Get Ready for winter: Must Have Games at home

With rain, snow and cold weather luring round the corner, how about getting ready for the times you cannot go out. Kids cannot get enough time outdoors, so how do we keep kids busy? Here are some games that you can add to your home toy/game collection. I would call them the must haves for a fun family time at home. I have all of them, and we enjoy playing for sure. Keep those digital devices away and enjoy your family time together.

I have tried some on a 4 year old, and she can tag along and play, which means it works for all kids 4 and above. Adults are no exclusion.

* Jenga 

* Pictionary Game

* Electronics kit

* Uno

* Cards

* Ludo or Snakes and Ladders

 * 15 Puzzle Game

Build your vocabulary with Scrabble

Practice site words with Scrabble

Sorting and Ordering cards by numbers, colors, type

Ludo helps with counting and colors

Reading : Make it a habit, give them the blessing

“Your mind is your library of what you read.” 

― Lailah Gifty Akita

I did write a post sometime back on how reading helps all kids to learn and grow. If the kid is small and does not know how to read, that is not an excuse, all parents, siblings or anyone at home can read to them. I have a lot of parents ask me how to make it a habit, or how did I do it? Creating a habit just takes couple of dedicated days to make anything happen. If you start reading for a week at the same time, kids will ask for it on the 8th day, so there you go, a good habit in place and that is for a lifetime. I am not just preaching but have tried that on our girls.

We used to read to Nishka who is 6 now, and she can read to herself now. She also reads to the younger one. They read together, or we read together as family. Nishka has transitioned from toddler books, picture books to chapters and more. She knows fiction, non-fiction and is eager to pick up books in the library and knows what her genre of  likes/dislikes are. She also writes analysis about some books on what she understood, and that helps with crititcal thinking practice. Now don't get me wrong, but just one liners for the start, middle and end of the book helps with thinking on what was read, and gives good writing practice. I would say that is a good set of achievement for a 6 year old. 

Navya on the other hand is almost 4, and does not know how to read by herself yet. We are in the process of making her and independent reader, and that takes time and dedication. All we do is ask her to get the books she wants and we read for her. Most of her books are picture books and she loves looking at them. She also tries to read to us, like the way we do, and explains them, or I should say tires to explain. This is not exceptional for any kid, but is a habit in place and will help her with reading though out her life

Do check these to see how they read:

Navya tries to read

Nishka does a quick read on bats

Mom's delima behind a kids lunch box

Who all worries about what to pack for lunch for the next day? I do and I am sure you all do too. I try to avoid school lunch, because I know what I make for them is way better than what they get at school, and is all worth the time I spent on it.

Here are some tips before I share the lunch box pictures. This has worked well for me, and hope it does for you too.

• Do not repeat!  You know how easy it is for kids to get bored and skip lunch. You can plan ahead for a weeks meal to get started with, and then stick to a 2 week plan. 
• Read the school lunch menu and try to get something that works best for you and you kids along the same lines. This will help with their question of "Why don't I get the school lunch like my friends"
• It is absolutely "OK" to give them a small portion of chips(no full bags, not event the smallest bag) or half a cookie or chocolate milk as a treat, they will relish it.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce, German Chocolate Cake and Watermelon

Chinese Style egg noodles with carrots and peas, Fried Egg, Pineapples and Strawberries

Pre Baked Chicken Nuggets, Sesame Bun with Cheese, Cucumbers and Strawberries 

Roasted Corn with baked chicken, cucumber(dusted with chaat masala),  Lychee and Probiotic Drink

Whole Wheat Sandwich with Cream Cheese, Avocado and Egg, Oranges and Cucumber

Inspire and Aspire

All of us are different! but all moms can and do relate to things from other moms. I do that too. I feel what every other mom could be going through, and try to fill in for "Walking in someones shoe". Every mom goes through the feeling of and weighing for your kids happiness along with yours. It is hard, but we all have been thought it and will pass with flying colors all the time. Just trust yourself, and do not judge yourself, and everything will be fine.

I had been wanting to write about a couple of thank you notes that I have been getting since I started this blog. Some notes are vocal while others are written directly to me, but I would like to thank everyone who has helped me be here, and like all of you, I do Aspire to a lot of things around me done by all of you.

Since you all are different but special in many ways, keep inspiring!

Here are some:

Thanks for the long list of baby items

Just wanted to let you know I also have two kids, 6 and 5 and work full time. Life is too busy, but i get motivated looking at your posts.

Inspired by you, I got finally time to create my blog, please let me know how it is.

My food habit has changed by eating along with you, and I am happy about it.

Natural Forests - Explore even more

Its almost end of summer, and are you running out of ideas to keep kids busy? All summer long, did you make a trip to the National Parks, if not, its the right time. End your summer the right way, and give your kids a happy note to make a jump start to a great school year.

Half Dome at Yosemite national park

National Park Services is celebrating its 100th anniversary on August 25, 2016. We all can celebrate it together by visiting any of the national parks from August 25 - August 28th for FREE, yes it is absolutely free at the entrance.

Do you have a 4th grader? It is even better in that case. Every 4th grader get a free entrance pass to all the national parks for a year, and every kid in a park has made it possible. Enjoy while they go to 4th grade.

As a family we love to make trips to National Parks. It is just something that neither can be experienced at home watching it as a show, nor can it be experienced while listening to someones experience. You have to visit it to experience it! We have a long list of national parks to visit, but as a family we made our first trip when Nishka was 3 and Navya just 9 months . Nothing is hard (thats the most heard excuses of all), its just the will to explore. Here are some pictures from the trips we have made. Hope you have a fun trip to any National Parks and do share how it was.

Tunnel View at Yosemite national park

Mirror Lake at Yosemite national park

Bridal Veil at Yosemite national park

Watching the Merced River flow at Yosemite national park

Wonder how tall the trees are at Yosemite national park

There are infinite possibilities, all you have to do is is plan and make it happenWatching the Merced River flow at Yosemite national park

Crafty Kids: Home Depot Kids Workshop

Kids and Crafts go hand in hand. It gives them ways to explore things beyond reality. It lets their imagination go far and beyond what we think they could, and ofcourse it is a lot of fun for both parents and kids. To top that off, it is a time to bond with your kid and have a good family time.

With that in mind, I do let my daughters do a lot of craft at home and of course they do plenty in schools too. However one of my fav places to go to is Home Depot Kids Workshops. They have special themed kids workshops, first Saturday of the month, and we always look forward to it. I sign up as soon as we are done with one. All you do is sign-up and show up at home depot at 9:00 am. They will take care of the rest. At the end you get to take home the craft you built, a certificate and a badge(a little token to show-off)

 I have had great experiences there as they try to accommodate all the kids that show up. The workshops are theme based, and they will have something for all the kids to work on even if they run out of the original themed craft materials. One shutout to Home Depot for doing it, and making all the kids excited to learn and explore.

PS: We made out Fathers Day Trophy here :)

Fun Summer Reading

Summer is a time when kids are off School for a longer duration, and finding the right thing to do is always a challenge to all parents. I tired to do some research and see what is available out there for reading as I already want kids to read and be read and how much it helps them to learn and grow. I signed all 4 kids at home, that includes a pre-schooler, 1st grader and 6th grader to READ FOR THE WIN. For kids who like to read, its fun to read and win something for reading, but I liked the way this program caters to pre-schoolers too. All you have to do is fun actives with your Pre-schooler like reading, dancing, walking, drawing and earn points for doing so. It just tells us how small things make the biggest difference in life.

My kids are already having fun reading, have you signed up yet for your kids @READ FOR THE WIN.