Unplugged Fun — Ignite Your Child’s Imagination Beyond Screens
In today’s world of video games and streaming for entertainment, one of the most powerful — and rewarding — steps you can take is engaging your child’s imagination without electronic devices. A Make-Believe Store One great way to do that is by putting your child in charge of a make-believe ice cream store. It’s easy and only takes a few common household items, starting with a few bowls.
First, squirt a generous helping of shaving cream into each bowl, then add different colors of food coloring to each. After stirring with a spoon, your child will suddenly have a variety of make-believe “flavors” to offer to their customer — you. They’ll have fun scooping up the flavors you want from each bowl into a plastic cup. You can even have other small household items in other bowls (such as buttons and small craft items) that can serve as the ice cream “toppings.” Balloon Sports You can also engage your child’s hand- eye coordination skills with a fun game of balloon tennis or volleyball. To start, simply blow up a few balloons of different sizes. Then find a chair or other items around your house that can double as a “net” between you and your child.
The fun comes in batting the “ball” (a balloon) back and forth across the net. When your child bats the balloon to your side and you hit it back without it passing back over the net, the point goes to your child, just like in real tennis or volleyball. You can keep score if you’d like. You can also make up your own rules, like players can hit the balloon two times before returning it to the player on the other side of the net. Or, if you want to really challenge your hand- eye coordination, you can use two balloons and try to keep both in play at the same time. At the end of the day, with fun activities like these, you can engage your child’s imagination with a true brand of homemade fun!
TALES OF HEROES WHO TRIUMPHED OVER TRAGEDY
It only takes seconds for the peace of a normal day to be shattered by tragedy. Fortunately, in many cases, some brave souls are willing to step forward to triumph over tragedy. One example of this was 23 years ago in Bucharest, Romania, when Marilena Pascaru visited her village water well with her 2-year-old daughter, Alina. As a curious toddler, Alina reached for the bucket high above the well as Marilena turned her back. In that instant, the little girl climbed into the bucket, sending both tumbling into the well. Immediately, Marilena’s reflexes kicked in. She grabbed the spinning well crank, stopping the bucket with a jolt. Alina fell out of the bucket and got stuck between the bucket and the well wall, preventing Marilena from cranking the bucket back to the surface. After multiple rescue attempts by several adults and even a bulldozer, teenager Oana Furnica volunteered to help. Oana had ropes tied around her and was lowered head-first into the dark opening so she could reach and hold onto Alina long enough for rescuers to pull them to safety. For her bravery, Oana was given a plot of land and about $5,000 USD pledged by television viewers, who saw the rescue in real time.
Another recent example of selfless heroism came in August 2023 in Turin, Italy. Mattia Aguzzi was walking with his girlfriend on the street when he heard yelling from above. Mattia looked up and saw a little girl who had crawled out over the ledge outside of an apartment above and was dangling.
Mattia called to the girl to stop her, but it was too late. As soon as he realized that, he rushed to a spot beneath her, trying to calculate what her trajectory would be if she fell. Before he could do anything else, she started falling, and Mattia stepped up. “When I saw her fall, I stepped in the way, closed my eyes, and hoped that everything was going to be for the best. I blocked her by cushioning the blow, and we both fell to the ground,” Mattia explained. “Initially, I didn’t feel any sign of life, then she started crying, and I breathed a sigh of relief.” Italy’s prime minister thanked him for saving the girl’s life, but Mattia told the press not to call him a hero. “I didn’t think of anything and tried to do what had to be done,” he said.
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