The Waiting Game: Tips to Keep Kids Busy

MobiStories.com Guest Contributor Wendy Toone shares great tips on how to keep your kids occupied when you've got tons of errands to run!

As a mom of two, I know I'm not alone when I say how challenging it is to keep young kids occupied while doing any sort of waiting. And by challenging, I mean "grit-your-teeth, pull your hair out, I can't believe they're doing that in public" challenging. How many times have you had to stop in to the bank for a quick transaction with a toddler in tow, only to find a line so long you think you made a wrong turn and ended up at the DMV. What to do?? You look at your toddler...at the line...at the very important banking you need to do...at your toddler.... at the line. It may seem like a hopeless situation, but it's not. I'm here to help.

Here are a few of my tried and true tips and ideas to try the next time you find yourself in a queue, a waiting room, on a plane, or any other situation where you may need to keep your little ones quiet and at bay. They've worked for me; I hope they work for you. The basic premise is to keep your child busy. By giving them something specific to do you'll be combating boredom, and may have fun in the process. So, give your toddler a job...Part 1 offers Gross Motor Exercises. In my follow up article I offer some Fine Motor Exercises. And the series will finish with the all-important Cognitive Exercises, to keep your little one thinking all the time.

"Gross" Motor Exercises (exercises for the large muscle groups, not the yucky ones)

Youngsters need to be active. It seems as though they're wired that way. Running, jumping, rolling are all part of everyday life for toddlers - after all, physical and cognitive development is their job. So, since screen time may not be an option, how can we expect them to stand still for any length of time? That doesn't mean you can turn your little one loose in the lobby. But you can encourage the use of large muscle groups, keeping them active but in one spot.

1. Flamingo Stand - have your child extend his/her arms out to the side for balance, then pick up one foot and see how long they can stand on the other foot. Naturally you'll want to make sure you both have a bit of room in case of tips and tumbles. But the goal is not to fall down. The goal is to stay up...counting helps and creates an opportunity for improvement as each time they try they get to higher and higher numbers.

Once your child (and probably you as well) tire of the Flamingo Stand, move on to this one.

2. Little, Big - have your child do basic squats. For those of you who workout, you know how fatiguing it can be to burn those thigh muscles. Your child reaches as tall as she/he can, up on tiptoes, then squats down as little as they can, but staying on their feet. Think duck squat. In fact, you can even give a whispered little "quack, quack" if it helps. You can get big, now get little, as often as you'd like. Be certain not to go too fast.... otherwise you move into jumping, which may require more room than you have at hand.

We adults will probably feel the burning sensation in our legs much sooner than your child; however, you can probably stop at any time and watch your child go, go, go, go.

These are just a couple of gross motor exercises you can do with your child. By the way, why do they call them gross motor exercises? I'm sure you can now think of many others along these same lines. When it comes to waiting on long lines, giving your child something productive to do will make the waiting time pass more quickly. I look for anything to pass the time by. Whether it's Gross Motor, Fine Motor or even just watching digital picture books to exercise your child's brain. You know, whatever it takes. They're only this young once!

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

To download a free digital book for your PC visit MobiStories.com, click on Summer (in the Ages 2 - 4 category) add it to the cart along with Michelle Obama (Ages 6-10) then enter the code SUM0710 in the Coupon Code Box.

*This advertorial post is sponsored by the Role Mommy Writer's Network.

CSN Store Giveaway- $50 GC

CSN has offered to give one lucky Golfersmom reader a $50.00 GC to any of there 250 stores.  CSN stores have many items to chose from such as in a mood for a new sleeper sofa or some cookware.  There really is something for everyone at their 250 stores.

These are some of the items I would use my $50 GC on:

Paula Deen Enamel on Steel 5 Piece Soup and Stew Set

Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sand Box and Wading Pool

Cotton Tale Poppy Pillow Patch Set







Those are just some of the things that I would like to have from one of their stores.  As you can see, there is a diversity of items to chose from.

So now that I have you all excited about things you could buy with your $50 GC let me tell you how to win one.

Important to note:
This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.  Please be aware there may be shipping or in case of Canadian residents, international fees for certain products.

How to win:
Mandatory entry is to subscribe to my blog.  The subscription must be active so be sure to check you email to activate your subscription.

Extra ways to win:
* Follow my blog.  Leave your ID and that you are following in the comments.
* Follow me on Twitter.  Leave you ID and that you are following in the comments.
* Blog about this giveaway.  Leave the link to the post in the comments.
* Tweet about this giveaway.  Leave the link to the tweet.  May do this once a day.

Rules:
This contest is open until 11:59 pm on June 20th.  A winner will be chosen by Random.org. Remember to follow the ways to win rules in order for your entry to be valid.  I will send an email to the winner, who will have  48 hours to respond or another winner will have to be chosen.

Thanks so much to CSN for hosting this giveaway.  I did not receive in products in order to do the giveaway.

Imagine Zookeeper Nintendo DS game Review

Golfergirl absolutely loves her Nintendo DS and I like it as well. She takes it on long car trips and that helps with the "Are We There Yet". I am very careful about which games she plays however and of course I would like her to play games like bingo at littlewoodsbingo. Yes, I am that overprotective mother that knows what games her daughter is playing but I do not think that is such a bad thing. I was thrilled when UBISOFT offered to let us review the new game Imagine Zookeeper.

Game Information
With Imagine® Zookeeper, young girls can take care of animal inhabitants in their very own wildlife preserve! Explore the grounds and take inventory of the different species, care for injured animals, and protect the preserve from poachers and pollution!

Key Features
Run a Wildlife Reserve —Players can build their own animal preserve while caring for its inhabitants and lead visitors on a fun tour of the park.
Exploration and Knowledge —Explore the preserve and inventory the different species as their individual needs. Girls can even take photographs to document the growth of baby animals!
Rescue —Rescue injured animals and nurse them back to health at the preserve headquarters.
Preserve the Territory —Prevent poachers from entering the preserve and learn to fight pollution to keep the park safe for all animals in Imagine Zookeeper.

Golfergirls Response:
I decided to ask Golfergirl some questions about the game to see how she liked it.

What do you like best about this game?
"I love the baby kolas and feeding it with a bottle. It was neat rescuing it and then feeding it"

What do you not like about the game?
" I like everything about the game. I do not like that poachers are trying to take my animals but that is just part of the game, I guess.

If there was one thing you would change about the game what would it be?
The Missions

What about the Missions would you change?
To make it not so hard to find the animals when I am trying to take the Safari photo's. It is hard to find all of the animals in the little time they give.

If there was something you could add to the game, what would it be?
To drive the jeep in where the cages are to see the animals.

Would you recommend this game to a friend?
Yes

Golfersmom thoughts on the game

I liked the way Golfergirl was so into this game. She talked about it while she was playing. It taught her how to set up her own animal reserve and to care for the animals. The one thing that she learned about that she did not know was about poachers trying to take her animals. They polluted the rivers and she had to clean it up. She asked what a poacher was, so we had the discussion of that. We looked up somethings online about them so would understand that poachers exist in real life not just on her game. I really like this game because it has taught her a lot about the reserves and what goes into taking care of one. I would recommend this game to anyone with a little girl that loves animals.

Buy it
If you would like to buy this game for your little animal lover, go here

Thank you Ubisoft for giving us this game to review

This game was given in exchange for a review. My thoughts and daughters thoughts are our own and was not influenced by receiving the game.