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Introduction


One thing all parents have in common is that they want their children to be happy. That leads us to the all-important question:

What is ‘happy’?

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary uses the word ‘pleased’ to explain ‘happy’ and the word ‘happy’ to explain the word ‘pleased’. So we are left to our own devices or what is called the Dictionary of Life to understand ‘happy’.

My two
In my experience, a child is happy when surrounded by visual stimulus; lots of colours, or pictures, or a new, interesting place. They are happy when they are allowed to explore their surroundings; to touch, taste and change what they see. This freedom exhilarates them but it can also overwhelm them, causing them to throw an instant tantrum or simply cry out in sorrow. This is possibly because complete freedom scares them. They want freedom but within the brackets of protection and supervision. That’s where we, the parents, come in.

When they know that they are watched and safe, they enjoy losing themselves in the act of exploration. Thus, they become busy.

Therefore, my conclusion that busy children are happy children.

All that is fine but what does this blog do?

As parents, we want to give our kids the best we can. The roadblocks to that are paucity of money, patience and everything in between.
This blog is a compilation of all the activities I have done at home, with my two children. It will save you the time of looking things up on search engines, websites, books, SOS calls to other parents etc.

How are you supposed to use this blog?

Put aside time (once a day, or once a week), say ten minutes before bedtime, to browse through the posts to see if you can take up one of these activities the next day, or that weekend. Add the required materials to your grocery list. Voila! Now you always have something up your sleeve for when the kids are bored (or when you want then to turn off the TV).

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