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Keeping Your Child Involved in Winter Sports

Winter doesn’t have to mean the end of sports clubs for your children. In fact, it is much better for them to remain active during the winter months. Winter can bring the onset of the dreaded cold and flu virus. Keeping healthy and active can mean the difference between being really poorly or just having a simple sniffle.

A lot of parents stop their children from doing sports during winter as they think it is too cold. This just invites a lower immunity and more risk of catching things from school or out and about. If you think about it, when your children are busy running around doing sports, they are the ones staying warm. It is the poor parents on the sidelines that feel the effects of the weather.

Occasionally if the venue allows, your child’s sport may be moved indoors. Many sports can be transferred indoors if the weather gets too harsh. Hockey, for example, can be played both indoors and outdoors.

So what sports can your child do during winter?

Football

You may think that football clubs end when the season ends and winter sets in. This is not the case. Children’s clubs will only usually take small breaks over Christmas and the new year. Other than that, they continue all year round. The benefit of a football kit is your child can wear thermals underneath it. A long-sleeved t-shirt and long trousers will fit perfectly under their kit and keep them warm in the colder winter months when they are training. Gloves can also be worn, assuming your child isn’t the goalkeeper when they will be wearing gloves anyway.

Tag rugby

If you don’t think your child is quite ready to play the brutal contact sport that is rugby, why not think about tag rugby instead. Tag rugby involves all the same principles as normal rugby, except children wear long plastic tags that they have to pull off each other. This can again be played all year round, and like football, your child can wear warmer clothes under their kit.

Wrap up warm and enjoy watching your child burn their energy running around the pitch.

Of course, during the winter months, why not take advantage of teaching your children to winter sports. There are many out there, such as snowboarding, for example. There are lots of venues that offer the chance to learn a new winter sport.

Skiing

Children quite often get the hang of skiing rather quickly as they have the core stability and strength needed to do it. Find a place for them to have tuition, and they will be zooming down the slopes in no time at all. The venues contain makeshift snow or fake snow, so they will always be able to do this, even in the summer months, if they want to continue doing so.

Skating

One thing that everyone enjoys during winter, especially around Christmas, is ice skating. All the rinks start advertising, and the pop-up ice rinks start appearing for a short while. If your child enjoys this time of year and has fun skating, why not see if they want to start it as a sport. Ice skating takes a lot of skill and precision and can give them health and fitness skills for life.

We hope you found this article helpful in giving you sport ideas and ways on how you and your children can cope with the cold weather.

 

Crafts With Kids

Quality time with your children can be very fun and relaxing for both of you, but it can also be very educational for your children. You can build interesting, fun things or things that you need around the house with little to no money.

Your children will learn how to recycle and re-use things that you already have.

Here are some craft ideas that will keep all of you entertained:

Create personalized dolls from yarn

If you don’t find yarn, you can use the filling from an old pillow. You can add hand-made clothes, buttons instead of eyes, you can use old pieces of material to add hair and paint to create personalized features. This not only allows you to make toys for a smaller price, but it allows your child to use their imagination and choose exactly how they want their doll to look like. Here is a basic tutorial to get you started.

Work on Christmas decorations

Even if it does not feel like it, Christmas is just a few months away. Christmas or Halloween decorations can be very expensive, especially if you buy them in season. Why not save a buck and have fun with your family?

You can use cardboard, colorful paper, glitter and fake snow to create interesting decorations for your Christmas tree. You can get inspired from here and improvise, as you get more skilled.

Grow your own plants

All children are interested in nature, and growing their own plants or fruits can be a fun and educational experiment. Depending on where you live, you can pick seeds from the fruits and vegetables you have around the house and let them sprout. Make sure to put them in nice vessels in a place with natural sunlight, and teach your child to be responsible and water them whenever is needed.

Use what you would normally throw

Empty rolls of toilet paper can be decorated, painted and glued so they can be turned into robots. Empty bottles can be cut (with help from an adult), and turned into bird feeders. Cardboard boxes can easily become doll-houses or small cars.

This will not only save you some money when it comes to craft supplies, but it will also teach your child how important it is to use whatever you have available and be creative. Too many toys are bought and then forgotten in the corner of a room.

Courtesy Of AGS Scientific

All About MommyHood

Being a mom is special. In an instant, you create a life-long connection with someone who will be forever part of you. It is, indeed, a wild journey; there are times when you feel on top of the world, and moments when you feel that you cannot go on. Here are the things that no one told you about:

It’s normal to feel sad

Yes, really. Baby blues and post-natal depression are very common, even if not many parents talk about it. You have to adapt to an entirely new life, not to mention that your body is going through many changes and a roller coaster of hormones. If you combine this with sleepless nights and the feeling that your time does not belong to you anymore, it is understandable why you feel this way.

It will go away and things will improve from month to month, but don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.

It takes a village

Many people around you are willing to help, starting from your close family to your friends and even co-workers. Whenever you need a break, ask them to stay with your child for a few hours. Even if you don’t need immediate assistance with something, you can feel relieved if someone is helping you with your chores or small things around the house.

It takes a village to grow up a child, and you should build this village around you and accept all the help you can get.

Everything will pass

There are times when you face more challenges than usual; your baby might have a growth spurt, you may be very busy with work or there could be weeks without you getting a full night of sleep. It does feel overwhelming and you don’t know when you will have your life back.

Here’s the good news: it will all pass. In a few months you will be in a completely different stage of your life and you will completely forget about these negative emotions. It gets better and better!

The only opinion that matters is your own

We know how many advices you get when you are a parent. There are people telling you how to put them to sleep, how to feed them, what medicine to use or not and a million of other things. The majority of these opinions come from a good place, but this does not mean that you have to follow them if they don’t feel right.

You know what’s best for your child and what matches your expectations and goals. Trust your instincts!

Tips For Travelling With Kids

Travelling is supposed to be relaxing, and a good opportunity to connect with your family and forget about your daily problems. On the other hand, when kids are involved, the entire thing can prove to be a bit more stressful. It definitely requires more preparation, but nothing that can’t be handled with some useful tricks.

Leave when your child is well rested

If you can choose the time when you leave for your trip, try to avoid the times when your child should be sleeping. Many people believe that to leave during night or during sleeping times is easier, but in reality, many children will not sleep in the car or airplane. This means you will have a fussy, tired and hyper-stimulated child to handle, which is not fun for any of you.

When your child is well rested, they can find something interesting to do during travel and they will not have tantrum from exhaustion.

Bring some new entertainment

Of course, it is important to bring their favorite toy, but you should also think about some new ones. This will keep them busy for a while and it will give you all the chance to do something fun together, like reading a new story or playing a car game.

Even with new games and entertaining stories, they might get fussy after a while, which brings us to the next tip.

Take breaks as often as you can

This is important to keep in mind, especially if a road trip is included in your vacation. Adults tolerate boredom in a better way compared to children, but you can’t expect the little one to stay still for hours and hours. Take a break every couple of hours and make sure that they take a few steps around.

Also, let them know in advance how much time is left until the next stop (adapted to their language, of course).

Don’t rely on treats and snacks

When you travel, it’s easier to rely on foods that are not necessarily healthy. While it may be convenient for you, it can be an issue for your child. It will not keep them satisfied and the last thing you want is to have a bored child with a sugar load. When possible, bring healthy alternatives from home; cookies that you baked yourself, mess-free fruits, lemonade or natural juice instead of soda.