Kids Day Out Central Coast
This is Stamp Out’s third year of sponsorship of the Kids Day Out event which was held on the 7th of November 2011.
Now in it’s 11th year, the event is run by dedicated volunteers and has heaps of exciting entertainment throughout the day, many informative stalls and lots of tasty food stands.
Jungle Behaviour game launches
Child behaviour expert Laura Kiln has developed a fun and informative game called Jungle Behaviour for children and parents to play and learn together.
Parents are always on the look out for fun activities with educational components for their children and Jungle Behaviour fits this description perfectly – and is available in time for Christmas.
Jungle Behaviour shows children and their parents how to develop and use strategies to cope with everyday behavioural and emotional issues, as well as ADHD, oppositional behaviour and Aspergers, Laura explained.
Games for the car
If you’ve got lots of car travel to do with kids on board, here are some fun games to keep the kids entertained and happy.
Playdough
Playdough will keep the little kids entertained for hours.
Knead, pound, flatten, roll and squeeze the day away – working with playdough is lots of fun and helps little ones develop fine motor skills. When you throw a rolling pin, some plastic cookie cutters and a few child-friendly kitchen utensils into the mix, you’re set for hours of entertainment.
What is Emotional Resilience?
I once read a wonderful description of what emotional resilience means; emotional resilience is the ability to bungee jump through life. The pitfalls are still there but you are protected from becoming overwhelmed by the elastic bungee cord around your ankles which bounces you back from hard times to safety.
There are many times in children’s lives when this ability helps, whether it’s facing challenges at school or at home, dealing with changes within the family or even moving house and adjusting to a new area.
Family Meetings: Infuriating but Effective
Sonia and Luke came to see me as they felt that they were fighting a losing battle at home with their 3 children, aged between 7 and 13 years old. They reported that everything was an argument between the kids, from who had been on the computer longest, which TV program to watch, bedtimes, chores, who sits in the front of the car and who fed the rabbit last time!
They felt that there was no communication in the house, just shouting.!
Personally I am a great believer in the saying that ‘the family that eats together stays together.’ The amount of people in for dinner in my household can range from just my husband and me, to all four kids, plus any number of the kids friends that are around. No matter how many of us are in for a meal we make sure that we sit down around the table to eat.
However this is easier said than done! Lives are busy; people need to eat at different times due to work/ sports / dancing etc commitments.
Band Aid Parenting
How do you survive the long school holidays?
With my four kids the long holidays were a mixed blessing, on one hand it meant that all the complex organisation of after school activities with the logistical nightmare of finding two of the kids doing different activities at the same time but in different locations, gave way to a relaxed atmosphere with less limits and lazy days.
All that was great for the first week or two, after that came the arguing between each other, over the smallest thing and constant cries of I’m bored, Mum! Around this time I would find myself saying the sorts of things that I remember my Mother saying, I also remembered that I swore I would never say these things. Read the rest of this entry »
ADHD & Aspergers Q&A
Q. I have a child who has Aspergers and we really struggle as a family to help her learn the social skills she needs to make moving to Kindy easier for her. Her elder brother finds her very annoying and is extremely negative towards her, how do I help them both?
A. With families siblings can sometimes find it difficult to accept the differences between them. It is important to help them understand if their brother or sister has special needs. Sometimes it helps to get a clear understanding of your child’s problems and then explain it to their siblings. Remember that it is normal for brothers and sisters to argue! Read the rest of this entry »
Behaviour Problems, common questions answered.
Q. My new Partner and I have moved in together and I have 2 children aged 5 and 7yrs. They have gone from being well behaved to such awful behaviour that I am embarrassed and I am scared that he will change his mind!
A. The key to this one might be the fact that your Partner has moved into your home now and therefore is around more and perhaps the children are feeling threatened or lacking in ‘Mummy attention’. Try to set a time when you spend some time with the children on a one to one basis. Do this regularly, daily if you can, this will help with consistency during this new phase of their life. Kids don’t like sharing Mummy at the best of times, but with a new partner they may resent the attention you give him. If children feel that they are not getting enough positive attention then they go for the negative type instead, any attention from Mummy is better than no attention!
Bad behaviour in public places
Many parents who come to see me are experiencing bad behaviour from their children when they take them out.
Lisa came to me with the problem that trips to the supermarket had become unbearable with her two young sons. They were so badly behaved that she was embarrassed to take them, often leaving early without most of the shopping she needed. Recently she had resorted to going late at night when the boys were in bed.
However she was so exhausted after a day with them that shopping at 10pm was the last thing she felt like doing!
Why do children save their worse behaviour for public places?
