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Keeping Kids Occupied with Mind Games

Child expert Wendy Toone offers fun ways to expand your child's mind during the dog days of summer.

We may be knee deep in those lazy, hazy days of summer, but that doesn't mean we still can't keep our kids active with challenging games and activities that will keep their minds buzzing. In fact, here are some great rainy day and car ride activities that will challenge your kids to think on their feet!

1. Mind games can keep boredom away as well as physical activity. Even small children can follow an adjusted version of "I Spy." Just be sure that the clues are age appropriate and not too tricky. Look for easy to spot shapes, bright colors, or unique characteristics (animals, common objects such as pencils, etc.). Remember to let them give you the clues, too, to really work their brains. Finding an object is different than coming up with a clue for an object.

2. Once your child is a little older, around 4 years or so, theme games can be played. A favorite (still) of my kids is the animal game. "I Spy"-like clues can be given, but your child must rely on their memory and knowledge of animals instead of looking for pictures or representations of them. These types of games are great for long car rides, and you can make them more challenging, as your children get older. Go in order through the alphabet..."I have a long nose and tongue" = Aardvark (or anteater, both will work in this case); "I'm totally white and live in the cold" = Beluga whale. Get it?

3. READ, READ, READ. Reading to your child, no matter how young, increases their vocabulary, imagination, and overall cognitive abilities. Hearing language creates synapses - the connection of brain cells. Most of us parents think that reading at bedtime is sufficient. And while bedtime stories create a wonderful bonding time between parent and child, so can reading a story with your child snuggled on your lap in a waiting room. Granted, you can't be expected to tote a small library around with you at all times. But if you know your day will include a little waiting time, why not pop your child's favorite book in the day bag. Or maybe a story you haven't yet read to them? Or take advantage of digital children's books that can be downloaded to your cell phone or iPod? These digital books can do double duty, as oftentimes they are books that are enhanced with narration (sometimes even music and sound effects are added), so your little one can hear the book as they see the words on your phone or iPod screen.

So the next time you find yourself exasperated trying to tame the savage beast that is a toddler with nothing to do, try a few of these tips. Not all of them will work at all times or in every situation. But hopefully if nothing else, it will spark your creativity to engage your child and use your waiting time as teaching time. For there is no better teacher for a child than his or her own parent. Good luck!!!

Wendy Toone is a child expert having owned and operated a leading franchise children's fitness center and now producing MobiStories, Digital Books for KidsTM, as well as being a mom to her two children. To experience the world of digital children's picture books, visit www.mobistories.com.

To download a free copy of Mommy's High Heel Shoes for your PC or Mac, visit MobiStories.com and enter the promo code: MHHS0710. The offer expires 8/22.Mommy's High Heel Shoes is also available for download as an app via the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad in the iTunes store where you can check out more great story apps from MobiStories: To order a hard cover copy of Kristie Finnan's book, Mommy's High Heeled shoes, visit her at KristieFinnan.com.

*This advertorial post is sponsored by the Role Mommy Writers Network.

Posted in: Blog, Guest Post Corner, Role Mommy Contributors on 07/31/2010

Meet the Role Mommy Experts

Role Mommy Lifestyle Editor Melissa Chapman and her brood of three live in the urban concrete jungle of NYC. When she's not busy putting someone in a time-out, stepping on action figures, hand-feeding her dog/child or braiding hair she's trying to find indulgences that remind her of her pre-kid days when she felt sexy and no one ever called her ma'am.! But above all else, she has taken a solemn vow to never- under any circumstances succumb to slipping on a pair of mom jeans! She contributes to Time Out NY Kids and iVillage, writes a blog called This mom wouldn't be caught dead wearing mom jeans and a weekly column for the Staten Island Advance. Check out Melissa's page on Role Mommy today and find out about her giveaway du jour!

Sports marketing executive for the NBA by day and Mom Marketing Officer by night, Nicole Bohorad is the mom of an active toddler who writes the Fave Five baby/toddler products column for Rolemommy.com. Nicole's blog discusses how baby products can be improved to meet parents' needs better. Nicole's reviews have been featured on Goodhousekeeping.com, and it is a marketing tool for Parentville.com, a new recommendation network that will allow parents to quickly and easily find and share trusted suggestions for anything from caregivers and pediatricians to websites, products and services. Nicole plans to utilize the brand as a base for her parenting handbook proposal, a "Moms Cliffs Notes" for surviving the first two years of motherhood.

Debi Silber, MS, RD, WHC The Mojo Coach™ is a Registered Dietitian with a Master's degree in Nutrition Science. She's a Certified Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach, Lifestyle Expert - just for moms, speaker and the author of The Lifestyle Fitness Program: A Six Part Plan So Every Mom Can Look, Feel and Live Her Best and From Mom To Wow: Your Ultimate Body, Mind and Life Makeover Guide. Debi's been branded The Mojo Coach™ because for nearly 20 years she's motivated overweight, overwhelmed and unfit moms to "get their mojo back" through gradual, lifestyle change. Sign up for a free report, 52 weeks of weekly tips and a subscription to Debi's newsletter Mojo Moments at www.TheMojoCoach.com

Jennifer Perillo: Unlike many food writers, Perillo's isn't the romantic story of a girl who grew up surrounded by a love of cooking. A kid of the 70's, Rice-a-Roni wasn't just a San Francisco treat, yet she had a hunch cake was more than just add eggs and oil. During the summer between freshman and sophmore year in highschool Jennifer claimed the family kitchen. Along with adding mixed green salads to the dinner menu, she began devouring cooking magazines and learned you didn't have to fry or cook everything until it screamed for mercy. The real change came when her dad died at the age of 49. Only 23 years old, Perillo started thinking about regret and missed opportunities. Time to Eat, a personal chef service, was born. After being featured in the New York Daily News, Time Out New York, online at CNNfn and in local newspapers, Perillo decided to hone her hospitality skills with the best NYC had to offer. She worked with Tom Colicchio when he was the top chef at Gramercy Tavern back in 2000, and left the NYC restaurant scene in 2007 on a high note as the Events Director for Alain Ducasse at his namesake restaurant in the Essex House. Nowadays, she's juggling spatulas and sippy cups in her Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn home with her husband, and two daughters while working as the consulting food editor at Working Mother magazine, writing a weekly blog for Cuisinart and publishing her own food blog, In Jennie's Kitchen.

Nanny to the stars Marva Soogrim is a one of a kind caregiver who has worked with A-list celebrities from feature films, TV and music. If you are a new parent and want to know what qualities to look for in the perfect nanny or if you have important questions to ask about your newborn, toddler or pre-schooler, then look no further - Marva will be on hand to answer all your essential parenting questions with her brand new column, Ask Marva!

If you're interested in becoming a contributor to Role Mommy or if you'd like to submit a guest blog, please email us at beth@rolemommy.com.

Posted in: News, Role Mommy Contributors on 08/21/2009

Me, a lifestyle expert? Heck yeah.. keep reading for tips to decorate on a dime!

Okay- so let me give you a little background about me, the short version; I married a doctor 15 years older than me... no you didn't read that wrong. At 25 years old, I was thinking more along the lines of future long-term financial security and it didn't hurt that I thought he was devastatingly handsome-it kept my mother quiet, I was clearly intoxicated by the fact that this guy would be obligated to check every suspicious mole on body- and give me regular breast examinations.

 So we sailed off into the sunset- in our M.D. license-plated 1995 Honda Accord.  Well- to give you a bit of perspective- 10 years later well we're still driving that Honda, and then a year ago my nice doctor husband told me he'd rather drive a stake through his heart than see another patient, (okay I'm using a bit of poetic license here- because his admission had far less dramatic flair, but you get the gist). So like any good wife- I told him- our marriage and relationship was not predicated on his M.D. status and that ultimately being that I never lived the rock star doctor's wife lifestyle-- you know - convertible BMW, lunching with the ladies- mani-pedis on a bi-weekly basis- shopping at Coach-- that his "profession" wasn't all that important to me.

Still it's been a bit of an adjustment... especially when acquaintances accost me with statements like; OH my G-d if my husband ever decided he didn't want to be a doctor I would divorce him! Or my mother's recation and insistence that she will not be telling any of her friends about this CATASTROPHIC event. (NO this time I'm not exaggerating!)

So when Beth, the infamous Role mommy herself- asked me to be the Lifestyle Editor for the site- I though- this could possibly be the perfect opportunity for me to find and share ideas that us real moms in the trenches- the ones who are not shopping on Madison Avenue, downing martinis at lunch- rather sipping the last dregs of our kids' juice boxes (we hate wasting a perfectly good fruit punch) and looking for ways to cut costs but still reveling in life's little luxuries-- (I can really whoop it up in those $1 bins at Target) could ACTUALLY use!.

To kick off my inaugural first lifestyle post the amazing folks at Nouvelles Images, which produces the non-toxic pretty fabulous paper wall Homestickers which come in an array of themes for any age from whimsical forest creatures to colorful underwater life designs and will brighten your children's rooms and illuminate their imaginations without breaking the bank-- are giving one lucky reader these stickers for FREE. These are featured.

 

But really the best part about these Nouvelles Images' Children's Homestickers is that they're non-toxic, easily applied and removed,  only cost $30, and allow kids' ever changing interests (last week my daughter was all about Hannah Montana- and now it's strictly Selena Gomez)  to be reflected in the design of their rooms as often as they choose. They're available on Amazon.com, AllPosters.com and ChangeYourWalls.com.

 

 

To enter to win your very own set--leave a comment about which design is your favorite. Feel free to leave any random musings too--I'm always up for some commiseration, gossip and girl talk! And to score another entry you can tweet about this giveaway too!

 

Giveaway only open to those with U.S. addresses. Giveaway ends on Monday July 6th at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time. On Tuesday July 7th Random.org will select one winner, and I'll email them and announce it immediately.  Good luck! 

To find out more about our fabulous lifestyle editor, Melissa Chapman, the visit our Role Mommy contributors page for all the details.  Or, if you'd like to see her in action, the hop on over to Role Mommy TV for her latest appearance on CNN.  We're thrilled to have her on board and can't wait to see more of her hilarious and helpful posts!  So what are you waiting for?  Start commenting and tweeting so you can win big! 

Posted in: Blog, Role Mommy Contributors, giveaway central, melissa Chapman on 07/01/2009

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