1 . Toy kitchen is hugely popular with young children. It can be a great base for creative and imaginative role playing for children and their parents.

Solo (独自的) freestyle play is what a child plays on their own with the toy kitchen. It is a source of amusement for parents to see their children imitate (模仿) many of their sayings and phrases during this sort of play. You may discover some phrases you didn’t know you had! Children will often cook and create food for their toys to eat. Joining in freestyle play while allowing the child to take charge is fun for the child as well as adults. There are many ways to turn this type of play into something more educational. Parents can demand a certain number of vegetables on their plate and the child can use their knowledge of what’s a fruit and what’s a vegetable, as well as their counting skills to carry out this simple task.

You can also play the sorting game. Asking a child to sort out the fruit and vegetables into different piles is fun and will get easier for the child each time. Always reward children with praise when they do well, and encouragement when they don’t do quite well.

Counting is an obvious game. You can start the basics of maths in the kitchen play with adding, subtracting (减) and even dividing! Your child can use the toy food to work out sums and enjoy counting! They will be picking up good basic number skills during this type of play.

You can also bring up healthy eating subjects asking them which fruit is their favorite and asking which ones they want to try for their next snack. This type of game can continue in the supermarket and be used as a method of introducing new foods to their diet.

2 . Learn about programs, events and much more for students of your age to get opportunities.

Time: October 18 and November 1,2023

Contact: Robert Croonquist

This interactive workshop for school groups will teach how to appeal to the government for change and how to create safe, non-violent direct action. Students will meet in small groups to discuss issues that are important to them. The fee to participate is $5 per student.

Attend a FREE Architecture and Design College Fair

Time: October 28,2023

Contact: Mary Lib Schmidt

High school students are invited to learn more about applying to architecture school. Representatives from over 30 colleges, universities, and design programs will meet with students and answer questions. The event will be held from 11am-3pm.

Time: October 26,2023

Contact: Nicole Leist

Participants will look at 15th- to-17th-century printed herbals on display and learn how modern practitioners （医师） create beneficial natural products today. Teens will create bath bombs using all organic materials. This program is intended only for teens aged 13 to 18. FREE with advance registration.

Time: November 2023 through March 2024

Contact: Lisa Pineda

It is a FREE Saturday program serving 100 students. It offers various leadership opportunities and resources with the goal of affirming students in cultural pride and increasing the Hispanic voice in government, community, and institutional spaces. Seats are limited.

3 . Residents at Parkfield House Nursing Home celebrated the end of a £10,000 project with a showcase of their work with friends and family.

For the past year the group, known as the Parkfield Peckers, have worked closely with artists, Glebe Primary School and creative ageing charity Equal Arts as they delved into the history of the area and those who’ve lived at the 19th Century home.

Hannah Wood from charity Equal Arts said: “The exhibition at Uxbridge Civic Centre was just the icing on the cake! Going into the project, there was so much enthusiasm from the group to explore the heritage of the home, so many have their roots in the area and we were keen to capture and share their knowledge in creative ways.”

There’s been a mixture of creativity with illustration, photography, portraiture, music, story-telling and collage as the group took part in weekly artist-led workshops and linked up with schoolchildren to share ideas.

Glendeen Quow, manager of the Canford Healthcare-run home, is in no doubt about the project’s benefit to residents, staff and the home. She said: “It’s been a busy year and we have all loved every minute of it. It’s been a privilege to learn about our fascinating heritage and a joy to see our residents grow in confidence each week as they were introduced to the different workshops and artists. We have enjoyed strengthening our relationships with the local community, especially with the staff and children at Glebe Primary School.”

Clare Sheldon, who provides Pastoral Support at Glebe Primary School, said: “The children have been proud to be a part of this project and connect with the Parkfield residents. It’s been great for them to have experience in talking to and sharing with older people, it gives them a stronger sense of understanding and compassion. This project has been a great way of exploring their own emotions and identity and we look forward to continuing our friendship with Parkfield.”

4 . What do you do when you have a few minutes to spare? If you’re like many people, you seize the opportunity to do puzzles on your phone.     1     Usually, they can be divided into certain types and here are four of the most common.

Word puzzles

One of the most popular word puzzles — the crossword — has been around for nearly 110 years. Crosswords can be done with paper and pencil or online. Sometimes word puzzles involve finding new words within a large group of letters. This type of word puzzle is called a word search. Word puzzles usually test your vocabulary.     2    

Mechanical puzzles

Mechanical puzzles have pieces that must be arranged in some way. The world’s best-selling puzzle, the Rubik’s Cube, is a mechanical puzzle. As of 2020, over 450 million Rubik’s Cubes had been sold.

Jigsaw puzzles also fall into this type.     3     Jigsaw puzzles have from two to over 550,000 pieces — the largest one on record.

Logic puzzles

    4     Mine Finder is an example of logic puzzles. In Mine Finder players must think clearly to determine where the mines are hidden in a grid(方格).

Math puzzles

Math puzzles involve numbers, words or objects and the use of math. Surprisingly, the ever–popular Candy Crush is classified as a math puzzle.     5    

There are many other kinds of puzzles. But no matter which you prefer, puzzles are a great way to spend your time.