Have you been following me?

...over on the FisherPricePlay.ca site that is. I've been contributing along with the rest of the Fisher-Price Moms to bring you great new content each month. Check out some of my most recent articles:

- Spring has Sprung
- Learning How-to Organize (and re-organize) your Children’s Toys!
- Finding Alternatives to Technology this Winter (not very season appropriate, but, a great article to give you ideas for days you need to spend indoors - e.g. storm days). 

Disclosure:  I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Imaginative Play

Imaginative play is something I've always thought is extremely important for children of all ages to participate in. It probably stems from the joy I had engaging in it as a child. When I was a child, I was always pretending something. Whether it was as simple as pretending I was an 'adult' (a.k.a. dressing up in my mother's clothing) or as elaborate as planning and carrying out a meal with all my furry friends (a.k.a. my stuffed animals) and my mother's fancy dinnerware.

Since I've grown into an adult and looked after many children as a childcare provider, I've always enjoyed watching and encouraging the children I take care of to participate in imaginative play. Some of my favorite ways to encourage the growth of children's' imagination is through activities such as
- 'make believe' play (e.g. make-believe-playing school, restaurant, etc.), including dress-up with things found around the house or in a dress-up treasure chest
-  storytelling - I love encouraging the children I babysit to tell me a story while looking through the pages of a book instead of me always reading the story to them. I've found that this is a great way to help develop the child's imagination and encourage their self-esteem.

You will probably notice that your child will use their imagination with almost anything they can find (e.g. an empty box, pots and pans, etc.). There are also a great selection of toys on the market that allow your child to explore their imagination even further. For example the Little People® Pirate Ship (a previous favorite of my nephew's) is great for allowing children to pretend that they are pirates on a ship at sea. Or, My First Dollhouse, which is perfect for allowing little girls (or boys) to play 'house'.

The wonderful thing about imaginative play is not only that it is important for healthy development, but it's a lot of fun too - no matter what age you are! With imaginative play, if you can imagine it, you can do it! Children seem to enjoy this concept and love engaging in this type of play. Dr. Kathleen Alfano (an well-known expert in child development) says that imaginative play is important for children to gain and build on skills such as thinking, problem solving, goal setting, empathy, and it can also improve social and communication skills.

Dr. Alfano mentions several things you can do to help promote your child's imagination:
- "Look at the clouds and take turns imagining what they resemble." This is something that I always enjoyed doing when I was young.
- "Provide toys that encourage creativity and imagination." Toys such as barbies (or other dolls), dress-up clothes, or doctor's kits are fabulous for this!
- "Arrange play dates with others to foster social and imaginative play."
- "Use your own imagination and awaken your own inner child." This is my favorite suggestion of Dr. Alfano's and something I try to engage in often.
These are just a few suggestions to help you encourage your child's imagination.

Imaginative play is something that I am really looking forward to experiencing with my daughter when she gets a bit older. The possibilities of imaginative play are endless and they create wonderful memories for children! As I look back on my childhood, I realize that some of my greatest and most vivid memories are times that I was actively using my imagination.

Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Enjoy some Outdoor Play this Spring + a GIVEAWAY!

Spring is finally here! This year, mother nature seemed to trick us into thinking it was Spring early, then flipped right back into Winter mode (at least where I live in Central Canada).  And although we've been dealing with colder than normal weather and lots of Spring showers, it's clear that Spring is here to stay and Summer is on it's way! 

At the first sign of Spring, both my husband and I couldn't wait to get outside and enjoy some of our favourite outdoor activities.  We've finally been able to enjoy geocaching (our absolute favorite warm weather activity) and evening walks.  Both of these activities allow us to stay active and are activities that we'll be able to continue enjoying and share with our little one when he or she arrives.  These are activities that we can enjoy as a family and that allow both my husband and I to role model healthy living and the importance of physical activity.

I recently read an article titled the Benefits of Outdoor Play, written by Dr. Kathleen Alfano, Director of Child Research at Fisher-Price®.  Dr. Alfano says that children are naturally inclined to enjoy outdoor play.  And, thinking back to my childhood, I agree 100%!  Although my parents weren't very active, I spent most of my free time playing outside with friends or by myself in our backyard.  As a child, I didn't think of outdoor play as work or physical activity, I just knew I loved it and it was fun!

As fun as outdoor play is, there are many benefits such as:
*allows for environmental exploration
*helps with fine and gross motor skill development
*increases strength and endurance
*and more!

So, try to follow your child's lead and get outside and play!  It creates great memories that will last a lifetime, it helps your child meet developmental milestones, and it provides your children with an attitude that physical activity can be fun - an attitude that they'll hopefully carry into their adult years and pass on to their future children!

 *GIVEAWAY*

How many winners are there? One.

What can you win? One winner will receive a Barbie Tough Trike, great for children ages 2-5.

To enter, Tell me what outdoor activity your family enjoys most in the Spring. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). If an entry option is worth more than one entry, please leave the according number of comments.  Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do to gain the proper number of entries:

- Read the article titled 'The Benefits of Outdoor Play' and tell me one thing you learned or an idea you took away from the article.
- Tell me if your parents were 'active' when you were a child and whether you are now 'active' as an adult.- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed. 

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky) and tweeting about the giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You must follow AND tweet to gain 1 entry.  You can tweet up to 2x a day (at least 6 hours apart).

Learn the importance of outdoor play + #Win a Barbie Tough Trike from @ihchicky ! Ends June 17. #Canada #playpanel http://bit.ly/WinBarbie

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- Entering one of my other giveaways (one bonus entry per giveaway entered).
- 'Liking' Everything Up Close on Facebook.  Please leave your name (First name and last initial) that is shown on Facebook for verification. 

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES!

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 3 ENTRIES!

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Friday, June 17th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blogger profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada!

Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

The Power of Play

Although, my husband and I are anticipating the arrival of our little one,  I have had many opportunities to see how the Power of Play helps development.  My educational background is centered around development through the lifespan (including childhood) and the dynamics of family but I have been working with children for as long as I can remember.  My studies have taught me that diverse play is important for helping children learn about the world around them and meet important developmental milestones.

One thing I recently learned is that Fisher-Price takes the science behind play into account whenever creating new products, whatever the age or stage.  Dr. Weber is the Senior Manager for the Fisher-Price Research Department and holds a Bachelor's, Master's and a Doctorate degree in Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education.  Plus, she has two children of her own.  I never realized before joining the Fisher-Price Play Panel that Fisher-Price has an actual research department responsible for ensuring that the items they create help children to reach important milestones.  My education, experience with research (a previous research assistant), and applying research to real life situations (through my current work) gives me greater appreciation for this work that Fisher-Price does.  I am happy to see a company using research to back up the products that they create!

Fisher-Price has launched a new campaign for 2011 - The Milestone Moments Campaign.  Fisher-Price realizes there are milestones that children need to reach at each stage of development; Fisher-Price has committed themselves to creating products that help children meet these milestones.  They are dedicated to showing parents how to help their children meet these milestones through the creation of seven product categories: Soothe, Sense, Move, Discover, Socialize, Learn, Create, and Imagine.

You can help your child thrive in their development by looking at these seven areas.  For example,

Learn: Offer your children a variety of toys and play along with them to show how aspects of each toy work.  Do some of the toys your children have include lights, colours, shapes, or sounds?  Help them explore those features!  I have worked in a couple of different day cares in the past and we always made it routine to offer a variety of new and old toys on a rotating basis to help encourage the childrens' development!

Create: Offer your child toys that allow them to use their imagination and participate in make-belief play!  There are a wide range of toys on the market that allow your child to use their mind to change the world around them.  For example, offer your child blocks to play with.  At first, they will likely start by stacking one block on top of the other, but before you know it, they will be building more complex structures like walls, houses, and more!  It will be a joy watching your child hit those developmental milestones through creative and imaginative play!

There are so many milestones that your child goes through, from conception throughout life.  Currently, I'm enjoying the experience of our baby reaching milestones within my womb.  I am trying to treasure each of these moments since I know that time goes by far too fast - and it already has been!  But, when the time comes for our baby to enter the outside world, I'm looking forward to sharing all the many milestones that he or she accomplish throughout their life!

Disclosure: I’m part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Cheerios® First Foods Blog Tour - Giveaway!

Even though I don't have children of my own yet, Cheerios is one of the brands that I trust when trying to find nutritious snacks (or breakfast) for the children I babysit or for my niece and nephew.

As a child, I enjoyed always enjoyed snacking on Cheerios (little did I know how healthy they were). Over the years, Cheerios continue to be popular with the children in my life. I remember one day last year when I was babysitting my nephew who was obviously quite hungry. Since I'm not used to having children in my own house, I'm not accustomed to having child-friendly snacks. But, I did happen to have Cheerios that day. My nephew being hungry and curious, wandered over to our pantry, opened the door and was excited to find a box of Cheerios sitting on the bottom shelf. I knew he loved them and I felt fine letting him have these fun little nutritious 'Os' for his snack.

Cheerios has a few great things going for it. First of all, it is adult and child friendly. The shape, size, and texture is perfect for little mouths (of course once they are able to handle solids); Cheerios are one of those snacks that just seems to melt in your mouth. It also helps that Cheerios taste great! Finally, Cheerios are made from whole grain oats, which means that they are a healthy choice for your whole family.

For those of you who already have children, BabyCenter.ca is probably familiar for you.  I have used it a number of times in the past to do research on developmental milestones of the children I care for.  Now, Cheerios has partnered up with Baby Center to offer a brand new Cheerios First Foods Section on babycenter.ca. The new section of the site has tons of valuable information for new and experienced caregivers. Topics include getting your picky eater to try new foods (great for some of the children I look after), Q&A for popular food topics, and more!

 *GIVEAWAY*

As part of the Cheerios® First Foods Blog Tour, I'm happy to offer a great giveaway for my Canadian readers!

What can you win?  One winner will receive a Cheerios Prize Pack, which will include a Cheerios On-the-go Tot Container, Cheerios playbook, Box of Cheerios, Bowl and utensil set and a $30 Cash Card. A total $50 value!

To enter, leave me a comment below telling me what you think about the *NEW* Cheerios First Foods section on Baby Center. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). If an entry option is worth more than one entry, please leave the according number of comments.  Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do to gain the proper number of entries:
- Tell me about one of your experiences with Cheerios and the children in your life!
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed. 2 ENTRIES! 

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! 

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly). 2 ENTRIES! 
- 'Liking' Everything Up Close on Facebook and leaving a comment on my Facebook Fan page saying 'Thanks for the Nescafé Giveaway!'  Please leave your name (First name and last initial) that is shown on Facebook for verification. 2 ENTRIES!

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES!

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 3 ENTRIES!

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Monday, February 14th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blogger profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.

Good Luck!

Disclosure - I am participating in the Cheerios First Foods program by Mom Central on behalf of General Mills. I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Kids Konserve is celebrating their 1 year anniversary!

Kids Konserve (the company that eliminates the trash from school lunches) is quickly approaching their one year anniversary. With this special occasion, Kids Konserve is introducing a number of new eco-friendly lunch accessories: stylish insulated lunch bags, nesting stainless steel trio sets, and no-sweat icepack holders.

To help celebrate and to kick off the new school year, Kids Konserve wants to offer all my readers a chance to save on their next order. Just quote the coupon code 'upclose' to save 15%! This offer expires on September 30th, 2009.

Want to read a review of Kids Konserve products before you buy? Check out my review on their waste-free lunch kits: http://www.everythingupclose.com/2009/02/kids-konserve-review.html.

Finally, schools are now signing up to take on the waste-free challenge and earn/save money for their schools. To learn more, please check out http://www.kidskonserve.com/schools.asp.

Global Wonders Review & Giveaway!

As a childcare provider, I value quality children’s toys, games and activities that promote learning and interaction. Even though I believe children shouldn't watch much TV, I think that some shows now a days are great because of how much teaching and learning is involved. There are many series that I could mention, but for the purpose of this article, I will be reviewing a wonderful new series called Global Wonders.

Global Wonders is a fabulous children’s series that introduces your child to a variety of different cultures and languages. This series shows the cultural diversity that is now the ‘norm’ in North America. Global Wonders DVDs feature high quality and adorable animations, as well as photographs and video footage featuring a number of different cultures. Each video features a new play date with a group of multicultural friends. Throughout the episode, you learn how each culture differs in terms of traditions, foods, languages, etc.

“Global Wonders was created by Rashmi Turner, a working mother and the former Executive Producer at The Walt Disney Company, and includes new animation, music, and stories written and performed by Emmy award winning leaders in children's entertainment and guided by experts in children’s developmental education.”

Global Wonders are perfect for helping your child “gain a broader understanding of themselves and the world around them, fostering a stronger self-identity, increased self-esteem, and improved cultural and social skills.”

Global Wonders currently offers 4 DVDs: Around the World, Mexico, India, and African-American, as well as a brand new CD called Global Wonders: Around the World Music. Soon, Global Wonders will be releasing three more CDs, as well as three more Global Wonders DVDs: China, Italy, and America!

Global Wonders’ DVDs can be purchased on Amazon for only $15.99 and their CD can be purchased on Amazon for only $10.99!

Review
I had a chance to test the Global Wonders DVDs out on two different groups of children I look after. The children I showed these DVDs to were between the ages of 2 and 4. The outcome was unanimous; they loved them! I am definitely not surprised by the outcome since I really loved them as well.

Compared to other series that I have seen before, I feel that this series has taught me the most (in terms of cultural awareness). Not only have I (and the children I take care of) learned about different languages, but we’ve also had the chance to learn about different cultural aspects such as food, traditions (e.g. holidays), sports, history, etc. The learning opportunities in these DVDs are endless.

While watching these episodes, I have to say, the children were glued to the TV but interacting and learning at the same time. I was surprised by how much information they were soaking up. I really enjoyed the idea of Global Wonders Fun Features: Wonder Vision and Language Jams. My favorite out of the two would definitely be the Language Jams. I loved these parts because it taught a bunch of things that I never even knew before. In addition, it made the learning process much more interactive. The Language Jams were also a favorite of the 4 year old I look after. She couldn’t wait for ‘the next Jam’ (in her words) and would always have fun following along and shouting out the brand new words she was learning.

Wonder Vision was also a hit. The purpose of Wonder Vision is to get your children interacting with the show. Wonder Vision allows you to “open secret paths to fun facts, cultural wonders, and mystery treasures. Uncover new wonders and unlock new interactive treasures each time you play.” I thought Wonderful Vision was a fantastic concept and great for children (and adults)! Even though I enjoyed it, there is one aspect I would like to see changed in future episodes. For me, I found it very difficult to notice when it was time to press ‘enter’ on my remote for the special Wonder Vision sequence. I would love to see Global Wonders either make the kaleidoscope more evident (either bigger, a different color, etc.) or play a sound when it is time for a Wonder Vision activity. The way it is now, at most, we were able to participate in two Wonder Vision activities. I guess this just goes to show how captivating Global Wonders are for both children and adults!

All in all, I am a big fan of Global Wonders. I love the learning activities and the amount of interaction available in this series. After watching the show with the children I babysit, one of them is slightly addicted. It is the first thing she mentions when she sees me and she is set on her parents buying her a set. I guess it is a good thing that her birthday is coming up. Finally, I cannot wait until Global Wonders put out these next three DVDs. I will definitely be buying myself (I mean the children I take care of), a copy of each of them.

If you want to see what all the hype is about, be sure to check out Global Wonders’ YouTube page for a trailer and other fun clips.

How many winners will there be? Four.

What can you win? One winner will receive a Global Wonders: Around the World DVD. One winner will receive a Global Wonders: African-American DVD. One winner will receive a Global Wonders: India DVD. One winner will receive a Global Wonders: Mexico DVD.

To enter, Visit the Global Wonders website, then come back here and tell me which DVD you’d like to win PLUS, one interesting fact about that particular DVD. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway. Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:
-Telling me which fun feature you think you would like best.
-Signing up for Global Wonders’ newsletter here. In your comment, please state the email address you used to sign up.
-Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS.
-Adding my *new* button to your blog sidebar.
-Following me on Twitter (ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.
-Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page) on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet. You can do this once a day.
-Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 3 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 seperate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Monday, June 1st at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification. If a response is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to US only.

Good Luck!