Archive for February 2015
Interactive Play
Posted on: February 19, 2015
- In: Children | Outdoors | Parenting | Play eqipment | Playgrounds
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Interactive playgrounds aren’t something you see every where yet so when you do find one it can be quite a treat! The mix of traditional play and a new, exciting interactive element gets kids really eager to try it out. Interactive play is both challenging AND fun, and offers another encouraging way to get children fitter!
Another good aspect of it is that sometimes competitive sport can really only nurture the natural first team players and others can get left out or left behind. But equipment like this is much more inclusive and gets everybody involved in a more relaxed way. Physical exercise for children is obviously hugely important, especially with the current obesity rates. This is a great way to get kids moving without them even really realising they are exercising.
Hopefully they will make a welcome change to video games. It will be great when more of our playgrounds include some interactive equipment!
Junk Food Kids
Posted on: February 19, 2015
Last night I watched a pretty shocking and sad documentary on Channel 4. ‘Junk Food Kids: Who’s To Blame?’ . It would seem that now one third of British children are overweight or obese. Also, stemming from this, which you might not really think about is the number of kids who are having to undergo drastic dental treatment due to rotten teeth caused by their diet.
The show, unsurprisingly, sparked a lot of activity on social media. Twitter was filled with people angry that ‘Who’s to blame?’ was even a question that needed to be asked and I have to say I agree with them. Parents must take responsibility for their child’s health.
The basics of it are that junk food is cheap, quick and easy. Alongside that, for some people taking their kids outside and entertaining them rather than leaving them infront of the tv may seem like all too much hard work. Small amounts of exercise do wonders of good whether it’s running around the garden, a quick trip to the playground or something more structured like a sports club or class.
Did you see the documentary? Here’s a trailer if you missed it. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1159782/Watch-trailer-Junk-Food-Kids-Whos-To-Blame.html
Over the weekend while my son had been evacuated to my parent’s house I undertook the challenge of putting my son’s new bed together. With my husband tactically unpractical it was left to me to digest the instructions figure out which bits go where and identify the correct screws and Allen keys. I choose this mid sleeper bed from Argos and it arrived in two boxes with plenty of plastic wrapping and an annoying block of polystyrene that decided to shed its ball everywhere.
The build was easy enough – I only really needed help when putting the safety bars across because I needed an extra pair of hands to support it. Basically the whole deal was to screw bits of metal to other bits of metal but not too tightly until it was complete, just in case you cocked it up.
I chose this particular bed because it gave floor space underneath it and the option for a tent. My son had said that it was a shame that there wasn’t a slide attached to the bed so he could slide out of it in the morning like a real climbing frame from Playdale. It sounded like a fantastic idea except that his bedroom just isn’t big enough to accommodate such a great construction. I think he would have liked a climbing frame like this in his bed room.
I excitedly set the tent up underneath the bed and added a wind up lantern so that my son could pretend that he was camping. I mistakenly told him that he could sleep in the tent during weekends and holidays so last night he slept in a sleeping bag on an old mattress underneath his brand new bed. I have yet to see him to find out whether he slept well in his new tent.
I just wish that I was small enough to enjoy sleeping in his tent – although I have plans to hide there when it all gets too much and hope that I am not found for a while.
