For one, you should consider whether the bed should be replaced. Do you have two children in one room? If so, how about fitting a bunk bed? For many kids, this can be a fun and exciting addition to a room plus it will save on space! Another way to save space using a bed is by purchasing one with built in drawers.
Better Organization
You could also make a child’s bedroom more spacious by better organizing items such as through keeping more of their toys and objects at a height, particularly those that are used less. Vertical storage is also a great way to save on space.
Walls
How about the walls? You may want to repaint the room or add fresh layers of wallpaper. It’s preferable to have light welcoming colors in a child’s bedroom whether it is aqua, beige, yellow, light green or sea blue. It might also interest you to have stickers added to the walls such as of your children’s favorite TV shows or video games. Kids can of course be picky so for anything specific like this it might be best to involve them in the conversation first! My daughter is obsessed with pink, so for now we went with pink decorations.
Lightning
When it comes to lighting, a bedroom should feature three types of lighting; general, task and accent. General lighting provides the majority of the room’s illumination. Examples of this type of lighting are ceiling-mounted lights and LED down lights. As for task lighting, examples include table lamps and pendants lights while wall sconces are a popular form of accent lighting.
You might also like to have color and brightness adjustable smart lights added to the bedroom. These can be set to change in accordance with the time of day so that it can make it easier for your children to fall asleep in the evening time.
Flooring
What about the flooring? Perhaps you’d like to fit new carpet to create a soft underfoot and add to the environment in general. Timber floorboards may be too harsh or formal for a child’s bedroom. Further, the cost of carpet fitting is relatively low and it’s easy to find in a wide range of different colors. This way you can find the perfect look for your child’s bedroom!
As you can see, there are many ways you can remodel a kid’s bedroom. Keep an open mind, and consider your budget options and requirements. Then do some shopping around to find the perfect fittings and appliances! Do you have any redecoration ideas for kids to share with us?
Kids are miracles which is why every parent can tell you at least 5 amazing things about their child from the top of their head. We love them so much that we would without any second of doubt push our partner in front of the bullet to save our child.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to strangle them every once in a while. Every good parent knows that the key to staying sane is balance.
The main thing that puts my balance and sanity in question is rainy days. They are bored, they don’t know what they want to do, every suggestion you make is not the correct one, and you just want to have a lazy day but there is no way that could happen.. On a sunny day or even on a cloudy day you can take them out of the house, let them run wild and watch with glee as they become tired so you can have your peace and quiet. No hope of that when the rain decides to join the party.
Activities for a rainy day with a toddler
So what can you do to keep your sanity on a rainy day with a toddler and keep them busy at the same time? Sadly, taking a sip of wine every time your toddler says mom is not one of the approved activities.
Finger painting
All-time favourite in this house is finger painting. First thing first, take a garbage bag and cut it with scissors along one side and create a protective cover. You will need this. The paint will end up everywhere, and when I say everywhere I mean everywhere.
Now give them some paper, paint and let them enjoy it. Not only you are helping them discover their creativity, but this is an extremely calming opportunity for you too. You can even make your own finger paint and put everyone to shame. Or you can buy it and still say that you made it by yourself. I will let you decide for yourself which option I choose.
Playing with water
Water play is another win. Again take our precious garbage bag and protect everything that needs protecting. Fill the bowl with a bunch of shower gel or shampoo and water to create foam. Pop in some toys inside and show your toddler how to wash them. This ensures at least 30 minutes of fascinating playtime.
Building
Building is one more activity that will never get boring. Gather all the legos or bricks that you have and let them discover their inner architect. Or if you are in my house, let your kid discover their inner demolisher. Her favourite thing is to wait until I finish building my masterpiece and then she channels Godzilla and destroys everything.
Who cares about the rain – let’s go out!
But even though my toddler likes all of these activities her favourite thing is still to put on a raincoat and wellies and go look for puddles. No, you are not taking your kid out in the rain, you are teaching them physics. Every action has a reaction. You jump in the puddle, water splashes out. Physics, didn’t I tell you?
If you are interested in more indoor activities for a rainy day with a toddler, check out our old blog post with a bunch of ideas!
Though it’s the beginning of the official summer, ironically, we have been experiencing the most extended summer vacation, probably a bit too long for our likings. At the beginning of the semester, no one in their right mind could have possibly envisioned the extent of this uninvited hiatus. Right now, no one can project the end of this unofficial makeshift vacation as well, parents are coming up with ways to study at home since children are released from active school duties.
But, since every cloud has a silver lining, this supposed summer break, however improbable it may seem, can be used for something good. Many parents, who are understandably worried about the loss of must-needed opportunities to travel or to engage themselves into family fun, are now contemplating new ways to study at home to expedite their children to learn more, maybe even outside the realm of their stipulated course work.
I am sure many of you have already incubated ideas about how you can seize the full might of your children into worthwhile vacation-spending activities. Still, you can look into my seven fun ways to absorb your children into studying at home during this summer vacation:
1. Planning A Vacation In A Historical Place Of Interest:
Don’t get on cloud nine just yet thinking the pandemic has finally come to an end. Instead, consider it as a folly, to achieve two things.
The first can be diverting your children’s gloom to something joyous, prompting them to remind that shortly, however late it may arrive, the pandemic indeed would come to an end. So, it’s just an exercise of how efficiently you can indulge yourself in future planning.
The second aspect of this planning, a future trip to a place of historical interest, is what I am after. And I also want you to consider thoughtfully.
Request your children to make a plan for a future trip for their liking. Tell them to find out everything they can about that place. They can go online, read books about that place, see YouTube videos, or watch documentaries if they feel necessary. Also request them to pinpoint the most critical area of their future itinerary, why that place is significant, where you can stay when you go there, how much money it would cost – I mean everything they can think of importance about that place which would be necessary to know beforehand.
I hope you are on the same page as me now. When and if the children commit to this innovative project of yours, they will learn all the historical facts, geographical wonders, cultural diversities of that place – in short, the project would be a great fun project to learn history, geography, and hospitality management.
2. Teach Math – In A Way They Never Knew Possible:
This summer vacation can be an excellent time for you to invent new ways to study at home while honing your children their math skill. You see, not only teachers or the primary texts, but you and your monthly household expenditures can be great teachers for your children to teach mathematics.
Every month you have to spend more or less the same amount of money for the family as groceries. Then there is fish, meat, vegetables, etc. I mean, you know what you have to buy for the rest of the family, and you know what grocery shopping will cost you. You can more or less assume the weight as well. And of course, you know how much you are earning every month, though you don’t have to disclose the amount.
Now you assign the duty of grocery shopping to your child. Tell him or her to make a list first. Show them the freezer section, the kitchen where the imperishable items are usually are stored away. Tell them about the brands, the price fluctuation with product differentiation, in terms of money the difference between prime cut ribs or sirloin steaks – in summary, you tell them about the whole grocery shopping you usually do for the family in any particular month.
After the on-job training, assign your children the responsibility of formulating a budget for the upcoming month. Also, they need to stash away some cash for the rainy days as well. And let them know the available amount they can spend.
If you can pursue the children to go through the news ways to study at home, believe it or not, the children will learn many things. Your kids will learn how to add, multiply, subtract, or extrapolate. They will also learn the value of money and the importance of saving. They will develop a lot of respect for you while going through the whole process.
3. Train Them To Be A Physical Trainer:
The complicated modern way of life demands every breathable part you can engage in. Our young ones are not an exception to that. Daily attendance, weekly quizzes, assignments, grades, peer pressure – they also have a lot to deal with.
So unless your child is the regular fixture of the School Soccer team, you and your child both are likely in terrible physical shapes. So the summer vacation you are going to have this year, make it a promise for you and for your child that you are not going to have another bad-health-day in your life by adopting new ways to exercise at home.
There are over millions of free training regimes available online – you can print them, or you can stream them. So after a bit of research with your child, select a trainer or a fitness center to follow and then start following them for real. There are many little hidden gems inside a detailed training program that is well-researched and can make the physical change you want. So, your child’s physique will not only get a right push in the right direction, but he or she will also learn many vital details about general well-being scenarios.
4. Make Them A Reader:
From the moment you knew for the first time that you were going to be a mom or a dad, you probably have read for the millionth of time about the importance of raising a reader. And they all were written for valid reasons. It is a fact that you can’t overstate the importance of reading.
Excellent and jolly good! But how are you going to rope them in to new ways to study at home without being overtly patronizing? First, do it yourself and let them see it. Never miss a bedtime story-telling opportunity or making a subtle condescension about any particular book. When they are in, and surely they will be – because every child loves mimicking their first real-life superheroes – make books available all the time.
But for this summer, be a bit of an honest manipulator. If the next year’s school curriculum is possibly full of science-heavy, get books were accessible, funny, and easy-to-do experiments are described vividly. If your child doesn’t see anything unusual in Physics or Chemistry, like he or she is never going to be a science-buff, gather literary classics as much as your abode can provide space for. If your kid is a handyman with his or her hands, make DIY books available.
In short, let them direct towards their path, about which they might have not yet been sure.
5. Get The Greens Grown By Your Kids:
I can add nothing new about gardening, which you probably don’t know already. Gardening can be used as one of the ways to study at home for your kids. So, just let me tell you how you can get the children to be active in gardening this summer.
It’s simple – you do gardening at first. Let them show how you make the little piece of land around the house, giving the greens that are on your table – during lunch or dinner. No matter what type of vegetable you have grown or how little the quantity is – make a big deal about it, let everyone know what a great job you have done. That should be enough to lure them in. As I mentioned earlier, every child imitates their parents unknowingly. So, you have got a high chance of having them with you shortly.
So, when children start gardening, they will know many things about the natural environment. They will know about the density of the soil; they will learn about earthworms or roundworms, and in general, many other things that would be directly beneficial for achieving a good grade in biology.
6. Encourage Them To Be A Writer:
I can give at least two ideas about how you are going to get your children to be a writer.
First, announce giving a prize every two days to the best logbook writers of the house. Let everyone know that everything is permissible, and anyone can write about absolutely anything they want to write. Never whine about the length or the grammar – as long as you can get the writer’s thought no matter how slight the way he or she has written – the entry in the competition is granted. The only disqualifying incident will be copying – from anywhere.
Another way to inspire about writing is to encourage them to compile a book of favorite recipes of the family members. It worked for my 12 years old who started collecting recipes from her grandmother – in her logbook, with little drawings and incoherent descriptions about the cooking process. But whatever the end product looked like, the thing got her into writing.
You can try this as well.
7. Encourage To Embark On A Project Of Their Own:
This is an idea to instill a sense within your child. Encourage them about starting a project of their own. It can be anything – like learning origami. The Internet is full of ideas that can be implemented during this ‘stay-home’ summer vacation. All you need is to encourage your child to find their ‘niche’ and embark upon it.
There you go – my seven fun ways about how to study at home during this year’s summer vacation.
I sincerely hope you enjoy my writing and find the ideas helpful.
We all know how birthdays are important to kids. As a parent, you spend countless hours on the internet looking for the perfect cake design. If your child, niece, or nephew is about to celebrate their birthday, and they are unicorn fans, consider getting them a unicorn birthday cakes for their birthday.
Planning Unicorn Birthday Party
When you are throwing your daughter a unicorn-themed birthday party, make sure to incorporate other unicorn themes, such as pastel-colored balloons and rainbow streamers. You can also give your little guests, little jars of glitters to sprinkle to play in the garden and you will have them screaming with happiness. The party would not be complete without a unicorn piñata.
Make sure that the dessert table is filled with unicorn designed treats, such as donuts, cupcakes with unicorn horns, and cookies. You can also buy your daughter a unicorn dress. To make the party more fun, ask you minnie guests to dress up in a unicorn theme, or give them a unicorn headband when they come to get them in the party mood. You can also install a face painting booth, where the kids can get painted in the colors of the rainbow and glitters.
And don’t forget to keep your little party of guests hydrated due to too much play. The party wouldn’t be complete without pink-colored juice. Also, keep your adults entertained with pink cocktails; even adults love a bit of magic.
My daughter loves unicorn, and I do too. I went online looking for the perfect unicorn birthday cakes design, I loved many, but everyone has favorites. I narrowed down to 15 of the most amazing birthday cakes, which I have shared below with you.
Unicorn birthday cake with buttercream icing and merengue sea shells details by One by One Cake
Instead of buying a ready-made cake, you can make your unicorn birthday cake, but make sure to practice baking and decorating several times before making the final cake. Putting in the work and baking the cake for your daughter makes it more special. You can opt to take cooking classes to eliminate the hustle of learning baking on your own.
After having settled the cake issue, you can proceed to make other party arrangements such as sending out invitations, making other snacks, and always have a backup plan since not everything goes as planned.
If you have more ideas on how to make a unicorn-themed birthday party more fun, kindy share in the comments.
We are living in a strange period where we are forced to stay at home as much as possible. It was/is weird and difficult but it has also presented us with ample time to reconnect with our families as well as invent new fun activities to fill our time.
There were just so many wonderful toddler books, but we had to shorten the list. Most of them were my picks, but I especially love it when my daughter picks out the story, based on the cover or description. So, as you can imagine, our collection of children’s storybooks is getting bigger and bigger every day.
There are so many new children publications from 2020 packed with knowledge, and with such positive and uplifting stories. They have me drooling to snuggle up with my little one as we read these beautiful books.
Here are some of the best toddler books 2020 to read out loud to your children:
The renowned speaker and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dalai Lama, shares with us some of his childhood memories. As a young child, his mother taught him the importance of compassion and kindness.
Grandma’s garden teaches children to respect and celebrate family and traditions. While some people pass down furniture or jewelry to their children, Grandma Dorothy passes down her love for nature and gardening. This book is a celebration of the bond and memories that are cultivated across generations as we do things we love together.
This is a sequel to Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave. It is a reminder to all children to make a difference in the world.
The latest book by Jessica Hische is a reminder to both the young and the old to be kind to one another. It encourages empathy, compassion, as well as the development of social-emotional skills in children. This one was one of my favorites from my list of best toddler books 2020.
This is a true story of a seven-year-old, Sophie Spencer, who was fascinated by all things bugs, such as ants and fireflies. However, other kids did not share her hobby; thus, they bullied her until she stopped sharing her interests. But, a group of women scientists rallied around her and encouraged her to pursue her passion. This beautiful story encourages children to embrace and pursue their curiosities in the face of resistance.
Wishing on a Star is a beautiful and insightful children’s storybook. The story is made of breathtaking images of vibrant characters in an African American family. It is perfect for families who are expecting as it highlights the emotions involved with bringing a new life into the world.
This is an inspiration picture book, which encourages children throughout the world not to be afraid to dream. It also tells the children to help others, speak, and stand for what is right.
Through pictures and short stories, it also encourages them to take time to enjoy the simple pleasure of the world and be comfortable in their own skin. It encourages kids to dream and try new things.
Reading to your child is essential as it helps in developing a strong bond. It also expands their vocabulary and thirst for knowledge. The above books are fun and diverse and will keep your child entertained.
What are your best toddler books 2020? Share in the comments section!
Reading aloud to your children is an important and enjoyable activity for both the child and the parent. Studies suggest that reading to children enhances a child’s vocabulary, literary skills, concentration, and brain development. A child is also more likely to perform better at school if they develop a culture of reading at a tender age.
As a parent, you are the most influential educator in your child’s life. You can start reading to your child even before they are born, as they can recognize their parent’s voices. You can browse the internet for the best books to read to your toddlers. It is never too early to start a reading culture in your home.
Discussed below are some of the reasons why you should read to your child:
1. Reading To Children Helps In Developing Empathy
When you are reading a story to your child, you characterize yourself in the story. This allows you to identify with the lives of the others as well as their feelings. Your child can also use this understanding to empathize with other people’s feelings in the community. Reading helps children to develop a deeper connection with their emotions. You will also find that their ability to socialize with other children is improved.
2. Creates A Strong Bond Between The Child And The Parent
Reading to your children every day strengthens your relationship. Your child has something to look forward to at the end of the day. Even if you have a busy schedule, take the time to read a bedtime story to your child. This assures them of your love and attention, which is vital for their overall wellbeing.
3. Enhances Their Vocabulary
When you read out loud to your child, they can pick up words and phrases that are not in their everyday conversation. If you read to your child daily, their pool of vocabulary is expanded. Reading is essential for children speaking more than one language as it sharpens their language skills. It also enhances their fluency.
4. Enhances Your Child’s Concentration
Start with stories that are more pictures and fewer words in children between 0-3 years. Your child will focus on the images while listening to your words. Make reading a regular and consistent habit, especially during bedtime. As time goes by, you will notice that your child can concentrate for more extended periods before dozing off. Reading will be helpful when they start school since they can concentrate for more extended periods.
5. Improves Your Child’s Creativity And Imagination
It is fascinating how your child’s imagination grows once you get them hooked to a story. Sometimes they will try to guess what happens next as they create new characters for the story.
The most exciting thing is watching how your child’s eyes light up as they anticipate what happens on the next page.
Conclusion
Introduce a reading culture in your home, and you will not be worried about the negative of screen time among your children. This is because every time they are bored, instead of switching on the TV, they will grab a storybook. Win-win situation!
