As parents we are constantly reminded that it is our responsibility to get our offspring to be active, to get exercise and not to lie around eating fast food while playing computer games. Many parents will probably agree that persuading their children to ignore their televisions and computer games can be impossible.
Last year I invested a significant amount of hard earned cash in a few pieces of outdoor play equipment, chosen by my two youngsters. They always enjoy a visit to our local park where they can race around, swing on the swings, slide on the slides, bounce on the bouncy things and climb the climbing frames. Unfortunately our nearest park is about 3 miles away so these visits are not as frequent as they or I would like. So I bit the bullet and shelled out quite a bit of money on a wooden swing slide playset and climbing frame which I put together whilst my wife was conveniently at the health spa.
Now I would like to report that my generosity has paid off and my children are now fit and active and can’t get enough of their new equipment.But nothing could be further from the truth. Since I installed the equipment (which presented many headaches, took a lot of hammering and quite a bit of bad language) they have probably only played on it three times. Admittedly I didn’t get the equipment until the Autumn of 2009 and since then our weather has been atrocious.
At least that is the reason they give when I try to convince them that they’d enjoy a little outdoor play. It’s too cold, they often say. Or, ‘the swings are too wet to sit on’ is another excuse that I hear. I’ll be needing one of those spa treatments at this rate!
I’m hoping that, as we move into spring and the weather improves, they will naturally want to get out into the garden and get some much needed exercise on their new outdoor toys. I’m dreading another miserable, wet summer as this will result in my expanding children just expanding even more instead of working off those excess pounds with a little outdoor adventure. Nobody ever said that being a parent was easy. Although the odd massage does go down well when it all gets a bit stressful
Whether babysitting for the afternoon, or dealing with children on break for an entire summer, adults looking after kids are constantly in search of constructive activities with which to engage them. Planning activities ahead of time seems to be the most effective way to make sure any time spent with children goes more smoothly. Yet, the question often arises for parents and adults of how to come up with enough planned activities to fill up the time. Visual Mind Mapping can be extremely helpful for adults looking to plan constructive, kid-friendly activities; with a Visual Mind Map, adults can literally “map out” each activity in a spatially formatted and intuitive diagram. Moreover, they can include in this diagram any images or colors they associate with each activity to make working with the map more intuitive. The result is, thus, a neatly organized list of activities, formatted in a way that allows adults to creatively and efficiently plan for doing these activities with children. Parents and adults will, therefore, find they will have no trouble filling an entire day with fun and engaging things for kids to do.
What are Visual Mind Maps and How Are They Created?
A Visual Mind Map is “a means of organizing information that allows individuals to create diagrams, pictures, and other graphic visuals in order to show the relationship between ideas or other types of information”.1 With a Visual Mind Map, the creator makes use of colors and symbols to construct the map and represent his or her ideas in a non-linear format. When creating a Visual Mind Map, the individual usually begins by showing the key concept or main idea of the information as a graphic image, located in the center of the map. Any themes surrounding the main idea are shown on “branches” that are attached to the central image. Subsequent themes of less importance are then attached to these branches using “child branches”, and so on. The resulting diagram is a “map” of the ideas and information presented that includes the images, visual graphics, and colors the individual associates with each of the themes and ideas.
Planning Constructive Activities for Kids Using a Visual Mind Map
Sara is at her wits’ end trying to come up with fun activities for her children to do while on Christmas break next week. She has consulted books and magazines full of kid-friendly suggestions, but, to no avail — she still cannot come up with a concrete list of activities for her kids to do. Sara now decides to try organizing her thinking around possible activities for her kids using a Visual Mind Map, and she begins constructing her map by placing a representative visual in the map’s center. She next lists the names of each of her children on “branches” that she has attached to the central image. She continues her map by listing, on “child branches”, any interests or hobbies each child has. It is at this point that Sara’s list of activities begins to finally take shape. From the multitude of magazine article suggestions, she picks kid-friendly activities that correspond to each child’s interests and hobbies, listing them on “twigs”. Throughout her Visual Mind Map, Sara also uses graphics and colors that she associates with each activity to make the activities easier to conceptualize. When she has finished, Sara has planned an entire week’s worth of things for her children to do on one map, similar to the Visual Mind Map attached.
A Calm and Fun Christmas Break Thanks to Visual Mind Mapping
Sara marvels at how smoothly this year’s Christmas break for her children is going. In past years, this point in the week would have found both Sara and her kids frustrated at the lack of things for them to do while on vacation. This year, thanks to her Visual Mind Map, Sara was able to plan fun and engaging activities for her children to do the entire time. Moreover, the intuitive layout of her map allows her to focus her plans on activities that naturally flow from the things each child likes to do most. She was, thus, able to sort through the maze of books and magazine articles to focus only on the suggested activities most likely to interest her children. Sara now finds that she can manage to survive school vacations without the worry of not keeping her children engaged.
Farrand, Paul; Hussain, Fearzana and Hennessy, Enid (May 2002). “The efficacy of the ‘mind map’ study technique”. Medical Education36 (5): 426–431.
Camps are fun and can be a place of improvement as there are plenty of different activities available for youths and children in the camps. How about the Jewish camps? If you are a Jewish parent wishing to give your child a stronger understanding of Judaism, in addition to letting them have the time of their lives, a Jewish camp is what your child needs. A Jewish camp is ideal if you do not live in a Jewish community and want your child to meet other Jewish children.
You can choose the right Jewish camp for your child based on his/her particular needs and interests. Duration of the these Jewish camps range from one-day camps up to those that last for several weeks.
The staff and counselors at Jewish camps are well-trained and qualified, to focus on the needs of each individual child in order to hone their individual unique talents, to make the most out of their experience at the camp. The main objective of such camps is to create a better Jewish community by encouraging the campers to work together as a team. The activities provided at Jewish camps not only provide the campers with various life skills but also help to strengthen there Jewish identity.
Although most Jewish camps take in both girls and boys, there are a few camps that are gender specific. If you wish your child to attend a Jewish camp that focuses on a particular denomination, then you can choose a camp based on your religious observances by asking around in your community. Then there are other camps which does not particularly look in to which denomination one belongs to. Therefore, at these camps you will find a mixture of children with different Jewish backgrounds.
If your child requires special facilities, these needs would be catered to, provided you let the camp officials know in advance. It is best for you and your child to visit the camp you want your child to attend, so that you can get a picture of what it would be like and whether your child would be able to fit in.
In Jewish camps the start over time is 8am and end time is 9pm with activities such as skills building, sports and spiritual practices being carried out throughout the day. Some camps even have lessons in the Torah or in Jewish law. Isn’t that cool?. One problem with Jewish camps could be that they may not be available in every State. Therefore, you need to do some careful research in order to find a camp nearest to you.
The fees for these camps vary depending on the duration of the camp. Scholarships and grants are also available in most camps.
