Give your child lot’s of different experiences in the first 3-5 years of life especially. Since this is such an important time for brain development you want to expose them to lot’s of different experiences.
Join a play group, take them to community playgrounds, join some kind of tumbling or gymboree class, go to the local children’s museum, the local zoo, a small petting zoo, a farm, or even just set up lot’s of fun activities to do in your own home.
Go exploring outside, blow bubbles, make a fort out of chair cushions, get one of these little ball pits
Give them a paint brush and a bucket of water, or hand them a spray bottle filled with water and a towel to wipe it up with.
All of these experiences are teaching them new things about themselves and their world as well as making those all important brain connections. Children learn by playing so have fun playing!!!
Photo credit: Flickr
Since we just had a brand new mall open up down the street I spend most of my time shopping there. It is an outdoor mall so kinda hot in the summer but at night after the sun goes down is a nice time to go plus they have misters and a water play area for the kids. It’s a great place to go and hang out when you are tight on money because you can just walk around and the kids can play for free. Right next to the play area is all the kids stores like childrens place, gymboree, pumpkin patch, build a bear, and the disney store. Of course this is great marketing but it is really convienent too since those are pretty much the only stores I frequent since becoming a mom!
For Grocery Stores I love going to the new Fresh and Easy that is very close by. It is so convienent. Do you have one by you? It is a new chain here in the U.S. from Great Britain. They have pre-prepared foods and lot’s of fresh fruits and vegatables. It is a very small store and is fast and easy to check out and get on your way.
