Rainy days and your child!!

My son doesn’t take well to rainy days. Most children below the age of five, find the monsoon season extremely boring. Parents pose restrictions on kicking in puddles and getting wet. However, playing indoors need not boil down to watching TV.
Here are a few games to play with your child and his/her friends when the rain plays spoil sport.

1. Puppet show - Take a big cardboard box and make a dupatta curtain in the centre. Open out the flaps in order to put puppets through the back and use front flaps as windows. The child’s dolls, toys like cars, spoons, etc. can be used and a story can be spun with imagination.

2. Hide the loot – Give your child ten items and tell them to hide one item in a bag. Guess the item hidden by asking your child to describe what he/she hid.

3. Photo fun – Make a photo collage of your child’s favorite pictures from your recent vacation on a chart paper and add comment stickers or emoticons in appropriate places. Hang in your child’s room when complete. Photo collages make great décor ideas too!!

4. Colour splash – Paint a picture using old toothbrushes, bottle caps, sponge, waste wool, fingers, hands, toes and just about anything other than paint brushes. Make sure you do this on the floor and don’t get any paint onto a costly outfit or a carpet.
5. Junk art – Use material from all over the house. Cotton, old magazine pictures, buttons, sand, old shoe lace, wrapping paper and just about anything. Make a Christmas scene or a meadow and watch your child’s imagination flitter like a butterfly!!

6. Dress up – Give the age old game of robber and police a twist by dressing up yourself and your son to fit the roles. Dressing up like a character in a story is a good way of getting the child to understand the story completely. The parent can be the narrator and the child can play the central character.

7. Shadow play – For those of you who are not scared of the dark and have brave children, its time to light a candle and put on the musical night lights. Spin a story with shadow figures. The crow looking for water to drink is a beautiful tale to spin around one’s fingers.

8. Cook with mommy – This is a game that can be messy. Children love helping their grown-ups in their grown-up things. Explain that cutting and cooking on the stove/oven are grown up things to do. However the child can help wash the vegetables, add certain ingredients, beat an egg and a whole load of other things that can be fun.

9. Song and dance – Teach your child simple dance steps to his/her favorite song/rhyme. Dress him/her up like a pop/rock star and have your own Indian Idol show at home!!
10. Puzzle when it drizzles – Buy a puzzle for your child and hide it from them till the monsoon arrives. On a dull, dreary “can’t do anything else” day give them this surprise gift and watch them lose track of time.

Here’s wishing all you mom’s a happy fun filled Monsoon!!

Walk into my world!

Hi, I am Anita Bharanidharan and welcome to my blog. I believe my life is in a stage of "nearly". I am nearly thirty, five years married and most important of all getting my groove back.

Life is a roller coaster for everyone, especially if you are a new age mother and wife. Through all the roll and tumble, I have loved whipping out my ladle and watching my baby grow.

Lots of first's too. My son took his first "brimming with tears clinging to my dress" steps to school and wow I had a social life again! The first time I learnt pro cricket for preschoolers and joined as a consultant for an MLM company. My fathers on both sides of our marriage turned 60. Sixty beautiful years filled with love, sacrifice and tenacity.

The first time I attended the passing away of a 4 year old angel. Children inspire us in all kinds of ways. The lesson I learnt from this little flower was never to take people in our lives for granted. We ought to be gracious and kind in all situations. She left a dew drop in my heart forever and an urge to make a memory of my moments in life. This first post is a tribute of thanks to little Serena.