Monthly Archives: November 2021

Why Spimbey is the Way to Go for Kids Play Spaces

Children love an exciting playground. It becomes a new world for them, one of adventure and innovation. Home playground equipment has been standard in terms of choice for many years, but Spimbey – a US company with a range of exciting and fresh products – aims to change things with a great selection of modular kids play furniture. Let’s a have closer look at what makes Spimbey special and why it is making waves in the market.

Where Did Spimbey Start?

Like many great ideas Spimbey was born from CEO Mark’s memories of his childhood spent growing up in Spain and in the Netherlands. Mark and his friend, like all young children, found their excitement in local parks and playgrounds where they imagined entire worlds as kids do, and playthings such as climbing frames became soaring castles in their adventure world.

As some of the most wonderful memories of his childhood Mark wanted to recreate the experience for his son. However, the outdoor play furniture Mark considered was all large, overbearing, and expensive. He set about designing his own and built what would be the inspiration for Spimbey in his back yard.

Soon, parents of his son’s friends began asking where they could buy this beautifully made, attractive and practical wooden playset. That’s when Mark realized there is a market for these products. What makes Spimbey different to other outdoor kid’s playsets?

What is Special about Spimbey Play Sets?

The basic element of the Spimbey innovation lies in the modular nature of each part. The range includes a playhouse, swings, slides, seats and more, and many parts can be bought separately – if you simply want an attractive playhouse that can be purchased on its own – or as one of many different combinations.

Each part of the Spimbey set can be attached to the others, creating an all-in-one integrated play area that will thrill children of younger ages. This allows for the perfect use of space and a cost-effective solution that will last for many years.

Spimbey and Ethical Sourcing

One of the primary aims of Spimbey is to ensure that all of its products are made from ethically sourced materials. Wood comes from 100% responsible mills and forest projects, which was one of Mark’s main focuses when designing the products.

What makes Spimbey even more impressive is that the roof and wall panels come pre-assembled to cut down on the time spent erecting the structure. Designed by a team in Switzerland, safety is also paramount with Spimbey products which meet all the relevant regulatory requirements for children’s playthings of this type.

Available in a choice of colors and with a lifetime warranty, all Spimbey modular parts are pre-labelled, drilled, sanded and ready to put together using the clear and simple instructions.

If you want to know more about Spimbey modular kids play furniture we recommend you check out the website where there are plenty of excellent images and detailed information on the full product range.

Solar System Projects For Kids

When teaching children, whether you are a teacher, home educator, or just a parent who wants to supplement your kid’s education with additional learning opportunities, it may feel as if enough is going on down here to worry about. Planet Earth is a vast and busy place planet and as it is where we all live, what happens here is of most concern to us all without adding the other planets in our solar system into the mix.

We appreciate that you may feel out of your depth talking about outer space. However, there are some huge benefits from making the effort to do just that.

Greater Understanding of Why Life on Earth is so Important

One of the biggest benefits of learning about the solar system for children, as it is for everyone, is helping to understand why life on earth is so important and needs protecting. There are currently no other planets in our solar system that can sustain life of any kind, let alone human beings. Therefore, Earth is our home. Although it is good to learn about this home, by learning facts about the other planets, stars, and bodies floating in space, your children will gain a better appreciation for why the Earth is so important.

Great For Teaching About Size and Distance

Considering facts about other planets can help children understand distance and size. Take Olympus Mons, for example. It is known as a shield volcano and not only is it the largest volcano in our solar system, but it is the largest mountain. Discussing the fact that it is 72.000-ft tall may go completely over the heads of your children. And rightly so. Just as it would if you told them that Mount Everest, earth’s biggest mountain, is 29,000-ft tall.

However, when your children know the sizes of them both and you point out that Olympus Mons is around 2 and a half times bigger than Everest, they might start to understand the difference in size.

Greater Appreciation About the Harmony in the Universe

Another important benefit of learning about the solar system is that your children will gain a better understanding and appreciation for the harmony that exists in the universe. How each planet and planetary body has a place and important role. This can help them to have greater appreciation too for the hot topic that is climate change.

Key to Understanding Life-Critical Cycles

Finally, when kids understand more about the solar system, they understand more about why things work the way they do on earth. They can also learn more about the position of different planets to Earth and how their position plays an important part in the cycles that keep the earth a habitable planet.

Although it may feel out of your comfort zone, it is incredibly beneficial for children to learn about the solar system, because even if they do feel small and insignificant compared to the large vastness of space, the planets and other bodies that make up our solar system have a hugely important role to play and keep the planet spinning and life living.

Take a look at these great solar system projects for kids.

Why You Need to Maintain these Areas of Your Home Exterior

Owning a home is something we all aspire to, but when we reach that achievement, it can be easy to be overwhelmed by the maintenance that is required. The good thing is there are professionals who can help with all areas of home and garden maintenance, although there are some jobs that could be done if you are competent at DIY.

We’ve looked at areas of the home that do need maintenance either every few years or more regularly and we’ll advise which you can do yourself and those that are best left to the experts.

Exterior Woodwork

The exterior woodwork on your home most likely takes the form of doors and windows, and other fixtures and fittings. It will also be painted with either a colour or a protective coating. The problem is that year on year of rain, wind, snow, and sun takes it out of the paint, and can damage the wood. This is a job that we suggest is best done by a professional as they will be able to fix any damage and also know the right paint or protection to use for the best results.

Roof and Gutters

One of the most common areas of damage to the interior of the house comes when you fail to maintain your roof and gutter. These work together to effectively get rid of rainwater in the most efficient way. If, however, your gutters get blocked – by leaves, other debris, even dead animals can be the cause – this will cause pools of water to rest on your roof. If left unattended to this will not drain away and will simply seep into the loft area. This is a professional job that should be done once a year at least and these people –  https://www.cleanproguttercleaning.com/atlanta-ga/gutter-cleaning-atlanta/ – come highly recommended by Atlanta residents and commercial businesses.

Paved Areas

If you have paved areas – perhaps paths and a drive – you will notice them become dirty over time, and some of the paving stones may even crack. To remove the dirt is simple: you need a pressure washer or a company that washes pavings and you will see an immediate and quite amazing improvement.

To replace broken pavings may be a professional job depending on how they were originally laid and what amount of repair work is required, so we recommend you talk to a local paving expert who will be happy to give you a competitive quote.

Garden Maintenance

Finally, there is your garden to consider. Not everyone is a keen gardener and in these days of busy working lives many people don’t have the time to maintain outdoor spaces. This is a problem because you not only want your garden areas to look neat and tidy, you want them in a state where you can use them when you need to without having to tidy up first. Local gardening service providers are your answer, so talk to one now and see what they advise.

Signs and Symptoms of Teenage Depression You Need to Look Out For

To most adults, teenagers would appear to have carefree and simple lives. However, the reality is rather different as many teens struggle with similar problems to adults, such as depression. How can you tell when the hormonal blues you may expect a teenager to experience are more and actual depression? There are various signs and symptoms you can look out for and in the following post, we are going to highlight some of the most crucial.

A Deep Sadness

One of the most noticeable signs of depression is sadness. We are not talking about just one day when they feel a little in the dumps. We mean a deep sadness that lasts for longer than 2 weeks. Teens with depression often talk or think about suicide or hurting themselves. Often kids find it hard to talk to their parents. That is why it is a good idea to make friends with your children’s friends.

Weight and Eating Habit Changes

There is a strong correlation between teenagers who have problematic eating habits or weight changes and those who have depression. If you notice sudden and unexplainable changes in your teenager’s eating habits or weight, this could be a sign of depression.

Activity Levels and Sleep Pattern Changes

Teenagers that are suffering from depression are also more likely to have slumps in their activity levels and to be less interested in doing things from one day to next, compared to how they did before.

Just as it can affect the sleep patterns of adults, depression can interfere with the sleep patterns of teenagers. While some teenagers will start to show signs of insomnia, others will spend too much time in bed.

Behavioral and Mood Changes

Other telling signs of teen depression are changes to your child’s behavior and moods. If your once easygoing and well-behaved child starts getting into trouble more or abusing alcohol, it could be a sign that they are depressed.

Teens often go through feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and guilt and this can be exacerbated by depression. They are also more likely to have flare-ups in their mood, flipping from normal and calm moods to tempers.

Drops in Self-Esteem

A knock-on effect of everything we have mentioned so far is that your child’s self-esteem could be badly affected by depression. Although it can be easily overlooked as a rite of passage or just a phase, if your child starts being overly concerned about their looks and appearance or tries to avoid social events or spend too much time getting ready for them, this could be a sign of something more serious. As we noted above, if they feel worthless, guilty, or unlovable, this may drive them to constantly look for reassurance contrary to what they believe.

Withdrawal

Kids go through changes as they grow up – that is part of life. However, if a normally confident and sociable child starts to withdraw and does not want to spend time with people like they did before, this could be a sign of a more serious issue instead of it just being hormonal changes. It could be a sign of teen depression.

What do you do next? Fortunately, knowledge and research of teenage depression as improved over the years and there are various teenage depression treatment options available.