I can’t believe two of my social media friends just happened to release books chock full of the best advice for parents and families around. The first one is “Well Played, The Ultimate Guide to Awakening Your Families Playful Spirit” by Meredith Sinclair and the second one is Parent Hacks by Asha Dornfest. These books not only make great gifts for new parents but also for parents with kids of all ages.
Meredith Sinclair is a “teacher at heart” that has been covering play for years on her blog Meredith Plays, local and national TV and as a regular contributor on The Today Show. Here first book , Well Played by Meredith Sinclair, helps families re-learn what used to come naturally: finding happiness through play. This is an important topic because busy schedules packed with back to back activities, increased pressures at school and multiple distractions have left families are stressed. Bringing play into family life can help “awakens your family’s spirit”. Chapters include “Play With Your Family”, “Play with Your Mate”, Play With Your Friends”, “Play for Yourself”. The book has checklists to help identify habits that can be transformed by looking at them in a new way. Great ideas flow through the book, like using a dry erase family calendar with fun colors and naming conventions, doing family lip sync battles, transforming toys into fun family activities and even romance tips for you and your mate. The book’s chapters are organized to find great tips whether I have 5 minutes for a quick read or quiet time to enjoy a longer read. I tend to be a more serious person by nature, #WellPlayedBook has helped me find ways to bring out my and my families playful side with fun activities that inspire laughter and play.
For more information on the book “Well Played, The Ultimate Guide to Awakening Your Families Playful Spirit” CLICK HERE.
As one of the sites reviewing the book, I received some toys that are examples of family fun. Stikbots inspire the “Maker” in all of us by providing the figures and tools to create stop motion videos. Caffeine Rush is the fun challenge of battling baristas. Candylicious Bubbles Machines liven up playtime with edible bubbles.
Parent Hacks is a popular website filled with practical and creative tips for parents. Asha Dornfest started the blog in 2005 and built up an expansive list of tips with input from the Parent Hacks community. For the book, she reviewed over 4000 blog posts and added new material “covering all stages of parenting from pregnancy to preschool”. There are tips on organizing your home, managing your time, meals, travel, and holidays, potty training, bath time, health and sleep. Parenting takes up so much time and energy it is hard to come up with ideas just on your own. I would rather have access to a book that already has tips to use to keep my life moving. For example, how many parents have food crusted into the cup holders in their car (that they will never be able to scratch off)? I do! For the book launch, Asha gave out silicone baking cups that you can use to hold snacks or to put in the cup holders in your car. My car cup holders are now melted food free, and when I look for coins they are now in the cup holder – also melted food free!
For more information on the Parent Hacks book CLICK HERE.
Disclosure: Items were provided for review purposes. My words are my own. I have been purchasing these books as gifts on many occasions!
