Life is a lot easier for me when my kids are finding joy in things around them, so here are some things they (and I) have been enjoying lately!
Watch:
WeetWoo is a very cool app that has a library of kid-appropriate YouTube videos. We have YouTube blocked on our iPad, due to too many disturbing things on there, so this is a better option. Plus, it's sorted into different categories--animals, educational, kids' shows, etc. Cash loves old school Chip 'N Dale and Coco likes the strange Charlie and Lola.
Cookie Doodle isn't a video, but the kids sit still, so I count it as "watching". It is probably the most used app on our iPad--the kids can choose a cookie recipe (the actual recipe is listed, but I haven't tried any yet) and then virtually stir the dough, crack the egg, etc. Then roll, cut, bake,decorate, and eat the cookie. It is a really, really fun app, and everyone who tries it absolutely loves it. Very cute!
Read:
One of my greatest joys is collecting books I read as a child--I'm a little obsessed...and missing Paperback Swap, where I've gotten a ton of them. I think all of my siblings and I have a similar list of books we loved as children--we were read to and read
a lot.
The Funny Little Woman is one of my all-time favorite children's books, and I'm happy to say that my kids are obsessed with it as well. I got it about a year ago, and it has been the steady favorite. Cash has it memorized!
It's about a woman in Japan whose rice dumpling rolls under the earth. She goes searching for it and gets captured by the wicked oni! The book has taken on a whole new meaning now that we live in Japan and eat rice dumplings and see oni statues.
Listen:
This is another childhood favorite that my children now love! I listened to
Brite Music a lot as a child and remember a lot of the songs. The "Happiness" book is my favorite, and I found myself singing the "Whiny Child" song to my kids whenever they whine, which would make them laugh. So, I paid the money and got the whole CD/audiobook downloaded. My kids love it! They love all the songs and love to listen to the story. I wish you can buy the book to follow a long, but oh well. If you've never heard Brite Music, try and sample it. Shiny Brite is another one of my favorites that I sing to the kids a lot (especially the "Junk Food Junkie" song--they get a kick out of that!)
And randomly, Coco is obsessed with Taylor Swift's "Mean". She likes any songs that mention weapons and knives, which is in the first line. Oy. :)
What have your kids been loving lately?
