Mommy Ginger
Let's talk about Business, Beauty and Babies!

How After-School Activities Help Your Child

After-school activities are optional. But there are many benefits to having your child attend something they can get value from. Not all kids are cut out for certain clubs or activities. But fortunately, there is usually something for everyone. So no child needs to be left out when they attend projects they enjoy. Here are some of the greatest benefits of after-school activities.

Strengthening Understanding

Children learn in different ways. And a child should be helped with what he or she is good at. But your child’s school life is about more than just how well they do. They also need to be able to understand hard topics that push them. For some, this means knowing geology (read more), while for others, it could be math or language skills. Any program worth going to after school will help your kids in the long run, especially kids who have specific requirements or special needs.

After-school Activities Improve Brain Function

There are a lot of physical activity-based clubs for kids after school. This can help kids who don’t get out of the house very often. Most kids are happy to play computer games or do something else they enjoy. But tests have shown that children who exercise for just one hour a day have better brain function than those who don’t. Also, kids who are busy can pay attention for a much longer time. This doesn’t have to be a sport. It can be things like running or playing.

Better Life Skills

Life skills are important for kids. And kids can have trouble as teenagers and even as adults if they don’t have enough life skills. Life skills, which are also called “soft skills,” are things like being able to communicate and solve problems. It has been shown that after-school programs are great places for kids to learn these skills. This is because your kids will feel like they belong in small groups where they can make friends and learn how to get along with others.

Promote Activities for Well-being

Your child’s well-being is all that really matters. And after-school activities are great for embracing a wide range of core concepts for improved wellness. Exercise aside, these are:

  • Helping with school gardening activities or learning how to grow food and herbs.
  • Walking animals such as school pets and mascots for the school sports team.
  • Running in groups for support and encouragement, especially for inactive children.
  • Learning about the environment in active ways, such as cycling in a group.
  • Playing physical games that also need focus, such as with hula hoops and balls.

There are many well-being exercises that will encourage your kids after school. Of course, there are clubs aimed at a specific topic. But they can also generally take part in developmental tasks.

Improved Mental Health

Further to the well-being of your kids, after-school activities can help with mental health. Simply by creating a sense of belonging, your kids are much more likely to engage with others, socialize and work with other kids to finish a complex task like creative writing. When they feel accepted, children will develop better relationships, which can be a major boost for the physically or developmentally disabled child. Additionally, it helps learning about diversity.

After-school Activities Make Learning Fun

Most children enjoy learning. But for some people, it can be hard and, in the end, boring. Still, things to do after school can help break up the routine of school. Some programs let kids do things like work with computers and other tools, handle animals, or use arts and crafts to express themselves. So, if your kids work on a project after school, they can help themselves understand things they might have trouble with. For example, attending extra math classes.

A Safe and Secure Space

Lastly, one of the best current benefits of taking classes after school is that they can give you some extra time. The most recent study found that 67% of single moms work full-time. And this means you can’t be there for your kids all the time, unless you work for a company that is very flexible. But at a place where kids go after school, you can relax knowing that they are safe and getting extra education. This keeps kids from things like taking drugs or antisocial behavior.

Summary

Most schools offer after-school activities that you can use to expand your kids’ education. However, there are also many more benefits to using these. And these often include better mental health, learning new life skills, and making a safe and secure space for your children.

Activities That You Can Do with your Kids at Home

Activities that you can do with your kids at home

It’s been a struggle for us parents to keeps our kids pre-occupied and “not bored”. Zeeka would always come up to me and say “I’m bored”, and what I do is automatically give her the iPad. It’s not a good thing to have our kids on their gadgets 24/7, since they need to move around, too. They have other “type of intelligence” that need to be practiced and enhanced.

So in this article, I’ll be sharing some of the other cool stuff that I saw that you can do with your kids.

Before that though, check out this video. We’re sharing with you some of the activities that Zeeka does at home.

Get your Belo Baby Wipes (2 for Php 99) here: https://bit.ly/belobabywipes1

Do you want to try it! 3 winners will win 3 Belo Baby Wipes each!

All you need to do is share the video above using hashtag #BeloBabyWipes and tag @belobabylove and @gingerarboleda on IG and Belo Baby and Mommy Ginger on Facebook.

Visual Journaling

One of the activities that you can do with your kids at home is Visual Journaling. I first saw this activity on my Skillshare account. Zeeka watched with me, and she isn’t really that interested with the things that I watch online. I was pretty surprised that she stayed on and watched with me.

Visual journaling is basically using drawing to express your emotions, interests, dislikes, etc. As parents, we can guide them though the exercise like ask them to draw things that they like, draw the feelings that they feel when they’re inside the house, etc. It helps us understand their emotions, too, during these times.

Bring Me Game or Scavenger Hunt Game

Kids love to love to play this. A fun twist that you can do to get to know your child better is to have them bring things that make them feel happy, or things that they think is funny. For them to familiarize themselves with color, you can ask them to bring an item with a specific color.

Riddles or “Who Knows Me Best” During Mealtime

Another one of the activities that you can do with your kids at home (and sometimes with the entire family) are riddles and the “Who knows me best” game. It’s hard for kids to stay at the dining table during mealtime. What keeps Zeeka entertained is when we do some sort of activity. Yesterday, daddy EJ was throwing some riddles that she needed to solve.

Other times, we play “Who Knows Me Best”. One of us asks a question about himself or herself, then the other members of the family need to guess the answer.

Here are other indoor activities that I did with Zeeka:

Art with GummyBox PH

Creative Writing for Kids

Do you have other activities that you can do with your kids at home? Share them with on the comments section below or in social media.

GummyBox PH: Cool Activities for Kids (In a Box!)

As a mom, you know how hard it is to look for activities for your kids. With a hyper active child like mine, I needed to research and look for things that she can go to or do at home. Although, I found something that’s a super lifesave for me. It’s called GummyBox PH. GummyBox designs themed activity boxes that contain hands-on craft and science projects for kids at home. So perfect for our kids, right?! These activities are for kids aged 4 to 8 years.

So Gummybox is a box that you get when you subscribe. They have a mini box at P1,050 per box and a standard box at P2,050. They can deliver for FREE if you live in Makati and deliver to other places, but shipping will depend on the area and region where you want to have the box delivered.

Zeeka received a box called Monster Mania. It was so perfect for her since she loves monsters! haha! The standard box contains 3 activities. I was so impressed with the quality of the materials inside the box. They had Gummybox branded glue sticks, tape dispenser, etc.

Each activity had easy-to-follow instructions with drawings and illustrations that my little girl could follow. The activities were very apt for a 4 year old. Gummybox really made the activities open-ended so that children
across ages can build, create, connect, learn and think at different levels.

My husband and I actually bonded with our daughter over creating monsters.

Guess which one’s mine! 🙂 haha!

Fine! Mine’s the yellow one! My husband fixed it after. haha!

Check out this cool video on YouTube that we created to show you how fun it was to do!

 

Guess what?

I am giving away one box to one lucky reader!

This is open to all readers in the Metro Manila area only, and will run from October 19, 2017 to October 28, 2017.

All you need to do is:

  1. Share this blog post on Facebook and use #Gummyboxph and #MommyGinger and tell us how you currently bond with your children!
  2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/c/gingerarboledavlog and like the Gummybox PH video

    3. Then comment on this blog post after you’ve done both!

That’s it! So easy! Good luck! I’ll choose the lucky winner of this box on October 29.

So if you want to try out Gummybox PH, you can email kfunkidstoys@gmail.com or text +63 939 551 1501.

Check out their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/gummybox.ph/

Good luck!

Love lots,

Ginger

 

Kiddie Art Kart

Last week, I had a wonderful time with my family in Japan. I promise to share with you snippets from my trip in another blog post. We will also share tips on how to get around Japan with a Toddler with you. Speaking of toddlers, it will be one week to go before Zeeka goes back to school. I’m sad, but at the same time relieved since I’ve been constantly looking for activities for her.

For this week, I’m featuring a young entrepreneur. She has a business for kids who want to practice art and for parents who want to teach their kids creativity!

Anna Cristina L. Ignacio, also known as Teacher Anna to her students. She’s 26 years old, single, and love to travel. She graduated from UP Diliman with a Fine Arts degree in Industrial Design. She’s been teaching art in various preschools in Metro Manila for the past 7 years, helping kids of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds discover and hone their creative talents.

In 2015, after completing the course on Program and Project Management in Tokyo, Japan, she was awarded the Honor Certificate of International P2M Practitioner by the Project Management Association of Japan. She’s currently the Head Art Teacher for a Likhang Bata Creativity Center, and Chief Creative Director of Kiddie Art Kart. She is a strong advocate of creative self-expression, which she believe is very important to a child’s positive development.

She comes from a family of 6 – 3 older brothers with her being the only girl and the youngest.

Their family loves to travel and exploring places together, and they also have high appreciation for the arts. She have a very supportive family who helps her with all the marketing efforts for Kiddie Art Kart, and they are always present in all of her events.

Kiddie Art Kart’s Story

Ginger: What is your Startup/brand/business? What is it about? How long have you been in business?

Teacher Anna: Kiddie Art Kart is a traveling art room that brings arts and crafts activities to parties, family gatherings, kiddie events, and play dates. We set up an art station and facilitate art activities to kiddie guests. Currently, I have a team of 6 experienced preschool teachers, which we call Creativity Coaches, and a resident Psychologist who guides us in our curriculum development. Kiddie Art Kart creates a positive, encouraging, and nurturing environment so no kid is left behind. Our projects are designed using the principles of creative self-expression and art therapy to help children in the discovery of their creative intelligence. We also incorporate the different developmental skills in each activity so not only do they get to create art, but they also learn something through creative education. We have been in business since November 2016.

Ginger: Who is your target market? Why did you choose this market? Can you give us the insight behind this market?

Teacher Anna: Our target market is AB class parents with children aged 3-15

 

Ginger: How did you come up with this idea? What made you decide to start this kind of business?

Teacher Anna: Being an art teacher, a lot of my students would often ask me if I can do art activities for them in their parties. Most of the time, parents would like their children to do activities with their friends in the comfort of their homes and not having to go through Manila traffic. Since I love to travel, and I love doing art with children, I came up with a traveling art room wherein we are the ones who go to you and we set up everything at your own chosen venue.

Ginger: Were there any obstacles that you faced when you decided to pursue becoming an Entrepreneur? What are these?

Teacher Anna: Having no background in business, it was a struggle to start one. I had to do the concept development, inventory, accounting, and research alone. Putting up the capital was also one of my worries. Good thing my family is so supportive of my passion and they were always there to guide me and save me when I was feeling stuck.

Ginger: What are the greatest challenges in putting up and maintaining a business in your country?

Teacher Anna: The greatest challenge for me in putting up my own business was giving up my full time job as an art teacher. It was a risky move and a huge sacrifice because that means I will no longer have a stable income. Aside from that, I became fearful of the unknown. So many questions like “will people avail of my services?” or “will they like the projects we offer?” or “is this a long-term business?” kept popping up in my head. But I learned to just believe in my concept and work my best to put it up. It was a great factor that I love what I am doing and I enjoy it, and I can only hope that other parents will see it and I’ll be able to share with them and their children the same love and passion I have for art.

Ginger: What are three traits that you think an Entrepreneur/Startup Founder should have when starting their own business?

Teacher Anna: Commitment – There’s this quote I heard which says “Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” Being an entrepreneur needs a lot of commitment because if you want to succeed in your business, you have to do everything yourself and not ask someone else to do it for you. It’s okay to get help from other people, but at the end of the day, it’s ultimately up to you to control your own success.

Being able to accept constructive criticism – I believe that in every business, you always have to see it from the point of view of the client or customer. What may seem great to me may not seem great on the other end. I appreciate hearing feedback because that is one way of knowing the needs and wants of my client so I will be able to improve my services and give the best experience to new and returning clients. I also do meetings with my team of teachers and ask them about the good points and points for improvement. As the boss, I may be overlooking something and might be expecting so much from them that it makes them uncomfortable or less motivated. So I also like hearing their side and take them into consideration.

Believe in your product/service – This is very important because how can you expect other people to buy your product or avail your service if you yourself are not confident that it is effective. You have to back it up and be able to defend it 100% but also make sure that you can deliver. I wouldn’t recommend going into anything that does not align with your own values, beliefs, and practices because if something goes wrong, you won’t be able to save it.

Ginger: Unforgettable moments or lessons that you learned as an Entrepreneur/Startup Founder

Teacher Anna: Everything is a learning process and no one has it easy from day one. It is constant work and you have to be patient. I learned to stop and take a breather when I feel like something is not going the way I want it to be so I can bounce back better and think clearer. I also learned to not make decisions based on emotions because feelings come and go, but the damages you make when you do emotional decisions are there forever.

Ginger: What advice can you give to other Entrepreneurs?

Teacher Anna: Don’t get easily discouraged. Take negative comments and turn it into positive ones. Not everyone will like what you have to offer, but there is always someone else who will.

Ginger: Do you believe that everyone should become entrepreneurs?

Teacher Anna: I believe anyone can be an entrepreneur, but it takes a lot of courage to finally decide to be one.

Ginger: What are ways that you can do to raise capital?

Teacher Anna: Savings from job income, De-clutter and sell items that other people can use. A garage sale is a good way to do this. Look for investors and sacrifice the wants, and only spend for the needs.

Ginger: How do you market your products? Growth strategy?

Teacher Anna: We do a lot of online marketing on Facebook and Instagram. We also attend or join expos and events. We build connections with other entrepreneurs and this is very helpful when you want to collaborate on certain projects that will be beneficial to both businesses. We also build relationships with parents and children to get them to keep coming back. We send monthly newsletters to our subscribers to keep the updated with our events.

Ginger: What are tech tools that you use for your business?

Teacher Anna: Microsoft Excel, Afterlight photo editing app, Mailchimp for sending newsletters to subscribers, Facebook and Instagram, Trello for organizing tasks and to-do lists

Ginger: Other things that you want to mention which you think are important

Teacher Anna: Kiddie Art Kart believes in the benefits of creative education and creative self-expression. We do not impose on the children and we give them full freedom to do art with the guidance of our creativity coaches. We build an environment that is encouraging to all children so they become more confident within themselves.

Ginger: Thank you, teacher Anna, for sharing with us your entrepreneurial journey! For those who want to learn more about Kiddie Art Kart, please see the contact numbers below.

For Contact information:

Website: www.kiddieartkart.com

Email address: hello@kiddieartkart.com

Mobile Number: 09178610022

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/kiddieartkart

Instagram account: @kiddieartkart

Youtube account: www.youtube.com/kiddieartkart