Fantastic Ideas For More Playful Parenting

 

Being a parent is tough. You are suddenly drowned in the responsibilities of work, home, and caring for your child. It’s easy for new parents to become tired, stressed, and worn out, because you hardly find time for yourself anymore, let alone play with your child.

But play is vital for a child’s development because that’s how children learn about the world around them. It also helps them develop physically and emotionally. That’s why you should spend as much time as you can playing with your child, which not only strengthens the bond between you two but also gives you the rest you rightly deserve.

There are many activities you can try and play with your child, and you’ll be amazed at how much both of you can benefit from these activities. Below are some playful parenting ideas of activities for your little ones without requiring much time and resources. You can totally customize them based on your child’s preferences.

Fun activities that playful parents love

Playing with your child requires more than just throwing him or her a smart device or taking him or her to the park. It doesn’t end there! As your child grows up, he or she will explore the world with a curious mind and an eagerness to try anything new.

We as adults usually wonder how children never seem to run out of energy to move or run or jump around. Since every child possesses endearing energy and enthusiasm, their energy should be channeled to the right activities.

The more you engage your child in proper age-appropriate exercises, the more your child will be able to develop to his or her potential.

Fun activities with scooters

A boy and his scooter (Photo credit: Foter.com)

When it comes to developing your little one’s coordination skills, sensory skills and upper body strengthening, investing in a kid’s scooter is a fabulous idea. There are a few ways you can make the most out of a scooter, and once you choose the right kids’ scooter, it’s time to get rolling and have fun!

Activity 1. Crazy Driver

This is a great activity that promises loads of fun for both of you. Start by marking the path on the floor to indicate the direction your child must “drive.” You can mark the path with masking tape or color tape. You can be creative at how you arrange each piece of tape (curved lines, zigzags or twists).

Your child will need to drive along the patterns that you mark and to make it more fun, you can compete with him or her so that each will get a turn to set the driving patterns. This activity encourages your child to develop his or her coordination skills while offering fun and a good outlet for energy.

Activity 2. Bowling Time

Here is a perfect activity for a scooter board. To prepare for this, you need to set up a pyramid with some empty unused boxes such as shoe boxes. Try to arrange the boxes in a way that imitates the targets (known as bowling pins) in a bowling game but the shape of a pyramid.

The aim of the game is to knock down the boxing pyramid. Therefore, what you need to do is to put your child on the scooter on his or her tummy. Hold onto his or her feet and push him or her towards the pyramid. If you have more than one kid, you can let your kids take a turn to see who scores better.

Activity 3. Superman’s coming!

Who doesn’t love superheroes? Kids are easily fascinated with superheroes, and you can incorporate that into different kids’ activities. This activity will work best if you have more than one kid. You can dress your kids in superman’s costumes and position them on the scooter board on their tummies.

Mark the finish line with masking or color tape. Give your child a push so that he or she can travel with her scooter board and see how fast the “Superman” reaches the finish line. You can place objects in their way so that they will have to avoid the object to reach the finish line.

Check out this video for a further illustration of playing with a scooter board.

There are many more activities you can try with a scooter that helps your little one sharpen his or her balance and coordination skills. But one important thing you should keep in mind for these activities is that you need to ensure a safe environment before setting up the games.

Fun activities during bath time

Bathing can be fun (Photo credit: Ernst Moeksis via Foter.com / CC BY)

Playful parenting isn’t limited to creating activities with your kids. In fact, playful parenting also includes turning daily or ordinary activities into extraordinary fun games. And bath times are ideal opportunities to have some extra fun with your little one, especially when your kid is stubbornly refusing bathing.

Activity 1. Bring on the squirt guns

Squirt guns or squirters can be a lot of fun if you know how to use them. Help your kids develop their hand-eye coordination with this super fun activity. First off, stick or draw some letters or numbers or put some colored cream on the bathroom wall. Give your child a squirt gun and ask him or her to shoot at the targets on the wall and clean it up.

You can join your child by smearing some cream on your arm or your child’s body and squirt at each other. Your child will love to have a bath every day!

Activity 2. Water balloons

This activity is similar to the first one, but instead of squirt guns, you will be using water balloons. You will need to put a target on the bathroom wall and ask your child to throw the water balloon at the target. A hard throw will make the balloon burst.

Continue to throw until there are no balloons left. And that’s when your child can start taking a bath. This throwing activity will help your child gain better control of his or her movements and strengthen their arms. Plus it can be so much fun, too!

Conclusion

Caring for your child is a tough and demanding job, and not all parents out there have enough time to play with their children properly. However, playing with your child does not take much time away from your busy schedule as you may think.

The above activities won’t cost you more than 15 minutes, but they can have a great impact on your child’s wellbeing. And better yet, you and your child can create games together. Playful parenting is all about being silly and funny with your children.

Even when things do not turn out the way you want, never stop having fun.

Playful Parenting Tips

 

Author Bio
Emma is the founder of ShrewdMommy, where she and associates blog about pregnancy advice, parenting insights, tips for mommy.