Playtime is Crucial for Growth Development

Posted on | by KD Novelties
We don’t see a messy room we see growth development!

As a child, playtime is sacred. In early grades, it is one of the more cherished parts of the school day and sometimes kids would rather play than go to sleep or do their homework. Playtime may seem like downtime, but it can actually play an important role in a child’s early development. From the time that they are infants and toddlers and up and onward, allowing kids with ample time to play can help bolster their imagination, their creativity and even their problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

Babies learn by interacting with the physical world around them. They touch, feel and explore objects. At this age, children play with items and the space around them in order to understand it, so you can see why playtime is so vital at this stage. This is why many toys are geared towards introducing kids to colors, shapes and numbers. Since children cannot yet communicate through language, they learn by seeing, feeling, interacting and even tasting – hence the desire to drool and gnaw on everything they get their little hands on!

Older children can benefit greatly from playtime as well, but it helps to make distinctions between types of play. Media can be informative and imaginative, but parents should still try to limit screen time so children can exercise their own personal modes of creativity and ingenuity. Whether children are reading a physical book, playing pretend, or reenacting a story with dolls and action figures, they are fueling their activities with ideas that are their own. This sort of playtime can allow children to explore their interests and even learn more about themselves. It is also not uncommon for favorite playtime activities to become lifelong hobbies and passions for music, art, creative writing, or acting.

Legos provide hours of spatial reasoning

Encouraging kids to play allows them to learn things naturally and organically. Playing with blocks allows kids to develop spatial reasoning and an understanding of engineering and physics. Writing or reading stories helps critical thinking skills and abstract concept understanding. Acting can help with communication and expression, and sports or other activities can help kids excel in other physical arenas. There are so many possibilities for education and personal development when it comes to playtime. Encourage your children to play, to invent, to play pretend, and to help them learn more about themselves and inspire a curiosity in the world around them, that will live on in their imagination well after they’ve “grown up”.

For more parenting resources be sure to subscribe to the KD Novelties Blog so you don’t miss an update and check out our website for personalized books for kids that can be a part of playtime or quiet time.

Keep the Kiddos Engaged During their School Break

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Now that the Christmas break is winding down for some, here are 3 quick tips to work in reading and critical thinking (if you haven’t done so) with the kids while off from school.

Keep Reading!

A Book is a gift you can open again and again

It can be easier than you think to make reading relevant during the holidays. You don’t have to give your kids assignments or ask them to write up a book report when they’re done. Reading over the break can be fun, and you can work in some quality family time as well.

Since it is the holiday season, it seems like a no brainer to read holiday themed books throughout the season, but make it a family activity.  The holidays are about family and spending time with one another, so you can incorporate reading into these cherished moments that you can remember for every future holiday to come. You can read aloud to your children, have them read to you, or do a mix of both!

But remember, you don’t have to stick to holiday related books. You can make other traditions and memories by sharing a book series with your children and reading the next installment each year or any other sort of rendition to this idea.

Aside from sharing books with your children, you can also gift them books as well! Personalized books can help reluctant readers garner interest in the act of reading, but they make great gifts for any child as well! To help keep kids engaged, you can have them write as well. Ask them to write out a holiday adventure, ask them to write thank you cards to family members that brought gifts or have them write in a journal about their holiday experience to have as a keepsake.

Take a Trip
Going on educational field trips is also a great way to make sure that kids keep learning and having fun over the summer, but this activity can easily be adjusted to meet the holiday season as well. Visit a museum or science center, or simply incorporate educational games into holiday trips if you will be busy traveling to see family. Ask kids to read license plates, try to spot some from as many states as you can! Have your kids read signs and try to help with navigation. See what landmarks they remember to and from your destination. Teach them about the places you are going and try to look up interesting facts about your town, family members’ towns and other locales you may visit over the break.

Take Some Time Away From Screens
Making sure that mobile devices are off for a good period of time will help ensure that your kids are engaged with family activities instead of being engrossed in the web, an app or anything else. But you don’t have to ban them entirely. If your kids play on a phone, tablet or computer, try to encourage that they play educational games and keep their screen time to a minimum. You can help to encourage this by having plenty of other activities available such as reading, family game time, cooking, and anything else you might do over the holidays.

We encourage these tips throughout the year, however, most importantly, when kids are off from school, because they are home and easier to incorporate lots of activities throughout the day instead of the normal school routine.

Most of all let them have fun but make sure it’s productive fun.

From our family to yours Have a Happy and Wonderful New Year!  See you all in 2016!

New Personalized Numbers Book in the I See Do You See? Educational Series

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Personalized Counting Book

Knowing your numbers is important, especially for kids who are still building their intellectual toolboxes. Numbers are essential for math, of course, but they are also one of the basic building blocks of basic communication which can help when you are trying to offer information or receive it.

Among learning their colors and letters, numbers are one of the basics when it comes to childhood education and our newest personalized book can help kids learn their digits in a fun and personal way. With I See Do You See? Numbers your child can embark on a thrilling adventure with their furry friend Fifel to find numbers using animal recognition.

Books are incredibly interactive and versatile tools for learning, so introducing children to books as early on as possible is essential. Literacy is essential to learning, especially since there is so much knowledge in books.  I See Do You See? Numbers is a personalized book that sets your child at the center of their own adventure – learning numbers 1 through 10 has not been more exciting! By incorporating literacy and other visual cues such as animal recognition, kids are bolstering their brain power in many different ways, and it is all happening in a creative and imaginative way.

I See Do You See? Numbers

Personalized books also add another interesting element to the mix. If your child happens to be a reluctant reader, seeing their name in print or hearing it when read aloud may help to spark their interest. Books are highly interactive, but for a lot of children they may not pose enough initial interest  and may see the endeavor as a lot of work, especially if they do not quite know how to read or cannot read very well. Encouraging kids to read through a more personal avenue, may make them more likely to pick up a book and dive into it on their own. Self-actualization is important for some kids – if they get the idea that something is possible and imagine themselves accomplishing it, they are more likely to try and learn how to get better at it until they can actually achieve it.

Encourage your kids to learn their numbers by setting them on an adventure with Fifel in “I See Do You See? Numbers.”

For our other books in the “I See Do You See? Series check out our alphabets personalized book starring your child and Fifel in an alphabet adventure.