Are You Ready for Some Outdoor Fun With Your Little Ones?

After spending almost the entire day at school, children need to spend some time with their parents. But when kids have been cooped up inside the classroom for hours, parents should make it a point to get their kids outside and enjoy some fun in the sun. In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, enough sunshine and vitamin D cannot be ignored.

So, if you’re in the search for some ways to add more outdoor play to your weekday bonding moments with your children without breaking the bank, here are some fun activities that you and your kids will truly enjoy and learn from, regardless of their abilities:

Appreciate the beauty of nature

Spending special moments with your loved ones don’t always have to be grand and bold. If you’re blessed with pleasant weather, make the most of it by going out and relaxing under the sun. If you have a tent lying around, set it up outside and have your little ones help out. A simpler version would be draping a sheet over a tree or a clothesline that’s high enough in your backyard.

Once you’ve set up an outdoor tent, use it as ashelter where you can enjoy watching birds, observing the clouds, some yoga and stretching, while your children can have fun playing house. When thesun sets, then it’s time for some fun stargazing. This can also be the perfect opportunity to do some outdoor storytime to help develop your child’s love for reading.

Have fun with some outdoor toys

The perfect time to take your little ones’ hands from those video games and gadgets is to let them realize the fun in toys that are meant for the outdoors. Experienced playground designers in cities such as Brisbane make it a priority to build play areas where children can enjoy playing games other than monkey bars like frisbee, sidewalk chalk, water balloons, hula hoops, bubble wands, and other types of yard games.

Some games may have to be modified depending on your children’s needs so they can play them comfortably. This is also helpful for older guardians who are unable to bend over comfortably for hours.

Have a picnic for lunch

This might seem like a lot of work, but if you let your children help you out with the preparations, it can be a great way to teach them about planning ahead. For much younger children, you can make them count out the crackers or small fruits placed in the container. This may sound too simple, but it can actually help them develop their motor skills. If your children are a little older, they can do slightly more difficult tasks such as spreading peanut butter and jelly on the bread.

When you’ve prepared all the meals, take them outside, sit, and have fun some chit-chats. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to have it in your quiet backyard or invite some neighbors for some socialization. As long as it’s a fun change of scenery from your usual lunch routine, your children will surely enjoy it.

Spending time outdoors is important to the overall health and development of children. Follow these tips to make sure your child gets all the benefits.

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

How To Build The Perfect Streaming Setup

If you are one of the many people that have found a love for live streaming, you are quite possibly always on the lookout to improve your stream set up. We know that by now, you probably have the streaming PC that you want, so we’re not going to get into that.

What we are going to look at is some of the amazing things you should be looking at that will help you tweak and perfect your content. We understand that some of the things we are going to look at maybe expensive, but if you want an amazing stream, it will come at a cost.

Image Credit – Pexels CC0 Licence

Lighting 

The first thing we are going to be looking at today is lighting. It seems that if you scroll down streams or even videos on YouTube, you often find that there is a ton of effort gone into the content itself but zero effort when it comes to lighting.

The chances are you have an amazing camera if you are a serious streamer, but you may not be getting the best from it if you do not have the right lighting. When considering lighting, you should be looking at a couple of key lights, a box light, and maybe even some background lights to help create an atmosphere.

It may sound simple, but this is one of the cheapest and best things you will ever do for your stream. Spend a little on lighting, and you will soon see that your stream looks so much better than it ever has.  

The Accessories

The next thing we are going to be looking at in this post is your accessories. While you may not think that people are paying attention to what’s around you, they are. Now, when we talk about accessories, we are going to focus on two things.

The first thing is your chair. If you have a cheap chair, it will be squeaky and annoying and trust us when we say; your viewers will leave if they hear an annoying noise throughout your stream. There are huge varieties of Live streaming chairs you can choose from, but you should only ever purchase one that comes recommended. 

The second thing that will make your viewers run for the hills is an annoying keyboard. You should be looking to find a keyboard that won’t drive people insane and that most importantly, you love.

The Microphone

The final thing we are going to recommend is that you upgrade your microphone, especially if you are using a USB microphone. One of the best things you can do is to find a decent XLR microphone and a bus mixer. 

Buying purchasing both of these, you will be able to adjust your sound more easily, and you will have far more control than you ever had with a USB microphone.

There are, of course, many more things you can consider when it comes to perfecting your stream. Hopefully, this post has given you a starting point, and from here, you can go on to create something incredible. 

How To Have Downtime As A Busy Dad

When you have the responsibility of attending full time work as well as caring for your family, it can seem almost impossible to find a moment in your day for some downtime. It’s so important that you can take part in some kind of relaxing activity on a regular basis as a father, as you need that opportunity to gather your thoughts and just take some time to yourself to do what you need or want to do. Figuring out how to work downtime into your busy schedule doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think, as there are many simple tips and tricks that you can make the most of to create the opportunity to unwind. So, if you want to find out more, then read on to uncover some innovative ideas that you can utilise today!

Take Part In Self Care 

Self care is such an important aspect of your daily life, as skipping over simple health and hygiene related tasks can have a disastrous effect on both your physical and mental health. Though you may be swept off your feet trying to get your little ones ready for school in the morning, it’s vital that you can implement a self care routine that allows you to prepare yourself for the day ahead. Whether you choose to jump in a hot shower, wash your face with a refreshing caffeine serum, or just stick to the basics by brushing your teeth, it’s vital that you can take steps to break out of your sleepy self and start to get ready for whatever the day throws at you. It’s all too common for dads to pay strict attention to what their little ones are eating, ensuring that they get the best food with the most vitamins and minerals, whilst often leaving their own eating habits behind. It’s so vital that you can take steps to consume a healthy diet, as you need to be in the best shape to provide the highest levels of care for your kids, and have the energy that’s needed to tackle all of your responsibilities head on. 

Fun & Games 

Sometimes you get a free moment, when the kids have gone to bed and all is quiet – now is the perfect time to have some fun! Whether you choose to dig out an old sudoku or word search book, play on one of your children’s gaming machines or search the internet for something like Casino Oasis, there are so many different entertainment options for you to choose between. It’s important for you to get the opportunity for such downtime, because it will aid you in de stressing and taking your mind off the troubles experienced throughout your day. 

Having downtime as a busy dad has never been so simple when you are able to make the most of the top tips and tricks detailed above! Start off by focusing on self care, as the benefits you will feel from very small changes will aid you in caring for your little ones thanks to improved mental and physical health.

Sonic The Hedgehog OUT NOW!

Last weekend St. Louis Dad and family gotten an invite to see Sonic The Hedgehog before it was released to theaters nation wide today. In the simplest of terms, the movie was awesome! As a kid growing up with Sonic on Sega as well as the animated series, this movie brought back that fun and excitement of getting to know this blue devil all over again.

Stepping off on a rocky start with a crazy CGI design, the team behind Sonic took the Internet’s wisdom to heart and brought Sonic to life by making him look like… Sonic. Listening to fans was enough to already get me to the movie and seeing what was in store. This dad was not disappointed, and either was mom and the kids!

The movie is a lot of fun. It is action packed with lots of jokes and of course the incredible Jim Carrey.

Our two kids have even taken to their YouTube Channels to share their delight of how great Sonic was!

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Of course once we got home, Sonic was in the air. Gotta run fast was the quote used for the remainder of the day, and as always snuck into our Valentine’s Day project as well!

Al decided for his first Valentine’s box for school, he was going to make the speedster himself!

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is a live-action adventure comedy based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega that centers on the infamously brash bright blue hedgehog. The film follows the (mis)adventures of Sonic as he navigates the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound – human – best friend Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Sonic and Tom join forces to try and stop the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) from capturing Sonic and using his immense powers for world domination. The film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.

Director

Jeff Fowler

Cast

James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Neal McDonough, Adam Pally and Jim Carrey

In Theaters February 14, 2020

Official Channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonicmovie

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