Mommin' It Up!

December 1, 2011December 1, 2011

Things I Love Thursday: Yoga

Over the years, I’ve written a lot about my attempts to become a runner. There was that one time when I started the Couch to 5K program… and then promptly quit. And then there were the subsequent 23.9 times I started that program again, and quit somewhere along the way.

Once, I “ran” a half marathon… and decided about 12 seconds after I crossed the finish line that I would never. Run. Again.

But then, nine months or so later, I decided to give it another go, even though I hated it. Needless to say, I quit.

Here’s the thing. I hate running, I’m not good at running and I’m never going to be a runner. So rather than continue to set myself up for failure, I decided to try to find something I actually enjoy, and I tried a yoga class.

People. I love it. It’s not the calorie-burning intense workout that running is (at least the class I go to isn’t, but I would love to try out cardio yoga) but it feels so good, both while I’m doing it and after it’s over. I love it and I wish I could go to class every day! But since I don’t have time for that, I’ve been looking into the next best thing – yoga I can do at home.

I’ve discovered a few good resources… there are yoga videos on Netflix, for starters. There’s also a huge library on GaiamTV, with a subscription fee. I’ve been wanting to get Kate into yoga as well, because I think it would be a great thing for us to do together. I got a review copy of Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers, which is designed to teach yoga exercises and mindfulness techniques for kids from 7 to 16.

We’ve done it a few times and it is a nice way to end the day. Kate is on the young end of the age range they’re targeting, and she sometimes, uh, lacks focus. But she enjoys it and I’m sure she’ll get better over time. Yoga cultivates body awareness, flexibility, concentration, stress reduction and self-expression – all things she and I could use more of.

It’s exciting to me that I’ve finally found an exercise that I actually look forward to and want to do. I never, ever felt that way about running (and seriously, runner’s high? I just don’t buy that).

What about you? Do you have an exercise you love?

This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Check it out!

November 25, 2011November 25, 2011

Get these games for your kids!

Happy Black Friday! If you are crazy enough to go out shopping, I have a few gift suggestions for you. I have posted a few times about how much I love the I can do that! games by the Wonder Forge; they are truly awesome. In general, they are: something new and different, easy to play, don’t take a lot of time to play, and age-appropriate for preschoolers to be able to be confident in their play. They also have a lot of applications toward speech therapy purposes, at least for home (some might be a little too involved for a speech language pathologist to use in a 30-minute session.) But anyways, these games are also great for your typically-developing child, and they are just fun to play. They WON’T make you want to stab yourself in the eye just to stop the game (*cough*ChutesandLadders*cough*).

Recently because the Wonder Forge is awe-some, I’ve gotten to review some of their newest games! And you should totally buy them all! Well, maybe not this first one if you have all boys…but here are my top picks for new games for Christmas presents, birthday presents, or JUST BECAUSE!

Angelina Ballerina Dance with Me game:

A great choice for your little girly girl. The Wonder Forge up and sent Sophie this for her birthday, total surprise! And she loo-oo-ooves it!

This game is totally cute, and builds up to a dance sequence so your little one not only learns some dance vocabulary, but gets up and moves around! And, it’s great for teaching memory and multi-step directions. Even though I am NOT a ballerina and look a *little* silly playing it, I love playing this with Sophie!

Richard Scarry’s Busytown Busy, Busy Airport game:

I think this might be my favorite of the games I am reviewing today. I LOVE it, Big ol’ puffy heart it! This game requires you to fly your plane and passengers to 4 different destinations (which you place in different locations around the room) to pick up souvenirs. The game board is also the box and is super-cleverly designed. Once again, this game gets you up and moving! The game involves making choices, counting, and a chance for kids to learn an early form of strategy. And it’s really fun, and moves fast. Love it! Both Joshua, Sophie and myself had a great time playing this together (at least 4 times the first day we got it!)

sophieairport — She had to play it first thing in the morning!

Last up, and also super-fun (the kids actually played this one the most times in one day, 6 I think!) is Chuggington Let’s Ride the Rails game:

This game is fun because each player gets to be all three characters, and you win by guessing that also involves a process of elimination skill. Colors, numbers, counting, animals – this game has it all! And it stars your fave Chuggers Wilson, Koko, and Brewster. This game goes pretty fast which is one reason you won’t mind playing it over & over again with your kiddos.

SO there ya go – three of the latest and greatest I can do that! games from the Wonder Forge. Go buy them! OR tell Grandma to! You won’t regret it!

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The Wonder Forge sent me all these awesome games to review. All opinions are my own, and I would like to make the point that I have purchased several of their games with my very own money because they are worth every penny! The links in these posts are NOT affiliate links.

November 17, 2011November 13, 2011

Things I love: More great speech therapy apps

My sweet husband got me an iPad for my birthday because he knew I wanted one to work on speech therapy with Sophie using apps. I was to-tal-ly surprised and excited, and immediately went crazy looking for apps to use with her.

One of the first ones I found was Language Builder from the Mobile Education Store, and it was just what I was looking for. It’s an app with beautiful, real-life pictures, and a record feature so that your child or student can record themselves saying a sentence about the picture, then play it back. There are options for different levels of play so that you can make the activity easier or more challenging. This was a great tool for Sophie and I to work on her descriptive language and sentence formation. It was very challenging for her at first, but she came to love it as she got better at it and could see the benefits of her hard work.

Since I liked Language Builder so much, I decided to purchase another app from Mobile Education Store – Story Builder. Again, this app completely met the needs of what I was trying to accomplish with Sophie – working on storytelling, sequencing, and descriptive language. Like LanguageBuilder, it has different levels of play so you can make it easier or harder, and hints you can turn on, off, or customize. It shows a picture and asks a series of questions about the picture which your child or student then records his or her response to. At the end, you play all the responses together and it makes a story. You can save the recordings and archive them if you want to listen to them later. This is SO fun and has resulted in some really cute stories from Sophie, and Joshua too. Joshua loves playing with it even though he has no speech delay whatsoever. It’s just really FUN! Sophie has done so well with it and I love being able to play her stories back.

Since I was so pleased with those two apps, I contacted Mobile Education Store to see if I could review some of their other apps. Next, I chose to try Speech Journal and QuestionBuilder.

Speech Journal was a natural follow-up to StoryBuilder and is just so much fun. It allows the student to create their own story from pictures on the iPad. They can either take a new picture to add to their story sequence or use photos that are already on the iPad. Then, they record a sentence or two about the picture, then add another picture – as many as they want to make up their very own story. I ADORE this app, and so do my kids. Sophie has taken her storytelling to a whole new level, and Joshua is enhancing his own creativity. I really encourage you to get this app even if you don’t have any speech therapy needs in your family. It is just a great way to play.

Lastly, I reviewed QuestionBuilder. This app displays a picture, then asks a question about the picture, giving the child several answers from which to choose. You can choose from Why, What, Where, and How questions or have the questions be asked at random. There are three levels of play and optional hints. This is great for helping a child learn to answer abstract questions. Some of them have been really challenging for Sophie and she is learning so much from it!

These apps are SO GREAT. Since I am just a mom, not a professional, I am so thankful for these tools that give me the materials I need to work with Sophie at home to help her reach her speech goals. We are having a great time together with these. Mobile Education Store has lots more apps for both iPhone and iPad, so make sure and check them out to see if there is one that meets your child’s speech needs.

Thanks, Mobile Education Store! Keep up the great work!!

I linked this post up to Things I love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Head on over there to see what others are lovin’ this week.

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Mobile Education Store provided me with Speech Journal and QuestionBuilder at no cost to help facilitate my review.