Baby Central

Treasure Bottles – A Lesson In A Bottle Activity

Baby Central — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:26:51 +0000

Activity Benefit:

This is a fun activity that also helps with your child’s hand – eye coordination as well as helps to stimulate their observational and concentration skills.

What you need:

clear plastic bottle or small plastic with a lids even better.
sand
tape or glue
a bag for collecting objects

Step One

Collect small objects that will go inside of your bottle/jar:
Take a walk with your child have them collect a small rock, sea shell, twig and place it in your collection bag. You can even walk around your own home or yard and collect a few items such as a penny, paper clip, pebbles, cotton balls etc. (maybe 4 or 6 items). You can even make them themed for example:

metal objects
objects from nature
plastic alphabets or numbers for letter and number fun.

Step Two

Fill your bottle/jar 3/4ths full of sand and put in a few of the items that you’ve collected.
Put the lid on the container and secure lid closed with tape or glue.
Shake the container to conceal the items inside the bottle or jar with the sand.
Note: Don’t put to many objects into the container or over fill it the sand and objects need movement room.

Let’s Explore and Learn Together:

With a parent or adult supervising the child

Have your child then shake and twist the bottle to spot objects inside.
Help them count how many objects are in the bottle.
Ask them to find a specific item in the bottle.
Ask them if they remember where they found the item they found the item.
What kind of noise does it make when you shake the bottle ? Is it always the same or is it different depending on what item is closer to the top
After you shake the bottle does it look like there is more sand now or do certain objects always show through?
Was this a fun activity for you?
Would your friends like to have a lesson in a bottle?

Learning through play is fun and engaging way for you to help your child learn and grow.

How Role Playing Benefits Child Development – Role Playing Ideas

Baby Central — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:02:02 +0000

Role play stimulates creativity in children because they learn to improvise by creating costumes and props from everyday household items. This type of stimulating play also helps to boost your child’s social interactions and confidence as well as flexible thinking skills. Reducing your child’s stress and coping skills can be another benefit of role playing by helping your child to learn how to channel their emotions in a healthy way, improve their communication skills, and helps to prepare children for difficult life situations.

ROLE PLAYING STIMULATES CREATIVITY

When children play dress up, they play out fantasy roles. This puts them in the imaginative role of seeing other people and things from a fresh perspective. They can role play different jobs in the adult world like being a builder and then work to construct their play house. This sort of activity sparks the imagination and helps to develop flexible thinking skills.

Dress up also helps to build a child’s confidence and social skills when playing with other children. Girls can borrow mom’s old jewelry a dress and a old pair of high heels and become CEO of their favorite toy company or a princess. Boys will always find something they can use to be a super hero. A towel or sheet can be fastened for a quick cape using dad’s knee high socks for super hero boots.

ROLE PLAYING TO REDUCE APPREHENSION

Role playing is also a great way for children to channel their feelings and emotions in a healthy, harmless way . Here are some scenarios that will help relieve a child’s fear in common situations.

Ideas:

o The Dentist

Is your child apprehensive about a visit to the dentist? Playing dentist a few days before an office visit puts the child in a position of control and helps them to know what to expect. Buy a little dental mirror and a magnifying glass and let your child examine your teeth. Take pretend x-rays by biting down on an apple slice and taking a pretend picture. This will help your child get comfortable with what happens at a basic dental checkup.

o The Doctor

Is a shot part of your child’s next doctor visit? Have your child pretend to give you a shot, then say, “Wow, that did not hurt at all and I feel much better now!”

o First Day of School

Is your child expressing separation anxiety prior to the first day of school?

Role play with your child where you act out the child’s part and the child plays the teacher’s role and then switch roles. Ask your child before you start playing about what he or she thinks happens at school and what would be fun to do there. Incorporate responses into the role play along with what actually happens in school. Include having the child do an introduction to make new friends, raise a hand to talk, share toys and wash hands before snack time.

ROLE PLAYING HELPS YOUR CHILD COPE WITH DIFFICULT SITUATIONS – BULLIES/STRANGERS/EMERGENCIES

Ideas

o Bullies

Role play to help a child learn how to navigate dealing with bullies to help them to develop the confidence to use their words, to walk away and to feel it’s ok to tell a grown up and not take the harmful words to heart.

o Strangers & Safety

Help your child know what to do when a stranger approaches that makes them uncomfortable or feel threatened by role playing

Ideas:

Find your voice: Have them learn how to say No, Help, Stranger loudly and to attract attention should a stranger approach them.
Teach your child how to use “secret words” that only trusted family and friends know in the case of ” your mom asked me to pick you up from school etc. type situations occur. Teach them to know and ask for the “secret word” and to say no to those who get it wrong and to tell a trusted adult.
Dialing for help: teach your child not only who to call but how to use the home phone and your cell phone for emergencies.

Giving your child the know how of what to do can help them to feel more confident should a situation should arise. Practicing in a non emergency situation will help children be better prepared to face difficult life situations.

HELP YOUR CHILD UNDERSTAND DIFFERENT SOCIETY ROLES

Lite the spark of interest and understanding of different societal roles through play. Playing scientist, musician, builder, chef, reporter or other societal roles can help your child learn and understand the roles different people play in our world, what they do and the skills they have even possibly spark their interest towards the future.

Ideas

Dressing up as a construction worker can educate your child on knowing that his house was built piece by piece, or help him understand what tractors are and how a screwdriver works.
Scientist, are they curious? Help them to figure things out through experimenting like scientists do.
Play Scientist:
Make magic water with food coloring – What happens when you put a drop of red and yellow food coloring together? Maybe have a piece of paper where they can pretend write down their findings.
Athlete, Musicians and Artists : they can learn that skills don’t happen overnight and that it takes practice and passion.
Play your child’s favorite music cd that they can sing-a-long with and have them give you a performance.
Finger paint or make a sculpture out of found objects can be a fun activity. After your child creates their masterpiece put on a art show for friends and family just like artists do.

Creativity, understanding, stress reduction, tolerance, confidence, and improved social and communication skills are some of the benefits children gain from role playing. Role playing reaps long term benefits. Imaginative and well adjusted children grow up to become successful, responsible, happy adults. Role playing is both an innocent joy of childhood and an important tool to help reduce a child’s apprehension in everyday and emergency situations.

Swim Nappies, Sun Hats & UV Sun Protection Clothing For Baby & Tots

Baby Central — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:55:50 +0000

At Baby Central Swim Shop we just received a collection of stylish summer hats, swimwear and UV protective clothing for your babies and children.

We care about your kids having fun in the sun and protecting their delicate skin at the same time.

As your babies and children tend to be exposed to the sun and be outside more during the summer remember that your babies skin is much thinner and way more delicate than adult skin is. As such, it takes only a short unprotected exposure for a sunburn to happen. It is also known that early in life sunburns could lead to future skin problems like skin cancer so, protect your babies skin for today and their future health.

Three must haves to protect your baby and children from the sun.

Sunscreen is a good protective measure that should be part of your “we’re going out” routine. Your child is not only exposed to UV rays at the beach or a outing at the park. UV rays can occur while on stroller rides, even through the car window or cloudy days. Always take care to check and see if you may need to reapply sunscreen through out the day especially if your child is swimming or playing. If your child is under 6mo old try to limit their exposure by keeping them out of direct sun if possible.
Sun Protective Clothing provides an additional layer of protection from the suns harmful UV rays and is good option for babies who may be sensitive to sunscreen. Choose sun protective clothing that is right for the season. Meaning don’t bundle them up in layers and blankets to protect them in the summer that could over heat their body temperature. Instead choose UV clothing options that are right for the current weather or season.
Sun sunglasses and sun hats help to protect your child’s eyes as well as provide their heads, faces and shoulders shade when non is available.

UV protective clothes, hats and swimwear options for your kids

Ozone Baby Sun Hats UPF 50+, the highest rating available!

Pair your hat with a UV Baby Rash Vest Bubblegum Pink (12-18 months) and coordinating swim nappy and your set for safe fun in the sun.

Visit Baby Central Swim Shop for sun hats, protective UV clothing, swimwear and sunscreen options.

How To Pick A Baby Monitor

Baby Central — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:29:53 +0000

You have many options when choosing to buy a baby monitor for your nursery and home. We would like to give you some tips on how to pick the right baby monitor that is right for you, your needs.

Know the distance or range of coverage you need. If your just wanting to monitor from another room in the house or while you may be gardening knowing the range the baby monitor you choose is good to know to cover all possibilities.
What do you want to monitor, sights, sounds, movement or more? Keep in mind nothing is as good as checking in on your baby personally but for those in-between times when they are sleeping do you want to also see video, monitor movement and breathing how about room temperature too?
How convenient is the monitor handset? Does the baby monitor come with multiple handsets or the ability to add on additional units ? Does the monitor handset have a clip on feature for portability?
How is the monitor powered? Is the handset run by battery or is it rechargeable? Is there ample warning to when the handset needs to be recharged or new batteries are needed?
Digital Interference. If you have electronics in your home which could interfere with your monitor because they are on the same frequency or your neighbor has the same monitor as you do which could possibly transmit to your handset and visa versa. A digital monitor vs an analog monitor might be a good selection for you a digital monitor will help to ensure that the sounds and images you see and hear are coming from your baby and not the neighbor’s. Digital monitors run on specific frequency bands and encode the signal between the monitor and the receiver, making it nearly impossible for the sounds to be heard by others as well as interference by other electronic devices.
Avoid Static: To minimize the possibility of interference, select a monitor (either digital or analog) that operates on a different frequency band from other wireless products in your home. Most devices share a 2.4-gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency bands. So try to choose a divice that operates on a different frequency or has the ability to change frequency channels. Also it is good to keep your cordless phone and your monitoring devices separate from each other

Baby Monitors At Baby Central

Digital Video Baby Monitor: Multi Channel, Temperature Monitoring, Rechargeable Batteries & Night Video
By Summer Infant Secure Sleep Digital Video Monitor:

Features:

Go Check out The Summer Infant Secure Sleep Digital Video Monitor

Movement & Digital Temperature Monitor, Motion Sensor Pad, AAA Battery Handset by
Tommee Tippee Crystal Clear Suresound

Go to Baby Central to Buy Your Tommee Tippee Baby Monitor

Remember at Baby Central Hong Kong we provide same day delivery for FREE in Hong Kong & Kowloon if your order is over HKD800

We hope our how to pick a baby monitor for your baby article has helped you to find the right monitor for you
as well as some points to take into consideration when selecting a monitor for your baby.

Deal Buy One Diaper Bag Get A Free Food Tote

Baby Central — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:08:18 +0000

Buy a Penny Scallan diaper bag or nappy wallet & get a matching Penny Scallan Food Bag for FREE
* while supplies last

With attention to detail and construction quality we are sure that you will enjoy owning a Penny Scallan diaper bag or nappy wallet. Penny Scallan nappy bags, wallets and totes are very stylish and functional for the mum and dad on the go.

The Nappy Bag Features

detachable change mat that unzips from the front of the bag that is completely washable
large pockets in the change mat section for wipes and nappies
main part of the nappy bag unzips and has internal pockets for extra organization and the inside of the diaper bag is fully lined in white polyester with tiny navy spots – the latest Penny Scallan signature design
two handy external side pockets, a navy adjustable long shoulder strap
nappy bag has a easy to clean surface of the bag with wipe friendly exterior

Nappy Wallet by Penny Scallan is a clever and stylish is smaller than the standard nappy bag and easy to clean with change mat, reusable container for wipes and attached zipper wallet for your spares. A perfect choice for the short day trip.

Go to Baby Central and order your Penny Scallan diaper bag or nappy wallet and get a free matching lunch tote while supplies last.

Benifits of organic clothes for your babies

Baby Central — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:15:20 +0000

Many parents are opting to go organic in the foods and formulas they put into their babies bodies but also now many are also going organic in their choice of baby clothes as well.

You see according to Johnson and Johnson a babies skin is thinner and lacks the defenses that adult skin has leaving them more susceptible to the environment and pollutants. Lotus Organics claims that “Millions of children in the US receive up to 35% of their estimated lifetime dose of some carcinogenic pesticides by age five through food, contaminated drinking water, household use, and pesticide drift”

Choosing organic based clothing benefits the environment by keeping pesticides from leaking into the ground and therefor food sources.
Organic clothing keeps the chemicals off of your babies bodies. Standard manufacturing of cotton clothing utilized petroleum products, softeners and brighteners and various chemicals including flame retardants and coloring.
Organic baby clothes also help to keep these harmful chemicals out of your babies bodies being that babies like to explore their world and environment by putting things in their mouths.
Organic cloths help lessen the chances for skin irritations and or allergies for your baby.

At Baby Central we have organic baby clothes options for the eco friendly baby & family

Sckoon Organic Baby Clothes

Babymio Organic Baby Clothes and Sets

Make sure to also check out our other organic products for your baby at Baby Central which include organic formulas, foods and snacks .

Drawing for 2 tickets to see Roald Dalh’s The BFG at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts February 17th -20th

Baby Central — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 17:07:27 +0000

The BFG is hiding in one of the categories on the Baby Central Website. FIND HIM for your chance to win!

Here is a clue..

I’m out all night catching dreams
Running through towns and jumping over streams
It’s hungry work for a big guy like me
So I like to take some lunch with me
But I need to carry it somehow..
Can you help me?

How To Enter:

Visit Baby Central Online Baby Store at www.babycentral.com.hk
Find the picture of Roald Dahl’s The BFG (see the clue where to find him above)
Email us the page & category where you found him to: ifoundthebfg@babycentral.com.hk with BFG Tickets in the subject line

We have a total of 2 pairs of tickets to give away.
Winners will be chosen at random from those with the correct answers and will be contacted directly.

Entries close on 10th February 2011

The Faust International Youth Theatre production of the BFG is showing 17th – 20th February at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
For more information about the play and Faust International Youth Theatre, please visit www.FaustWorld.com

PSST>
tweet using @BabyCentralBaby with a link to this page in your tweet and/or like our facebook post about the contest
for an extra entry into the contest.

Gift Check List For New Parents

Baby Central — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:33:27 +0000

Stumped on what gifts to give new mums and dads?

Useful Baby Gift Ideas For The Practical Gift Giver.

Buy one or buy multiples each of the gift suggestions below are thoughtful gifts that will be needed and used on a regular basis.

Baby Bottles with accessories: sterilizing equipment, bottle warmers, extra nipples . Check out our bottle feeding equipment and accessories
Breastfeed Babies: Mums appreciate getting nursing pads, creams to help them with their nursing experience. Breastfeeding mom supplies
Diapers: You can never go wrong giving diapers as a gift. If the new parents are going the disposable diaper route, you could purchase a gift certificate for them to order their diapers as needed or if they are Eco conscious and want to go with the reusable diaper our Fuzzi Bunz Diaper system are a great option!
Don’t forget baby wipes . Parents go through a lot of these, so if its disposable or wash cloths you know that you will be giving a gift that is practical, useful and one parents can never have enough of.
Pacifiers: Babies fly through a lot of these.
Baby Clothes: Baby socks and sleepers are a great gift for new parents. You could even help them plan ahead as babies grow fast so you could even buy a set of sleepers for the 3-6 month age range. See our selection of baby and toddler clothes.
Blankets and Crib Sheets: Parents of newborns go through a lot of blankets and sheets for their babies nursery for typically 2 years or until they are ready to sleep in a “big kid” bed.
A Baby Central Gift Certificate: Once new parents settle in with their new baby, a gift card to the store allows them to purchase what they need when they need it, plus they save time because we deliver to their home. (within our baby product delivery zones). Also if they receive multiple gift certificates they can combine them to purchase bigger ticket items such as cribs, car seats and more.

Creative Ideas for wrapping your baby gift.

Giving diapers, sheets or blankets, make a diaper tree or diaper cake
Have a cool tote or diaper bag to give: use the diaper bag to load up all the goodies for the new parents.
Decorative or Reusable cloth covered box’s: Put the baby gifts inside of a reusable decorative box that can be reused in the nursery as a accessories holder or baby item storage.
Baby Clothes & stuffed doll or animal: Buy a age appropriate soft doll or stuffed animal dress the toy in the outfit your giving.

Do you have a favorite practical baby gift that you need or have received , we would love to hear from you!

News and Holiday Specials At Baby Central

Baby Central — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:37:13 +0000

New at Baby Central

Christmas Store

We have organized some of our top requested baby and mom gift items as well as some fun new products into The Christmas Store. We are on a mission to make it easy for you to find that perfect gift for babies or moms.

FREE Gift Wrapping with purchase until Christmas!

Wow now you can save tons of time by gift shopping online at Baby Central, we will also wrap your gift purchases plus if you live within our delivery service area and make a minimum purchase of 800HKD and we will deliver it to you for FREE too!.

Same Day Delivery Service Extended To Saturdays

If you call in your order by 12:00 pm to Hong Kong and Kowloon .
Go see our delivery service area’s details.

Holiday Gift Idea’s For Babies & Moms At Baby Central

Baby Central — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:29:15 +0000

Getting a early start on your Christmas shopping helps you to minimize your stress but also your budget. Really it does!

You see by planning ahead (feeling less last minute) you will be less likely to make impulse purchases plus you can defer the costs over time.

Tips To Consider When Buying Gifts For Babies & Toddlers:

Gift Shopping for Infants: Infants love bright colors and senses stimulating toys and items. At infancy babies thrive on stimulation, so when purchasing a gift for an infant consider that they are visual, tactile and auditory explorers. Their explorations into their senses help them to develop their curiosity, attention spans, memory and nervous systems.

Consider the babies age when purchasing a gift for an infant. Make sure that it is age appropriate, meaning infants like to explore their worlds using their scenes and one of the main ones is their mouths so toys with small bits and pieces would not be an option.
Music is a great gift for Infants because it has been reported to help stimulate their their brain development. Classical rhythms such as waltzes or soothing instrumentals is shown to raise babies alpha brain wave states and ambient music, sounds of nature at a low soft volume help to relax your baby.
Tactile items such as soft toys, blankets with silk boarders are also infant favorites especially if mum or dad is playing with them
Visual stimulation could be a parents face and expressions while singing or reading a book to their baby. Items like baby centrals Winnie The Pooh projector which displays colorful animations accompanied with soft music is both visually and auditory stimulating to infants plus with its voice activated settings babies will also begin to develop a sense of accomplishment .

Best yet would be to talk with the parents of the baby your buying a gift for, they will offer incites as to what they might need, what type of toys and items their baby is attracted too.

Gift Shopping for Toddlers: At the toddler stage they are very curious and are developing a sense of independence, so when purchasing a gift for a toddler the same safety considerations should be taken much like you would for an infant.

Check out if the toy is age appropriate for the age of the toddler.
If your buying toys avoid lots of bits and pieces. They get either lost or if too small they can still be a choking hazard.
Musical items for the toddler, help them with their auditory skills, sing-a-long songs are a favorite, and not only can be played at home but also in the car or on a trip. When playing music for your child or gifting a musical toy make sure that it has volume settings so not to be too loud for their sensitive ears.
Build their sense of accomplishment and help them to learn on their own. Toys such as stacking toys, sorters can keep their minds and hands busy as well as help them to feel a sense of accomplishment when they are successful for putting all the pieces together.
Toy portability – Toddlers love their favorite toys and always want to bring them, with them. Keep this in mind when purchasing a toy item for a tot, can it be carried along on a trip, in the car?

Christmas Shopping For Infants And Toddlers At Baby Central Hong Kong

Shopping for kids and soon to be parents at Baby Centrals New Christmas Store will also save you time because we deliver plus we will wrap your gift purchases for FREE!

The New Christmas Store area is organized to make it easy to find that perfect gift.

Shop for: Gifts for Mum – Gifts for Girls – Gifts for Boys – Stocking Stuffers

Gift Ideas For Babies

Babies love stimulating toys and soft cuddly things.

Our Tomy Winnie the Pooh Sweet Dreams Light show projects Winnie the Pooh and friends on to the ceiling in three different modes.

Sleep time mode is where Winnie and Friends are sleeping with soft snoring sounds accompanied by the choice of three soft and calming lullabies.

Voice activated mode in sleep time mode is activated if your baby starts crying and the gentle sounds and sleeping projections restart to gently lull your baby back to sleep.

Wake up mode is where Winnie the Pooh and Friends yawn and giggle accompanied with wake up tempo songs.

Click Here to order your Winnie The Pooh Sweet Dreams Lightshow

For The Fashionable Baby

Babymio Leopard Bathrobe or the hooded Cuddle Robe

Made with 85% cotton this fashionable soft and cuddly bathrobe

or hooded cuddle robe is a soft warm after bath option for the fashionable baby.

Get your Cuddle Robe for your infants

or The Leopard Bathrobe for your child 12- 24 months.

At Baby Central Hong Kong we also have a full selection of sleeper sets, soft toys and baby books for you to choose from, for that special baby on your gift giving list.

Toddler Gift Ideas:

Balancing Bug Stacker – Stacking Toy – 6 months and older

A Lamaze toy, the balancing bug stacker is a fun toy for toddlers because they are very colorful but also stick together via built in magnets. Basically this stacking toy sticks together no matter which way you stack them. Whew, a sense of accomplishment for sure! Besides being stacking easy, by themselves the bug stackers bee’s, caterpillars, ladybug and butterfly are also fun for your toddler to play with individually. The are the perfect size for your toddlers hands as well as being constructed out of mouth friendly materials.

Go See All Our Gift Ideas For Toddlers 6 months and over

Not sure what to get?

Gift Certificates are a nice solution that allows the recipient to select what they want and what they need.