Children’s Sports This Summer

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Connie

Children need to be active and to take part in sports especially during the summer. While my daughter is in school, she has Physical Education only once every few weeks and recess only once in a while. When she gets home, we try to get her to go outside and run around in some way, shape or form. The problem is that school work always comes first.

This summer, we are working on prying her off the computer, away from books (not that it’s bad for her to be reading!) and the TV so she can work off some energy, and learn about being a team player. She loves PE but doesn’t like the competition factor of group sports. What ends up happening with her is that she gets upset when she is compared to other children. In PE, there is a teacher who is responsible for allowing every student to take part in the games that they play, doesn’t allow children to bully others, and provides different levels of sports for her students.

How do we accomplish this on our own? We’ve decided to have play dates in which sports are the main focus, including basketball, hockey and good old fashioned games like hide and seek. When we as parents oversee these games, we can allow the children to play kindly with each other. Another thing we’re doing is enrolling our daughter into swimming lessons. This is to help her gain confidence. Hopefully this will enable her to take part in competitive sports if she is interested later on.

swimming

We’ve seen both the good and bad in sports with our older daughter who was on a roller hockey team and a school track team. Parents often were the worst offenders, who used foul language, became angry with coaches and referees and made what should be a pleasant time for children, a difficult time. ResponsibleSports.com is working towards changing the environment of children’s sports. They provide resources for coaches and parents and support volunteer sports programs. They are funded by Liberty Mutual.

This blog post is sponsored by Liberty Mutual with the opportunity for an Amex Gift Card of various denominations depending on content, comments and Twitter discussion.

Family Fun When Things Go Wrong

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Connie

We are at Disney World and things went wrong, but we found a way to have fun together as a family any way. I ended up not feeling well so we didn’t go to a park. It’s our first day here, so it would have been just a few hours there, but it’s something we’re used to doing.

We were all disappointed, especially our 10 year old daughter. She didn’t get angry or cry, but was sad that our tradition was broken. We did our best to make do and keep things as fun as possible. We treated her to a special dessert after lunch while we chatted and laughed about how our “normal” is not usually everyone else’s “not normal”.

While I napped, my husband took her out to see the pools, the lake, the nature trail and some of the animals around our resort. She got to choose where we would eat dinner too. After dinner I felt well enough to go out to see the Electrical Parade so we made sure to do that. We stood in the sand like she wanted and let her take her shoes off.

During the time we spent together, we tried to be positive and talk about what the rest of our vacation would be like. We assured her that even if I didn’t feel well enough to go to the parks that she and her Dad would. We also promised her that she could choose one activity to do with her Dad outdoors.

It helps to be positive but it’s important to be realistic when things go wrong. No need to set up your child to be upset when you promise the impossible.

Imaginative Play

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Connie

Every child need imaginative play for their intellectual development. Plus it’s just fun! This summer, why not encourage your children to be more creative when they play?

Fill a box of old clothes, accessories and make up for your children to use during dress up time. You can use your own things, buy some used clothing from a thrift store or find some used costumes. Suggest that they put on a play for your family. Set up chairs, have popcorn and help make the announcements if they wish.

: Image via Wikipedia

Have paper, crayons, markers, stickers, glue, old magazines, paint, etc. on hand for art supplies. No need for coloring books, unless it’s something they request. But allowing them to make their own pictures, paintings or collages lets them be more creative. Don’t forget to hang those special items on your refrigerator.

Building blocks, legos, and any type of building toys really get a child’s imagination flowing. You can always find these at yard sales and thrift stores. I always buy used. Watch your children make houses, parks, cars, stores, etc. Try to have a large area for this type of play so they can stretch out. Cleaning up the pieces becomes part of the imaginative play when you make a game out of it.

Puppets of all types are wonderful. You can use old socks, paper bags or ready made puppets. Then listen to the stories your child tells when they become the puppet master.

Since it’s summer, you can allow your children to leave their cities, unfinished paintings, stages, etc. up for a few days. They may need the time to complete their projects or enjoy them fully.

Have fun with them and feel like a child again!

Free Summer Camps

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Connie

I didn’t think it was possible to find free summer camps any more, but to my great surprise there are a number of them available. I have a list of some of them here, but please be sure to research for more of these in your local area, online and by contacting organizations such as the Rotary Club, Recreation Department, YMCA, and if your child has special needs, an organization that deals with this physical, social or mental need, schools and churches.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Operation Purple – Specifically for children who have a parent or parents who are deployed. If there is room, children from active military familes will be accepted. Open to children aged 7 – 17 for one week.
Apple Summer Workshops – For children aged 8 – 12 and held at Apple Stores for one week in the month of July, these teach sessions about computer software and hardware. Many of these are filled so please be sure to check if there are any openings. They are also offered year round.
Camp Good Days – Only open to children who are diagnosed with cancer.
Camp Agape – For children, aged 7 – 12,Â who have lost a parent, especially those in Iraq. This is a Christian based program.
Fresh Air Fund – Only for disadvantaged youth in New York City. There are five different camp locations serving children of different ages.
Fresh Brain Virtual Camp – Online activities that provide information such as making videos, learning Java, etc. Their are opportunities to win prizes, get badges and gain other rewards. Hurry! This starts June 15th.

Outdoor Summer Activities

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Connie

I try to focus on outdoor activities in the summer for my daughter. When she’s in school, she has homework and studying. She’s usually so worn out from her full day at school and her after school work, that she only has about an hour for free time. She will choose to go outside sometime, but most of the time, she talks on the phone to her friends, plays on the computer or with video games. (She does get outside time at school at recess and PE, which she loves.)

But with no school, she has a lot of time on her hands, time to be a child and do things she enjoys. With my health issues, the heat can be harmful for me, so I try to set up play dates at our house where she can play in the fenced in yard with her friend, or go to a friend’s house to play outside.

Some of the things she enjoys doing outside:

Basketball – My daughter is into sports of all kinds. We got her a toddler’s basketball set then was given a regular size hoop from a neighbor that didn’t use it any more. It’s a bit tall for her, but she still likes to learn to dribble and attempt getting it into a the hoop.
Playing Tag – Any type of running game is tops on her list. She’s quite fast and loves to let off some energy.
Roller Skating – We bought her a pair when she was tiny. It was more of a walk and roll pair. Those got her started to feel comfortable on wheels and now she can skate with the best of them!
Sprinkler Time – We don’t do this often because of wasting water, but when we give in the smile on her face makes it worthwhile. We set a timer so she knows it won’t last long and we save some of the water in a small pool for later.
Chalk Drawing – Give her some chalk, our driveway and some time and you’ll find colorful pictures everywhere.
Inventing Games – I’m always amazed at her ability to make up something fun to do. There’s no need for toys, just a friend or two, some nice weather and imagination.

Give a child the outdoors and they’ll find a way to have fun. It doesn’t have to cost anything or you can grab few things at the Dollar Store. Go to a park, grab a pail, shovel or a hulu hoop. Surprise them with some snacks and always have some ice water ready.

Grade 6 – 8 Summer Reading List

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Connie

Are you ready for summer reading? Having a reading list and a place for your child to keep track of what has been read helps motivate them to read more. Many schools and public libraries offer rewards for reading a certain amount of books during summer break.

According to the Just Read, Families! program from the Florida Department of Education,

Research shows that children who do not continue reading through the summer can lose a month or more of progress made during the school year. By encouraging their children to read, parents are playing a critical role in achieving our goal of having every child reading at or above grade level by 2012.

Here’s a list of books recommended for grades six through eight. Please keep in mind that your child may read at a different grade level than their actual school grade. You will know this from their report card, reading score on standardized tests or from their teacher.

A Face First by Priscilla Cummings is about a girl and her mother who have been in a bad car accident. The girl has burns to her face and other injuries. She describes the painful experience in both physical and mental terms.
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements tells the story of a boy who becomes invisible. There’s more to this story than meets the eye!
Hoot is a zany book that teaches about ecology. There’s even a DVD for after the book!

Storm Warriors by Elisa Carborne is an adventure novel about real life rescues on the Outer Banks in North Carolina in the 1880′s from the only African-Americans in the US Life Saving Service (which later became the Coast Guard).

Please make reading a part of your child’s summer. Take trips to the library or buy them a few books to get them excited about enjoying one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Savings For The Summer

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Connie

It’s almost that time of year! Summer is fast approaching. The weather may be getting hot, but our budget is still getting hit. With our youngest daughter being off from school we want to find things to do as a family but be as budget conscious as possible.

Free Activities: We love going to the park, having picnics, going to the beach, looking for neighborhood events like children’s fairs, art festivals, etc. Even at free activities, there will be items for sale, so make a budget in advance. If your children are old enough, let them know how much they can spend for themselves.
Low Cost Events: I scan the newspaper and local TV news to learn about discount admissions to museums, movies, state parks, etc.
Free Family Time: Make a normal family time special. If you have a game night, do something new to make it more exciting. Turn it into a tropical theme. Everyone wears bathing suits, put down a some beach towels, find some sand toys and clean sea shells and put on tropical music. Then play your games on your own family beach indoors!
Purchase a 2009 Entertainment Book for half price to get savings on eating out, groceries, movies and much more. If you are taking a vacation, you can purchase one for that area to take along with you and keep the savings going while you’re away.

Involving Your Children in Vacation Plans

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Connie

We are Disney fanatics who are lucky enough to live close to Disney World so we can go quite often. We also are Disney Vacation Club owners so it makes it even easier to vacation there or at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. But after going there every year for two long trips and several short ones for the past 10 years even I want a change.

My daughter is very interested in weather. She watches our local forecast a few times a day and the national one at least once a day. She enjoys seeing the odd weather patterns, like tornadoes, hurricanes, and her all time favorite, snow storms.

Poor child who was born and raised in Florida has never seen snow. She’s been asking for a few years to go somewhere so she can see it for herself. I, my husband and her discussed traveling up to Niagra Falls, New York, NYC and other places where she can take part in new adventures and actually see and feel snow.

We used a map, the internet, and our DVC site to see what hotels we can stay at. We’ve looked at catalogs and websites to find cold weather clothing. I had to explain to her what Icebreaker Clothing is. She helped with all of the planning so it’s become something to really look forward to. She’s also learning the cost of the trip, how long it will take to drive, geography and lots more. We’re still planning as we won’t be able to go until either the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I’ll keep you posted as we continue this journey.

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