B is for Balance
It’s a Balancing Act!
In the second instalment of our A to Z of brands we love, we take a look at some of the companies out there doing their bit to help nurture well-balanced kids…in more ways than one!
TimeTokens
After founder, Amanda Bucknall, found herself trapped indoors one rainy half term with her then seven year old son glued firmly to the TV, she came up with the genius idea of TimeTokens - a simple (and now award winning) system for helping parents to empower their children to manage their own screen time in a fun and easy way. As well as teaching healthy habits across all tech and rewarding good behaviour, encourages responsibility and self-regulation as well as leaving time for lots of other activities which don’t involve an iPad, PS4 or TV! So how does it work? Simply agree between yourself and your child a set total amount of screentime for the week, sign the provided contract and then whenever they want some screen time they hand over the TimeTokens from their wallet i.e. 30 minutes and start the timer. When the timer beeps, times up! When the tokens run out, there is no more screen time for the remainder of the week until the wallet is refilled. Simply but extremely effective! Find out more at www.timetokens.com
Mr Thorne Productions
If you are still struggling with screen time then how about ensuring some of that time the kids are spending on tech is actually beneficial in some way. We love Mr Thorne Productions (and his trusty sidekick, Geraldine the Giraffe). The YouTube sensation has created a series of educational and fun apps, from maths to grammar, spelling to punctuation, which all use games to help supplement teaching and learning. For example, Mr Thorne’s Wordsearch Championships has a boxing theme with belts for victorious word-hunters while Mr Thorne’s Phonics Myths & Legends is full of dragons, sea serpents, mermaids and other mythical creatures.
Chewymoon
If you’ve ever spent the better part of a meal picking out the ‘green’ bits from your child’s plate of food then you’ll know that ensuring our kids get a balanced diet is not always the easiest of tasks, particularly when you have a fussy eater on your hands or when you require something quick and convenient! It’s all about convincing them that healthy doesn’t have to mean horrible! Created by nutritionists, Chewymoon snacks are both 100% natural and delicious! Approved by the toughest of taste-testers (that will be the kids!), they’re perfect for lunchboxes and guilt-free after-school snacks, when all they seem to do is want to feed their insatiable appetites! We also love their whole ethos around good food powering whatever mission our little superheroes set their minds to! www.chewymoon.com
Cosmic Kids Yoga
They say yoga is about the study of balance - both inside and out, and Cosmic Kids Yoga is a great way to introduce young kids to this concept. Hosted by Jaime these super fun videos which kids actually love are designed to improve self-regulation, focus and empathy, and of course yoga counts towards their recommended daily physical exercise too! But what we love most about Cosmic Kids is that every video has a moral which is relevant to the three to nine year age group - Norris the Baby Seahorse is about how to overcome being bullied; Tiny the T-Rex is about cleaning your teeth; while Babs the Beaver is about working together to build a playground in your community. Cosmic Kids focuses upon what kids need to learn to become a positive citizen in our world – and make it part of the story. Sounds right up our street! www.cosmickids.com
Wobbel Board
Ok we’re taking the term ‘balance’ quite literally here, but the Wobbel was actually designed as an inspiring opposite in times of screens and pre-programmed toys, to harmonize mind, body and soul! In any case, surely learning to master one of these Wobbel boards has got to transcend into creating some kind of balance in your child’s life?! If nothing else, it will require their undivided attention which will in turn lead them to switch off from any little problems which might be niggling at them… and that my friends is called balance! https://www.babipur.co.uk/wobbel-boards-uk.html