Comments (9)

By Mom Unplugged, June 24, 2008 11:22 pm

Now is the time of year when most families embark on an overly-ambitious trip or two. Our main goal as traveling parents is to preserve our sanity and that of our fellow captive travelers by avoiding at all costs the inevitable “are we there yets,” whining, squabbling, seat kicking…well, you get the idea.

Of course you could plug the kids into a DVD player or video game. Personally I believe that when traveling: if it works, then go for it! Forget your principles and opt for The Easy Way Out (Dramamine anyone? Just kidding!).

If you are of a more solid constitution however, and wish to travel in an unplugged (and unmedicated) fashion - or if the battery runs out, what should you do?

Well as the proud Mama of two great unplugged travelers and one terrible one, I wrote this post (Traveling Unplugged) last summer after surviving a four hour plane trip.

I am not trying to “cheat” by republishing a portion of it, but just like in my kids’ rooms, stuff gets buried in the blog after a while, you know what I mean? Hopefully it might give you some good ideas:

++++++++++

Originally written June 18th, 2007:

“My two oldest are now 5 and 6. They each pull their own little rolling suitcase packed with their activities, as well as a favorite stuffed animal or two. Note: I supervise the packing of the suitcase, or better yet, pack it for them when they are not there. This avoids us finding a suitcase full of rocks, scraps of paper, bits of string, and other “toys” that simply could not be left behind. I always try to include a few new “surprises.”

Here are some ideas that have worked for us:

Books:

An obvious choice. Try to pack lightweight, paperback books.

Crafts:

- A French knitter (easy for ages 5-6+ to do on their own - makes yarn “snakes” that can be coiled and sewn into various projects)

- Modeling clay (I squish one stick into a plastic Easter Egg which makes a great travel container)

- Wikki Stix (strings coated with wax, like candle wicks, can be bent into many different shapes)

Art Toys:

- Travel-sized erasable drawing board (Magna Doodle for example)

- Pocket Etch-A-Sketch

- Don’t forget the plain old pad of paper and crayons.

Travel Games:

- Are We There Yet

- Haba Story Telling Tin (children make up stories based on the picture cards they choose-very creative!)

- Also look for travel-sized editions of other favorite board games, there are many out there, you just have to search for them. Beware of games with too many small pieces to lose if you have young (or unreliable) children.

Magnetic Playsets:

- Melissa & Doug Magnetic Farm Hide & Seek

- Smethport Magnetic Playboards (some examples are below, but search for “Smethport” at Amazon toys to see all the possibilities).

Toys:

Choose toys that are small, light, and don’t have a lot of pieces to get lost.

- Lacing block

- Zip-lock bag full of hot wheels cars

- Peace Ring

- Piece of string or yarn (for Cat’s Cradle)

Creative Coloring Books:

I like to find coloring books that are not your typical stay within the lines type of activity.

- The Anti-Coloring Book series is wonderful with suggestions for all kinds of imaginative possibilities.

- The Taro Gomi books are also very original but have a lot of pages so may be too big to pack easily.

- Here are also a few other suggestions for coloring books featuring abstract patterns that can be colored in many, many different ways.

Wipe Clean Board Books:

Tip: Stash away an airline cocktail napkin or two for wiping these off.

Find-It Books:

- Our favorite is the Look-Alikes series of books by Joan Steiner. These feature amazing, realistic photos in which the objects are almost always something else (sidewalks made of crackers or wheels made of buttons, etc.). Kids (and grown-ups too) enjoy looking through these books over and over as there is always something new to notice. It is also a fun activity to say to kids “I see a penny” and have them find it. You will tire of that game before they do! Of course there are also the well-known Where’s Waldo and I Spy books, but here are also some additional ones we like that are not so common:

Scholarly Pursuits:

Not fun for all kids, but my oldest loves this stuff!

- Workbooks

- Flash cards

- Brain Quest

Learn Some Games Yourself!:

If you are really desperate, buy a book such as Car Games: 100 Games to Avoid “Are We There Yet?”. This book offers suggestions for over 100 fun games to play in the car, airplane, or even while camping or waiting in line for example (not all games rely on spotting license plates or signs). A fun book. Parents could learn a few of these games in order to provide timely distractions at critical moments!

As for traveling by air with 18 month-olds: my best piece of advice is grit your teeth and remember that you will never see any of those people again!”

++++++++++

Plus here are a few additional ideas from the comments to this post:

• a zip pencil case filled with canning ring lids for little ones, a disposable camera for use during the flight, a preflight gift of colored pencils and a little travel diary in a zippered pouch (from Wishy the Writer)
• a small wrapped present to be given hourly and a small snack surprise on the off half hour (Andamom)
• A bag of magnet shapes from the dollar store and a metal tin lid as a magnet board (“girlcarew”-sorry I can’t find your link!)
• A new toy for a new trip - pick one that is easy to transport but whose discovery will occupy for a while (Whymommy)

+++++++++++

BONUS!!: an extra special Pilot Trick (since I am a pilot) -

When you have a screechy kind of child that you must take on a commercial airplane full of other people, sit as close to the engine as possible since that is the noisiest part of the plane. Screechy child=bad, lots of ambient noise to help drown it out=good.

+++++++++++

What works for you? Good luck and happy travels!

Comments (13)

By Mom Unplugged, June 11, 2008 12:11 pm

Are you tired of birthday parties at the pool, Chuck E. Cheese’s, or the local bowling alley? But perhaps the thought of entertaining a large group of over-excited kids at your house fills you with dread? The solution: Think outside the birthday box.

My good friend Wishy‘s daughter recently had an original and totally fun party at a local knitting store! Her daughter had become fascinated with the idea of learning to knit after watching her aunt knit, and announced that for her 8th birthday she wanted to have a “Knitting Party.”

Wishy was understandably perplexed, but gets a Mom of the Year Award for researching the possibilities instead of just saying with a sinking heart: ” But wouldn’t you rather just go to the pool like last year?” (Like I probably would have done).

She called up our one, tiny local knitting store and asked them if they ever did birthday parties. Well, no they had never done a birthday party, but they said that they thought it sounded fun and would be willing to give it a try.

Ten 7 and 8 year-old girls (including my oldest daughter) went to the party and learned how to knit a book mark. The shop gave each girl needles and yarn and they had three instructors on hand to help the girls. All Wishy had to do was bring the cake, plates, napkins, and drinks.

The girls had a ball and each went home with a completed book mark plus a goody bag put together by the shop containing more needles, two more balls of yarn, the directions for the book mark, and instructions for a pot holder to try at home.

The girls had fun, even the shop-owner claims to have enjoyed it (and hopefully has gained a few future customers), and now ten little girls (and Wishy) know how to knit.

That beats Chuck E. Cheese’s any day!

++++++++++++++++++

Other unusual birthday party ideas:

• A visit to a fire station
• Visit a zoo, petting zoo, or alpaca farm
• See if you can tour a movie theater (many will allow school groups to tour, why not a birthday group?)
• Horse birthday: See if a local riding school or club might allow your group to come and give each child a short, guided ride on a horse around the arena
• Airport birthday: Visit your local small airport (I’m not talking O’Hare or JFK here). Picnic on the grass and watch the planes take off and land. Better yet, if you know someone who owns a plane, see if your friend would allow the kids to take turns sitting in the pilot’s seat. If your pilot friend has a handheld aviation radio, borrow it and tune it to the local airport frequency (the airport employees or your friend can help you with this) then the kids will be able to hear the pilots talk.
• Go Geocaching: Pick an easy one and give each child a small object to leave in the cache in exchange for taking one out. (You should probably try finding it on your own first to make sure it is easy enough and to avoid disappointments if it can’t be found).
• Go Letterboxing: Perhaps the kids could each create their own stamp before heading out to find the box. Be sure to pick an easy one. (Again, better do a trial run on your own first).
• See if your local pizza parlor would let you bring some kids in for a tour and to make their own pizzas. My daughter’s Brownie Troop did this and the girls loved it.

I’ll post more ideas as I think of them. Do you have any easy but unusual party ideas?

+++++++++++

For a charity party idea, please read about my daughter’s Humane Society birthday party.

+++++++++++

Cool knitting cake designed, baked and decorated by Wishy’s talented husband! Photo courtesy of Wishy.

Comments (5)

By Mom Unplugged, April 16, 2008 8:24 pm

If any of you have been reading the posts by the TV Turnoff Week Blog Challenge participants, you might have noticed a common theme to just about all of them. It seems that most bloggers anticipate that unplugging the children will be far less traumatic and problematic than unplugging themselves from their computers!

I’m not sure if the reason we were drawn to blogging in the first place is because we like the connection we feel from being online, or whether the decision to write (or read) a blog created that need for connection. It is indeed a philosophical chicken and egg issue.

But regardless of the psychology behind it, the fact remains that most of us who use our computers on a daily basis are ADDICTED (myself included). If I had any doubts about my own addiction before last year’s TV-Turnoff Week Blog Challenge, the difficulty I had with minimizing my computer time that week made me realize that I am indeed dependent upon the computer.

I found that the computer sitting on the desk in my kitchen was silently calling to me: “Come on, turn me on…you can just quickly check your email then turn me off again. Where’s the harm in that? …do it, do it, DO IT!!” My goal of reducing my online time to one hour, gradually and insidiously increased throughout the week to more like and hour and a half (or maybe even two). It was torture.

However several days after TV-Turnoff Week ended last year, I had something of an epiphany about the whole computer issue:

I had a similar personal revelation today. Today I took care of a friend’s one year-old, so I was caring for two one year-olds (only three months apart in age!). Dueling babies. It was rather like having twins I suppose. I had decided ahead of time that I would simply have to stay offline. I did check email and comments once during their nap, but otherwise I really was not online.

Since I had already decided that I would not have time for the computer today, I was able to deal with the very mobile, busy babies with mindfulness. My mind was not on what might be happening online. As a consequence, the day went quite smoothly and actually seemed almost easier than some days when it is just me and my one year-old…and my computer!

It all went better for me than during the Blog Challenge where my mind was always half on my computer even as I tried to do other things. It seems to me that FOCUS is the key to success. My reader seemed to have this experience also. Whether it is a “PPP New Year’s Resolution,” or caring for extra babies, the ability to not just turn it off, but forget it, not even expect it, is the key to success.

This is an excerpt from a post I wrote about a reader who emailed me the results of her TV-Turnoff week. If you want, you can read the whole post here.

Mindfulness and focus are the key to success. Can I apply these principles to my TV-Turnoff Week this year? We’ll see!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here are a few tips that might help make turning off your computer a bit less traumatic:

• Mindfulness and focus (explained above)
• Move the computer out of your normal living space, especially if your goal is NO time online that week at all. Why have it there tempting and calling you?
• Try and have a list of goals to accomplish during the time that you usually are online.
• If you enjoy more spontaneity, then make a sort of “Mommy I’m Bored” Box for yourself. Put all your goals or activity ideas for yourself in a box or jar and just pull one out when you feel that need to check your email coming on.
• When you feel like blogging, instead read a book or try a craft or recipe that you can blog about after TV-Turnoff Week is over! Think of all the great fodder for posts you’ll have. (Is this just postponing your online time? Perhaps not truly in the spirit of the week, but that is for you to decide.)

Comments (12)

By Mom Unplugged, April 15, 2008 1:07 pm

So your usually wired children are bugging you during TV-Turnoff Week: “Mommy, I’m bored!” The dreaded words. If the obvious response of “go outside and play” doesn’t work, or you live in a big city apartment and “go to your room and play” doesn’t work, why not break out the magic “Mommy I’m Bored” Box?

Find a shoe box, paper bag, jar or coffee can and fill it with slips of paper listing ideas of things to do. Here’s how it works: Your child pulls out a slip of paper and does that activity quietly and happily for the rest of the day. (Is Mom Unplugged hallucinating?)

Well, if your child is just not that cooperative, why not let the little darling choose three slips of paper…the alternative to selecting one of the three proposed activities being “clean your room.” When issued this ultimatum, I bet he or she will suddenly find one of the three choices to be quite fascinating. If not, then at least they’ll have a clean room, right?

Of course the ideas that you put in there should be appropriate to the age, abilities, and interests of your child, but here are some that come to my mind -

Of course there is the Obvious:

-Read a book

-Ride your bike

-Play outside on the swing set

-Write a letter to grandma

The purely Academic:

-Read a book

-Do your homework

- Draw a diagram of the solar system

The purely Creative:

- Create a collage of magazine pictures depicting your favorite color

- Draw a picture of a new food that you have just invented

- Write a song or poem about broccoli

More interesting variations on the Obvious or the Academic:

- How many swings on the swing set can you do between the passing of one car and the next?

- Set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes: how many pages of your book can you read?

- Roll a dice 10 times. Keep track of how many times you come up with each number. Now roll it 20 times, how many times did you get each number? Is it what you expected? Graph this result.

The Old-Fashioned:

Hint - What did you like to play or do as a child? (not that I am saying that you are “old fashioned!!)

- Jumprope

- Hopscotch

- String-figures (Cat’s Cradle, for example)

But how about adding odd things:

- Write a list of every object in the living room that begins with “T”

- Make a sculpture of the dog out of Playdough

- Go outside and bring back five objects that are red

- Put your hand down on a random spot on the lawn. Study it very closely (with magnifying glass if possible). Draw what you find underneath your hand. (Grass? Rocks? Sticks? Bugs? Anthills?)

You get the idea. The “Mommy I’m Bored” Box could almost become a scavenger hunt type activity if you want it to. Or at least an exciting source of random fun activities. The possibilities are limitless, plus it could even be entertaining for you to create it!

If you try this during TV-Turnoff Week (or any other time), please report your findings: How old are your children and what ideas did you put in the box? What did your kids like and dislike about the concept? What ideas went over really well? Which were a flop?

Comments (0)

By Mom Unplugged, February 26, 2008 5:58 pm

Santa gave the 4 Way Countdown Wooden Game to my 7 year-old daughter because he was hoping it might be a fun way to work on memorizing math facts.

The board consists of a simple square wooden box. Each side has ten wooden numbered bars that flip up and down. The object of the game is to be the first to flip up all your numbers. Players take turns rolling two dice. They can add, subtract, multiply, or divide the two numbers appearing on the dice in order to equal a number on one of their bars. They then flip up that bar. To make things a little more interesting, if you roll and eleven, you can of course flip up the 1 (6-5=1) or, instead, make another player flip all their bars back down. Fun, but beware: if you roll a twelve, then you must flip down all your bars!

This makes for a surprisingly entertaining game. What I like best about the game is how it can grow with your child’s abilities. Younger children can play by simply adding and subtracting. Multiplication and division can be added later as math skills progress.

I must also mention that even I like playing this one. Since many games aimed at children are deadly boring for grownups, I am always excited to find one that is at least tolerable, at best fun.

So, did Santa pick wisely? Yes! This game makes basic math facts easier to memorize and is way more fun than flash cards. Thank you Santa!

4 Way Countdown is also fairly practical as a travel game. The box is about 10.5″ x 10.5″ and 1.5″ thick, doesn’t weigh much, and the only loose pieces are the two dice. Dice are rolled inside the box, so are unlikely to escape during play.

Great math practice for 2 to 4 players (or you could even play alone). It would also be a great addition to a homeschool classroom.

PS. My daughter just saw me writing this post and wants to play 4 Way Countdown now. I’ve got to go so we can get in a quick game before dinner!