Category: Parenting

Deals, Kids, Parenting, Seattle Area Attractions, Travel

10 Seattle Activities To Do With Kids feat. Seattle Family Adventures Guide

Erin Sluka

10 Seattle Activities To Do With Kids feat. Seattle Family Adventures Guide

Living near Seattle we are very familiar with heading into the city for a day of fun. There are so many things to see and do especially if you have kids. If you are moving to the area or planning to visit, I first recommend getting a copy of Seattle Family Adventures: City Escapes, Day Trips, Weekend Getaways and Itineraries for Fun-Loving Families by Kate Calamusa.

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We live north of Seattle and a lot of our family is south of Seattle so it makes the city a gathering place for us for birthdays and occasions. We just recently celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday with the entire family beginning with the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room then dinner at Cutters Point. We topped it of by riding the Wings Over Washington exhibit on the pier and a waterfront walk.

Seattle activities

10 Seattle Activities To Do With Kids feat. Seattle Family Adventures Guide

  1. Woodland Park Zoo – www.zoo.org – watch for ‘rainy day’ discounts they often offer
  2. Seattle Great Wheel – www.seattlegreatwheel.com – must like heights and gorgeous views
  3. Safeco Field and Centurylink Field – Seattle Mariners (MLB), Seahawks (NFL) & Sounders (MLS) games
  4. Firehouse Coffee – in Ballard neighborhood – When you need a coffee break and the kids need a play yard
  5. Wings Over Washington – www.wingsoverwa.com – this is brand new so not in the guide (next to the Great Wheel)
  6. Blue Highway Games – www.bluehighwaygames.com – they have tables to stay and play board games as a family
  7. Underground Tour – www.undergroundtour.com – ages 6+ 90 minute tour of the city…underground.
  8. Pike Place Market – www.pikeplacemarket.org – currently getting a fantastic update, browse vendors and shops. The home of the famous Flying Fish market
  9. The Museum of Flight – museumofflight.org – do the kids like war planes and a NASA training rocket? Must see.
  10. GameWorks – www.gameworks.com – surrounded by many fantastic restaurants, there are over 180 games with a bar and big screen so Dad can catch his game while the kids play

Seattle Sounders

If your family loves sports, I highly recommend attending a Seattle Sounders or Seahawks game while in town. They say around here that if you enter Centurylink Field as a visitor you will leave a fan. Seattle loves its teams and the pride is plentiful inside one of the loudest sports stadium.

**MLS Seattle Sounders game tip: If you score Sounders tickets, head to Occidental Park 90 minutes before kick off where Pre 90 starts with guest speakers and they will announce the starting 11. The last one we attended my son won a hat (above photo). At 60 minutes prior to kick off the crowd starts marching to the field with popular chants. If you are going to the game, this is a must do! Scarves Up! Want to see a video we made of the Pre 90 experience? Watch it here!

Find these activities and so many more in the book, Seattle Family Adventures.

Books Reviews, Education, Parenting, Tips and Tricks

Managing Emotions with the Home Edition: Feeling Buddies for Families Toolkit

Erin Sluka

This is a compensated post for the review of the Feeling Buddies or Families Toolkit

Managing Emotions

We have 3 boys in our family. I have helped raise my husbands boys since they were 5 and 11 and they are now 19 and 24. We also have an 8 year old. Having a child much younger tends to result in a bit of spoiled tendencies and he can be a bit dramatic. He is what one would describe as…spoiled. We have tried many tactics that never seem to stick. He remains feeling entitled, melts down easily when he doesn’t get his way and tends to get bossy with others. I heard about the HOME EDITION: Feeling Buddies for Families Toolkit when I was approached and asked to become an Ambassador for the brand. I knew this may be just what we need before he gets much older and set in his ways.

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Getting Started

We have not begun using the program with him yet because we have some tasks to do prior to introducing him to the toolkit. This is explained in the Quick Start Guide that is the first thing to read when your kit arrives. Here is what your first tasks are:

  1. Review and follow the Quick Start Guide: This guide will give you steps with the order in which to use the kit.
  2. Watch the video coaching sessions with Dr. Becky Bailey in the order the Quick Start Guide suggests
  3. Read the provided book, Managing Emotional Mayhem

By the time you get to Step 7 you will have watched 6 videos, read the book, downloaded some materials to be used with your child and get to know your Feeling Buddies plush and how it will be used with our child.

Following this guide will ensure that as you introduce your child to the Feeling Buddies for Families Toolkit that it will be used correctly and introduce them as tools, not toys for your improvement on their emotional wellbeing. Make sure you take this time first before getting the kids involved. You will love getting to know Dr. Becky Bailey in the videos.

home-edition

The HOME EDITION: Feeling Buddies for Families Toolkit is a new product from Conscious Discipline, a leading provider in social-emotional learning and classroom management resources. This toolkit known for use in the classroom has now been modified for use in your home with your children and is only available at www.feelingbuddies.com to purchase for only $99.

Stay tuned as I will post about our progress using this toolkit between now and the end of April including a video by Anthony on how he feels this worked for him at the end.

What do you think so far? Is this a toolkit you can benefit from in your home?

Kids, Parenting

Children Books that Teach Lessons: The Judgmental Flower Book Review

Erin Sluka

Book sample sent for feature

judgmental-flower-book-review

The Judgmental Flower

by: Julia Cook

Award-winning Author and former school counselor and teacher, Julia Cook’s strategy is ‘Read a Book, Teach a Child a Life Lesson’. In her book The Judgmental Flower, she talks about a purple flower who appeared in a blue flower patch. The blue flowers didn’t know what to think about this flower different in color from them. The blue flowers get to know more about the purple flower realizing they are a lot alike. Their roots are similar, they all take from the same water and sun and bee visits as each other.

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Many of Julia Cook’s books are especially helpful to children on the autism spectrum and have been endorsed by the Alaska Department of Education. She has written over 70 books and you can find books by the topics of: Health, Mental Health, Parents and more.

I found a few books that teach children on the topic of friendship written by Julia such as Bully B.E.A.N.S., Cliques Just Don’t Make Sense, I Want to be the Only Dog and more. Just like The Judgmental Flower, these books teach huge life lessons. They make fantastic teacher gifts to be shared in the classroom and many titles are written for families of special needs children as well. Visit her website: http://www.juliacookonline.com/