The Mysteries of Your Children Revealed Through Vacation Time

April 28, 2015 by lbp Leave a Comment

Learn the mysteries of your children while on vacation

In the States we call it a vacation. Overseas, it is called a holiday. No matter what you call it, the idea is the same. You and your family leave your house and all your cares behind and spend uninterrupted time together. Where you decide to go makes little difference. They length of time that you stay away does not much matter either. What does matter is that you have you have some time to really focus on your family. The benefits to this uninterrupted time can be invaluable.

Time away with your family can provide an insight you otherwise might not have

Here are a few of the things that you may learn about your children with some time away from home:

*** What is going in at your child’s school

*** What is going on with your child’s friends…ie. what kind of kids are their friends?

*** What your child’s idiosyncrasies are

*** What your child’s interests are

*** How your child solves problems

*** What your child’s everyday temperament is

*** What problems your child might be having

How a vacation can reveal the secrets of your child

It is the quiet, un-stressful, un-scheduled time together that provides the magic. After a few days, the conversation starts flowing. Stories from the year are revealed. Issues come up. Worries are admitted. Desires and dreams are uncovered. Who knows? A problem or two maybe solved. Before the end of your trip, family bonding has occurred.

As summer rolls around the corner, make it a point to be present in your vacation and relaxed enough to take it all in. The real trick is to try to find a way to create “vacation time” at home from time to time.

Do you have experience with the phenomena of secrets revealed during family vacation? Share your experience with us.

Coloring Pages of Scenes from The Labyrinth, Easy Downloadable PDFs

April 8, 2015 by lbp Leave a Comment

We just added more downloadable coloring pages to the Lima Bear Press website. The pages are taken directly from our latest title, The Labyrinth. The Labyrinth’s illustrations are super colorful and perfect for spring. You could use every bright color in your crayola box.

Compare the color scheme your child comes up with to the color scheme our illustrator, Len DiSalvo chose. Ask you child why Mr DiSalvo chose the colors he did. Was it the expression on the character’s faces that affected his choice of colors? Does the current season have an effect on the colors picked? How about your child’s mood? Use the downloadable coloring pages as a family activity. Download a couple of coloring pages and have each member of the family color the page. Later, compare the completed pages.

Enjoy and visit us for more downloadable coloring pages!

Creating an Original Story With Your Child Can Be the Perfect Cure for the Winter Blues

February 18, 2015 by lbp Leave a Comment

Snowstorm

Story-telling with your child can be the perfect cure for the winter blues

This winter try something different with your children to cure the winter blues. Instead of simply reading to them from the books on their shelf, why not come up with your own story? Storytelling is a time-honored tradition, handed down from generation to generation. In some cases, handed-down stories turn into beautifully written-down tales, decades later as in case of the Lima Bear Stories.

You too, can create stories either on your own or with the help of your family. The result will not only be entertaining but a source of family memories as palpable as any family vacation photo album.

How to get started in creating your own family stories

To get started in creating your family story-telling memories keep these tips in mind:

Do not be intimidated; anything you have to share is going to be interesting to your children.
Use what is important to you. If you are super clean, for example, create a character who learns the hard way why cleaning up is important.
Use humor. Goofy=Happy Children
Create catchy character names. Catchy names make the story come alive and easily remembered.

Have the family join in with pieces of the story

Another way to create terrific tales is to let the story unravel by having your family add the content along with you. For example, why not turn the television off on a cold winter’s night and simply start a story much like the old children’s game “whisper down the lane?” Start with a funny scene using material that is obvious to you. Let each family member add to the story and take the story over for a while.

Enjoy as you witness the creative juices flowing. Each family member gets a chance to add and embellish until finally a completed story is created. After you get to the end of the story see if family members can repeat the story back. Did the story change? Try the story again using the new embellishments to see if the changes may become permanent changes.

Examples of story beginnings to get you started

One of the hardest tasks in creating any story is coming up with a beginning to the story. Below are some ideas of story-starters to get you on your story-telling way:

Is a holiday near or around a corner? Make your story a holiday tale.
Put a twist on a famous fairy tale. If the writers of Shrek and Enchanted can do it, you can too!
Use a topic from the news. A young hero story, for example.
A famous writer instructor once said “write what you know,” in this case, “tell what you know.” Use what interests you: a football story, a yoga story, a story about your favorite animal, etc.
Tell a story based, loosely or closely on a relative who your children may have never met – what a wonderful way to teach them about someone special who is actually a part of them.

No matter what you decided to base your story on or how you choose to create it, remember that by storytelling you are sharing not only time with your child but a part of yourself. Enjoy making your very own story-telling memories! Let us know your successes!