Reasons Children Should Play an Instrument (And How to Keep Them Interested!)

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As a parent, you will be constantly looking for ways to develop your child’s academic and social skills. One of the best ways to do this is by getting them to learn to play an instrument. Of course, you can’t force them to do so, and keeping their interest can be a challenge, but there are some great tips to help you out in this post. But, first, let’s take a look at the reasons why learning a musical instrument is advised for children…

What are the benefits of getting your child to learn to play a musical instrument?

  • Playing an instrument can improve your child’s social skills in many ways. Often, practice involves interacting and even performing with other kids. Not only this, butyour child will feel more confident too, which can help them when meeting new children.
  • Your child’s listening skills will improve.
  • Learning an instrument nurtures self-expressions. It is a great way for children to express how they are feeling.
  • It gives you an opportunity to teach your child about different cultures.
  • There is a level of responsibility that comes with learning an instrument, as your child will need to maintain their instrument and look after it properly.
  • Improves comprehension and reading skills.
  • Math skills will also improve.
  • Playing an instrument will drastically help with coordination.
  • Learning to play an instrument will teach perseverance and create a sense of achievement.
  • This is also a great way to enhance your child’s memory skills

How to keep your child interested in playing an instrument

Now you know the benefits that are associated with children learning a musical instrument, however, one of the challenges you may face is keeping your child interested in their guitar or piano. After all, children often have short attention spans and they grow bored quickly. It is your quest to make sure they do not give up on learning to play their instrument. So, how do you do this? There are a few options. Firstly, it is a good idea to keep things exciting and set them musical projects. One option could be to get your child to create his or her own album. You can even get a CD made at Nationwide Disc so that your child feels like they are a superstar. Aside from this, make sure you choose songs that are going to appeal to your child, i.e. pop songs that are topping the charts. It is also important to be your child’s biggest fan. Set aside time for their performances and take a keen interest in what they are doing.

So there you have it: the reasons why musical instruments are a must for any child, as well as some tips on keeping your child interested in their instrument. Hopefully, the advice above will help you to progress your child’s development. You never know, you may have the next Beethoven on your hands!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Outdo Yourself This Easter Holiday With Ease

So Easter is just around the corner, and the kids are nagging at you because they want to do something really fun this year (even though you ensure they have fun every year!). You’re under pressure to make sure that your kids have the best possible time, and what you do will define the experience they have. But there comes a time where you run out of ideas and you don’t know what there is left to do for them that hasn’t already been done before. Having said that, it’s not impossible, you just need to get creative.

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Here are some of the best ideas.

Live show

Whether it be in the theatre watching a play, of your child’s favourite musician playing in concert, have a look what’s on offer in your area. There are plenty of sites that display all the things that are coming up, so have a browse and then purchase some concert tickets and surprise them with a fun evening out. You can make a whole day of it by getting dressed up, grabbing something nice to eat, and then finally spilling the beans on where you’re taking them.

Bunny race

Get out your old pillowcases and give your child one each. The aim of the game is for them to get from A to B first. You can make this more difficult by making a course for them to follow with various obstacles in the way that they’ll need to jump over or climb under. You could even get stuck in with the fun and jump into one of those cases yourself. They are many other games that you can do that are Easter inspired, the same as an egg and spoon race.

Throw a party

If you have a relatively spacious home or garden, then ask your children to invite their favourite friends over for Easter and celebrate in style. All you need is a little bit of music and some snacks and the kids will be happy. You could even hide easter eggs around the house and garden and hold a scavenger hunt. Make sure the easter eggs are only small though so you don’t find children fighting over huge amounts of chocolate. You can even make little party bags to send home with the kids.

Have a picnic

Sometimes it can be as easy as taking your kids out of the house and having a picnic in your local park. It’s simple, but fun. You can prepare sandwiches and potato salad the night before so everything is ready the next day. Then just bring a ball with you down to the park and have a fun kick around in the sun. If you have access to water like a lake, go down there and have a go at fishing. Make a barbeque and invite your friends to come along with their own kids. The more the merrier.

Don’t think you always need to spend a lot of money in order to do things that are exciting, because sometimes, just being with one another is enough.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Unlocking Your Awesome Inner Child

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Feeling like a kid again is something that we all deserve to experience. But why? Surely we are grown adults now, and the idea of spending time respecting our childhood might seem, well, childish. Could it really serve any purpose? Might you look silly in front of your family?

Well, we’d argue it does serve a purpose. Getting in touch with your childhood self is good clean fun, but it can also help you reminisce and reflect on your life. It can help you understand the journey you have been on and celebrate the things you used to love. It can help you connect with your children more and understand their viewpoint on life that little more intimately. Lastly, there is an indulgent quality here of course.

After all, why not? It’s not as if every moment of your life should be spent in deep productivity. You’re allowed a little childish fun. After all, age is just a number, and the most youthful and joyous people are those who can connect to the magic of childhood.

There are many ways of doing this, but this advice might help you get started:

YouTube Is Your Friend

Now, we’re not suggesting you enjoy subscribing to vloggers or political discussion channels on YouTube. We’re not suggesting you watch clips from the latest kids shows to feel young. However, YouTube is much more than a simple video platform. It seems that almost anything that could be provided as content has been uploaded by now. This means that old children’s shows, old video game footage and even movies from a bygone era are viewable for free.

You might have a distinct and tangible feeling of nostalgic wonder seeing a SNES game you haven’t played since you were eight years old digitized for your entertainment. This feeling is a tangible, physical one, and can flood you with feelings and memories of being that age. This is a powerful thing, as sound and visuals are often strong ties to memories we used to hold. This is a fun exercise and it only takes a matter of moments, so why not try? You might be surprised as to what you remember.

Go Retro

Now, sometimes watching things on YouTube isn’t enough. If you hope to experience the media you used to consume as a child, sometimes finding it and watching/playing that yourself is more than worthwhile. There has never been a better time to do so. For example, recent efforts to restore old consoles such as the original PlayStation and NES have been met with widespread acclaim. It can be worthwhile to purchase these inexpensive machines and spend a day showing your children the games you grew up with. It might blow their minds to see a game with such diminutive graphics, but it can be worth doing so for the novelty alone.

It can also be worthwhile to burn an old-school mixtape of the songs you used to love and make that a soundtrack of your next week. It could be that Huey Lewis & The News, Phil Collins and Paul Simon fill your ears and mind for the near future, restoring you with memories of summer days lazily moving around the house and enjoying bike rides with your friends. If music is the soundtrack to our lives, then transporting ourselves back only takes this small effort to truly experience this time once more. Dancing on the sofa listening to ‘hip to be square’ could certainly help you feel young and silly again, and your kids are sure to love it. Just make sure you don’t actually put your hip out. Us middle aged folk do require a degree of sensibility, of course.

Visit Establishments You Used To Love

Of course, it might not be that the places you attended as a child are still around, or you may not be in any way proximal to them. However, finding a similar venue nearby could be just as promising. You’d be surprised how a day of bowling or laser rifling with your children can help you feel young and carefree – maybe even go-karting would help this too! Of course, one of the pinnacle places of our childhood was the arcade. Ah, the arcade, where the bleeps and bloops resounded through the halls and children cursed the prize claw in no uncertain terms.

Where tickets meant prizes and your friend would convince you he knew the cheat codes to games such as ‘Streets of Rage’ and ‘Street Fighter.’ These establishments still exist, and growing competition means they have doubled down on their quality to stay relevant. Places such as Rocket City Arcade not only serve as a wonderful blend of both modern and retro arcade gaming, but also functionally serve as a historical preservation museum for the most part, something that the tiring tide of on-demand services and cloud-based purchases will never replace.

Head to the local diner after a day here with a burger, some fries and a chocolate milkshake, and your transformation into your thirteen-year-old self is likely complete.

Bicycle Ride

We alluded to bicycle rides earlier. They deserve their own mention. A bicycle ride out with your friends was not just time spent riding a bicycle. It was time spent exploring, engaging in silly dialogue and trying to pull off cool tricks to impress your friends. While this last part might not be an option, it can certainly be worthwhile to see the importance in heading out to mother nature herself and exploring your local environment atop two wheels.

While a car encases you and a motorcycle brings with it it’s own dangers and terrain requirements, riding a bicycle off road brings back that accelerating feeling of freedom that you might just adore to feel once again. Heading out on the trail is also an awesome way to enjoy an intimate bonding with your family. After all, the best memories are crafted when out and doing something, as opposed to sitting in at home alone thinking of the past. This ‘active remembrance’ helps you feel like a child in more ways than just emotional. Give it a try. You might just adore it.

With these tips, your childhood might be just around the corner. Spending a couple of days reminding yourself of this wonderful period of time in your life could be just the emotional antidote you needed for ‘grown-up responsibility disease.’

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

How To Keep Your Kids Entertained While Doing A Million Other Things At Once

Being a parent means your life is pretty much full of multitasking. There will rarely be a moment where you only have one thing to do at once. Mostly, you have a million things going on at the same time, and you’re like one of those street performers trying to keep the plates spinning at the same time.

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Normally, entertaining your kids is a constant on your list of things to do. But, how can you do this when you simply have more pressing matters to tend to? The solution is to look for ways in which your kids can stay entertained without you needing to constantly watch over and supervise them. In this piece, I’ve listed a few of my favorite ideas to do this.

Put Netflix On The TV

Normally, I’m not an advocate of sticking your child in front of a screen and letting it entertain them for you. However, there comes a time where you simply don’t have the time to provide personal entertainment. In times like these, Netflix is your best friend. It’s like your virtual nanny, it will help keep your kids entertained for a good hour or so while you do what you need to do. Don’t let them watch it for too long, I personally think this is a great option when you’re making dinner for 30-45 minutes.

Get Them A Playhouse

A playhouse is a really fun toy that your children can pretty much play with by themselves. They’ll lose themselves in their imagination as they play with this toy house, pretending it’s their own. Normally, these are reserved for outdoor fun. However, the best kids’ playhouse can be used indoors as well as out. So, even when it’s rainy, your children can still play with it while you work, cook, clean, or just do whatever you need to do in peace.

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Buy A Jigsaw Puzzle

Puzzles are a great way to keep children occupied without the need for constant supervision. A jigsaw puzzle can be placed on a table, and your child is free to try and solve it as they please. This is one of the best ways of occupying a child for well over an hour. They get caught up in trying to put all the pieces together and completely zone out from the world. If you work from home and have a lot to do, then this is a great idea for you.

Let Them Use Your Tablet

Again, I said it earlier, I don’t suggest you always stick a screen in front of your children!! But, your tablet is a great entertainment device for your kids. They can watch videos, play games, but also learn at the same time. My advice is to download educational games and apps that they can pass the time on while you’re busy. They stay entertained, they learn, and you get a little bit of peace and quiet.

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Being a good dad is all about managing your time well! If you can keep your kids entertained while also doing loads of other tasks, then you’re doing a pretty great job!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.