Chat Packs for KIDS!

We don't want the younger kiddos to feel that they are left out! Also these could be used during social groups, lunch bunches. Not to mention teachers can use them for classroom activities...woo hoo!

Here are some examples:

How do you imagine that you will look physically when you are 21?

If you had to choose between exploring outer space or the bottom of the deepest ocean, which one would you chose?

If you got a parrot for a pet, what phrase above all others would you be sure to teach the beaked blabbermouth to say?

If you could've been born on any holiday, which holiday would you choose?

We have used these on car trips and also taken them with us when we go out to eat...sometimes it IS possible to replace the cell phones/electronic games and actually interact while you are waiting on your food :) Remember to enjoy your child!

Chat Packs

Have you seen these before? They make a couple types of them and this could be used for older teens and adults.

I think they are about $10 and I found mine at a local Hallmark store actually. There are about 156 cards in each box.

Here are some examples of conversation starters:

"What is your favorite saying or quotation?"

"What is the best $100 you spent in your life?"

"On a scale of one to ten (with one being not at all and ten being very much so), how superstituous are you?"

"If you were making a list of the five things (not people) that make you hapiest in your life, what five things would you write down?"

"What is the most interesting course you have taken in school? On the other hand, what is the most boring course you have ever taken in school?"

As you can see, they are can be pretty light hearted and spark conversations. Our job is to make sure our kids know when it is appropriate to introduce a conversation starter like these.

You could say, "Hey check out these fun questions I found" and then proceed with the question, making sure there is a lull in conversation, you are making eye contact with your friends and that you are smiling because these should be fun!

12 Days of Christmas Preparation - Day 9

Are we there yet? Traveling by plane is hard enough for adults.....wow, now we are taking our kiddos?

Building excitement by counting the days until the travel day using post it notes or days crossed off on a calendar can help them enjoy the journey (no pun intended :)

See about going to the airport ahead of time and walking around, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the location. Take pictures around the airport to put in a book so they can look at them later as much as they want to.

You can check to see if your child can go through the security line before your travel date so they can see the procedure and not become alarmed on the day of travel. Our 12 year old daughter was actually pulled out of line to be searched (you know how those autistic kiddos resemble terrorists :) I thought my head was going to explode...we were not allowed to touch her or be near her (SHE was handling it just fine..."waiting her turn") My husband quietly flagged the security guard and explained our situation and then things hurried along and she was cleared. It was nothing any of us had done....she was the lucky random person pulled out that flight. We joked that we should now go buy a lottery ticket since we were so lucky!

Ask the flight attendant if you can be seated first, explaining it may take a little time to get settled. Most airlines are accommodating and understanding.

See if you can get seats near the restroom and bring noise cancelling headphones or ipod/mp3 player to help mask the loud plane noise.

Bring a comfortable blanket to keep with your child and a gameboy/nintendo ds...and plan on entertaining your child yourself if necessary.

And remember the flight attendant's advice "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you are going to leave something, please make sure it is valuable as it will be equally divided among the attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses" :)

What travel tips can you add?

12 Days of Christmas Preparation - Day 8

Traveling over the holidays.....yes, Virginia, we all have to do it!

If you are traveling via car, you likely already have an idea of how your child will do. Bring lots of books, games or videos they can entertain themselves with. Bringing snacks and water is also a good idea as well as taking a break every hour to let them stretch their legs.

When our girls were smaller, we actually had a grab bag of small toys that were wrapped that they got to chose and open every XXX amount of miles/minutes in the car. It was something they looked forward to doing and then they were entertained for a little while.

Some kids can't stand road noise and noise cancelling headphones are their best friend along with a comfort blanket too.

If you don't have a huge long car trip planned....bring two cars. Trust me, you will be glad to be able to head home after a short visit....sometimes the lucky parent is the one who gets to go home with their child ~ ha!

Santa has the right idea...only visit people once a year ~ Victor Borge ;)