Every weekend we have been going to a large hardware department store having a little bite to eat and then Pyper would play in the playground. Now as a two and a half year old watching her in this play ground can be rather nerve wracking. So it's a fine line between being an over protective father and letting her be independent. It's tough - when I see my little lady climbing up a wall with little or no support, it can be tricky to stand back and let her do it. These days what I'm thinking is how quickly she has grown and how the need for me to do everything for her is slowly diminishing as she wants to do everything by herself. It's a great feeling but also means that parts of my role as her father become redundant and will be no doubt picked up later on in new areas.

So, long story short - cherish all moments you have with your little treasure as tomorrow comes very quickly!

-Scott

As our babies get older and become toddlers and pre-schoolers, I've noticed that a lot of the really cool bits of parenting come down to providing the little ones with new experiences. Stuff they haven't done or seen before. It's just magic to watch their faces when they experience something for the first time. So my tip of the day is to take your little one to a Sushi bar with one of those Sushi trains. A useful age to really "get" the experience is probably when they are about 2.5 - 3 years old.

Isn't it fantastic to watch the little plates of Sushi go by and work out what they are etc. A trip to a Sushi restaurant may also involve another few "firsts". Eating with chop sticks ... or perhaps trying Wasabi / Soy sauce for the first time. Of course most of the dishes may be firsts too (perhaps even for dad). So it's just a great activity all round - AND you eat healthy food at the same time! Go Sushi!

Enjoy

-Stef

If you are interested in teaching your children to look after their money well you will like the following activity suitable for children 3 years and older (or whenever you can be sure they don't swallow stuff unexpectedly). If you haven't already got one, get your little champ a savings box (or make them one) - make sure you can get the coins out without having to break the box. Go to the bank and get $10 in various coins. Toss the coins on the floor or a table and get junior to put them in the savings box. Once they are all in, open the box and toss them out again, etc. This activity is great for practising counting and for introducing the concept of money (i.e. you can use "this coin" to buy a ball in the $1 shop). You can also use the coins to get your child to group them by colour or size etc.

"All by myself" - have you heard you little one say this over and over again when you want to do something for them, or they have seen you do something? This sentence represents a huge step in their development and their long journey to complete independence. Whether it is putting food on a plate, getting dressed, jumping off a bench or tyring out a new toy. As dads we've got a great opportunity when they reach this stage (typically between 2 and 3) to encourage our children to do things all by themselves (perhaps with a bit of assistance in the end ... but still). It's a huge confidence boost to the little ones if they can perform a task that dad used to do by themselves (give lots of praise). It's also a sign that your little princess is beginning to assert herself. So it's also important to keep this natural desire for independence and control in balance so she doesn't end up "all by herself" in the playground because she doesn't know how to take turns or ends up dominatinating play.

And since it's Friday I thought I might as well include the most appropriate song on this topic ...

Enjoy,

Stef

Today's activity in our "learning with dad series" is actually a pretty cool game you can play as a whole family. It's a memory game where you show your little champ (or everyone) a selection of objects (e.g. toys, household objects, etc) and then cover them up with a blanket. Then ask them what they remember (if you are playing this as a family with older kids or adults - get everyone to write down what they remember).

A variation of the game is where you first show all objects and then get everyone to cover their eyes (or blindfold them) and remove an object. Then ask your child (or the whole family) what's missing. You can gradually increase the difficulty of the game by using a wider selection of objects and removing more items.

Enjoy!

-Stefan

I saw this on the waterfront the other day - what a FABULOUS IDEA!!! One of the companies providing activities at the waterfront offered rides in a giant air bubble. They had these sturdy see-through plastic bubbles that were pumped up with air and kids (up to 40kg) could go inside and roll around on the water. Some of the kids got the hang of it really quickly and literally managed to walk on water - very cool! NB: the kid in the photo is completely dry inside the bubbtle. Don't try this at home - but definitely get your kids to try it out if it is offered as a ride somewhere.

Enjoy

-Stefan

This week we are focusing on a very simple activity you can do with your kids - finger painting. But did you know that it helps children fully develop motor skills - all the way from the shoulders to the fingers. And yes ... it can be quite messy but many of the finger paints on the market these days wash out easily and are basically food safe. You can make your (cleaning) life easier by putting old newspapers on the floor and table where you do the finger painting with your children. Another cool alternative to ordinary finger paint is to use painting soap (read our article about painting soap).

Enjoy,

Stef

If you're stuck for some decent video clips to watch with your toddler / pre-schooler, check out "Calliou" and his adventures.
The Caillou animations are based on the books by Canadian authors Christine L'Heureux and Hélène Desputeaux. Many of the stories just describe everyday activities and situations which means young children can often relate to them very well. It's quite amazing to see how well the authors captured language, gestures and feelings of you children in typical situations. Like their desire for independence or for being assertive. Perhaps that's why the animated series has become so successful? Anyway - see for yourself:

Enjoy,

stefan

One of the all-time favourite acitivities of dads with their babies and small children has got to be massaging them. From a very early eage on it's just superb to see how they totally love the feeling of being massaged. Well then again who doesn't like being massaged - why would babies and toddlers be different?

Basically you can never do too much massaging of your baby and it doesn't stop when they are a toddler. Here is a nice variation that teaches them about "bent" and "straight" and the concept of two sides to the body which you can use to introduce them to "left" and "right" (all of that as you are doing the massage).

Here's what you can do: Lay your child in the "crocodile position" as shown in the illustration. As you are massaging talk about the "straight" side and the "bent" side. After a while, get your little one to swap the bent/straight sides. That's it - easy!

Enjoy,

Stef

By Ken Burns about his experiences as a stay-at-home-dad

The first 2 years are the hardest to get through when you become a stay-at-home-dad. This is the time when the people you used to work with realise you won't be back - so many of your social contacts stop in the end. You can then have lots of time to read between the lines about why you have no contact with the guys anymore but there is point you have to accept what you've got and get in a position to reinvent yourself.

Women seem to have a lot more social contact than men but dads are happy to spend time at home with their kids and get on with their own housework / shopping routine. Some guys manage to get new contacts / parent help with kindy and school but these groups are mainly run by women. Not that men are deliberately left out but guys can find it harder to get involved as the meet-ups are often run by the same group of people for long periods.