Weekend Watching - The Wiggles, Rock a Bye Your Bear

My sister bought us a Wiggles greatest hit CD which has fast become the girls favorite CD as I may have mentioned previously they are just starting to rock and bop to music when it comes on.

They go crazy for the below song (so does Mum to be honest I have been singing it repeatedly for 3 days I can not get it out of my head!) and whilst they can not yet do the movements when they can it will no doubt be a family dance :-)

Have a watch with your children this weekend and if old enough get them to bow to their partner and rock the bear to sleep.

Happy Play Times :-)

Friday Fun Facts - Presidential Edition

No matter where you are in the world the election campaigns for the United States president could not escape your attention with both parties holding conventions recently.

Therefore this Friday's Fun Facts are dedicated to 'Presidents of the USA'

- Aww moment...  President "Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt" refused to shoot a bear cub one day and an entrepreneur decided to create a stuffed bear in honor of this act and so the beloved teddy bear was created.

- OK a common term in the English language was coined during 'Old Kinderhook' President Van Buren election campaign when he created O.K clubs to support his campaign.

- Six Presidents have been named James - Madison, Monroe, Polk, Buchanan, Garfield, Carter

- WW1 & WW2 President Eisenhower served in the army for both.

- Impressive fact President Garfield could write simultaneously Latin in one hand and Ancient Greek in the other - neat party trick!

- President Hoover went one (or is that two) better than the old White House dog with his sons having two pet alligators 

Share these facts with your children this weekend and give a fun alternative history lesson around the dinner table.

Happy Play Times :-)

Baby Music Classes

Children love music I have posted previously about singing and dancing with my girls (http://happyplayhappychildren.blogspot.sg/2012/06/dance-to-your-childs-tune.html) and of course the gorgeous identical twin girls featured in the Wednesday Warming Moments who found online fame for dancing to Daddy’s guitar (http://happyplayhappychildren.blogspot.sg/2012/09/wednesday-warming-moments-dancing-twins.html)

My girls have loved music even in the womb as we used to listen to the Ipod and they would groove along to their familiar playlist ☺ so music has been a big part of our play from the earliest age. 

And at six months we began to attend baby music lessons. 

**Disclaimer Time** and I am ashamed to admit that before I had children I used to think baby music class was a plain waste of money what would a baby know but now as a mother who is passionate about children playing and having fun I have changed my tune (pun intended) 

We attend a class called Musical Monkeys (http://www.facebook.com/musicalmonkeys) where we sing songs, do dances, explore a new instrument of the week, learn a song in another language and play various instruments (with Mummy’s help) like the shaker, triangle, clickers and finger cymbals. 

Each week as the children get older and through the repetition of activity, which is so important for baby play they have started to respond and get real enjoyment from it.

Music classes are great for:-

Motor skill development as they grab for the shaker or try to bang the cymbal. In fact at our recent class I could of burst with pride as Annabelle was the only baby who used the drumstick on the hand snare (the instrument of the week) to bang all by herself, the only baby to do so!

Social Interaction as children have to get used to being around others, being patient and sharing as each child has a turn at the instrument of the week.

Verbal and language skills are heled through the song component as this teaches your children how to pick up on patterns. It is also much easier to memorize song lyrics than to memorize a string of spoken words. It has been researched that listening to and learning lyrics helps improve early memory skills and brain functions associated with speech.

Mental and physical stimulation the children have to concentrate on learning new things and also using their physical attributes through the dance and play activities (we have very tired babies that are easy to settle for the night after music class afternoon)

You can recreate music classes in your own home with some of these simple tasks.

- Buying some cheap instruments to show and allow the children to play with and/or creating your own with household objects and pan and wooden spoon make for great music time. 

- Playing CD’s where you sing and dance together.

- Singing and acting out nursery rhymes.

- Showing clips on YouTube of songs and dances of other cultures.

I hope this post will help stimulate some ideas you can try and share to bring the joy of music into your child’s life.

Happy Play Times :-)

Wednesday Warming Moments - Dancing Twins

The YouTube viral sensation of the 11 Month Old Twins Dancing to Daddy's Guitar can not do anything but make your heart smile and is therefore the first in our Wednesday's Warming Moments.

Children love music and have such fun it is a great way to play. If you can't play an instrument like this Dad it's ok children love to groove to a CD or even your own voice (may be horrible to you but to your own children it is a great source of entertainment) they have not yet learnt to be discerning.

We will be posting soon on our experience of musical play at our baby music classes so stay tuned.

Warm your own heart and get involved in some musical play with your children today both child and parent will be happier for it. 

Happy Play Times :-)  

Jumping Good Time

A friend yesterday let us borrow her jolly jumper to try out with Annabelle and Scarlett and I must say it is an overwhelming success so far.

I mean check out the pictures below they are what tells a thousand words!

Our children are currently 9 months old this toy can be used from 3 months onwards we were just a little late to the party.

The great thing about a jumper is that it is designed to hold their spine in place and be safe. I find that it it is going to be a great outlet to get all of that pent up energy out that just seems to build at the pre walker stage. And I can tell you from my experience as I am writing this the girls are in a deep morning nap this seems to only happen nowadays when they are worn out!

Other areas that are improved with the jumper are it:-
Develops Motor Skills as they learn to co-ordinate all their movements.
Instills curiosity the kids are fascinated by how it is working and what they can suddenly see all around them from this new vantage point.
Promotes rhythm, we had The Wiggles CD on and I will have to video it and post in the future they were bopping and dancing in time to the music (oh and a tip for mothers I read in the instructions you can put your own exercise DVD on and both you and the baby can get your exercise time in apparently babies love the music and moving in time with you so that is a great way to get a work out in!)

Happy Play Times :-)

PS: If you are interested to learn more check it out on Amazon.

Get Your Shop On

We all know the importance of our children using their imagination and for us as parents to give them the tools and space to use it.

Having my parents visit at the moment has made us take a walk down memory lane and think back to my childhood and the games I would play.

One of the things that whittled hours away and is a great indoor activity or outdoor if you have the space and weather was to play shop.

Because children’s imagination has a basis in reality it is a situation children are exposed to often and they love to play make believe of real situations.

For this game my mum would collect old cereal boxes, laundry powder boxes, wash out bottles etc… and put them away in a play box. My sister and I would then get chairs and tables and set up a grocery store. We would then label prices on the items and Mum made us fake money.

Each of us would take the time to go through and play ‘Mummy’s’ doing the weekly shop and the other would be the shopkeeper.

The benefits to this play are:-

It helps children use their imagination.

It teaches children to understand early good social skills by pretending to be the friendly helpful shopkeeper.

Improve mathematic skills by adding up the totals and giving correct change.

It is free and uses household items you already have.

So start collecting and saving household grocery items today and let your children get their shop on!

Happy Play Times :-)

Weekend Watching - Who Took the Cookie?

I started to sing this to my children the other day as I was feeding them an afternoon snack of milk mixed with rusks (baby biscuit).

So I thought I would share this instructional video as part of the weekend watching series.

Perhaps you may like to play it with your children this weekend!

Happy Play Times :-)