux, blanculamarkova0

Top Baby Milestone Moments To Capture On Camera

October 6, 2016 kidloLand

The first year of a child’s life is filled with awe and amazement! As you see your baby’s first smile, first steps, and even first grimace when tasting food, you will want to celebrate those life-changing moments forever!
Here are the 17 best shots to capture and hold on to, because every milestone that your baby reaches is cause for celebration and documentation!

1. Baby Birth:

Giving birth is really a miracle and a very special moment. Get this moment captured to treasure it forever!

2. Homecoming:

One of the most exciting things about having a baby is to come home with your new bundle of joy. Whether it is your first baby, or you are introducing your older children to their new sibling, this is filled with wonderful moments! Grab a camera and let these moments turn to great memories!

3. Baby’s First Smile:

That first smile from your newborn is priceless! Secure your baby’s first sweet little smile and treasure it for the rest of your life!

4. First Laugh:

A baby’s first laugh is one of the best parenting moments you could experience! Once you hear your baby’s first laugh, you won’t be able to get enough of the sound. Collect as many pictures as you can and cherish the memories!

5. First words:

A baby’s first words are an important milestone, especially when you’re waiting for that first real “mama” or “dada”. Capture your baby’s first words by taking a video to play it on a loop in the future.

6. Waving Bye Bye:

What’s cuter than a little baby’s chubby hands waving at you? Treasure it. It’s a much required memory to cherish!

7. Crawling:

Every mom is eager to see her baby crawl! Crawling is a major milestone for your baby. Capture the first baby crawl moment as the littlest feet make the biggest footprints in our heart!

8. Clapping:

When your own clapping gets your baby so excited, he’ll start to bring his hands together in an effort to clap along with you! Babies think this is the best thing ever. They laugh wholeheartedly as they clap. This is another one to pull out the camera for!

9. Sitting Up:

A major accomplishment that every parent looks forward to is when her baby can sit on his own. To wow your heart tomorrow, capture this beautiful baby moment today!

10. Standing:

Standing opens up a whole new world for your baby to explore! The first time you see your baby standing alone, you may be tempted to grab him and hold him close! This moment requires a capture!

11. First Tooth:

Before those first two teeth come in, be sure to capture a gummy smile. You won’t realize how much you’ll miss it until it’s gone. That said, the first two teeth to come in are almost as exciting to photograph as the first smile! So, get silly. Make your child laugh and capture this precious moment!

12. Bath Time:

Bath time is a special time for bonding with your newborn. Get the camera ready. Like all the “firsts” to come, a baby’s first bath is a special event to be captured!

13. First Birthday:

Your baby is turning one. This is a huge milestone for him/her and you! This day. This moment. This cake all over your baby’s face. I promise you will want to remember this milestone. Record and document every shot on that very special day!

14. Rolling over:

Rolling over is a major baby milestone. It may come as a surprise when it first happens which absolutely has to be captured!

15. First Walk:

The big milestone of the first year (or soon after) is probably a child taking his or her first steps! They toddle. They waddle. They fall. Capture it. It’s a milestone!

16. First Taste of Food:

From baby food to finger food, don’t miss that first taste delight. Your little one is growing fast and has a messy face to prove it!

17. First Haircut:

Your baby’s first haircut is a milestone to be cherished for sure! So don’t forget to capture the memory with a picture or a video of the haircut!

Capture these moments at the right times because you can never recapture those wonderful first moments later! Leave no detail undocumented!

Image Credits: piepie, adriantarsukoff, greyerbaby, Guillaume, Mojpe, condesign

20 Most Positive Things To Say To Your Child!

October 6, 2016 kidloLand

A little child is like a flower, the more you water the flower with kindness and positivity, the more beautifully it will bloom. A positive attitude towards your children is highly important right from the beginning. Including encouraging words and gestures in your conversation have an immensely long-term effect on your child’s thinking and growth.

Every child looks up to his or her parents as a source of inspiration and it is essential to practice positivity by example. Negative and aggressive comments made in times of anger will only create issues in their psyche and behavior. Children will express and communicate all of their thoughts freely only if the environment around them is cheerful and lively which is inherently the parents’ responsibility.

Here are the 20 most positive things you can say to your child for effective communication between you and your bundle of joy.

1. I love you.

Let your child know that they are loved, unconditionally.

2. You’re really good at this!

If your children are putting effort into something, make sure you applaud their endeavors by complimenting them.

3. I appreciate you.

Let your child know that you care.

4. It’s okay to make mistakes.

Children make mistakes. Let them know that it’s alright.

5. What are you feeling?

Children, sometimes, do not realize how to convey their thoughts and open up. Ask them about their feelings clearly and lovingly.

6. Thank you.

Thank your child when he/she does something nice for you. It will instill good manners in your kid right from the beginning.

7. I’m proud of you.

Even if your child didn’t succeed in something (for example, an art competition or a school race), say that you’re still very proud of their effort.

8. You make me so happy!

Just tell them that they’re a ray of sunshine in your life and watch as their face lights up in joy.

9. I admire your kindness.

Kindness is a virtue which must be inculcated early on in the childhood. Teach them that a kind demeanor is greatly appreciated.

10. That’s an amazing idea!

Accept every idea, suggestion and opinion from your little one with cheerfulness.

11. I’m sorry for this.

Saying sorry to your children helps them understand the importance of accepting your mistake and sincerely apologizing for it.

12. We understand you.

There will be times when your child becomes stubborn & throws a tantrum. Saying ‘we understand you’ makes the child realize that his/her parents are trying their very best to help.

13. I am here to talk about anything at all.

When your children are growing up, they will have questions – lots of them. Don’t let any topic be taboo and be open to answering any questions that cross their minds.

14. I’m here to help.

Let your children know that no matter what they’re going through, you’re always there to help!

15. You are important.

Help your child understand mutual respect by making them feel important and valuable in every way.

16. I trust you so much.

Saying this builds a strong foundation of trust among family members and helps the child build better relationships in his/her lifetime.

17. Do you like it?

Ask for their genuine opinion and ask whether they like certain things or not.

18. You can do it!

Your child will struggle at various things while growing up. Be their personal cheerleader and remind them that they are very capable of doing it well.

19. I forgive you.

Saying ‘I forgive you’ is as important as saying ‘I am sorry’. Teach your child that forgiving someone and not holding grudges against them takes a big heart.

20. You look great just the way you are.

Avoid belittling comments about your child’s physicality or abilities. Appreciate them in all their cuteness!

Be an epitome of kindness, love, and affection around your child because you never know which of your words are shaping your kid and will be carried by them throughout their lifetime!

Image Credits: deboyscyfoto, PublicDomainPictures, Profile, thedanw, PublicDomainPictures

Top 13 Christmas Party Games For Kids

October 5, 2016 kidloLand

Christmas holidays are coming! Playing Christmas games with your children is one of the best ways for celebrating the holiday season as they not only supply entertainment but also help your child in sensory development and learning new things. Keep your children learning as they celebrate the merriest holiday of the year with Christmas Party Games!

The Top 13 Christmas Party Games for Kids are:

1. Ring the bell:

In this game, all you have to do is cut a large bell shape out of a large piece of cardboard. Then attach all the bells to a piece of ribbon. Then attach the ribbon to the top of the bell shape cutout and let your children ring the bell by throwing bean bags or balls through the hole.

2. Christmas Bingo:

Play Christmas bingo with your children by making a bingo card with different Christmas shapes like Christmas Trees, Stockings, Reindeer, Fireplaces, Santa, Ornaments, etc. on it. Next make Rudolph Nose markers (red circles). Have your children cover the shape you call or hold up larger pictures of them.

3. Big and little Christmas trees:

In this game you call out big, medium, and little and tell your children to be that size of Christmas Tree.
Big: stand up with feet together and put hands above head in a point,
Middle: Squat knees together and put hands above head in a point,
Little: Sit down with legs crossed and put hands above head in a point.

4. Santa’s Toy Shop:

Set different spots on your floor by using tape, paper bags, hula hoops, etc. and place different toys on each spot. Tell your kids that they need to test out new toys for them. Play music and tell the children that they have one song to play at an area and then once the music stops they have to move to the next area.

5. Pass the Christmas fun:

Have all your children sit in a circle. Let them all pass something like candy, small toys, crayons, etc. around the circle (once they have one thing mastered you can have them pass two things – one clockwise and one counter-clockwise. Play music and when you stop the music the child that is holding the item gets to keep it and then give one to another child that has not yet received an item. Continue the game until everyone has an item.

6. Mistletoe:

Tell all your children sit in a circle. Let them all pass a plastic or a silk mistletoe around the circle. Play music and when you stop the music everyone blows kisses to the person holding the mistletoe.

7. Santa, Santa, Reindeer game:

Make all kids sit in a circle. Choose the first picker from among the kids. The picker walks around the circle tapping heads of all kids by repeatedly saying “Santa”, finally chooses a kid by saying “reindeer” and runs. The kid who runs around the circle and sits down at the reindeer’s spot wins! Play many rounds to have fun!

8. Decorate the tree:

For this game you have to cut out Christmas Trees with felt. Next you have to cut out ornament shapes out of different colored felt. Let your children decorate the felt Christmas Trees. For older children tell them how many ornaments to put on the tree or have them roll dice to decide.

9. Chase Santa:

To play this game, one person is chosen to be the Santa. All the children stand on the starting line and the Santa has his back to the rest of the children. When he says “green light,” children try to run to the finish line. When the Santa says “red light,” he turns around and children have to stop in their tracks. To have more fun provide dress up materials like elve hats, Santa hats, beards, boots, etc.

10. Don’t touch the bows:

Put bows all throughout your classroom i.e. on the floors, chairs, etc. Play music and have your children run around without touching the bows!

11. Match the shapes:

In this game you have to use a cookie cutter and draw different shapes on a large piece of felt. Use a knife to cut out the shapes. Let your children match the shape to the missing part of the felt.

12. Christmas match:

Produce several different Christmas Shape Cutouts (Santa, stocking, ornaments, Christmas Trees, etc). Cut them in half and then tell your children to match the halves.

13. Pin the Nose on the Reindeer:

You need to draw and cut out a reindeer face with details like eyes, mouth, ears and atntlers. Hang it up and see how many children can pin his nose in place. To make it extra challenging, spin each kid around before pinning the nose on the reindeer.

Image credits: geralt, unsplash, markusspiske, Hans, PublicDomainPictures

11 Reasons Why Reading Is Important For Your Child

October 3, 2016 kidloLand

Reading helps your child’s development. The child gets familiar with sounds, words, language, and print. All this adds to your child’s early literacy skills and helps him go on to read successfully later in life. It also stimulates your child’s imagination and helps them learn about the world! Reading together creates a precious time for bonding with your child.

The 11 Reasons why reading is important for your child are:

1. Improves vocabulary and understanding

As children read, they learn new words and also as they absorb more and more information, they understand how to frame sentences properly and ways to use words and language effectively.

2. Increases speaking skills

Reading helps kids to learn new words and connect them to other words. Learning these new words helps to be more expressive.

3. Boosts imagination

When kids read, their brains translate the descriptions that they are reading into pictures. When they are reading a story, they also imagine how the characters are feeling. They tend to relate their own experiences to the experiences of characters.

4. Enhances communication

When you spend time reading to toddlers, they will try to express themselves and relate to others in a healthy way. By witnessing the interactions between the characters in the books and the contact with your child during story telling, your child is gaining valuable communication skills.

5. Helps concentration

To cultivate reading, kids have to sit quietly at one place for long time periods so that they can focus on what they are reading. Reading regularly thus develops a concentration in them.

6. Gets them thinking

Little readers grow a habit of asking “why?”, “what?” and “how?”! Reading helps them develop a sense of curiosity which eventually emerges into building up the knowledge base of your kids.

7. Increases comprehension skills

When a child reads aloud, it forces him to read slower which gives him more time to process what he reads, which improves reading comprehension and helps in building up vocabulary and phonics skills.

8. Enhances creativity

Reading and creativity go hand-in-hand. When kids read, they are taken into a completely new world which your brain learns to comprehend. This virtual reality created nurtures their brain to develop ideas for new worlds and other possibilities and also sparks their imagination.

9. Calms the mind

When we read, we read in silence. The constant blinking and flashing lights which attack our senses when we are watching TV or looking at a computer are actually stressful for our eyes and brains. Reading the black print on a white page is quite less stressful for the eyes and brains.

10. Helps to pronounce words properly

Encourage children to read aloud. When you encourage kids to read aloud, it helps them to improve their pronunciation skills and be audible enough.

11. Helps to discover new things

Reading gives exposure to the unknown facts. This is the root cause of interrogation which leads to the thinking and questioning process and helps kids to discover new things.

Image Credits: PublicDomainPictures, klimkin, dassel, pezibear

If you are looking for a nursery rhymes app for babies, try KidloLand! It has a huge collection of nursery rhymes for kids and lots of exciting original songs too. Download the app for free now!

13 Fun Halloween Party Games For Kids

October 3, 2016 kidloLand

Many parents are opting for Halloween parties as an alternative to trick-or-treating. But how do you keep your kids safely and happily occupied for a few hours? There are simple, easy to manage games and activities that will make your party a memorable one. Some fun Halloween themed games and activities for toddlers and preschoolers are:

1. Mummy wrap game

Buy some cheap rolls or crepe paper streamers in Halloween colors. Split the kids up into teams of two. One child will be the mummy and the other is in charge of wrapping up the child like a mummy. When you start playing the music the teams can start wrapping up the mummy. When you turn the music off the kids need to stop. The team whose mummy is more wrapped wins!

2. Donuts eating race

Thread donuts on a long piece of a string. Make sure that you leave space between each of the donuts. Have the kids race to eat the donuts off of the string with their hands behind their backs.

3. Pass the pumpkin

Sit in a circle. Provide a plastic pumpkin for children to pass while the teacher beats on a drum. Children pass the pumpkin to the tempo of the music. Alternate between slow and fast. When the music stops the child who has the pumpkin stands and takes a bow. Continue process

4. Eyeball mini putt

You will need approximately a dozen golf balls with pupils drawn on to make eyeballs. Decorate boxes or containers and cut out a large enough entrance/exit to allow the balls to pass through. Then just set up a miniature golf course inside or outside and practice putting!

5. Pin the grin on the jack-o-lantern

Draw a picture of a jack-o-lantern with eyes and a nose on a large piece of paper. Do not draw a mouth on the picture but cut a mouth out of black construction paper. Attach a piece of masking tape to the back of the mouth. Take turns blindfolding the children to see if they can stick the mouth onto the picture of the jack-o-lantern.

6. Monster freeze dance

Play Halloween music and have the kids dance around like monsters! The Monster Mash is a great song for this game. When the music stops the kids freeze in their monster positions. The first kid to move is out, and the game continues until only one child is left.

7. Pumpkin walk

This game is played like musical chairs. Place different colored pumpkins on the floor made from construction paper and the children walk around them to music. When the music stops the adult calls out a color and the children try to find a pumpkin of that color and stand on it.

8. Pin the heart on the skeleton

Buy or draw a skeleton on a big sheet of paper then tape a heart to the skeleton where a normal heart would be. Cut out hearts from red construction paper and put tape on the back of the hearts. Blindfold the children and have them put the heart on the skeleton.

This game is based on Bozo buckets and uses pumpkin buckets that children use to collect candy on Halloween night. Use five or six buckets and place them in a line (front to back). Give children bean bags to try to toss into each pumpkin beginning with the closest pumpkin.

10. Guess which paper cup has candy under it

The name of this game says it all. Have children turn their backs while you place five or six cups upside down on a table with candy under one. Tell them to turn around. Have one child at a time come to the table, guess until he guesses the correct cup. Give him a small prize for being such a good guesser.

11. Halloween eye spy activity

Go for a walk outside with the kids and look for Halloween decorations around the neighborhood. Take turns playing eye spy and describing things such as: scarecrows, black cats, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, monsters and vampires. Keep track of how many of each kind of decoration is seen on the walk.

12. Marshmallow bobbing

Take a large tub with ice water in it and float full size marshmallows in it. Each child is given a straw. They then have to race to see who can suck up a marshmallow the fastest. Once a child scores a marshmallow they can eat it, and sit out to let another child have a turn if they cannot all fit around the basin at one time. Keep rotating until all the kids have had one or two marshmallows.

13. Trick for a treat

Make up a bag with candy and a bag with slips of paper in it. The bag with slips of paper will have all the tricks apart from one which will have candies. The number of slips of paper should equal the number of children. All the kids who draw a ‘trick’ will have a specified trick that they will need to perform to get a piece of candy. One lucky child just wins a special ‘treat’. The tricks can be singing, doing jumping jacks or other fun things.

Image Credits: pixel1, condesign, OpenClipart-Vectors