play Archives - 3 Kids and Us

Why You Should Encourage Your Kids to Play Sports

March 24, 2017 by admin

With kids today spending so much time hunched over tablets, Gameboys and computers, it can be a constant battle to ensure that they are getting enough physical activity. One thing that many parents do is to enroll their children in organized sports. Whether your child ends up playing varsity football like Mack Prioleau or simply develops a lifelong appreciation for an active lifestyle, there are many benefits that come from encouraging your kids to participate in sports. Here are just a few.

Cardiovascular and Muscle Strength

An obvious benefit that comes with being involved in sports is the impact on the overall health of your kids. A generation ago, kids would have been outside running around for hours every day. Now, they spend very little time engaged in active play, which makes the time spent play sports even more important. No matter what sport they enjoy, they will spend time developing their cardiovascular health and muscle strength as a result of running, jumping, hitting or swimming.

Coordination and Flexibility

While studies have shown that computer games can contribute to the development of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, there is no substitute for sports as a way to bring these skills into the real world. In addition to developing fine motor skills, sports also encourage the development of gross motor skills that can only come from moving your body through space. And no matter what sport your child enjoys, flexibility and mobility will benefit as well.

Discipline and perseverance

As children gain skills in their chosen sport, there will come a time when they want to continue to improve their abilities but they find that it no longer comes as easily or naturally as the basic skills did. This means that children learn that in order to improve, they must be prepared to put in the effort to practice. They will also learn that this comes with sacrifice – in order to practice, there will be times when the child will have to make a choice between practicing and another activity. They also learn that even though not everything may come easily, there are small improvements that they can observe and build on every day, thus teaching the value of perseverance and patience. The sense of accomplishment that they can enjoy as they achieve their goals will reinforce the value of hard work.

Sportsmanship

Whether your child plays a team sport or an individual sport, they will need to internalize the norms of good sportsmanship, which include values of fair play, the importance of following rules, of working with others, and of being both gracious winners and losers. The ritual of players shaking hands and saying “good game” after a competitive match underscores everything that is good about sportsmanship and models positive values that your child can take into adulthood.

These are just some of the many ways that your child can benefit from involvement in sports!

How to Choose a Summer Camp for Your Child

February 24, 2017 by admin

Source

If you want your child to have a fantastic time this summer, then you need to start looking for summer camps now. One example of an excellent summer camp can be found on http://preschoolfunland.com/our-programs/junior-summer-camp/. However, the internet will only tell you so many things, and since you will be entrusting your child to the group leaders at a summer camp, it is likely that you will have a few other questions. This is true whether you want to send your child to Preschool Fun Land or to any other camp. This is why it is recommended that you think about what your most important outcome is for your child.

Possible Outcomes

Most preschool camps have a focus on a particular outcome with their children, but they touch on all of them. If you know which one is most important to you, you will also be better equipped to choose the right program. Key focus areas are:

Pursuing a passion.
Skill development.
Relaxing.
Making friends.
Being a child.
Learning something new.
Academic challenge.
Trying a wide variety of activities.
Family time.
Gaining independence.
Building social skills.
Travel.

When you consider what your decision is, you have to do some introspection to think about why you are picking a certain focus. Is it:

Because you really want this focus?
Because someone else thinks that it is best for your child?
Because it is what your child wants?

One issue that may also help you cut your shortlist down significantly is that of location. People tend to send their children to camps that fall into one of two categories:

The convenience of being very nearby, which means that there are little associated travel costs, and that someone can come if anything goes wrong.
The experience of going to a completely new destination.

There is no right or wrong in this answer, only a right or wrong for you and your child. Do take location into consideration, focusing again on what you believe is best for your child. And remember to involve your child in that decision.

Remember that children are only children for a very short period of time, and they need to be able to enjoy it. When you consider that they will spend between one and eight weeks at camp, it is important that your child will have an opportunity to build positive memories. Before you know it, they will be all grown up and there will be no more need for any kind of summer camp!

Now, you should be ready to start looking for the camp of your choice. This may seem overwhelming, because there are so many options out there. However, if you have determined what your focus is (and that your child agrees with that focus), you should be able to narrow your list down significant. If you feel a bit overloaded, then you need to simply take a step back and wait a couple of hours.

Kid’s Playroom Decor Ideas

January 24, 2017 by admin

If you have kids, you will understand why having a playroom is a good idea. For the sake of your sanity, and theirs, I would highly recommend turning your spare room, shed or a corner of a family room into a play area.

Doing so will give your kids the space they need to really relax and enjoy themselves. It will also stop your house from looking like a huge toy store, all of the time.

Creating a space like this does not have to be expensive. Often you can use items that you already own, and buy the other materials you need from cheap sources.

Make the space safe

The first, and most important, step is to make the space you are planning to use as safe as possible. That means removing any sharp edges, installing a non-slip floor, eliminating risks such as blind cords and installing safety features like a smoke alarm and window locks. This page covers the subject of child proofing a playroom in more detail.

The right flooring

We already mentioned installing anti-slip flooring. For this, engineered wood floors are often a good option. This type of flooring is inexpensive, easy to lay and not hard to maintain. It is not as warm as carpet, but is also not cold, and hard like tiles.

Decorating the walls

The best approach to a playroom is to paint the room rather than wallpaper it. That way any marks can easily be wiped away. Just be careful to use the type of paint that can withstand being cleaned with harsh products.

If you want to, you could turn one of the walls into a large chalkboard. Providing them with a large whiteboard is another option. However, it is probably wise to wait until your children are old enough to understand that they can only draw on the chalk or whiteboards. The last thing you need is them getting confused using all of your walls as a space for their artistic handiwork.

You can add interest to the walls using wall stickers, or custom traffic signs like the ones you can buy at roadtrafficsigns.com. Alternatively, if your kids are good at art, let them design a mural and paint it with them.

Keeping the space clean and tidy

Another important consideration is keeping the space tidy and organised. Some parents are happy for their children to leave their toys lying about provided they only do so in the playroom. Others want their children to put everything away before tea.

Which approach you take is up to you, but either way it is a good idea to provide your children with some storage space. Doing so ensures that delicate or expensive toys can be stowed away.

You need to make sure that they storage solutions you provide are safe, and easy for your children to use. The last thing you need is for one of your children to be pinned under a heavy wardrobe, because it fell over when they were climbing up the shelving section to reach a favourite toy.

Sealable plastic storage containers, toy chests and low-level drawer units are all good ways to provide space for your children to put their toys away when they are not in use.