Whenever we have school holidays coming up, I always try and order at least one new book for Anya. It’s just something I started doing a while ago but now it’s become a holiday habit. The holidays have somehow become my prompt to get her some new books and with half term coming up next week, I went looking. I don’t always get a story book but it can be an activity book, a joke book, an art book or anything that looks interesting and will keep her occupied for a while.
I bought The School of Art last December for Anya as she is interested in creating. She recently picked it up which is what reminded me of what a great book this is. Since she’s picked it up, she hasn’t been able to put it down. If you’re interested in a tool for teaching art to children or you just have kids who love art, I haven’t come across anything better than this book.
One of the things I try and stock up on for the longer school holidays is books for Anya. I mix it up with some new books as well as pull out old books that she hasn’t looked at for a while. This is exactly what I did before the long Easter/Spring break. I always try and include a few different types of books to keep her interested so I’ll maybe include a puzzle book, a story book and a joke book or a fact book.
Hands up, who is maths phobic? It turns out that a lot of us parents are and that we can unintentionally pass on this math phobia to our kids.
We tend to place a lot of emphasis on language and reading. Every parent I know reads to their kids at bedtime and usually started when their kids were babies. But why not the same importance for maths? If I had to choose between the two, I would say that maths is a more important skill to understand and feel confident about. I’ve read a lot recently about this and it really resonated with me. Up till now Anya has loved and enjoyed maths but recently she started struggling with the concept of division and I started hearing phrases like ‘I can’t do it’ and ‘I just don’t understand’. That’s when I went hunting for a maths book for kids to help make maths more fun for her.
As you probably know, adult colouring books have become really popular in the last year or so. There have been many detailed and intricate colouring books popping up all over the place. The whole ‘adult colouring revolution’ has kind of passed me by as I never even considered trying it out. In December Anya was gifted Animal Kingdom – A Colouring Book Adventure for her birthday. I barely glanced at it until Anya asked me to colour with her. She often asks me to do this with her but up to now it’s been with her kiddy colouring books which I would colour in for about 5 minutes and lose interest.
Once I started colouring in this book, I couldn’t stop. I loved it! I think it re-awakened the inner child in me but yet it was so much more interesting to colour than a regular kids colouring book. And not only me but Anya is loving this book too. Even though these books are sold more as adult colouring books, I think they are for any age over around 5 years old. When I first saw it I thought the patterns may be a bit too intricate for Anya but I was wrong. In fact it’s the minute details that capture her attention and mine.
I think the best thing about the Animal Kingdom colouring book for me was that it was a shared activity that both Anya and I enjoyed doing together. No screens, no distractions, no thinking – just me and Anya colouring together and chatting a lot. We both switched off from the world around us and were immersed in colouring and talking about anything and everything. So much so that when it was time to go out for lunch, neither of us wanted to leave and we even started thinking up excuses to cancel our plans!
Have you got one of these books? If not, do you think you will give colouring a go in 2016?
Books are my favourite gifts to give kids. For birthdays, for Christmas gifts, for any occasion at all. With so many fabulous kids books out there, it’s not hard to find the perfect book for any child. Here I’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite books – some of which we already have and others that are on our wish list. I’ve mixed up the selection to include picture books, art books, activity books, educational books and more.
Anya’s Christmas gifts always include books and usually a selection of different types like the ones I’ve suggested here. The one that I am looking most forward to buying her this Xmas is The School of Art which I have browsed through and it looks great not just for kids but for adults too. The books I’ve picked are for a range of ages from toddlers to 10 year olds so there’s something for everyone. The ages though are just rough guides, not set in stone.
Here are my best kids books gift suggestions for this year:
We love colouring in this house. Anya of course loves it but she often asks me to colour with her and I find it quite therapeutic. Recently, while on holiday during half-term, Anya even got Richard involved and the three of us spent a rainy afternoon colouring (who said we don’t know how to live!). As with story books, I try and look out for fun, unusual and unique colouring books and this one called Evolution: A Colouring Book is exactly that. It’s Anya’s current favourite (and mine!).
Evolution is a colouring book as well as a book on evolution. As a colouring book it’s interactive with flaps, die-cuts, stencils and mix and match pages and then you have the text on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The facts are presented simply so it’s ideal for kids especially 6-8 year olds. Anya has been asking a lot of questions on evolution lately and this book is a great introduction to the concept. But the fact that it’s an interactive colouring book too makes it even more engaging for a child. It’s unusual to find a colouring book that teaches and is interactive and that’s why I love Evolution as it is so much more than just a coloring book. This book would make a great gift too especially with Christmas coming up.
During the Summer holidays do you plan an outing everyday for your kids? I don’t because I think it’s important for kids to have unstructured play time. By that I mean simply spending time at home and letting them use their imaginations to just play. By planning too many activities and trying to fill every minute of their time, I think kids lose the ability for creative play. So at our house, we tend to mix it up – a few planned outings each week and lots of home time in between. For home time I like to have a few things up my sleeve to help keep Anya occupied and one of her favourite things to do is work her way through a kids activity book.
I recently came across this really fun and creative activity book called Tate kids Modern Art activity book and it sounded really good so I bought it. It’s by the Tate Gallery and includes lots of fun activities based around the modern artists of out time. This book isn’t about drawing and colouring within the book, but its a book of arty ideas that can help you come up with even more creative and fun ideas. Some of the suggestions would also make fun party or play date activities especially for crafty kids. So for e.g. you have things like a Henri Matisse activity where you’re encouraged to paint pieces of paper in the brightest, boldest colours like Matisse’s famous colourful collages and perhaps make an animal shaped collage of your own. Or a Salvador Dali art project where you cut out pictures from magazines and then mix and match the most unlikely pairs.
Anya is really enjoying this Tate Kids Modern Art Activity Book which comes in especially handy when we don’t have a planned day and also on rainy days. The collage activities have appealed to her the most so far. Our home is already full of all kinds of collages and we’ve only had the book a few days. But there are lots of other fun ideas in this kids activity book all of which are engaging, creative and fun to do.
While Christmas shopping for Anya I came across these kids activity books which literally jumped out at me possibly because of their striking black and neon colours. I picked up one and had a quick flick through and thought it looked pretty good. So I bought it for her and she has loved it. We got the orange ‘Definitely not for chickens’ one which is full of drawing puzzles, number activities, memory games and lots more. Some pages are easier than others but all offer pretty engaging things to do. There are five different books in total each with different puzzles and activities.
Apart from being really fun for kids, these quirky Totally Twisted Puzzle books are nicely illustrated and use the same colour scheme inside and on the cover making it all very striking to look at. I’m planning to get another one once Anya has gone through the first one. It’s been a great book to take along when you need your child to be entertained (rather than giving them an ipad/iphone). Recently while planning our house renovation, we’ve had to spend hours at kitchen/bathroom/flooring shops and this book has been the thing we’ve taken along to keep Anya occupied. I also love these books to give as party favours or small gifts.
My absolute favourite thing to gift kids is books – any kind of book from story books, to picture books to activity books. Christmas gifts for Anya would not be complete without at least one book included but usually I give her many more. If you’re crazy for kids books too then you’ll love today’s round-up of gifts. I’ve chosen a range of the best kids activity books out there from drawing books to puzzles to colouring books. These activity books are for a range of ages mostly from around 4 to 8 years but even younger kids can get stuck in with your help. Here’s the selection:
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
