Parents are looking for ways to keep their kids busy. Toys”R”Us wants to help out by offering fun activities and projects to keep their children engaged and their imaginations active. Toys”R”Us just launched Play@Home Theater offering easy ways to have fun at home featuring partners such as: GoNoodle, BrainPOP and Hasbro.
Play@Home Theater Highlights & Projects include:
DIY: 30 videos and articles will get the inspiration flowing
Printables: Over 40 printables to get brains working with puzzles, word searches and more
BrainPOP: A leading educational platform, offers a video for kids to better understand COVID-19 and free access for families through the end of the school year
GoNoodle: Toys”R”Us will host 4 indoor activity videos from their partners at GoNoodle featuring movement & mindfulness activities to keep kids active
Hasbro: Play-Doh offers simple projects to mold, stretch and shape imaginations
Play@Home Theater will be updated with brand new activities and play ideas every week.
With some schools closed for a few weeks and others till the end of the school year, kids are feeling completely out of sorts with any kind of normal routine. To ease the disruption and cultivate a sense of joy and calm within what is a chaotic time, what is helping in my house is meditation. While meditation for me looks like sitting with my eyes closed and focusing on my breath, it looks very different for my two and a half-year-old. While the benefits of meditation for children are similar in that it helps them to cultivate a focused attention, become more compassionate and kind to themselves and others, and helps regulate emotion, meditation practice for kids is different than for adults.
Here are a few meditation and mindfulness practices for different age groups that can help you and your children feel more relaxed during this time.
3 to 6-Year-Olds
Snail Breathing: Find a nice place to sit with your child. Make sure all distractions are put away. They can be next to you or seated on your lap. Show them your right hand, spreading out all five fingers. Begin by showing them the practice. The practice is tracing your right hand with the pointer finger of your left hand. You inhale as you go up to your thumb, exhale as you go down your thumb, inhale as you go up to your pointer finger, exhale as you go down your pointer finger … when you get to your pinky switch hands and do the same thing on the other side.
Counting Breaths: Lay down with your child or guide them through this exercise. Have them get comfortable and stretch out onto their backs. Close their eyes, let the body be limp, like a doll. Begin to count breaths. 1: breathe in, 2: breathe out, 3:breathe in, continue up to 10. If they are old enough ask them to do it again and count their breaths silently up to 10, and when they reach 10, to start again. If they lose track counting, start counting again, and begin at 1.
30 Second Meditation: Ask your child to run in place or do it with them for 30 seconds, then ask them to put their hands on their heart, noticing the speed of the beats.
Sound Meditation: Have your child close their eyes while you start playing musical instruments. Ask the child to open their eyes when they notice that the sound has gone and it’s silent.
Tingly Meditation: Have your child stand up and raise their arms above their heads. Ask them to shake their arms and hands really fast. Then say stop and have them put their attention on the sensation they feel in their arms and hands.
The Balloon: Standing up in a relaxed way ask your child to think of their favorite color and picture a giant balloon of that color in their mind. Take a slow, deep inhale through the nose, filling up their bellies with air as if trying to blow up their giant balloon. Then on the next inhale, ask them to stretch their arms open and overhead to represent the big balloon. When their balloon is totally full, ask them to hold their breath at the top, and then you can “pop the balloon” for them (gesture finger to belly) and they can fall down as they exhale.
Back Meditation: Have your child lay on their tummy and you trace a letter on their back. Ask them what letter you’ve drawn. You can do this with shapes as well.
6 to 12-Year-Olds
Body Relaxation: Ask your child to lie on the floor and starting from their toes moving up to their head, have them tense their muscles for 5 seconds—squeezing as tightly as they can—before releasing again.
See, Hear, Smell: Encourage your child to tap into their senses by pausing for a moment and noticing exactly what they can see, hear and smell in that particular moment.
Mantra: Ask your child to pick a word and have them close their eyes and silently say the word over and over again. If they get distracted tell them to come back to the word. The word can be cat, dog, lion, etc.
Breathing Meditation: Have your child sit and ask them to put their attention on their breath, the inhale and the exhale. Ask them to identify where they feel the breath most clearly in the body (belly, chest, nose). Have that become their focus of attention. Saying to themselves, breathing in, breathing out. And when they get distracted, have them refocus back to their focus of attention and silently repeating breathing in, breathing out.
The beauty of meditation and mindfulness practice is that it is always available to you. There is nothing fancy you need to begin. All it takes is setting aside a few minutes within your children’s day to devote to one of the above activities. You could do snail breathing before breakfast, a body relaxation after lunch, or a back meditation before bed. Sharing these practices with your child will help you and them feel grounded in the present moment and more connected. For more inspiration, check out these meditation courses for parents.
Cynthia Kane is a certified meditation and mindfulness instructor and the founder of the Kane Intentional Communication Institute. She is the author of How to Communicate Like a Buddhist, Talk to Yourself Like a Buddhist, and the upcoming book, How To Meditate Like A Buddhist.
At Red Tricycle HQ we’ve been a solely remote team for a number of years. And while we miss our occasional happy hours and regular meeting room jokes, we’ve come up with a lot of ways to get the job done, even on those days when our kids are home with us. Whether you’ve found yourself unexpectedly working from home with a full house or making it a regular thing, here are nine tips that will help.
photo: iStock
Tip #1: Singletasking
We know, you’re a parent. Singletasking isn’t really in your nature. But trust us on this one: taking the time to do one task at a time is key to having a productive day. And that might mean stopping and playing with your kids for a bit. One trick we use is the 10-30 rule. Give your kids 10 minutes of uninterrupted time, then work for 30 uninterrupted minutes. With older kids you can stretch this time. The key it is to make sure during that 10 (or 15 or whatever amount you choose) is 100% with them. No checking your phone for messages or looking at the computer screen. Set a timer and stick to it. The kids will catch on faster than you think. We also recommend taking breaks to stretch and eat lunch like a real human being.
Tip #2: Know Your Audience
Got a co-worker that sends confusing emails? Or someone who never responds? It can take some getting used to but everyone communicates differently. And every topic may require different forms of communication. At our “office” we have tools like Slack for instant messaging, Google Hangouts when we need face-time, phone calls when we need to just hear each other out, or emails when something requires more words or is part of a chain we’re tracking. Sometimes a quick call can hash out something that would have taken ages to explain via email. Remember, tone and humor doesn’t always come across in messages. Use emojis.
Are you one of those households that limits screen time for your kids? This might be time to relax those rules a little bit and give them more “veg” time to be distracted (so you can finish something up).
Tip #4 A Little Prep Goes a Long Way
That screen-time we mentioned? Get prepped ahead and download a new game the kids will love. Here are our favorite online educational games to get you started. Find some new movies they’ll enjoy too. Take a visit to the library to stock up on books, and have a few activity books and kits on hand. Arrange long distance video chats with the grandparents and have them read a story. We also recommend packing a lunch for kids (and even yourself) like you do for weekdays, that way when lunch time rolls around you’ll save on prep time. Make a little healthy snack shelf or basket too for the in-between times if kids are old enough to grab themselves.
Tip #5: Ignore the Dishes
If you’re not used to working from home, you might find it impossible to not clean or organize something. While we’ve all thrown the occasional load of laundry in or “zen” out cleaning for a few minutes here or there, now is not the time to organize your closet or vacuum your house from top to bottom. Consider if you were gone for 8+ hours; what state would your house be in? Leave it. You’ll never be able to do it all and you’ll end up feeling stretched thin because of it. (See rule #1).
You are only human. Granted, you’re a working parent, so you’re kinda superhuman, too. But don’t even try to do it all. Think you can entertain your well-behaved kids while cranking out that report that was due yesterday? You probably can, to be honest, but your work quality will suffer, and your stress level and work life balance will pay the price. And you know who really pays the price? Your partner? Well, yeah. But also your kids. So ask for help if you can get it. Because of physical distancing with COVID-19, playdates aren’t an option. So try a virtual playdate with other parents. Ask the kids to help you, too. Tell them the situation is tricky and you’re all doing. your best. But don’t try to do it all: you can’t grocery shop, meal plan, do child care and get all your work done. If you need to and you can, take time off to run your necessary errands or do something outside with your kids. No help? See rules #3 and 4 above.
Tip #7: Be Respectful of Others’ Time, Including Your Own
Got a list of things to do for work and in your personal life? Consider how you plan your day and how it affects your coworkers. Keep your calendar up to date so that your colleagues know if they can expect you to get back to them or if you need a break.
Tip #8: Try to Laugh
The conference call where you could hear your boss’ kids singing in the background? The neighbors dogs that started to bark exactly when it was your turn to talk; we’ve all been there. We’ve taken calls from the shower, to keep our kids from interrupting us, we’ve had so many tabs open we couldn’t focus anymore, we’ve obliviously worked through reminders for meetings (that we requested). Working remotely has its challenges, but a little patience and humor goes a long way. (Something parents have in droves).
Tip #9: Get Dressed
It may be tempting to lounge around in your PJs while you work, or keep yourself ready-to-go so you can jam in a workout when the littlest one naps. And if you’re new to the remote working world, for the first couple of days this might be fine. But on the third day, by mid afternoon when your head hurts and your kids have interrupted you 75 times (in spite of rules #1-6) you’re going to want that self-esteem boost that only actual pants and a blouse or a button up can bring.
Creating a birth plan is no mean feat–there’s a lot to consider, after all, and your baby’s given you a non-negotiable deadline.
When putting your birth plan together, you’ll be faced with predicting every situation that might arise leading up to, during and after the birth—don’t forget the days and weeks postpartum, too!
But, no matter how meticulously you’ve covered all angles, your baby might not have gotten the memo. You may find things happen beyond your control, and beyond the control of the medical staff around you, and some aspects of your birth plan may go awry.
Birth complications mean communication is key
Unfortunately, for some women, these complications could make birth and the aftermath significantly more difficult. New research by specialist lawyers Bolt Burdon Kemp found that almost 1 in 10 women felt they had no one to talk to about vaginal health throughout their pregnancy journey.
We want to change that statistic. Here are some of the common issues you and your vagina might face during your entry into motherhood:
1. Vaginal tearing during labor. Going into labor typically means contractions. In this first stage of labor, contractions help open your cervix (that’s what ‘dilating’ is) and you’ll need to persevere through the contractions until your cervix opens to at least 10cm. That’s when the second stage of labor begins, and you can start pushing your baby out. And this is also when vaginal tearing could occur.
What is vaginal tearing?
Vaginal tearing is the name given to the accidental tearing of your vagina, and this tearing could extend to the muscles between your vagina and anus (known as the perineum). Vaginal tears can happen if your baby is pushed out too quickly, before your perineum has had a chance to stretch. Depending on your progress, your midwife or doctor may recommend an episiotomy–a small cut along the perineum–to help prevent accidental tearing. Do some research and make sure this is factored into your birth plan as a possible eventuality.
Eventually, your baby’s head (or buttocks, because some babies feel alternate) will start to show. Despite what the movies tell you, you’ll need to stop pushing at this stage and let your baby come out slowly. This could also help reduce the chances of accidental vaginal tearing as you’re giving the perineum time to stretch gently out.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to help your perineum out. Practice pelvic floor exercises throughout your pregnancy to ensure your pelvic muscles are strong and supportive during labor. In the weeks before your due date, give yourself some perineum massages to get the muscles more flexible. You could do this yourself or ask your birthing partner to help. Limit these to twice a week to keep the muscles supple in time for the birth. Perineum massages won’t eliminate the possibility of vaginal tearing completely but can help give the vagina a better chance of surviving unscathed.
2. Your vagina may change in size and behavior. It’s normal for your vagina to feel sore and painful directly after birth—and for a few weeks or months afterward too. If anything doesn’t feel quite right, don’t hold back from going to the doctor. With research finding that almost half of women (47%) admit to not knowing enough about their reproductive health to know what is normal and what is not, it’s all the more important to both keep yourself informed and seek advice from your doctor if you’re ever not sure. After birth, you may also find that things are different down there.
Your vagina may feel looser for example.
Your vagina might feel looser than normal, but this is less because your vagina itself has been stretched out and more because your pelvic floor muscles have become weaker. Keep going with your Kegel exercises to help strengthen the muscles. Kegels can also help with any incontinence issues you may have, so you can ditch that post-pregnancy diaper a little earlier.
Your discharge may change too.
You’ll have heavy discharge called lochia in the weeks after birth, but you may also find changes in your regular discharge. Up until day 10, it may be more watery, and pink or brown in color. In the days that follow, the color may transition into a cream or yellow, and slowly return to the typical color and texture you’re used to.
You may also have vaginal dryness, particularly if you’re breastfeeding (because it lowers your estrogen levels). This could mean you find it painful to have sex, so it’s important not to rush or force things, even if you’re mentally ready to have sex again. Doctors recommend waiting four to six weeks after birth to have sex and using plenty of lube when you do.
If you still have questions about your reproductive health, don’t hesitate to keep researching and asking your doctor questions. Learn as much as possible, so you’re aware of what’s to come and all the options available to you so you can be prepared and as relaxed as possible on the day and all the days following your baby’s birth.
Samantha Paget is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and a registered member of the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). She is the Founder and Director of Paget Nutrition and practices out of two clinics in central London where she sees private clients.
Your kiddo’s fave classic compound is about to get an upgrade. Hasbro recently announced the addition of five new textures to its Play-Doh line—including slime!
So what can you expect from Play-Doh’s new line? To start with, this isn’t the same compound, just with extras added.
Adam Kleinman, vice president of global brand marketing at Play-Doh, told HuffPost, “We are continually expanding and evolving the Play-Doh brand to meet children’s ever-changing play styles, and find opportunities to keep kids with the brand longer.”
Kleinman also added, “While the ultimate goal of encouraging creative play is very similar, there is now an extensive line of options for kids to twist, bend and stretch.”
Play-Doh is introducing Krackle, Cloud, Foam, Putty and Slime textures starting Oct. 1. The new textures, which range in price from $1.49 to $9.99, are for children ages three and up.
Those mesh underwear they give you in the hospital after birth are a long way from sexy, but you have to admit they are pretty comfortable. So it’s not too much of a stretch, to want to wear them forever. Which is exactly what Amy Schumer declared in a hilarious Instagram post.
New mom and comedian, Schumer hasn’t been shy about sharing her pregnancy and postpartum experiences with fans on social media. Her most recent post is one all moms can relate to, the love of this completely hideous, but oh so lovely mesh hospital underwear.
Schumer wrote “5 weeks. Hospital underwear for life!” Pulling on a pair of regular underwear after these is never fun so it’s easy to understand why the post garnered over one million likes and thousands of comments applauding Schumer’s honesty and pure bravery to post those mesh underwear pics.
On the heals of her maternity denim line Good Mama, Khloe Kardashian is releasing a collection of premium activewear for mothers-to-be. And if you’re pregnant, you need to check it out ASAP!
Created by Kardashian and co-founder Emma Grede, Good American’s newest line Maternity Performance pairs comfort with style. Gone are the days of having to stuff your preggo self into your pre-baby workout-wear. Just because something has stretch in it doesn’t mean it’s designed for the pregnant body.
Now you don’t need to worry about foregoing fashion as your shape changes. Maternity Performance is all about using technology to create the type of activewear you need. Using an innovative four-way stretch design, this line is seamless, smooth and less restrictive—which is exactly what you need right now.
Whether you’re newly pregnant or almost at the finish line, Maternity Performance has something for you. The line includes four workout essentials (a nursing bra, leggings, bike shorts and tank tops) in size zero XS through 4XL.
So where can you find Kardashian’s newest Good American effort? Maternity Performance is currently available at the brand’s Mall of America pop-up store or online at GoodAmerican.com with price-points between $65 and $89.
Following a week-long hospitalization for bronchitis, celeb mama-to-be Jessica Simpson is finally back at home. The singer, designer and mom to two hasn’t exactly had the easiest pregnancy this time around—and we totally feel for her.
Simpson’s pregnancy woes aren’t new. After announcing her pregnancy last September, the celeb’s Instagram feed became a sounding board for her tough time. In January, Simpson posted a pic of her super-swollen feet, asking her followers for help. Even though the swelling went down, her pregnancy problems didn’t end there.
In February, Simpson posted another pic of a problem. This time the mama showed off her brand-new recliner—purchased to help with the severe acid reflux.
The star’s current battle with bronchitis, which she also ‘grammed, isn’t the first during Simpson’s pregnancy. According to her post, this her fourth go-round with the illness in the past two months. Fortunately Simpson is on the mend and, again according to her IG post, baby Birdie is “doing awesome!”
The Boy Who Lived has some surprising thoughts on the future of the Harry Potter franchise. Daniel Radcliffe believes a Harry Potter reboot is almost certainly in our future.
With one reboot after another, it certainly wouldn’t be a stretch to think that one of the most successful book and film franchises of all time would be destined for more screen time. In a recent interview with IGN, however, Radcliffe revealed that he wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some sort of a reimagining, either on television or as new films, in the future.
“I’m sure there will be some other version of it; I know I’m not the last Harry Potter I’m gonna see in my lifetime––we’ve already got a few more,” he pointed out, referring to Jamie Parker and Gareth Reeves who have played the famous role on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
“It will be interesting to see how long those films stay… it feels like there’s a sacredness around them at the moment, but that’ll go, the shine will wear off at some point,” Radcliffe continues. “It’ll be interesting if they reboot them and just do the films again or do a series; I’m fascinated to watch.”
It’s hard to believe that anything new could be brought to an already perfect set of of films, but as the wise young wizard says, only time will tell.
Raise your hand if you wear yoga pants to Trader Joe’s. We bet there are plenty of hands in the air right now. One mama recently revealed her TJ’s yoga pant-induced struggle on Reddit, and this story may just make you think twice about gearing up in athleisure-wear when you go grocery shopping.
Several months ago Reddit user u/LadyCatFeline swore off wearing yoga pants. Well, at least for non-exercise types of activities anyway. But after a laundry-less stretch, she had to pull the body-hugging, pocket-free pants out of storage. And that’s where the story gets so bad, it’s good.
Instead of stashing her car keys, phone and everything else in her pants pockets, this mama had to drop them into one of her Trader Joe’s shopping bags. Remember, the yoga pants left her without pockets. As she left the store, a Trader Joe’s employee trailed after her and asked if she needed help. With a baby and a toddler, she jumped on the assistance awesomeness.
After the TJ’s employee loaded up her car, the pocket-less mama realized something was wrong: “The car keys were in the shopping bag which is in the closed trunk. So we’re locked out of the car.”
What happened next is kind of a pre-Christmas miracle. The TJ’s employee called AAA, brought the family bottled water and offered snacks for the kiddos while they waited.
