Kids Fitness Games Make Exercise Fun

On 10.29.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

If you are looking for a way to get your kids to exercise but are running into road blocks along the way, then try incorporating some kids fitness games into the mix. When children are playing games they are less interested in the fact that they are exercising, and more interested in the fact that they are having a blast.

There are several games that children of all ages can play to stay active and some of them can be found below.

Kids Fitness Games for Toddlers. It is never too early to start turning your kids on to different kinds of exercise. Instead of sitting them in front of a TV, try some of these fun and entertaining kids fitness games to get them up and moving around.

Duck Duck Goose. This is a popular favorite among toddlers. Everyone sits in a circle, and then one person stands up to pat each head and say duck, duck, duck. Eventually the child will touch someone’s head, and that child will need to get up and catch them before the person who was it can run to the open spot and sit down. If they beat the goose they get to sit while the new child picks the goose.

Hide and Seek. Another favorite with young children, hide and seek is really fun for all ages but easy enough for toddlers to pick up. One child counts to ten or an adult can help them, while the other children hide. After the appointed time, they go and try to find the other kids and tag them before they reach home base. If they tag someone they are no longer it and get to be a child that hides.

Kids Fitness Games for 5-12 Year Olds. As children get older they will require more detailed games in order to keep them interested. Luckily, there are plenty of games that fall into that category. A few of them can be found below. Capture the Flag.There are two teams in this game, and both of them have a flag of some sort on opposite ends of the field. Each team tries to run and capture the others flag and bring it back to their side. The first team to do it wins.

Blanket Sleds. Give children an old blanket to play with, and they can take turns sitting on it, while they pull one or more around the grass with it. If you have steep hills around your home, give your children some cardboard boxes to slide down them with. They may not use much energy sliding down hills, but thing of the exercise they will get climbing back up.If you put some thought into it, you can come up with a wide range of kids fitness games that can be enjoyed by children of all ages. The examples below should give you a few ideas, but try to keep your children’s own interests in mind when you think of games for them to play.

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Learning Toys for Children

On 11.14.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

Play is the language of children and an essential part of a child`s learning and development. It serves as a channel for their creativity in which a child can express his thoughts and emotions. Children learn more during their early years by playing with educational toys.

As children play with toys, they acquire new skills and improve their existing ones. Parents too play a crucial role in motivating a child`s development. During this important time, it is their responsibility to provide an environment for physical and intellectual growth. Every parent wants to give their child a head start when it comes to their early development, and there are many educational toys available that can stimulate your child to grow and develop in fun and playful ways.

An educational toy can be anything that provides knowledge and develops skills for learning. Many educational toys provide an enjoyable medium to learn effectively. These toys must stimulate the child.s imagination during play to be effective. Interactive toys are some of the best educational and fun toys for a child. They usually stimulate and entertain the child so that they can learn while having fun. There are educational toys available on the market for all age groups.

Educational toys offer the best ways to help a child learn and have fun simultaneously. Although educational computer games are good for children they should still be used in moderation. Computer games are a fun way to help your child learn new things and do better in school.

Providing appropriate games and letting your child decide when to play while setting time limits will maximize the benefits of these great educational resources. There are many online merchants that offer educational toys on the Internet. People can easily access their websites and search for brand name toys.

The most popular educational toys offered nowadays on the Internet are kid`s laptops. These laptops are a good as they make little kids computer savvy at a young age. There are also other electronic learning toys for kids of all ages that provide a complete learning experience.

Climbing structures, puzzle blocks, balloons, interactive dolls, toy bikes, and cars designed for their size, puppets and stuffed toys, colored building blocks, peg boards, pedal toys and swings are some of the educational toys. These toys provide physical and mental exercises, developing the body muscles and brain cells, including thinking and logical capacity. Let the children enjoy the pleasure of being a child, have the freedom to play and have fun!

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Healthy Activities For The Whole Family

On 11.24.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

One of the best things you can do to ensure that your child develops a lifelong love of exercise and physical activity is to do some fitness activities together. If your child sees you participating in sports or working out, they will understand that these are important “things” to do, and will be more likely to stay fit and healthy. Get moving, and stay fit together with these fresh ideas:

- Take a family bike ride. Riders under the age of 5 can sit in a bike trailer or seat. If your littlest cyclists really want to pedal along, try doing one lap of the block slowly first, letting your youngest pedal their own bike at their own pace, then return home and load them into whatever ride along device you have. You can get in your own workout, without having to keep pace with his or her little legs.

- Play a game. No matter how big or large your family is, consider playing a game like hide and seek. Played indoors, this game has a pretty level playing field, especially if you team up the littlest children with Mom or Dad. This can be great fun outdoors as well, just make sure you lay out clear boundaries ahead of time.

- Take a nature walk. Let each child bring a bucket or basket, and take a walk through the woods or at a park. Let them pick up leaves, rocks, and other specimens, and then look through them when you are done, and talk about what they found. Toddlers and babies will enjoy this type of walk as well—but use a baby backpack or jogging stroller to keep them happy while you hike.

- Play on a playground. Kids know how to play, but most grownups have forgotten what a great workout playground time can be. Climbing, swinging, running, and crawling through and around playground equipment is a great workout!

- Participate in their sport. If your kids play soccer, volunteer to help with coaching, and jog along as they ply. If you are on the sidelines, you can support the team by bringing snacks, following the game, and cheering one both teams. Just knowing that you are there, that you value the activity, and that you are interested will keep your kids motivated to play.

- Take lessons together. Consider taking a lesson of some type together, particularly something that you don’t normally do. Try surfing, horseback riding, inline skating, or some other activity with your child, and learn something new together.

Doing fun activities as a family keeps everyone fit and motivated; and gives you something fun and memorable to do together.

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Developing Toddler Skills Through Play

On 12.17.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

Walk into any children’s toy store and you are overwhelmed with hundreds of toys, games and outdoor equipment. While the vast majority do offer educational value in that they help develop skills, some are more worthwhile than others.

A toddler has many skills to master, motor skills, socialising with others, developing basic skills such as number and color recognition, in preparation for school. Play is the fun way of learning.

In order to develop a rounded personality a toddler should be introduced to a variety of activities. Some parents feel they recognise a particular talent at a very early age and there is nothing wrong in encouraging this, as long as it is not to the exclusion of other activities. A full personality will cope better with life. Try to provide a variety of toys to develop a wide range of skills including improving dexterity, social and emotional skills, creative skills.

Toddlers cope best with chunky items as long as their little fingers can hold them. Small pieces of toys are too fiddly and there is the risk they may swallow something.

Toys such as building blocks and large pieces of lego will help hand control. Wooden jigsaw puzzles encourage observation as well as learning manipulation. Outdoor toys like tricycles, climbing frames, slides and playing football will develop physical ability.

Social skills can be developed through interaction with other children. A toddler group is a perfect start particularly for an only child used to receiving all the attention. Sharing is not an easy concept for an only child who cannot understand why someone else should play with what they want. Dolls and action men will help them create social situations where they decide the outcome. It gives an opportunity to work out situations that may have bothered them or re-create a favorite TV program where they control the outcome.

Toddlers love creative activities. Painting with bright colors using large brushes, modelling with clay or plasticine, building models using toilet rolls and boxes are activities that will keep them absorbed for hours and give them a real sense of achievement. Do not allow them to become frustrated, step in if they need a hand, but guide rather than take over and praise the result. It may not be recognisable, but it is to the child.

Sing nursery rhymes and include simple homemade instruments, for example, shaking rice in a container or beating a rhythm on a tin with a teaspoon.

Books and storytelling should play a major part in a child’s learning. They are an introduction to letters, numbers and color as well as a fantasy world. If toddlers like a particular book they will want to return to it time and again. Look for books that offer additional activities, pages with windows to open, different textures to feel or objects hidden on the page to be discovered.

Whenever you buy a toy consider what it may also be teaching your child. Give as wide a selection as possible to develop all the child’s skills. A sense of achievement will build their confidence and prepare them for school.

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Choosing the Right Toddler Toy – Some Thoughts

On 12.19.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

Knowing which toy to pick

Although toddlers will already have specific preferences in terms of toys and games they like it’s best to check with the parents before buying a toy. Kids own a lot of stuff nowadays and this will, at least, avoid duplication. Most importantly it will help make sure that the toy is something that they will like playing with and that it is right for their age and developmental stages.

The fact is that kids will play more with toys they like — so, they’ll get more benefits from them. And, getting the age and developmental stage right maximises their potential for learning.Toddler toys

There are all kinds of toddler toys to choose from — many will help them develop mentally whilst others will help them develop physically.

For example, toddlers love handling toys and particularly enjoy playing with balls, bricks and blocks and smaller toys such as character figures, dolls and soft toys. They enjoy toys with which they can interact and role play so look out for toy phones, kitchens and play food and animals and people. Things with buttons to press and noises to make will always appeal as well.

Vehicles are also a big hit here — for girls as well as boys. Trains, cars, boats and planes will all go down well with play-sets such as an airport or station a sure-fire hit.

Don’t think that toddlers are too young for books. It’s wise to pick hard board books in general here as small fingers find paper too easy to tear which can sometimes be more fun than actually reading! Look for books with flaps and pop-ups and ones that introduce them to things such as animals, letters and numbers.

Creative play is also helpful at this age — chunky crayons and paint brushes can help a toddler develop fine motor skills. Drawing and painting can also help them start to work with colours and to use their imagination.

Don’t forget about physical play here either. Toddlers will benefit from outdoor toys such as swings and slides, climbing frames and play apparatus. Look at ride-ons and push toys to help with balance and walking and don’t forget tricycles and scooters.Conclusion

Safety is still a big issue with toddlers — they still tend to put things in their mouths so avoid toys with small parts that could choke them. Look for British Standards accreditation such as a Kite Mark, the Lion Mark or the CE or EN rating. These marks show that the toy has passed certain standards and is safe to use.

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Ways to Choose Good Toys For Toddlers

On 12.31.09, In Articles, By Climbing Blocks

Small children usually love playing with things that are colorful and are of different shapes and sizes. Toddlers are usually attracted to things that are bright and creative, they love fun filled activities and adventure. So, next time you want to buy a toy for your little one, always keep their likes and dislikes in mind. The toys that you buy for them should be creative as well as educative.

Toddlers tend to keep small things in their mouths, so always avoid toys with small parts. Below stated are some very good tips that would help you to choose toys accordingly.

1. Toys that would help to enjoy various activities. Toddlers love to jump, play, climb, run and dance, they are full of energy which can be utilized to do something productive. Try to choose toys that would help your toddler to enjoy all these activities, but always make sure that those toys are simple and safe for a small child.

2. Give them something creative. Growing children usually like doing all kinds of creative things and they love playing with crayons, colors, and chalks. Toddlers can not draw or paint specific objects, but they like scribbling and mixing paints and colors, allow them to do so as it would only increase their creative imagination.

3. Choose toys according to the gender. Sometimes it might happen that a baby boy may not like the toys that a girl likes, so before purchasing toys for them always keep this in mind, boys are more focused towards cars, bat, balls while girls prefer dolls, books and other such things.

4. Choose toys that would develop their imagination. Children are very different from adults, they love creative things and fun filled toys. Give them some toys that would help to develop their imagination. You can give them toys which have blocks, sandbox toys and interlocking pieces, this would keep them busy as well as it would also give them the space to think on their own accord.

5. Some toys for toddlers that you can consider. Although there are various toys available for the toddlers in the market, some of the most educative ones are water play toys, push-pull toys, climbing structures, books with simple stories, puzzles, creative materials like paint and crayons, pedal toys, swings, wagons, cars, boys, musical toy boxes, counting stand and bean bags.

In order to make your child’s growing up a fun filled experience, you should always give them toys that have some scope of imagination as well as fun.

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Building A Child Safe Deck

On 02.26.10, In Climbing Blocks, By Climbing Blocks

Decks are a great place for the whole family to enjoy, even the kids. But, did you ever wonder how to be sure your deck is kid safe?

Making a child friendly deck can be an easy chore when a tiny amount of common sense is incorporated in the design and good, practical childproofing measures happen on the back end of the construction process. If you have a child, building a kid friendly deck will be an important part of the design process. In order to handle both adults and kids, the deck itself has to be roomy enough to accommodate the entire family, but it will also need to have some additional safety measures as well.

If babies or toddlers are present, or will be, including a railing system is necessary if the deck is to be elevated above a foot or so. Accidents can occur and a fall from a few feet can make for serious injury, so the proper way to prevent the problem is to plan for it and take the offensive. If a deck is elevated and stairs are in the design, take care to be sure the entrance to the stairs is designed to work with a child gate.

When selecting materials for the decking, make sure to pick materials that are rounded and smooth. If the deck wood has sharp edges, make sure to sand it down and inspect it periodically to prevent splintering.

Consider building an overhang. With tiny children, a canopy or overhang is a great idea. The blazing sun is not a child’s friend when they are sitting out all day, so a little overhead protection can help in addition to sun block.

If little children will be on the deck, go for a design that helps discourage climbing, if you can. Railings should be carefully thought over and it’s likely with an elevated deck these ought to be included if kids are on hand. Make sure the railing slats are close enough together to avoid small arms and legs from getting stuck or at least close enough to protect from a child from being able to slide through.

A deck can be a great addition to any house for any family, but if very small children are present or will be, it’s a very good idea to incorporate some thought into the plan. A deck safe for kids will need some safety measures, but then a few steps taken up front can prevent problems down the road.

 
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