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Home / Lifestyle

Five ways to be an awesome parent these holidays

By Rhonwyn Newson
Herald online·
7 Jul, 2014 05:17 AM2 mins to read

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Encourage fort-building these holidays. Photo / Thinkstock

Encourage fort-building these holidays. Photo / Thinkstock

The holidays have just begun and many parents are already counting down the days until schools reopen. While kids are demanding, they are also great fun.

Here are five ways to be an awesome parent these holidays.

1. Brush up on your fort-building skills

Blankets, chairs, a flashlight, some clothes pegs and voila! Hours of fun. Traditional blanket forts can be put up in a matter of minutes. The simplest, by far, is made by draping a large sheet over a kitchen or dining room table.

2. Install a SlideRider

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The SlideRider, currently in the prototype stage. It consists of multiple folding mats that can be laid over steps to create a slide.

The final mat is cushioned and there are foldout 'safety rails' to ensure children don't bump into banisters.

3. Learn the words to you child's favourite song

Let's face it, it's going to be Frozen's "Let it Go". More than 8 million people have already watched this cute video of Blakely, 3, putting her heart and soul into this performance while dad, Billy, puts his own spin on the song.

App users: Tap here to watch the video here

Or, if you've had enough of the song, you can always perform your own parody. Like this dad...

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App users: Tap here to watch the video here

4. Learn how to make playdough

You need:
1 cup salt
3 cups flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Food colour
1 cup water

Mix all the dry ingredients and add oil.

Add the food colouring to water.

Slowly add the water until the desired consistency is reached.

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5. Read to your children

This is important all the time, especially during the holidays. A report says students typically score lower on tests at the end of vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the holiday.

That's because children are engaged in intentional learning activities most of the week during the school year, but don't have as many intentional opportunities for learning over the break.

Encourage learning through reading by reading aloud to your children, even when they are old enough to read on their own.

- nzherald.co.nz

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