Last week Monday, I woke up feeling guilty. It was beautiful summer’s day and my child wanted me to come play with her outside but I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t want to… but because I had to work. I could see the disappointment on her face.
So on Tuesday and Wednesday, I decided to stop working during the day (because I can, thanks to my flexi hours) and spend time with my daughter. We did fun things that toddlers love doing (I had to pretend to be Ken too). We even went for a swim together.
It was amazing to watch my daughter play and it reminded me how important bonding time is – especially if you have a newborn at home. I’ve been sacrificing sleep because I’m working at night now, but it’s worth it.
“Child development experts suggest that these little bits of ‘Special Time’ will add up to an increased trust and emotional/relational bond that will enable them to feel secure and less likely to act out negatively for attention, says Kat Lee.” Source: http://www.inspiredtoaction.com
This holiday, take a few hours out of your busy day to do something fun with your child! Forget about the million things that need to be done around the home. Take a minute relax and build memories. A house will always be there, a home needs to be maintained.
Children are only children but for a moment. In a flash, they grow up and leave home. Create memories to remember, to make them smile, to make them want to come home…
15 Fun things to do with your kids:
1. Play treasure hunt.
2. Plan a Picnic.
3. Make a giant hopscotch on the lawn or driveway (with chalk).
4. Play Dress-up.
5. Attend an event together.
Did you meet Barni yet? This is the perfect event to take your little one along with you on a new adventure, and you get to bond while indulging in a yummy healthy treat.
Barni the Bear’s Great Big Learning Adventure will be held at The Zone in Rosebank from Saturday 12th until Friday 18th December 2015 and will be open daily from 10 am – 4 pm. Entrance is free, all you need to do is arrive with your family and enjoy the journey of fun and adventure.
Step into a “giant pop-up book” themed play area, and explore a world of adventure and learning with Barni the Bear. Let your children, aged 3 – 7 years, explore Barni’s art, music and play areas, assisted by a team of friendly helpers.
Catch the Barni show on the hour every hour – a fun musical adventure with a life-sized Barni Bear. Finally, treat yourself and your little ones to a delicious Barni bear-shaped sponge cake with a yummy hidden chocolate centre.
The spongy bear cake is a mouth-watering treat that invites kids’ imaginations to explore while it feeds their body with the familiar ingredients moms use in their kitchens – flour, eggs, milk and chocolate. Barni contains no colourants, preservatives or trans fats, making it the perfect treat for little explorers.
6. Build a Fort.
7. Have a water balloon fight.
8. Play hide and seek.
9. Make paper boats (remember this?) and race them in a small pool using straws to propel them. Don’t have the pool, then use the bath or a huge dish – No excuses. 😉
10. Play “lemon” and spoon race.
11. Bake cookies together.
12. Try Star gazing.
13. Host a family talent show.
14. Fly a kite
15. Camp in your backyard or lounge.
So now that I’ve mentioned all the fun things you can do with your kids this December, I’ve got a competition for you!
If you can’t attend Barni’s Learning Adventure activation, visit selected retail outlets to try Barni out for yourself or why not purchase a few for a picnic?
Barni is available as single units or in a box of five, with a recommended retail price (RRP) of R5.99 and R27.99, respectively.
Competition:
Win a R1000 hamper from Barni the bear to make your picnic more enjoyable. 😉
HOW TO ENTER:
- Share this post on social media.
- Leave a comment – What do you have planned this holiday?
EARN EXTRA ENTRIES:
Tweet about the competition:
I want to WIN with @youbabyandi and #BarniBear. You can WIN too, enter here: http://goo.gl/vSLnzZ. #youbabyandi
Sign up to my newsletter on the top right-hand side.
Competition closes 14 December 2015.
Open to South Africans only.
Good luck.
12 comments
I plan to spend as much time as I can with my grandson
We are staying home this year, so I am going to make use of your list of fun things to do with my kids to keep them entertained.
Picnics, beach days random drives
Planning to spend QT with my premie newborn and swim lots with my toddler 🙂
I plan on making these holidays fun for my girl with lots of crafts, baking and family fun 🙂 Teddy bear picnics willdef be on the cards witht his hamper!!!
We are staying home this holidays and we planned some picnics at Emmarentia dam, visiting Pretoria Zoo and Gold reef theme park 🙂 My little one loves the rides 🙂
This holidays we are spending time together just us as a family. Its our first Christmas at home.. Normally we are away visiting family so we are trying to make it really special and trying to start new traditions. We have done a lot of crafts and made a lot of our own christmas tree decorations which the kids have hung proudly on tge Christmas tree.. We are wanting to do a lot of family activities.. Like playing in the pool, going to ride bikes at the park, picnics and to visit new places.. Over the weekend we went to the dinosaur expo which was awesome.. Lots of fun things to do 🙂 looking forward to the quality family time
A picnic at the Botanical gardens with my family and friends.
REHANA SEEDAT email: [email protected] To me, the whole month of December is just magic. I love the family togetherness; the food; the music and singing; the cookie-making; the movies; the laughing people; the presents. I love that people slow down and pause long enough to be extra kind to their neighbours and friends. This festive season we will be decorating our Christmas tree while sipping hot chocolate and listening (and dancing!) to Christmas music. During the festive season we also take the opportunity to get outdoors and appreciate the beauty of nature and enjoy some of our Christmas Day swimming, walking, resting on the grass or playing a game outside together. Family togetherness, Love, Fun, Joy & happiness is what we have planned this holiday. I have shared post via facebook & tweeted @rehanaseedat and have also signed up to your newsletter
We had a very very hard year, and staying home. Trying to make it fun for kids. The big boys moved to the wendy and Lapa and having an huge adventure making their own food and having gaming time deluxe. Our daughter has a crazy social life. Visiting friends and friends visiting. All would love Barni hamper!
We not going away for the holidays.so I will be doing all the fun kiddie activities in Johannesburg ,we took our kids yesterday to The zone @Rosebank to watch the Dinosaur movie, we were too late to see Barni the Bear but we bought the barni sponge cake for my kids from Pick n Pay and eas surprised that they both finished it with no wasting. will be going back there on the 16th to see Barni ,I am also going to garden of lights at Enperors Palace and Christmas Market at RandRidge Mall and Monte casino. I also plan to do some cupcake baking with my kids.lots of fun paintings and puzzles during my leave .
Aaisha and I had so much fun today baking cookies the holidays are going well ….love the bonding that happens during the holidays especillY when hubby is around its nice that be a family but nding togethder