Making Time For Play Every Day #KinderMom

As I mentioned before, I'm one of 60 bloggers partnered up with Mom Central Canada and Kinder Canada to encourage play and promote their new toys. This month we talk about making time for play.

My girls playing. One on the left is pregnant
and one on the right is her doctor.

Sure children play at school and sports and lessons are a form of playing too but every child needs to have time for free play where they can play in anyway they want.

Children's days are getting busier than ever these days with more lessons and more homework and chores and of course eating and sleeping. Do you make sure your child has time for free play everyday?

Here are some tips:

• Do you walk your kids to and from school? If so, instead of just walking, encourage them to play an imagination game of their choosing. My girls pretend they are on a train while we walk, taking turns being the engine. Sometimes they hold their hand to their head and pretend they are talking on the phone to each other. Both of these games they invented themselves. You may want to leave a bit earlier to ensure you still get there on time but as long as they are still walking, I allow the games.
  
• The kids want to play with you but you are exhausted and just want to lay down and rest? Give them some paint brushes and lay down and rest. Tell them you are a robot they need to paint or let them pretend to do face paint on you. You would be surprised how relaxing a small dry paint brush on your face is. It's like a mini massage. Or play the alphabet game. Lay on your stomach and have them sit next to or straddle your back (depending on their weight.) Have them scratch or draw with fingertips (depending on your likes) on your back different letters and guess them.
  
• Bath Time! Doesn't every child play during bath? Don't limit them to "bath toys." Anything that
  won't get ruined if wet and can air out properly to dry without growing mold can be a bath toy. Change it up so the games they play will be different. Try plastic Tupperware and play food, plastic balls (with no opening for water to get in), jelly bracelets or even those little plastic eggs inside the Kinder Eggs that hold the toy!

Do you have any ideas of how to squeeze playtime in?

Make sure you enter to be one of 10 winners of a basket of goodies from Kinder Canada worth $200!


*Disclosure: I’m part of the KINDER® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.