Drowning does not look like drowning.

And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

My kids enjoyed watching it and I think this is probably easy, fun, messy and yummy enough for children of all ages to enjoy making. We may do some ‘cooking’ this week end.

I ♥ the Decorated Cookie.

How to make dress up marshmallows with The Decorated Cookie

It is not advised starting swimming lessons before 6 months as prior to this their immune system is considered too immature to be exposed to the natural risks that come with public swimming. Parents do need to take into consideration though the pro’s and cons of swimming lessons before enrolling for this activity. It is not an essential skill for babies but is a wonderful learning experience for both parents and babies/toddlers.

(The American Academy of Paediatricians does not recommend swimming lessons as such for children under 4 years of age).

What are the physical capabilities of a baby and what is a reasonable expectation of what they will learn?

It is rare for children under the age of 4 to be physically able to swim unassisted. Swimming prior to this age is more an enjoyable preparation for skills to be learnt and focus should be placed on teaching them safe and appropriate poolside behaviour.
Parents need to be realistic about what you are going to achieve through lessons. Baby swimming classes is not going to “drown-proof” your child and children under a certain age cannot swim unassisted as they do not have the physical strength to be water safe. it is important to always remember – NO-ONE (even a professional swimmer) is ever “drown-proof”.
Swimming lessons familiarize children with water and create a positive foundation through experience for future learning. Babies and toddlers may learn how to put their face in water without panicking and holding their breathe for short periods. They may learn how to paddle short stretches. They are encouraged to learn how to back float though most only master this skill at 3½ to 4 yrs. Back float is one of the most basic water safety skills (most children under three are not comfortable doing this, they prefer swimming under the surface).

What do they mean by water safe?

A few of the skills required in a child who is considered water safe:
Being able to roll from front into a back float. They can lift their head up out of the water to take a breath. Turn in water and swim to the side of the pool. Pull themselves out of the water onto the poolside unassisted. Swim upwards to the surface with their face out of the water if they jump in.

A ’water safe’ child is one who can swim, chooses to enter a water environment in which they are consciously aware that they will be able to manage themselves without fear of danger, being hurt, being dominated or bullied, where they can confidently participate as an individual or within a group and have fun. One who can swim by choice on top of the water with their faces in the water, swim under the water and swim with confidence on their back. In brief a child who knows their limits and boundaries in and around water. www.childsafe.org.za

visit the Child Safe site for complete FAQ’s on this subject

Alternative to disposable swim nappies – the Cozzi nappy

My personal experience of swimming lessons for children:
I never took my babies to swimming lessons.
Rafe started swimming lessons just before his 4th birthday and within 2 months of lessons was water safe and able to swim with others. The reason for starting lessons was a holiday planned by family with older children and an uncovered pool. 2 years later he still does lessons as it is something he really enjoys. So though he is able to swim well and knows the basic strokes, he now learns the discipline of formal swimming (styles etc).
Kara started at 2½ years. The reason being, after a year of watching her brother swim at lessons she was desperate to get in, so once she could do the lessons without needing a parent in the water with her, I signed her up. After 6 months of lessons she was still not water safe but loved the experience of swimming, she understands her capabilities (or lack thereof) in water and understands the dangers of water, she back floats beautifully but cannot necessarily get into this position out of her own. She has just started her new term of lessons after the long stretch of no swimming through winter and the classes are her highlight of the week.
For preschoolers it is money well spent – whether you have a pool or not. I think it may have been a fun bonding activity to do with babies but I am of the opinion that it is more a together activity than a necessary one.

You can download many from the internet – fun variations on the theme.
I found this one The Jessica Paperdoll on Balancing Everything today and ♥♥♥ it because look it has a baby in a sling *swoon*

Boys & Girls & different nationalities
Making friends – these are quite cute for older kids in that you get to create your own character by choosing hair etc
Brother & Sister Paper Dolls (3 nationalities)

Beautiful complete sets with a vintage feel which will keep girls busy for hours
Strawberry Shortcake (the original)
The Ginghams
Friends around the World
Liddle Kiddles Paper Dolls
The Candy Stripers

Nice for boys (also vintage)
Wee Willy
The Elves & the Shoemaker (lovely for little boys)

There were also a couple of links in this blog post “Make your Own”

I recently took the dvd out thinking it will be a nice one for the kids and i to watch together (movie-on-the-wall-night) – I had no clue about the story, had never seen the book and have just picked up on the hype from the internet.
Both my kids were already upset by the first part of the movie, the child’s behaviour is very angry and depressed (i think it is more this than the anger that got to them). Kara lost interest here but Rafe watched on till the Wild things entered the scene and all the anger, monsters, dark scenes and the constant underlying fear of being eaten made him decide he was scared and was not watching any more. I think also the fantastic construction they were building was ominous to him.

I watched a little longer until my husband got home and then was not interested enough to continue watching it alone.
I had come to the conclusion that the book had been written for older children (7-8 years +) and was discussing it with my sister who said (after I described pretty much the above) that the book was not really like that and it was aimed at a younger group. She had done the book when studying teaching and wondered how they had made a movie out of a ‘one line a page story’. Out of curiosity I googled the book and found this sweet you tube clip which i am assuming is the entire book narrated. It looks cute, has none of the overly disturbed personalities depicted in the movie (the book character gives me the impression of a normal child with normal moods and tantrums) and it has very little of the extended story line. I feel rather disappointed in how it was translated – it was definitely done on a much more grown up level and focusses on social concerns that little ones can’t grasp (I think a lot of it even escaped me).

Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Is it worth giving it another try and watching to the end (for me not the kids lol – would not do that to them again till they are older and less worried about monsters in their rooms).

The first is a basic African language teaching tool in the form of flash cards, puzzles and posters. I will be buying this set for myself and my kids as soon as we have finished moving and finances allow for a little splurge (I want us to learn a third South African language and this is a perfect medium to start with the basics).
www.puo.co.za

PUO My Body poster (senses & expressions)

Puo is a producer of educational products in African languages and with African images that are targeted at children from ages zero to nine.
The mission of Puo is to invest in our languages while instilling pride in our cultures and history. In fulfilling its mission, the aim of Puo is to supply products that achieve the following:
• Provide an avenue through which to interact with and teach children African languages and culture;
• Educate and inform by developing children’s basic developmental skills;
• Increase the awareness and pride of varying cultures and languages of the African continent in order to appreciate our diversity and achieve a better understanding of one another; and entertain

The second is childrens CD’s by African Cream Music.

Singalong African Kidz

Wendy Oldfield sang a few of her songs live at the show over the course of the weekend and I LOVED listening to them.
The cd Singalong African Kidz will be the next item on my want list for the near future (followed by some of the others), her songs are beautiful, simple and fun.

Hot on the heels of the successful Under African Skies, an album of traditional African stories set to music comes Singalong African Kidz also crafted by renowned singer/songwriter Wendy Oldfield. This very special collection of original children’s songs was written by Oldfield for her own children to provide enjoyment, entertainment and variation from their traditional children’s fare. They have been tried, tested and approved by nursery school children nationwide! Written for the children between the ages 0-5 years of age who are singing as part of their language development and as a social game, topics like animals, nature and of course…mud, can easily be related to by African children and children around the world.

I am rather disappointed at the time slots the organisers scheduled for Wendy Oldfield – they could have used her appearances at times when people were already sitting and waiting with nothing to do and both entertained them and allowed her decent exposure for for music and stories that are so beautifully appreciative of Africa, its culture and our children.

We pre-registered, I thought this would make things easier in terms of just being able to show your registration papers and going in vs standing in lines to pay on the day. And I have to admit the promise of a goodie bag for pre-registrations also appealed. (Ironically it would have been much less stress and faster to have simply paid on the day)

We took our kids (brave Sally took 4 – her own and 2 friends) with because it was at the zoo, would be a fun family day out (I had done the same distance with the kids before at the Pretoria zoo so knew it was doable as the animals kept the kids entertained and motivated) and we would be supporting a worthwhile and close to home cause. I kindly invited husband dear along as it was going to be nice to do as a family …. bliss.

Sadly the reality fell a bit short of our ideas and intentions. There were 1000’s on 1000’s of people that attended. We got stuck in very slow traffic around the zoo, ended up after lots of driving around having to park 3 blocks away on a pavement and walk to the registration area.

Sally was already in the lines to get their entry tickets and bags (thanks to her beautiful pink hair, we found them in the masses quite easily). The sign in process had been divided into groups according to your surnames and Sally was right at the back of an incredibly long 3 person deep line for A-D’s.

We pushed, maneuvered and probably pissed people off with our 2 kids and a pram through the aimless milling crowds to first go to the toilet (desperation called) before searching for the end of the line of our own long line of 3 people deep j-l group. Thankfully our line was not as long as Sally’s and we were well ahead of her.

More than an hour+ later – about a half hour past the walks starting time; after some crying and moaning (mostly by the children) and a placating sucker each for breakfast we got to the front of the line to pick up our little pink tickets, have our names checked off their list and get our goodie bags which basically were Avon & Justine Marketing material, an old edition of Shape magazine and a T-shirt each (not even in the size requested in the preregistration) we were done – amazingly at the same time as Sally.

Once inside we realised that the walk did not even take place within the relative safety of the zoo but was actually out on the road, we decided that we had done our part (the hardest part) for charity and were going to simply take the kids around the zoo than torture them further – they were already tired and miserable a 5km walk would not go down well.
The kids had fun in the end, was a nice enough morning BUT next year I will pay my fee and NOT go to the walk. Maybe when my children are all grown up and out of the house I will brave that experience again.

Breast Cancer Walk at the Zoo Fail
Female to Female

What is the difference between “global warming” and “climate change?”
(Global Warming Kid’s Pages)
“Global warming” refers to the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature, due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. “Climate change” is a broader term that refers to long-term changes in climate, including average temperature and precipitation

The idea of climate change is not a foreign concept anymore – all of us have heard of it – there are ongoing arguments and studies as to whether global warming is due to our actions or the natural life cycle of the earth.
Whether we roll our eyes at the fuss or buy into the concern whole hog it is a concept our children will need to learn about.
Irrespective of what our take on it is, the approaches for helping are simple and logical from the stand point of teaching our children about our influence on our earth, the creatures on it and the resources we need for our daily living – it is our responsibility as parents to raise our children to be considerate, respectful and love this planet that allows us life.

The other day we took the kids to watch Earth (unfortunately I did not get to watch it all as it is a documentary so lost Kara’s attention as soon as the opening scenes of the polar bear babies moved on) but Rafe watched it all with his dad and enjoyed it.
Basically it is a documentary which demonstrates the effects of climate change by following three animal families and their amazing journeys across the planet. The imagery is beautiful, they share interesting facts about the animals and show effectively how climate change is affecting the animals, their source of food and in essence their very existence.
(2 other stunning kids movies, which though they don’t focus on climate change, take on the the subject of how our actions as humans are affecting the earth and animals are Happy feet and Wall-E)

Climate change can be a big concept to try and explain to children especially if like me you only grasp the basics, so I found some lovely sites specifically focused on children that can help you communicate it to them on their level.
There are many but I will only list a few (google is your friend Ü)

Cool kids for a Cool Climate – Projects, News, Stories

Twelve Really Important Things you can do to help stop global warming – nice explanations

Global Warming for kids which links to Hippo Works – Lovely little cartoon clips which address climate change and other environmental issues in short simple format easy for children (& those like me needing climate change for dummies) to understand.

For today Climate Change is the focus for Blog Action Day 2009 – more than 7000 bloggers have registered to participate. Go have a look and see what others have to say on this subject.

home made playdough

Long lasting Play dough
Kids of all ages never tire of playing with clay – there are some fantastic products on the market but they are pricey so if like me they are only bought as a treat then this recipe may come in handy.

1 cup flour
½ cup salt
1 cup water
1 Tsp oil
2 tsp cream of tartar
food colouring

Stir all ingredients together and cook over a medium/high heat for 5 minutes or until right consistency (comes away from the sides of pan and form a ball).
Store in an airtight container or plastic bag.

Girl blowing bubbles

Bubble Recipe
The other thing that children never tire of is Bubbles – though with little ones they invariably spill most of the contents on the floor. This mix makes a large amount and is relatively cheap in comparison

1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid (good quality)
5 cups water (preferably soft water – if in a hard water area maybe use distilled or bottled water)
2 tablespoons glycerine (available at the pharmacy or supermarket)

Mix the ingredients together very carefully, so that you they don’t get too bubbly. Pour into storage containers and, if possible, leave overnight.

Bubble wands can be recycled from previous bought batches of bubbles (I save them), or make from wire, pipe cleaners (they do get soggy though), make a loop with your finger and thumb (messy but fun and effective), a straw makes teeny little bubbles.

Jake Long by Sheldene

Paper dolls
Remember how much fun we used to have with these! Why not reintroduce the idea to your little ones.
Barbie Doll
Variety of links for boys and girls

Face Paints
for my daughters 2nd birthday I had a face painting party – the kids LOVED it. It was messy and not so pretty by our standards but they had fun, painted themselves with such care and thought they were works of art.

Option 1:
(I made this recipe – I used Nivea cold cream but think plain aqueous would work as well and be more spreadable and much more economical)
1 tsp. Corn flour (Maizena)
½ tsp. Cold cream
½ tsp. Water
Food coloring (variety of colors)

NB. make the night before so the mixture can absorb and settle!
- Mix together corn flour and cream until well blended.
- Add water and stir. (the mixture looks a little curdled at this stage but by letting it stand the moisture in the cream absorbs the cornflour and settles to make a smooth paste).
- Divide into even amounts for colouring leave 1 white and add food colouring one drop at a time to the others until you get the desired colour.

Option 2 : (Not tested)

3 tblsps. Cornflour
1 tblsp. Flour
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
½ tsp. Liquid food colouring

Mix cornflour and flour together in a bowl. Gradually stir in corn syrup and water until smooth. Divide mixture into individual containers as needed and tint each one with the food colouring of your choice. Leave one batch untinted.

planting a vegetable box

I am not a keen gardener for 2 reasons a) somewhere along the line the green thumbs I should have inherited from 2 plant crazy parents got frostbite and turned black. and the bigger problem b) I hate sand and soil and mud on my hands and feet – I am gril’ing just at the idea of it.

I was not always like this there were many photos of me as a toddler covered in icky mud – especially in my mouth (yum – I was apparently a mud connoisseur). I also spent most of my childhood running around the hills and dust and forests barefoot – no more. BUT i will be sticking my hand in dirt and mud to plant some seeds in support of Planting Season on the 22nd.

I had hoped to actually get a vegetable garden going this spring (we have been working on making space for this) but I have put all on hold till I know where/what/how will be happening with our living arrangements in the next few months (staying, moving house, moving town … life is an adventure) Ü.

Sally guest-writes for the Jozi kids blog and did a Let’s get planting post for them last week – nice read.