Tag: KD Novelties

Planning a Kid Friendly Road Trip

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Going anywhere with children in tow can be challenging. Making sure that everyone is well behaved, taken care of and thoroughly entertained is enough to deter any parent from going on a trip with kids period, but there are ways to plan outings and make them easier to manage. Making some small adjustments and keeping things in mind can make road-trips a possibility again, plus everyone can have fun and enjoy themselves in the meanwhile.

Pack on the Snacks

No road trip is truly road-ready until there are snacks on board. Make sure to pack some treats as well as healthy snacks to help make sure everyone is satiated and happy. Kids can get testy when hungry or tired, and any length of time in a car can feel like forever to someone young. By making sure that you have an ample amount of snacks, you can rest easy knowing that kids will be comfortable and content for the length of your ride.

Small snacks are best, especially if you plan on making pit stops at restaurants or other places along the way. Pack small baggies full of bite-sized fruit, pretzels, or even make little finger sandwiches that are fun to eat and are less likely to make a mess in the car.

Plan Accordingly

It not only helps to know where you’re going, but where you can stop along the way. Look for landmarks, shops, or lookouts that may pepper the route to your destination. Not only can these fun detours add to your vacation experience, but they can provide your family with some time to take a break from driving, get up and stretch, and make any long drives seem shorter. Even if stopping off for a bite to eat or to check out a roadside attraction actually adds time to your trip, kids have a different perception of time and are prone to getting bored or frustrated on long car rides, especially if they aren’t able to get up and move around. By planning fun little stops, you can add more fun to the journey itself, making breaks more enjoyable and your trip more memorable overall.

Ready for Anything

Before heading out, make sure that you have everything packed. It definitely helps to ensure that you have all of your essentials and some other necessities in case of emergency, but when it comes to packing for a long trip with children, you may need a few backup items.

In addition to having your clothes, first aid kit and other items, you may also want to pack a few toys, books, or any portable entertainment gadgets you have, like travel DVD players or handheld gaming devices. These can come in handy when kids get a little too rowdy, especially when their patience is running thin. Many kids have a hard time sitting still for extended periods and they may grow bored easily, leading to cranky outbursts and bad moods. Making sure that kids are entertained cannot only help keep them quiet, but can be fun, too.

Why Children Should Learn Other Languages

Posted on | by KD Novelties

There are many inherent benefits to teaching your child to learn a second language early on, or at least encouraging them to do so. For parents who are bilingual or multilingual, teaching your child another language alongside English can be easy. For parents who only speak one language, accomplishing this becomes more challenging. Whether you speak more than one language or not, there are several ways to help encourage your child to learn new languages, which can help them build better communication skills, increase their global awareness, and help them perform better academically.

Books

There are many books out there that teach basic English vocabulary alongside that of other languages like Spanish and French. By introducing kids to other languages early, they are more likely to pick it up and be able to pronounce more complex sounds. As kids get older, they may begin reading books entirely in their second language, however, that depends on the fluency of the child or if a fluent parent is there to help.

Games and Apps

Being bilingual is highly encouraged in academic spaces as well as in the job market, so it’s no wonder there are so many more fun opportunities for people of all ages to pick up a new language. There are kids games and activities that can help teach vocabulary, but there are also free apps like Duolingo that provide interactive lessons in a variety of different languages. Parents can have fun joining their kids in these activities and may just pick up some skills, too!

Travel

Traveling abroad is a great way to instill your child with inspiration. Learning about other places, cultures, and people can inspire kids to take a more active role in learning another language while also helping them become more globally minded individuals as they get older.

Family Matters

If you have family that lives abroad, or even if your ancestors were from a particular country, learning more about them, where they came from, and what language they spoke can be an interesting way of getting back to your roots. Families with older generations that still speak other languages can also be a big help, plus getting together for lessons or practice is a great way to spend time and make memories.

Decluttering Tricks for Kids

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Kids are not exactly known for being neat and tidy. Keeping up with the trail of toys and other things your children leave behind on a daily basis can be challenging, and putting things away can be an even bigger obstacle. Kids’ rooms may be full of stuff, especially since kids always seem to be taking things out and not putting them back. Here are some ways you can declutter your child’s room to help maximize space and cut down on cleaning time.

Toy Rotation

Buying toys for kids is always a bit of a gamble. You might find something you think they’ll like or they may ask for something specific only to have them play with it and forget all about it. In other cases, your children may be “into” certain items for periods at a time but not all the time. You can create a toy rotation where you round up all of your child’s toys and separate them into bins or boxes. Keep only one box of “current” toys out at any given time, and take out other items as kids ask for them. This way, you only have a limited number of toys out and about at any given time, lessening the amount of time you spend putting them away as well as freeing up some space in your child’s room. This toy rotation system can also help you learn more about toys or other objects your children may never end up playing with, which you can then consider donating to family, friends, or toy drives.

Kid-Proof What You Can

Make sure that certain areas like drawers and closets are kid-proofed, especially for younger children. Paying attention to not only cluttered closets, open drawers can be dangerous for small children, but access to these areas can tempt kids to empty everything inside onto the floor and around the house. By limiting or controlling access to certain storage space, you can have more of a handle on how much of a mess your kids make, plus you can teach kids to think about what they want to play with or do with more focus, encouraging them to manage their time and make decisions on their own.

Maximize Your Wall Space for Storage  

Furniture can take up a lot of room, and it can be expensive, too. Consider limiting furniture like toy boxes, sets of drawers and other such bulky pieces of furniture to only the essentials and increase your shelf space. Shelving frees up the center of the room while still allowing you to put things away or organize items or reading books in a visual manner that can double as storage as well as decoration!

Ask Kids for Help

It’s important that you teach your children the importance of picking up after themselves, but it helps to encourage them to do so in a healthy way. It is important that you are not too controlling with what kids do or have access to (like above, you can kid-proof certain areas, but limit this to storage while leaving “current” toy boxes and other items open for your kids to peruse and access freely when they’d like) and that telling them to clean their room isn’t made out to be an overwhelming, and often repeated, command that is eventually ignored and/or resented. When asking your kids to clean their room, make sure to give them specific instructions. Instead of saying something vague like “Clean your room,” say something more direct like “Pick up all the toys and put them in the bin,” or “Try to put all of your books away.” By breaking down the task, it makes the whole chore sound and feel easier, as well as more manageable and less overwhelming.

It’s important that parents and guardians test things out and see what works best for their children. Each kid is different, and different tactics may work more than others, but there are plenty of ways in which you can improve your life and your child’s life by decluttering their room and by making cleaning much less of a chore.