Tag Archives: fun

Typing Games Designed to Help Children Learn Typing and Have Fun

The rate at which the world is adapting to digital technology is changing fast and in the near future perhaps all learning materials will become digital. Any parent who cares about helping a child to master typing skills will not hesitate to introduce a child to typing games. It should be easy for you to be able to find an online resource for different typing games for your kid. There are lots of games and programs out there in the internet these days that are specifically designed to help children learn how to type. 

Schools have also started offering basic typing skills to children to help them learn the skill of typing. Most kids typing games are designed in a way that the kid’s typing skills is graded. The typing games help children to acquaint themselves with touch typing by use of ordinary typing methods. The typing methods usually involve lessons centered on fingers, keys, and also placement of the hands on the keyboard. 

Some typing games designed for kids 

Here is a list of some of kids typing games you can find online that will help improve your child’s typing skills: 

1. Qwerty Warriors World 

It is a very interesting typing game for children that will help keep your child engrossed on the screen for long while learning new typing skills. This game is programmed in such a way that the player is supposed to destroy virtual enemies approaching. To achieve this, the player need to type letters on the keyboard. To be able to destroy the approaching virtual enemy, the player has to correctly spell a word and then press enter. This is something that not only helps to sharpen the child’s typing skill but also helps with spelling recognition. 

The other benefits that this game offers to the child are increasing the child’s typing speed, efficiency and accuracy. 

2. Bitter Boss 

Another interesting kids typing game that will not only help to train your child new typing skills but learn how to manage different tasks at one go! The child has to play by doing the typing fast to stop the green color from occupying an empty bar. If the green color fills up the empty bar before you finish typing the sentence provided you lose points. It is a game that helps the player increase typing speed and spelling accuracy. 

3. Ninja Hunter 

In this typing game designed for children, there is a good ninja who is standing guard on top of a temple to protect it from bad ninja invasion. Names of the bad ninjas will be displayed for the player to type. By typing the names of the approaching bad ninjas they are vanquished before getting into the temple. The aim is to vanquish as many bad ninjas as possible by typing their names to safeguard the temple. The more bad ninjas the player vanquishes the more points the player earns. 

It is a good typing game for your kid that will not only train the child to type fast but is also fun and enjoyable. 

Exploring the Casey’s Clubhouse Playground in Grapevine

We have a few playgrounds around us in Roanoke, but when a friend told me about Casey’s Clubhouse, I put it on my Things To Do With Avery list right away.

grapevine, tx, casey's clubhouse, dove park, playground

Located in Grapevine, TX, Casey’s Clubhouse is part or Dove Park which has a waterpark and splash pad. All are free except for the waterpark. The playground is just a short drive from our home in Roanoke and pretty easy to get to.

Without telling her my plans, I loaded Avery up in my Blue Rocket aka Subaru Outback and “blasted off” for the park. She could see the unique playground equipment as we parked and started calling out the familiar ones. We excitedly entered stopping only to pose with the turtle at the entrance.

posing-with-turtle-at-caseys-clubhouse-in-grapevine

Then it was off to play! With a cool tree house to explore, a zip line, several slides, swings (small, big, and gianormous), a rock climbing wall, and more, deciding on what to investigate first was challenging. Since we were already challenged, it only made sense to attempt climbing a steeper-than-ever, rock wall.

grapevine, tx, casey's clubhouse, dove park, playground

With slight hesitation at first, then a short panic pause in the middle, Avery proudly escalated the wall all by herself in her Soft Star Shoes. The first ascent was a bit slow, but each repeated attempt showed her gaining more confidence and speed. The big red slide on the other side was a great motivator too.

grapevine, tx, casey's clubhouse, dove park, playground

Sticking with the red theme, we ventured over to the gianormous swings. I tried it out first, and after a friendly mother took the time to try and get it over my big head, I decided it’s not so gianormous after all. But for Avery, it was huge, and she like it….kinda.

grapevine, tx, casey's clubhouse, dove park, playground

Zip lining seemed to be quite popular among the other kids on the playground, but after one zip down with Daddy, that was all Avery cared to do. Maybe we’ll try again next time. To make up for me hanging on the cable with her, Avery gave me a ride on a boat. I asked if I could stand up while riding, but she shot me the “don’t you dare” look.

grapevine, tx, casey's clubhouse, dove park, playground

I know that look from Going Mom and decided to keep seated in the interest of my safety. We played on various equipment that we’ve never seen before and wrapped up our time by running around the treehouse to see what there was to discover.

at-top-of-clubhouse-on-grapevine-texas-playground

There were multiple levels with spiral staircase and ramp as choices to navigate the structure. This makes it a great choice for kids of all abilities to make use of the fun, adventurous equipment in Casey’s Clubhouse, and I can attest that parents will love it too.

With many things to do on the playground to wear your kiddos out in hopes of a successful nap (something we’re seeing much less of at home…..), I recommend anyone in the area to stop by. It’s nothing super extravagant, but it’s clean, FREE, and big enough for a small crowd. We’ll be sure to make it back soon!

An Impromptu Trip to the Grapevine GrapeFest

Grapevine is a city near our home here in Texas. It holds an annual GrapeFest which, as you might suspect, has to do with wine. Going Mom, G-Ma, and I attended years ago on a Saturday and all I remember is lots of crowds and hot weather. The heat I’m okay with, but as an introvert, I’m not big crowds.

I had a doctor’s appointment on Thursday, the opening day for GrapeFest, where the office was nearby. GrapeFest was nowhere on my radar of things to do that day, but with my trusty sidekick and lots of signs for the event, the extrovert in me tried to show himself. With a quick appointment and Avery behaving in the office, I decided to go off course and let her experience the event.

doctors-office-on-spin-stool

The fact that is was free to enter the first day helped in the decision making process too. After parking and making the half mile walk with Avery on my shoulders, I asked for a pic of us at the entrance before we entered.

entrance-to-grapevine-grape-fest

It’s hard to see us, but I thought it was a good shot. You might wonder why kids would have any place in a festival all about wine, but it really has something for everyone. Lots of vendors selling unique niche-type products that were cool but I would never buy, lots of typical carnival food I wouldn’t touch with a…..well, anything, and even a KidsWorld section. Oh, and a carnival area that I refused to enter since I know that day will come eventually so might as well save the money until then.

I did, however, let our little girl indulge in a snow cone….kinda. A snow cone vendor stopped us as we were walking and asked if they could test out their new hire by making a snow cone for us. I explained we have yet to give her sugar and definitely won’t be the chemical-laden syrup they use, but then said I’d accept just shaved ice. That’s all they wanted to do anyway, so we got to enjoy an unflavored cone of shaved ice.

having-unflavored-sno-cone-at-grapefest

Hey, ice is fun with or without extras, and she liked it. Plus it was free, win-win! We continued down the strip and ran into Tubby the clown who offered to make a balloon animal. A turtle was the obvious choice.

turtle-balloon-from-clown-at-grapefest

Tubby was even thoughtful enough to make it a bracelet so the turtle didn’t wind up on the street only to get washed down a drain into the sewer where it has nuclear waste flow over it turning it into a mutant. Then a ninja rat would come along and….oh…better stop myself now…..she liked the turtle balloon bracelet.

turtle-balloon-on-wrist-at-grapefest

We made a quick peak inside a local farmer’s market where we sampled fresh okra and admired the local produce. It was also nice to enjoy some air conditioning before stepping back into the humidity of the day. Next stop was KidsWorld with activities from the Grapevine SEA LIFE Aquarium and LEGOLAND® Discovery Center. Giant LEGO bricks are never a disappointment.

playing-with-giant-lego-blocks-at-grapefest

I’d love some of those blocks at home to make a giant wall and just crash into them. Or to make a cool fort. Oh, to be a kid again! There was even a petting zoo complete with goats, chickens, bunny rabbits, llamas, and one cow.

surrounded-by-goats-at-petting-zoo

Mostly goats. I even made friends with one of them.

goat-on-daddys-leg

Meanwhile, Avery was making friends with a bunny who seemed to not enjoy being in the heat that much. Or the fact that dozens of kids have been chasing it around already.

petting-bunny-at-grapefest-petting-zoo

She made her rounds petting the different animals with the llama being the last.

posing-with-llama-at-grapefest

That turtle made new animal friends too! There was a section with miniature horses that were meant to ride, but no one was around, so I just had her pose next to them. Hey, that’s free!

next-to-miniature-horses-at-grapevine-grapefest
Cool shirt, huh? You can get one and more here – http://skreened.com/goingdad

There were a couple stops to the very humid porta potties throughout our visit, but we survived. The entire trip only cost me one dollar which was to tip Tubby the Clown for the turtle balloon. Not bad for new experiences with the sweetest kid.

I feared I might regret making the impromptu trip to GrapeFest, but it turned out to be a great experience for us both. Showing Avery new things makes me happy and I hope it’s something she remembers forever.

Then again, when Going Mom asked her that night what her favorite part of GrapeFest was, she answered “Ummmm, the porta potties.”

Kids….