I’m a huge fan of classic games. Especially outdoor ones that meant the world to me growing up. Hide and Seek, Marbles, Simon Says, Jump Rope and of course, Hopscotch. I have no memories of playing hopscotch as a child in England but fast forward to our move to Cyprus and there are plenty. At school, at the playground, at home, in the middle of a dead-end road I have fond memories of a chalk in my hand and hopping to and fro with my friends for what seemed like hours!
Saturday night and I am desperate to come up with an awesome idea for a scheduled Sunday outing with friends and kids. I turn to the internet, naturally. I scroll through pages of useless and dated websites, feeling quite depressed about the lack of kiddie activity information on the island. To be specific, I was hoping to find a well-organised and up-to-date website bursting with information on places to visit and where to go with children in tow. Just when my hopes were about to be shattered and I was preparing to announce that we would head to our usual playground spot, I found Kids Have Fun in Cyprus.
Included among last week’s The Parent Hood links, was one of my most exciting kids discoveries ever. Cosmic Kids Yoga videos, absolutely free on You Tube, are a massive hit with Georgie who insists on ‘doing yoga with the nice lady’ every evening before bedtime. After his bath and before we climb into his bed for a bedtime story, I take my laptop into his bedroom and we both follow Jamie’s (aka ‘the nice lady’) moves. There are a number of things I like about Cosmic Kids; the simplicity of the moves, the fact that the videos are free and most importantly, how Jamie captures kids’ attention with an adventurous storyline, feeding their imagination. The fact that she speaks with an English accent is a plus for me.
Many precious minutes are spent in the car every morning since Georgie started school. It’s a 30 minute drive so instead of wasting that time listening to boring morning shows (me) and shooting dinosaurs on the iPad (him), we play games. Options are limited due to Georgie’s age but I have managed to find five games he loves playing and I don’t mind them either.
On Sunday, Georgie looked slightly confused when papa and I announced we were all going to see some dinosaurs. ‘You told me they are all dead!’ Hm, yes, that’s right. So, I rephrased: ‘We’re going to see some dead dinosaurs’. The whole dinosaur concept is difficult to establish at this age but I am hoping the fascination will remain until he fully understands what type of remarkable beings used to roam the earth. Together with his cousins, we visited the Tsirides’ Foundation exhibit on dinosaurs, fossil fish and semi-precious stones. The exhibit actually included a complete skeleton of the extinct Cyprus pigmy hippopotamus and an authentic T-Rex skull!