Recreate your world fast!

Developing your Child's brain

Have you ever wondered why toys for babies tend to have so many bells, whistlesand lights? Or why they have so many different textures, and materials and colors?It's almost as if we want to provide young babies with a whole world of stimulation and we can't quite get it to them fast enough.Play gyms or activity gyms as they are sometimes called tend to be a firm favorite with babies from newborn up to about 12 months. These play gyms and activity nests mostly comein the form of comfortable, quilted or softly padded playmats, sometimes raised at the edges with a space in the middle for baby (like a ring doughnut).And these play gyms can be either brightly colored or in soft, pastel shades.But don't be fooled by thinking they are just snug and comfy resting places forbabies to fall asleep in!These activity gyms can provide a plethora of visual, audio and tactile stimulationfor fast developing young inquisitive minds.Often decorated with well known and lovable characters, Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, or farm and zoo animals as well, they can consist of detachable, hanging parts for small babies to try to grasp. They tend to have parts that are crinkly, soft, scrunchy textures for baby to touch, squeeze and stroke. Some come with bright twinklinglights and bells and others make funny sounds, or musical sounds, and some even do both.You will often find mirrors attached to these activity gyms, so that your babygets to find and see its own reflection, often providing hours of fun for babies and carers alike. All of this is extremely important for developing young minds.Babies are like a sponge, they are ready to absorb whatever information they can - and boy - they can't grasp it fast enough! A lot of new research points to the first three years of life as being critical to a baby'sdeveloping brain. It is a known fact that during this period, not only does the brain triplein weight but it also establishes thousands of billions of nerve connections. Astonishingly, at the age of three, a young child has twice as many nerve connections as many adults. Therefore,in your role as a parent, or primary care giver, it is of paramount importance that you recognizethis and understand just how much development is taking place inside your young baby's brain from birth until the age of three.At birth, children have most of the neurons (brain cells) they need for a lifetime however, these brain cells are not yet linked (or "wired") together to form the complex networks that are requiredfor mature thought processes to take place. And what happens is that in the early years, young children's brain cells form these connections, or synapses as they are commonly called, very very rapidly. One of the crucial ingredients to aiding these connections to form, is experience, and repetition. In a word, the more times you repeat something new, like showing a baby how to scrunch up a ball, the quicker these connections are formed. Therefore, it naturally follows that the more positive interaction you give an infant or toddler, the more you are helping to stimulate young brains. This stimulation causes new connections to form neural pathways and strengthens existing ones. Playing with activity gyms, with allthe bells and whistles that they offer or reading to a child, anything which allows a child to have positive, interactive processes, will aid your child's brain development.So, as you lovingly sit and watch your young baby laughing and gurgling on the play mat or under the activity gym - do not underestimate the power of the changes taking place in the brain, all enriching an inquisitive mind and arming it with a plethora of knowledge andunderstanding for years to come.

How to Create The life that is right for you

Creativity isn't just about writing stories, painting pictures, composing music and all of the other recognised creative acts from cooking to architecture and film making to video game design.
The biggest creative project of your life IS your life.
You create yourself, moment by moment, day by day, experience by experience, and become the person you want to become. Right?
Well, it's not always quite that easy. Any number of other factors play a part in what seems like a grand conspiracy to steer you off course from your true path as often and as dramatically as possible.
There's one underlying fact though that never changes. It's the secret to why your creative life is always yours to make of it what you wish.
That secret is "choice".
Though often it may not feel like it, you have the choice in how you react to situations. You have the choice in what you do with your time. You have the choice in how creative you want to be. You have the choice in the person you want to be.
It's never too late to reclaim this power of choice, and here's a powerful technique you can use to get you started:
Reclaiming Your Choice
Think of one or two situations or areas in your life where you feel you're not where you want to be, or you're not in control of where you're heading. Then, take the first area and write out a statement in the following form:
Instead of (situation now) I will (ideal situation).
Insert the situation as it stands now in the first part, and the situation how you'd like it to be in the second part. Here are a couple of examples:
Instead of feeling I have no time to create, I will feel like I'm spending a minimum amount of time every day on the creative projects I enjoy.
Instead of fearing how each project will turn out, I will approach every new venture with confidence and passion, and create the best I can.
Instead of feeling I have no ideas, I will have a steady flow of new ideas and be able to develop them to their fullest potential.
Then when you have a few, pick just one statement. Ask yourself what action you can choose to take to move you closer to how you want to be. Use this kind of format, write it down:
3 steps I could take towards this in the next 48 hours are:
1.
2.
3.
The final step is where you're going to put your words into action. Pick one of the 3 steps you've written, and commit to taking it. Today. Right now.
Just the process of writing out these kind of statements reconnects you with the fact that you have a choice in where you're heading and who you are.
Use this exercise as often as you need to, to stay in touch with the power of choice, and to create the life that's right for YOU.