School has started in this region. That means half a day, sometimes more hours Spent in School, gaining knowledge and experience for the little ones. An old adage goes “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy…” so as a mom, I find that it is but right to balance school schedule and kids’ play and other activities. Here are some ideas for you and your kids to try.

after viewing great works of art, let them try

1. Museums and Doodling. There are a lot of museums catering for the mini-Picassos and mini-Van Gogh’s. They offer activities especially tailored for the creative, exploring little hands. After a tour of an exhibit and answering questions from the museum tour guide, they will have enough inspiration and have seen a lot of colors to invoke in them images that they weren’t even familiar before.

2. Outdoors and Adventures. Saturdays are best spent outside, especially if the sun is giving. Spend it biking, boating, wall-climbing, skateboarding, play football, tennis  and basketball and other physical activities. The year will be spent in school and winter is not far so better use the days out. Of course, skiing and sledding comes in the picture when snow comes.

hair up, my little sailor! (ahhmm helmsman?)

3. Homebuddies and Movies. There are days when the weather won’t cooperate, or when you and thekids would not be in the mood to go out. No worries, you can always go for movies and popcorn or play chess, monopoly…and there are even online games for kids and parents that can be enjoyed by both in the comfort of the living room. In this era of technology, the possibilities of having fun at home never ends. PS3, Wii, Xbox and all that? Make use of them well!

At the Museumsquartier, free exhibit

4. Theaters and Cinemas and Eat-outs. The theater is sometimes at the end of the list when finding things to do with the kids because they would prefer watching a movie on the big screen. Whichever you choose for them or whichever they prefer, make sure that the play or film to watch is worth it. It would be fun to talk about later on. Afterwards, take them to eat their favorite dessert or full meal! For us, that’s like a sushi restaurant and black sesame Japanese ice cream!

theater’s backstage as daughter prepares, boys play

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5. Discipline and Martial Arts. There’s nothing wrong with learning self-defense and discipline while having fun. Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido and Judo are some of the popular form of martial arts but I’m sure there could be one you and your kids would find fit and enjoyable. Schools usually offer these as separate extra-curricular activities along with dancing, piano lessons, choir practices and a lot more that will enhance a kids’ creativity, sportsmanship to make them well-rounded individuals.

6. Bookstores and Reading. Someone once said “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” I wanted my kids to live the lives I had and that’s why bringing them to bookstores and libraries has been a habit. Books should not be limited to: children’s stories, fables, fantasy ones, you can try Bible parables and character stories, I’m sure they’ll love those too. I don’t mind if they ask to buy a new book everytime we visit a bookstore, I’m filling up all the nooks and crannies to raise them bookworms. ^_^