Engaging Fun on the Fly

I call Beau my Game Changer. Countless times and in all ways, he has sent me back to the parenting books and challenged us to learn how to approach him. He lives and loves with all of his heart and it is wonderful and amazing, but it can be a struggle to parent him, too. With Jack and Zoe, generally I can figure out how to resolve a contentious situation by giving them options that they can choose from. By giving them a choice between two different options, they find empowerment in being able to expect a certain outcome. It’s worked beautifully with both of them, so much so that when nothing of the sort remotely intrigues Beau, I’m left sort of throwing my hands in the air in exasperation. He wants to do what he wants, and that’s the end of it.

Beau responds the best when we have all of our facilities, and he has all options (not just two): He has his trains to play with, his balls to toss into the hoop in his room or outside, or his scooter to race around the neighborhood. We have art supplies and puzzles and dry erase boards. There are a zillion things for Beau to choose from when he’s maxed out on whatever it is in the moment, but we are boarding a 5 hour flight across the country soon and I am officially nervous about his attention span on the plane. We’ll bring books, art supplies, imagination and patience, and we’ll bring our iPad for the three to take turns playing as well. While it’s not quite as easy or effective to set up a screen time reward system for toddlers, playing apps is a big treat for him so I’ve loaded our iPad up with a few including Sago Mini Road Triphelp engage and entertain him for short intervals during our travels.

The key is finding apps that pique their interests, engage imagination, make them think, and even entice laughter and giggles. For a two year old, that can be challenging but Sago Mini Road Trip hits all of those points effectively, plus the stuffed versions of the characters really seem to bring the story to life. This app is from the sister studio to Toca Boca, of which we have three or more of and all of my kids love them; they are vibrant, hilarious, and entertaining for children and even adults. Although we have lots of educational apps loaded, Beau tends to gravitate to his brother’s car games, ones that are too advanced for him and tend to end in frustration. Sago Mini Road Trip app is the perfect first driving app for kids 2-5, it is colorful, intuitive and incredibly funny. Beau spent about 15 minutes playing it with his brother and sister at his side, choosing from the various different cars to drive (from a bathtub to a pickle), driving through cupcakes and filling up with gas. The uproarious laughs emerging from their bedroom had me consistently peeking in to see what the commotion was about. They all played together nicely, laughing and making up stories for Jinja the cat and her various adventures. Music to my ears.

I haven’t flown with Beau nearly as much as the other two kids, so while I’m slightly nervous that his energy will be challenging to address and redirect, I also know that he has his brother and sister there to play with him, too. I’ll have the ultimate incentive in my arsenal, the Sago Mini Road Trip game to help focus his attention on something that is interesting and fun. For me, if he’s entertained and continues the story line long after he has played, it’s a worthwhile tool to elist.

The team from Sago Mini is offering MGC Reader’s a discount code for 15% off the Sago Mini plush toys available online at Monster Factory with the code: SAGOMINI15. The discount code is valid until December 31, 2014.

Thank you to Sago Mini for helping me tell our travel story, and thank you for reading.