Legend of the Guardians - The Owls of Ga'Hoole

This is the latest 3D movie that just opened. I caught the trailer a few weeks back at the cinema when I took my child to watch Cats & Dogs. My daughter was intrigued by the trailer and the talking owls. I was too, and the storyline sounds interesting and captivating. It is based on a book, a series of them in fact.

Check out the trailer here. As usual the movie website also has some simple but fun games for the kids.

How To Get Your Child To Nap

I came across this article written by Jo-Ellen Truelove in babyzone dotcom recently. The writer says that "children don't need to be taught how to nap (they do it so beautifully!), but they do need to learn how to nap well. With just a few steps, you can establish napping habits for your child that will help bring him health and contentment for years to come."

Read more here.

And according to Beth Lovinelli, there are five ways to make napping easier for newborns, infants, and toddlers. Find out here.

Toy Story 3

Although Toy Story 3 opened on June 18, certain movie theatres are still screening them here in Malaysia. I caught it with my daughter last weekend and we totally enjoyed it. My daughter, as a pre-schooler, was a big fan of the two earlier Toy Story movies, replaying the DVDs over and over and selecting her favourite scenes repeatedly. I'm sure many children are also hooked to the Toy Story movies.

It is a wholesome animated movie for the entire family for some family time together. And if you go to the Disney's official Toy Story website here, you can find lots of activities and online games for your child (and you) to do and play.

You can find recipes to make Mr Potato Head cake pops, Green Alien cupcakes, instructions to make a Toy Story pinata, party invitation cards, many printable colouring pages, etc.

As for online games, you can find quite a number of them like Daycare Dash, Woody's Wild Adventure, Rex's Game, Hamm's Game, Jessie's Game and Toy Story Mania where you can even build your own games. These should be enough 'ammunition' to stock up on to keep your child occupied for a number of instalments of online games over few weeks!

Internet as a TV substitute

We are lucky to be living in this day and age where media is not limited only to newspapers, books, tv or radio. Since the Internet brought the world closer to us, there's just so much information, ideas, tips and activities we can avail ourselves to.

Whenever I run out of ideas on how to occupy my child without using the tv, I turn to the internet. I use Google to search using keywords such as "online games for children" or if I know of my child's favourite cartoon, movie or character, I simply type in their names. Many cartoons, movies or characters on tv do have websites which may have a few games featuring them. Some tv channels such as Nickolodeon or Playhouse Disney also have interactive websites with fun and educational games for children.

If you surf parenting or educational websites, they do have sections for children's games and activities too. Some even have online stories for your child to practice reading. Some come with audio to teach your child the phonics sounds to help them read.

Or for longer term projects for your child, you could start her on writing stories or a journal. You could get her a notebook or diary, and supply her with fun stationery such as coloured pens, crayons and stickers or labels to allow her to decorate her book. You could help her set up a blog so that she could do her writing online. Be sure however to secure the blog and make it private to prevent strangers from contacting or finding out about your child and her activities. As you know, despite the wonders and convenience of the internet, there are also dangers lurking in cyberworld.

When your child is online, you need to supervise her activities to ensure she does not intentionally or unintentionally visit sites which are unsuitable for children. Never leave a child to use the Internet alone. Install blockers or similar monitoring software on your computer to prevent them from entering sites not meant for children.

Took a break

I just realised that it's been 1.5 years since my last post here. I've simply been kept busy with daily stuff at home and blogging on my main blog, plus updating my other blog fortnightly. I shall be back here soon with more ideas for fun and productive activities for our kids.