“Playful parenting is a way to enter a child’s world, on the child’s terms, in order to foster closeness, confidence, and connection.”

Lawrence J. Cohen, Playful Parenting (Ballantine, 2001)

Dear Clients and Colleagues 

Today, Saturday, 28 May 2009, is World Play Day – a reminder of a child’s right to play (the Right to Play and Recreation is part of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31). Celebrate the power and possibilities of play everyday – after all play is the language of childhood and play is absolutely FREE.

As we move through our daily lives with vision and purpose, with our action lists and tight schedules, don’t forget to be light and playful with your children. When you are playful you unlock your child, and you relax a the same time. When you come in from a busy time, at work or otherwise, you could try playing Dead Ants, a “silly little game” that has the power to change the mood and shift the energy for everyone. When you shout “Dead Ants!”, everyone must lie down immediately on their backs on the floor, kicking their legs and shaking their arms in the air (continue for 30 seconds or so). It’s a real laugh and it will put a smile on everyone’s face immediately, making it easier to bridge the gap beyond your busyness and the daily rush.

Sometimes silly little games are the perfect antidote to adult seriousness. They are a playful, non-verbal way of saying: “I’m here, I’m home and I want to be with you!”

MY NEW BOOK – EASY ANSWERS TO AWKWARD QUESTIONS

You can look forward to the arrival of my new book sometime in June. Easy Answers to Awkward Questions: what 8 – 13 year olds need to know about their changing bodies, sex, babies, their rights and more……… I will drop you a line as soon as I have a firm date and a list of bookstores and other retail outlets who will be stocking it. It will be published in both English and Afrikaans by Metz Press.

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

April and May were extremely busy! I had the privilege of addressing groups of parents and educators in Gauteng, KZN, Cape Town and Knysna. Thank you to you all for your enthusiasm for my work. Your positive feedback has been very moving. Due to numerous corporate and school bookings this month I will only be presenting two public workshops in June.

Nuts & Bolts Workshop

Thursday, 18 June 2009, 9am – 12pm Miele Gallery of Fine Living, Peter Place, Bryanston, GAUTENG

Cost: R300 per head

Bookings: nikki@brightideasoutfit.co.za

(A minimum of 10 delegates up to a maximim of 40. Payment secures your seat.)

 A fun, interactive workshop covering the specific perceptual skills your child needs to acquire within the first six years of life in order to be ready for school. Get dozens of ideas to help you be really creative with your classic toys such as: shape sorters, stackers, threading and pegging games, matching and association games, puzzles, gross motor equipment, construction toys etc.

This workshop takes parents well beyond what’s in the instruction leaflets. Parents are encouraged to put their own stamp on their child’s play experiences by using their imagination, adding love letters, breaking the rules and combining games in order to create more games! Come prepared to play.

Parenting on the Run Workshop

Saturday, 20 June 2009 9am – 12pm Miele Gallery of Fine Living, Peter Place, Bryanston, GAUTENG

Cost: R300 per head

Bookings: nikki@brightideasoutfit.co.za

 (A minimum of 10 delegates up to a maximim of 40. Payment secures your seat.)

Parents today are busy. Being able to parent creatively – on the run – makes your parenting journey easier and much more fun. In this talk, creative parenting expert and author, Nikki Bush, introduces the concept of cheating time and turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, helping parents to give away the guilt they so often feel.

She will show you how time spent in the car; doing household chores and activities or waiting for appointments, can be so valuable to both you and your child – it is never a waste of time! This insightful talk is peppered with personal anecdotes and you will leave armed with over 100 creative and practical ideas for converted wasted time with your children into quality time.

Nikki will also include her ever-popular suggestions on toys to pack for travelling, or for when you are simply on the run. Connecting and communicating your child can be so easy, even for busy parents.

Keep on playing with your precious children. It’s good for everyone.

Kind regards

NIKKI BUSH

The Bright Ideas Outfit

083 265 5754

nikki@brightideasoutfit.co.za

www.brightideasoutfit.com

For parents in KZN, I will be running my next Parenting on the Run Workshop at Hillcrest Pre-primary on 4 April 2007.  Why don’t you join us?  Come and learn how to cheat time in this interactive workshop. Leave armed with over 100 creative and practical ideas for converting what you would normally consider wasted time with your children, into quality time.

I will show you how to maximize time spent in the car; doing everyday household activities, or even waiting for appointments with your child. You can stimulate your child’s brain and connect emotionally even when you are on the run.

I will also include my ever-popular suggestions on toys to pack for travelling, or for when you are simply on the run. Connecting and communicating with your child can be so easy.

DATE :          Friday, 4 April 2008

TIME   :         8.30am – 11.00am

VENUE :         Hillcrest Pre-Primary School

COST :          R200 per head which includes the workshop, notes, tea,and lucky draws.  

                    Payment secures your seat.

TO BOOK :    Phone Emma on 083 7070 531 by March 28, 2008

The workshop will be helpful for parents of children aged 2 to 8 years.

Regret no children, as it is distracting to other delegates.

What people are saying about this workshop:

“I can’t believe that I don’t have to feel guilty about being busy anymore!” Audrey Stanley

“If parents put into practice just a handful of these ideas they would reinforce what we are teaching at pre-school and we would be referring fewer children for therapy. We need to get this message out to more parents”. Glynnis Courtney, Head of HeronBridge Pre-Prep and chairlady of the ISASA pre-school committee 2006.

“Many thanks for the fantastic Parenting on the Run workshop. Your practical suggestions have worked brilliantly for us. I have two very busy little boys (4 and 2) who are easily bored and distracted, but they are putty in my hands with my newfound “box of tricks”! “ Kathleen Bartels

ABOUT NIKKI BUSH 

Nikki Bush is an inspirational speaker and writer on child and parent development issues. She is also an educational game designer and toy judge. Her work is fuelled by her passion for play and her commitment to helping parents to find creative ways of connecting with their children. For more info visit www.brightideasoutfit.com.

Dear Clients and Colleagues

We are already one twelfth of the way through 2007, ‘007 for short, or the James Bond Year! When it comes to James Bond anything is possible – anyone, anything, anywhere, anytime – kind of like the world we are living in today – full of chaos and change but definitely the Age of Possibility.

In our connected world a massive shift in power has begun – from governments and corporations over to individuals like you and me. We will increasingly have the power to create our own reality (anyone, anything, anywhere, anytime) by influencing and shaping the world we live in. Take China for example, which is not a democratic country. The Pop Idols TV show gave the Chinese people their first real taste of democracy when over 8-million votes were received via SMS from cellphones belonging to individual viewers. They were shaping their reality regardless of their government’s ideology. With personal computers and cellphones linked to the internet, it has become a plug and play world. If you can plug in you can play, that is the only barrier to entry. The new game called Possibility comes with new rules. Playing the new game without adopting new rules and adapting old ones may leave you standing on the sidelines watching the game.

James Bond always starts off his missions with some inside intelligence from MI6 and thereafter he creates and breaks the rules along the way. His mission is always clear but how he is going to achieve it only unveils itself in the moment. Our mission as parents and teachers is to facilitate, mentor and coach our children to prepare them for the future by showing them how to play The Game of Possibility.

Futurist Dr Graeme Codrington and I are in the throes of completing a book on parenting in the 21st century precisely to give you some intelligence so that you can play The Game of Possibility with your children. When individuals hold the power – whether or not they use it and how they use it – is dependent on their values and worldview. This is why children need parental input today. Taking personal responsibility for all the moves you make in The Game of Possibility becomes the number one rule, which is why parents will need knowledge, insight and understanding about the future.

Our book will help you to create a framework for your parenting experience as you embark on the adventure of a lifetime, that of raising the next generation of talent. It will answer these questions:

 What do parents need to know about tomorrow, today?
 Why do they need to know this?
 What action do they need to take?

TALKS & WORKSHOPS

Due to the writing deadlines for the parenting book discussed above, I will not be hosting talks again until May. My Winter Series kicks off with the following (see attached flyers for details):

Nuts & Bolts Workshop
Parents of under 5s
Wednesday, 9 May 2007 9.00 – 11.30am R150.00 per person

Connect the Tots Workshop
Parents of children from birth to 6 years
Wednesday,16 May 10.00 – 11.30am R75.00 per person
Thursday, 17 May 7.30 – 9.00pm R75.00 per person

Parenting on the Run Workshop
Parents of children from 4 – 7 years
Saturday, 26 May 2007 9.00 – 11.30 R150.00 per person

Our Toy Season series at the end of 2006 was oversubscribed. Please remember that payment secures your seat, so book soon to avoid disappointment. Refunds will be entertained up until two weeks prior to each talk. Thereafter, payment is non-refundable.

FEEDBACK FROM MY RADIO INTERVIEW ON SAFM ABOUT TOY TALK

After my interview in November last year on SAFM’s Afternoon Talk, I was left with two recurring thoughts based on the comments or questions the callers had:

1. Many people think about toys in terms of an object that does something to entertain the child. I prefer to think about toys like this:
• How can my child play with this or what can my child do with this toy or game?
• In how many different ways can this game or toy be played?
• For how many months/years will this toy or game be relevant in my child’s life

This is how I determine the value of a toy. Anything that winks and blinks and can only be played with in a limited or prescriptive way, or a toy that does all the entertaining without engaging the child, is a toy that is not worth my investment.

Yes, I hear you! We sometimes need toys that will distract and entertain our children while we get on with what we have to do, and you’re right. But these toys need to make up a very small percentage of your child’s toy box. If children are constantly entertained they will not learn how to play or learn how to entertain themselves. Without such skills they will constantly seek out your attention because they are bored, requiring ever more stimulation. So invest your time and wisely and early on to avoid landing up in a Catch-22 situation.

2. Our awareness of what’s available in the toy and game market is often limited to big brands that advertise.

Comments were made about the high cost of toys as mentioned in a Sunday Time article a few weeks prior to my interview. Most of the toys highlighted in the article were well known characters and brands. Brands and licenced characters attract a premium. You don’t have to buy them! More often than not there is a cheaper equivalent available, saving you anywhere from 30 – 50%, if you are prepared to buy unbranded goods for your child. Having spent many hours roaming the aisles of both large and small toy stores in preparation for Toy Talk 2006, I am also in a position to tell you that there are many excellent games and toys available at under R99.00 that would give children many hours of fun and learning. You can cut your coat according to your cloth and it is possible to bring up young children who are not hooked on particular characters, eg Spiderman, Barney, Power Rangers etc. It largely depends on how much they are exposed to the character and how much attention you pay to that character.

If you have very young children under the age of 5, attend the Nuts & Bolts Workshop where you will discover that by playing with core classic toys in an interactive way with your child, you don’t need a licensed character to make it fun – you are the character! A young child’s world today can be dominated Barney, Barbie, Spiderman etc, which are shaping and influencing them constantly, as I explain in detail in my presentation Connecting with Children through the Noise & Clutter. Committing yourself to playing creatively with your little one at least once a week, is one way of balancing the noise & clutter in their world. You, the parent, can still remain the best toy in the store!

EXCITING PRODUCTS FOR 10 YEAR OLDS AND UP – MYTH AND LEGEND BOARD GAMESAnd now for something totally different! Eco Kids, the toy shop in Lonehilll, has imported a range of unusual board games for older children, based on myth and legend. Eco Kids owner, Silke Ceruti (previously a judge in the Toy of the Year Awards) has provided a review of the following interesting games which retail from R279.00 upwards http://www.brightideasoutfit.com/2007/02/01/myth-and-legend-boardgames-for-older-children/:
• Carcassone
• Maharaja
• Ticket to Ride
• Lost Cities
• Lord of the Rings

TO READ ON MY WEBSITE

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, BABY EINSTEIN AND YOU
……………It’s easy to seduce parents into purchasing by offering them something that will help them to make their children brighter and more successful. As I reiterate in all my talks and presentations to parents, gen yourself up with some basic knowledge about early childhood learning, then use your common sense when it comes to choosing appropriate toys and games (including video, computer and Playstation games.) Remember that babies and young children were born to move in order to explore and discover the world around them. For learning to have any meaning the child must use his physical body to experience his world. Occupational and physiotherapists tell us that the body is the architect of the brain, so encourage your baby to move rather than leaving him or her sitting in front of the goggle box. For the full story: http://www.brightideasoutfit.com/2007/01/29/the-president-of-the-united-states-baby-einstein-and-you/

May 2007 be your James Bond year! Stay connected to your children and remember that anything is possible.

NIKKI BUSH
The Bright Ideas Outfit
083 265 5754
brightideas@powerpt.co.za
www.brightideasoutfit.com

Dear Clients

2006 is finally slowing down to gentle trot! Isn’t it great to be able to press the snooze button on the alarm clock repeatedly? For those of you who are still in town and frantically trying to complete their Christmas shopping, I include a few last minute hints and tips which I hope you will find useful. We ended the year with a full Nuts & Bolts workshop which was packed with dozens of creative ideas for parents to use during their playtime with their 2 – 4 year olds. For those of you on the waiting list, I will run another one early in the new year. Thank you for your emails with your comments and feedback about how your play time and relationships with your children are changing and growing. That is why I do this work. We need to do whatever we can to connect with our children in a world full of noise & clutter.

CONNECT THE TOTS WORKSHOP

I will be running two Connect the Tots workshops in January on the 19th and 20th. Here is the synopsis, see the attachment for more details:

In a modern world where the winking, blinking, noisy varieties of toys get much of the attention, real active learning can be found in good old-fashioned construction toys, from wooden building blocks, to toys with nuts and bolts, the click together variety or even magnetic ones. Construction toys are a cornerstone of most toy stores just as they should be in every family home. And they are not just for boys either!

Construction toys lay wonderful foundations for problem solving and the development of pre-maths, -writing and –reading skills. After this fascinating one hour workshop which explains the importance of “putting together and taking apart”, you will never look at a packet of Jelly Tots or a bag of wooden building blocks in the same way again!

SHOPPING TIPS

1. LEAP PAD INFO

ToyZone in Woodmead, received a new shipment of Leap Pads recently, for littlies up to about the age of 5. They also have a wide selection of electronic books and games to go with the Leap Pads.

The Toy Shop (this is the name of the shop) in Clearwater Mall (next door to Woolies) also has a comprehensive range of this product including the handheld Leapster for 6 year olds and up. Their prices, however, are much higher than previously seen at Toyzone or Toys R Us. Phone around and check your prices before going all the way there.

2. MEGA SKETCHERS

Checkers Hypermarket has MegaSketchers selling for R149.99. Elsewhere they retail for about R199.99. Great for those long distance trips in the car.

3. PRIDDY BOOKS

CNA in Sandton City has stock of this gorgeous and well-priced range of books for 0 – 4s.

4. CRAZY CLAY

This was one of the items in the Toy Talk goodie bag. It is back in stock and can be found at Pick ‘n Pay, for R49.99.

5. AIR HOGS STORM LAUNCHER

For the best price of R999.90, get this from Toys R Us. It is R1 299.00 in most other shops.

6. MESS FREE MAGIC FINGER PAINTS

This popular product has been spotted at Northgate Hypermarket for R99.00.

7. ART ON THE MOVE

An art set / fold out desk in a zip up bag that attaches to the back of the front seats of the car. A hot seller this time last year for families who were travelling. CNA has lots of stock for R99.99.

8. THE PLASTIC WAREHOUSE

Well worth a visit. Situated in the Fourways Value Mart (opposite the Snowscapes). Pick up plastic storage containers of all shapes and sizes if you are sorting our your child’s toys this holiday, as well as lots of plastic goodies that would make fun inexpensive stocking fillers such as spray bottles (also good for fine motor co-ordination), and more.

Have a wonderful December with your families. Use the time to play as much as possible. Fill that emotional bank with lost of fun experiences.

Best wishes

NIKKI BUSH

The Bright Ideas Outfit

083 265 5754

brightideas@powerpt.co.za

www.brightideasoutfit.com

I began writing about early learning 9 years ago because I was always searching for credible sources of information to back up the sale of the educational toys that I was involved with. I would be told things like, “Children learn through play, young children need to learn about shape because it is the foundation for handwriting, movement wires the brain”, etc. These facts were dished out to me regularly and I wanted to know where they came from and if they were all true, or whether some were just marketing speak. So I took a whole lot of interesting facts and researched them by interviewing professionals in the field, doing a lot of reading and attending many talks and seminars. Not only was I able to build a speaking and writing career out of this research, but it gave me a good frame of reference as a parent – a lense through which to view the world and make my decisions about what I would and would not purchase for my children, without being overly influenced by the power of marketing and advertising campaigns. With a little bit of knowledge you can see through the claims the advertisers and marketers often make about their products and services. I cannot claim to be so wise when it comes to purchasing computers and printers, that’s not my field of speciality!

It’s easy to seduce parents into purchasing by offering them something that will help them to make their children brighter and more successful. As I reiterate in all my talks and presentations to parents, gen yourself up with some basic knowledge about early childhood learning, then use your common sense when it comes to choosing appropriate toys and games (including video, computer and Playstation games.) Remember that babies and young children were born to move in order to explore and discover the world around them. For learning to have any meaning the child must use his physical body to experience his world. Occupational and physiotherapists tell us that the body is the architect of the brain, so encourage your baby to move rather than leaving him or her sitting in front of the goggle box.

More on this in an opinionated piece from Michael Mendizza from Touch the Future………………….

In the State of the Union address the President took several minutes to applaud the founder of Baby Einstein, a beautiful woman, for her entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit. No doubt she is all that and much more.

Touch the Future is a public service. Your financial support is needed and appreciated.