Learning Fun at Playgrounds

Since it’s summer you might be visiting the pool more than the playground, but they’re still an option early in the day. Heck, in Texas playgrounds are a year round activity, at least in our book.

Luckily for us we have tons of city parks in our area, each one offering something different making it fun to explore a new one every time you go.  Many neighborhoods are also keeping families in mind by providing a playground.

While in our book, Kidding Around Town, we emphasize mental activities, physical ones are good also to keep our bodies strong and healthy.   And it never hurts to combine some physical and mental learning while at playgrounds.

Here’s what kids can learn at Playgrounds.

Kids Can Learn at Water Parks

Kids Can Learn at Water Parks

Summer is here! We all know how hot Texas is during summer. The best way to cool off is in the water. If you have a pool at home, that's great.  But for a variety, a trip to the water park during summer is always fun. 

Kids can learn at water parks (or pools or splash pads)!  We're all about having fun, but while you're there it never hurts to sneak in some education. If you have season passes to a water park, or even just a day trip there, doing a little teaching over the summer can help make it more interesting. 

Plus, research shows the more you engage your child's brain with activities and questions, they will grow up to be a smarter adult. And what parent doesn't want to give their kids a headstart in life? 

What can kids learn at a water park you ask?

Making Museums Fun

Take the "stuffiness" out of museums by making your next trip more enjoyable.

Not everyone likes museums and we certainly understand that.  Museums don't have to be boring and stuffy. You can make them more enjoyable for you and the kids.  Luckily living in a large metropolitan area we have plenty of museums to choose from.

Here's my Top 5 Tips for Making Museums Fun:

Wish you Were Born Rich?

Even if you weren't born rich, you can help your children become rich (and you too). And here's how.

Do you ever watch that show, "Through the Wormhole" hosted by Morgan Freeman?  I'm a science geek at heart so I enjoy watching that show.

Recently an episode aired discussing if genetics play a role in whether we become rich or poor as we grow up.  And guess what they found out? Yes (with a qualifier of course).

What they found was that for people born into lower economic status (not much money) our environment plays a larger role than genetics. For those born into higher economic status (where money isn't an issue), genetics plays a larger role in determining their financial outcome later in life. (If you missed this episode, you can watch it on itunes.)

And do you know why they came to that conclusion?

Festivals in Dallas Fort Worth

            

This is festival time of year in Dallas Fort Worth!  The weather isn’t too hot yet so it’s still nice to get out and enjoy the warm spring sunshine and take in a festival or two.

While a festival isn’t a museum, there is still a lot your children can learn at festivals. No festival is complete without food!  For kids of any age, tasting new foods is a good way to broaden their taste buds and hopefully make them less picky eaters.  For the youngest children they still love to put things in their mouth so taste testing can satisfy this need.

Cultural festivals are an excellent way to expose your child to new and different cultures. Take advantage of this fun teaching opportunity to educate your child on the customs and traditions of other cultures. Observing native costumes on display, listening to native music, participating in native crafts and sampling native food are all ways to engage your child while learning and having fun.

A few upcoming cultural festivals are: (1) Many Cinco de Mayo festivals this week-end, (2) Asian Festival May 17, (3) Polka Festival May 23 – 25, (4) Scottish Festival & Highland Games May 2 – 4.

Arts Festivals lend themselves to creative expression and oftentimes will have a Kids Corner where kids can create their own works of art. Art allows kids to see things from different perspectives, building important life skills. Art also enables kids to get in touch with and express their emotions.  

Upcoming Arts Festivals include: (1) Cottonwood Arts Festival May 3 -4. And (2) Wildflower Arts & Music Festival May 16 – 18.

Many festivals will include petting zoos or other opportunities where children can interact with animals. Most kids love animals.  Interacting with animals encourages empathy, a much needed skill you can’t take a test to learn.

Even playing “carnival” type games at festivals teaches your kids skills.  Some encourage athletic skills (basketball dunking, target practice), others may encourage math (angles, probability) but all require your child to learn about money. Take this opportunity to ask your younger kids how much is fifty cents? (i.e. two quarters) or figure out how many tickets you need to purchase to play a certain game.

So there you have it! You’ve been teaching your child all along by attending festivals and just didn’t know it!

Enjoy your festivals!

If you’d like more information on what you can teach your child when you go places, check out my new book, Kidding Around Town. Included as a resource in the book is a handy list of year-round festivals in Dallas Fort Worth with a pricing guide.

Summer Camps for Toddlers

Summer Camps for Toddlers

First let’s define a “toddler” as a child between the ages of 2 and 3 years old.  Typically there aren’t many summer camps for toddlers for a variety of reasons.  Probably the biggest reason is because toddlers aren’t as capable developmentally as older children. However, that shouldn’t stop you from doing your own summer camp at home for toddlers.

Summer Camps at home don’t have to be elaborate or require a lot of time and money for you to prepare.  With that being said, let’s explore what these adorable toddlers can do.  By the ages of two and three years old children can follow two and three step directions as well as identify and sort objects by shape and color.  Knowing that, you can plan your activities accordingly.

Activity ideas to have your own summer camps for toddlers at home:

1. Sort Objects - Do you have any type of colorful blocks (Duplo Legos?), shapes or stacking cups? Reinforce the object color and type as you sort. This is the beginning of simple math concepts.
2. Read Together - Make time to read aloud to your child. Start to teach concepts such as “beginning” and “end” when you start and finish the story.
3. Singing Camp – Kids love to sing.  Teach your child simple songs such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “I’m a Little Teapot.”   Reinforcing the lyrics builds recall.
4. Musical Day – Combine your singing camp with music time.  If you have kid-friendly instruments at home, great. If not, make your own or use a wooden spoon on a pot for your drum.  Put rice or beans in a tightly sealed container and shake for a maraca.  Have a whistle? If not, if you can whistle, whistle along with the tune.  Whistles and simple flutes are usually available at dollar stores.

These are some ideas to get you started to create your own summer camps for toddlers at home.

How much time to spend on activities?  Being a mom of a toddler I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. And each child is different so you alone can best gauge your child. Typically 2 yr olds can spend up to 10 minutes on an activity when engaged with an adult or other children. Three year olds can spend up to 15 minutes.   That’s not to say your child wouldn’t spend longer on any activity. You may have to spread your camp out during the course of the day, but it’s your camp so have fun with it!  Sing some songs, sort some objects, have a snack break, have some play time, get back to camp by reading a story.

We hope you find these tips helpful from the Around-Town Mom.  Lots more age-appropriate location-centric tips are available in my new book, Kidding Around Town.

Kidding Around Town is based on research that shows early involvement and learning encourages dendrite development in the brain resulting in a smarter child.  To assist in this development process Kidding Around Town provides 100s of local destinations and age-appropriate activities to help guide you with your outing adventures.

HURRY & take advantage of our introductory special offer!

ORDER YOUR COPY of Kidding Around Town TODAY!!

Ms. Cates is available for speaking opportunities to explain brain development and learning. Contact her at: info@aroundtownkids.com

Bunnies and Kids...it's all About the Learning

Bunnies and Kids...it's all About the Learning

Easter is rapidly approaching. If you have young children you're probably going to see the Easter Bunny and get your photos taken. Or maybe you're going to a photographer to get photos taken with little chicks or bunnies. Or possibly even visit an Easter petting zoo.

Did you know that by allowing your child to handle a bunny or chick can actually end up making them smarter?

Yes, it can!

The more dendrites or brain cells your child can grow the smarter your child will become.  One way to help your child grow more brain cells is by exposing them to learning opportunities.

We all process information through our senses (hear, see, smell, taste and touch).  Our senses feed information to our brain. When children are young it's important to stimulate all of their senses. And one way to do that is to expose them to TACTILE (i.e. touching) opportunities. The more they can touch things, the more they can learn!

And the more they learn, the smarter they will become.

So let your kids touch those soft bunnies and feathery chicks. The more you let your child touch small animals you will end up making him a smarter child!

If you'd like more information on how all this works, we know a great book that we can recommend: Kidding Around Town.

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Kidding Around Town is based on research that shows early involvement and learning encourages dendrite development in the brain resulting in a smarter child.  To assist in this development process Kidding Around Town provides local destinations and age-appropriate activities to help guide you with your outing adventures.

HURRY & take advantage of our introductory special offer!

ORDER YOUR COPY of Kidding Around Town TODAY!!

Ms. Cates is available for speaking opportunities to explain brain development and learning. Contact her at: info@aroundtownkids.com