Activities and fun Articles

Kids are found busy doing something or the other every now and then. One of the best and cost-effective ways to keep them away from doing any mischief is to provide them with child-friendly items to keep the little hands and minds busy. Read on to know about the items you already have in the house, that will help kids have fun without toys. Playdough fun- Mix salt and flour in a plastic bowl. Add water and food colouring slowly until a smooth dough is formed. Knead the dough until the mixture is not sticky anymore and becomes elastic. Roll the dough out onto a flat surface evenly. Use cookie cutters to cut different shapes and have fun! Paper Bag Puppets- Lay a paper bag flat with the open end facing towards you and the flap showing upwards. Cut pictures from old newspapers or magazines and stick them on the folded paper. Use art supplies like crayons, pencil colours, paints etc. to make it more creative and attractive. Have fun while making paper bag puppets and stage a puppet show! Paper Balls- Hold the waste paper in your hand. Use one or both the hands to crush the paper together. Compact the paper even more by squeezing it together as hard as you can. Handover the paper ball to your child and let her do whatever she wants to do with the ball like play throw and catch, play bat-ball, drop the ball in the bucket etc. Make a Puzzle- Stick your child’s favourite picture like her favourite cartoon character, food item etc. on a cardboard and let it dry. Lay the picture upside down facing downwards. Use a safety scissors to cut the picture. Now, scramble the puzzle pieces and let your child enjoy putting the puzzle back together again.

Activities are a wonderful way for kids to learn how learning can be fun. Role-play is an excellent way to let your child use her creativity and imagination to the best of her knowledge. Choose from amongst any of the following role play activities for your kids, to create the scenes at your home! Its school time: Kids love pretending to be teachers and act like their favourite teachers. Let your child write a register of her class and pretend to take attendance and mark present or absent. Give her a chalkboard and colourful chalks to enact like a teacher does. Let’s play doctor-doctor: Buy a doctor set for your child and pretend to be a patient. Let her be the doctor and her friend as the nurse. Tell her to check the heartbeats using a stethoscope, prescribe medicines etc. Time to cook something: Role-playing cooking game will help to teach your child the benefits of cooking and learn this unique art with zeal and enthusiasm. It is a fun way for both boys and girls to bond with family and friends. Let’s construct a building: Let your child make buildings with blocks, cushions, books, other household items etc. What would you like to eat? : Allow your child to make a menu and play restaurants with chefs and waiters. This can include taking the table booking, taking your order from the menu, cooking/chopping (or helping you cook), laying the table, serving the food etc. Its shopping time:Pretend shops can be grocery stores, ice cream parlours, etc. Have your child put prices on items and turn it into a great way for her to learn counting and teach the value of money.

Planning birthday parties are fun! Here is a simple checklist of the things to do (the to-do list) so as not to miss out on anything while planning for a child’s birthday party. Read the tips to find out how to plan a child’s birthday party: Talk to your child and discuss about what kind of a birthday party she wants to throw. Decide the venue for your child’s birthday party. You can choose to organise the birthday party either at home or somewhere outdoors. Choose a theme for your child’s birthday party. Involve your child to make the guest list including your child’s close friends and family. Personalize the birthday party invitations to fit your theme & style. Purchase the party supplies such as ribbons, streamers, birthday poppers, balloons, khoyi bag, return gifts etc. Either bake the cake or order your child’s favourite cake from a bakery. Serve kid’s favourite food items such as finger fries, pizzas, burgers, potato chips, soft drinks, ice-cream etc. Invite a children’s entertainer to add a lot of fun and value to your child’s birthday party and make it a memorable one. Arrange simple games such as musical chairs, pass the parcel, treasure hunt etc. Make and decorate gift bags depending upon the birthday party theme.

Summers are here and most of us are faced with the question of what to do with all that time in hand? What to do to entertain our little ones and how to engage their curious minds and active bodies? Summer give you an opportunity to make sure that your child stay busy and happy. Moreover, summer can be a great time for you to spend quality time with your child, experience new things, grow in different directions and spend some fun time together as a family. This is the best time of any year when your child is at break and you are at ease because you do not have to get them ready in the morning for school bus or worry about their class tests or pending home assignments etc. So, this summer follow these ideas to make your child feel special and properly channelize her energy & time while having fun during the summers- Ask your child to create a canopy, make a tree swing, make a scarecrow or create a collage out of old magazines and keep your child busy with these activities. Encourage your child to watch the sunrise, make a card for a friend, go stargazing, bead some bracelets and sell them for charity etc. Search for the best camps happening around your city like adventure camps, arts camp, aerobics & dance camps and sports camps and enroll her to a summer camp. Plan a short weekend break to a nearby hill-station, beach or resort and give your child an exciting holiday for her memories. Celebrate summers in cool style by preparing cold snacks, fruit snacks or vegetable sandwiches with your child and make variety of salads etc. Play a variety of indoor games like scrabble, chess etc. to increase your child’s vocabulary and thinking power. Plan for some outdoor games in the evening like volleyball, cricket and lemon spoon race etc. that will build your child’s stamina and keep her physically fit. Watch the all-time favourite movies with your little ones. Try out some famous movies like Mighty Raju Rio Calling, Rio 2, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars, Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story (series) and Lion King etc.. Do lots of day trips with your child and create life time memories. Take her to museums, planetariums, historical monuments, amusement parks, nearby Zoos and Malls. Get a variety of Word Search Books, Puzzles, Sudoku, Tangrams and Ruby Cubes etc. for your child Get the colourful books and encourage her to read aloud. Encourage your child to take up a sport of her interest such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, swimming, horse riding etc. So, summer is about having fun. Whatever your child does, let her enjoy it and always think that by doing this; she will gain something for herself. Just stay positive and productive, whether in the house, outdoors or anywhere. Try to learn new things and live life to the fullest. Wishing you Happy Summers with your child!