Children's Guide Blog

Ideas for craft box contents

2012-02-17T17:17:00.001+11:00

Click here to view this paqe on the Children's Guide website....

Our family is big on craft. We do a lot of it. Our kids know that paper towel rolls and egg cartons don't go into the recycling bin, they go into the craft box.

We have a number of boxes and containers which house coloured paper, paint, textas, pencils, crayons, glitter glue, stickers, left over wrapping paper, cardboard rolls, craft items we buy at discount stores, day to day items which can be re-used rather than thrown away, and lots more. And we use it, often.

Some craft items are within easy reach for the kids to be able to draw or do some basic gluing, while sharp items are out of reach and messier items and paints are kept in our shed as we use these outside and only come out when NJ or I can supervise.

Anything can go into a craft box. I think the whole point of craft is to use your imagination. Here is a list of items that can be added to a craft box, ready to be creative on a rainy day. You know your kids - you can decide what is within their reach and what needs supervision.

Acorns

Artificial flowers

Artist quality supplies

Balloons

Beads

Bottle caps

Brown grocery bags

Bubble wrap

Buttons

Canvases

Cardboard boxes

Cardboard rolls

Cardboard sheets

Cards (greeting)

Chalk

Christmas cards

Corks

Cotton wool balls

Crayons

Crepe paper

Cupcake paper cases (paper patty cups)

Drinking straws

Egg cartons

Embellishments

Empty cereal boxes

Fabric scraps

Feathers

Felt

Flowers

Foam/Styrofoam

Foil

Glitter

Glitter glue

Glue

Kite making

Leaves

Macaroni pieces, rice

Magazine cut outs

Magnets

Matchboxes

Newspaper

Odds & ends

Old jewellery

Paddle pop sticks

Paper

Paper clips

Paper plates & cups

Paint

Paperclips

Pebbles & rocks

Pegs

Pencils

Pipe cleaners

Plaster casts

Plasticine

Pom poms

Ribbons

Rubber bands

Safety scissors

Sequins

Shells

Shoe boxes

Socks & hankies

Stencils

Stickers

Sticky tape

String

Textas

Tissue paper

Toothbrushes

Toothpicks

Transparent paper

Wire

Wool

Wrapping paper

Can you think of other items to add to a craft box?

The best laid plans....

2012-02-16T21:10:00.001+11:00

Click here to view this page on the Children's Guide website....

In our house, we've spent a bit of time over the past couple of weeks developing a new system to stay organised this year. On Tuesday this week it all fell down in a heap. It's not the worst day I've ever had by far, but nor was it up there with the greats.

The irony is not lost on me that just the day before I wrote about how we've already diarised events for most of 2012. I went to bed on Monday feeling very smug, not only had we gotten organised - I'd managed to write about it as well.

Tuesday morning was a thing of beauty. With 2 meetings straight after the school run, a number of admin errands and a realistic to-do list for the afternoon I got up half an hour earlier than normal so I could dry my hair, do my make up, and ensure 4 kids were dressed, breakfasted and fresh-breathed. Uniforms were ironed and hanging, ready to wear. We had enough ham for sandwiches, fruit and other lunchbox fillers which were packed and ready for the teenagers to catch the bus with plenty of time to spare. I'd even remembered to have cash on hand for Tuesday sport, ice-skating, which needs to be paid each week, plus more money and a ready-signed permission note for an English excursion - my system was working! Felix-6 and Sebastian-3 finished all their breakfast and didn't fight over any toys. I'd made my bed. I remembered to pull the slab of beef out of the freezer to defrost in time to go into a casserole pot mid-afternoon. We were out of the house 5 minutes earlier than usual.

The car wouldn't start. It was like sticking the key into a tissue box (which will only come in handy later). Deep breath, try again. Nothing. Another deep breath, fine, we're early, we'll walk to school. It's not far. What takes us a few minutes in the car can take Sebastian up to 20 minutes to walk which would have been fine if we'd left 15 minutes earlier. Rain started lightly spitting from the sky as we reached the first corner but not too bad. I signed Sebastian into his day-care centre then walked down the road to Felix's school. After assembly (not-staying or taking part in the ritualistic daily waving and kiss-blowing is not-negotiable) I walked home, rang my first meeting to say I'd be a bit late depending on what happened with the car, then rang the NRMA who could arrive anytime before noon. I got through some work then was conference called into the meeting.

About ten minutes before the NRMA arrived the sky opened up. I left my conference call to go stand under our little carport with the NRMA man while the downpour was blown in sideways. It was the battery. Once the car was jump started I was told not to turn the engine off, I could leave it idling for an absolute maximum of 15 minutes while I got myself ready to go for a long drive to recharge the battery. I rescheduled my meeting, changed my wet shoes, drove up the motorway to the Blue Mountains, did a U-turn then came home starving. Too cross to deal with humans in the post office and shops, I ate, did half my planned work then got the beef and chopped veges into the pot by 3 to slow cook.

NJ would have to finish dinner while I was with the teens at the year 11 information evening from 6-7. I'd put it in our diaries last week and send NJ a reminder email that he needed to be home by 5.30 this afternoon to finish dinner and watch the little ones. I rang him at 5.15 to make sure he wasn't far. Still in the office is what I count as far, but he could be in his cycling gear and out of the car park in ten minutes. He hadn't checked his calendar or emails, protesting that he didn't get a reminder. We got to the info evening half an hour late. I was absolutely fuming. Happy Valentine's Day to me!

When the kids' bedtime then my own leaped out to startle me I just wondered what had happened to the day. I had been so organised! I had communicated my plans to everyone who needed to know. What I didn't get done on Tuesday affected the rest of the week. The universe has been laughing at me a lot lately which is why we spent the past few weeks trying to get organised.

When there is nothing else you can do - tissue box, wine, sleep.

Nutrition and diet

2012-02-15T13:24:00.001+11:00

Click here to view this page on the Children's Guide website....

Is feeding children always going to be such a headache? In our house NJ will eat pretty much anything, whether he likes it or not, which he claims he's been trained to do from boarding through primary and high-school, then army reserves.

Jonah-16 has developed his palette from only plain pasta topped with tomato sauce, and bananas as a toddler to gradually becoming more adventurous, now giving absolutely everything a go, loving most of it and keen to increase his own cooking repertoire. Bloo-16 (not her real name), our boarder, is pretty good with most things and claims to have been so her whole young life (which I'll have to take her word for) except for pork which sends her running from our dining room retching, so we leave that for weekend meals in her absence.

Felix-6 barely eats anything. He eats 3 fruits, 3 vegetables with 2 others that can only be mixed into one particular pasta sauce, plain boiled rice, soft boiled eggs, only cheddar cheese, one flavour or yoghurt, two cereals, three biscuits, and only vegemite or peanut butter on white bread with no crusts. He only likes to drink milk or water which is no bad thing and he also doesn't like lollies and most chips. He'll eat most meat as long as it's plain grilled or fried. Forget trying to hide grated veges in the lasagne because he'll only eat spiral pasta, plain or with that one sauce. Every meal is first pushed suspiciously around his plate with his fork. He likes just enough to get his balance of nutrients, but seriously lacking in variety.

Sebastian-3, on the other hand, almost seems to have a love affair with food. I am transfixed sometimes whilst watching him eat. He expresses an interest in food right from shopping for it, watching and "helping" us cook, he observes the food on his plate before he eats it, he savours it, he immerses himself in his meals (and Felix's leftovers) with a look of utter bliss on his face.

I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years, no seafood although now I'm occasionally eating chicken. I can't go anywhere near chilli, I'm not keen on mushrooms and I don't like apples. Otherwise I'll eat all other dairy, grains, fruit and veg and I will cook absolutely anything for my family - I just won't taste it!

Despite introducing my kids to food in the same way and trying to provide culinary variety as my mum did with me, we couldn't be more different. Needless to say, preparing balanced meals for our family can be a challenge (no thanks to me and Felix)! At least we have no allergies.

There are so many questions and opinions about feeding children the right amount of the right thing at the right time. The big diet issues start even before your child is born with your own diet as you try to conceive, then during pregnancy. And whatever you decide, whenever you decide it, some one else will decide you're wrong.

You start questioning whether you did the right thing when you decided between breastfeeding and formula. One day carrots are their favourite food and the next day they will induce gagging. And you wonder what you did wrong which resulted in their inability to have a peanut butter sandwich.

Basically, while they are depending on you as a role model and provider of meals (which may not be until they leave home as adults!) you will have to make every dietary decision and may want or need to seek advice on some the issues throughout this section.

How far ahead do you plan your year?

2012-02-13T22:45:00.000+11:00

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I am determined that we are going to be supremely organised this year. And unlike other years, this time it's going to work.
This year our children will not stand out as the only kids in school uniform on mufti days. Actually, what really happens is that we get to school, see mufti, start crying, drive home, change, drive back to school, can't get a park, circle a few blocks, get a park closer to home, walk the rest of the way and get to school 40 minutes late. But not this year. I have developed a new, improved system. We even bought a new bookcase purely for school stuff and have improved how we'll use our folder and filing system.

Since school resumed a couple of weeks ago we've gotten newsletters from both our primary and high-school which outline most dates for the year. So I've popped them into my Outlook and sent NJ invites so he also has them in his Outlook for school photos, sports carnivals, P&C meetings, half yearly exams, parent-teacher evenings and other school events. I've even set reminders for more than just 15 minutes before hand so that we're not leaving the house half an hour after we're supposed to be somewhere (never happened, really!)

As none of our parents or siblings are in Sydney we've planned our school holidays and other quick trips across NSW, interstate and even overseas, and I've diarised events to attend for Children's Guide.

We've tentatively slotted in dates for our kids' birthday parties and have stockpiled a variety of gift-wrap and blank cards ready for all occasions. Our friends seem to be in the same supremely organised frame of mind as we already have a number of "save the dates" over the year.

We anticipate the usual smattering of birthday invites, parent social get togethers, trivia nights and other school fundraisers. Once we add in Saturday morning sports we'll probably have just one free weekend left this year, for which I'll finally plan that fabulous child-free (wonder where they'll be?) grown-up dinner party which I'll have finished cooking by the time my manicured hands beckon guests into my pristine home.

I am so organised I even already have my 2012 Christmas Cards. I just won't mention that they're the ones I failed to post in time for Christmas 2011.

Nope, this year it's going to work.

How far ahead do you plan?

Happy section introduction

2012-02-10T14:12:00.000+11:00

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Philosophy

"I'm bored" is a complaint which should be seldom heard, and when it is heard, children should easily be offered activity options which will keep them happy, and suit their families and budgets.

Children should have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of activities which communities have to offer, freedom to use their imaginations and be resourceful in developing their own activities.

What makes a happy child? If they're safe from harm and protected from hazards with a loving home environment, if their health needs are met and they have opportunities to be active in their communities, and if their growth, needs, education and personal interests are supported and developed, chances are they are probably happy too.

Could they be any happier? Can they stop being bored on weekends? Is their happiness measured on how many games they have for their consoles, what holiday programs they're enrolled in or how creative and resourceful they are when left to their own devices?

There are a lot of ways to keep kids active and entertained and this section may help you combine structured routines and organised events with informal activities for around the home as well as some amazing venues and attractions which are on offer to families and children.

This section also aims to help keep parents happy (and sane!) with comprehensive sections for organising parties and holidays, shopping and dining with your children, and even keeping them happy while you get to do some things just for you.

Nurtured section introduction

2012-02-09T15:47:00.001+11:00

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Philosophy

Support, services, products and information should be readily available right from the very start

for planning and caring for children, developing their social skills, learning and interests,

and nurturing each child's own individual and unique growth.

I've never had a mothers' group.

When my eldest son was born in 1995 he was two months premature arriving at 31 weeks, spending the first month of his life in the hospital, and the following months in regular checkups at the hospital and local medical centre. As a result, we were never introduced to our local mothers' group.

Aged 23 at the time, I was also the first of our circle of friends to have a child - most of them wouldn't start for at least another decade, so we also didn't really have a parenting network. None of our parents or siblings live in Sydney so we also didn't have our parents or in-laws telling us that we were doing everything wrong. Then I went back to full time work when our son was a year old so his dad, between acting jobs, and family day care took care of playgroup, library story time visits and provided a peer group of toilet-trainees. Starting primary school meant our son formed a great new group of friends, but I was still working full time with increasing work responsibilities and about to get divorced, so found it difficult to form friendships with the new school mums.

With mine & NJ's (new heart) sons born in 2005 and 2008, we weren't given contacts for local mothers' groups but weren't concerned as our circle of friends now seemed to be perpetually pregnant, changing our group dining habits from 8pm dining to 10am picnicking.

When I look back 16 years ago, I am astonished at how naive I was about parenting, and how very little I knew about what services might be available to help me connect with my community, ask questions about day-to-day parenting and share experiences with other parents.

Getting organised has never been an issue for me being a lover of lists and routines, but I wonder what I would have done differently if I had a little support from the start in the form of a mothers' group, a parents-of-premmies network or if I'd known about and enrolled in a parenting course. Children can be introduced to and learn from their communities right from birth. There are so many different groups which support and encourage new parents and children through all stages, interests and education. New parents can have anxieties and uncertainties reduced with qualified information and support available 24 hours a day, all year through. If I'd known that 16 years ago, perhaps I would have been a little less stressed during my pregnancy taking it to term, and relaxed more in my mid-20's.

Home help and childcare is something we've always utilised with demanding jobs and no immediate family nearby, and we've used everything from family day care, long day centres and nannies.

Socialising and community networks can be established early through mothers' groups, playgroups and community groups, meeting like-minded parents, introducing your children to their peers and establishing new friendships of your own.

As your children grow and develop you can support their growing creative interests, and as you select the type of schooling you want for your children, you can help them make the most of their learning and education.

Throughout all their stages, interests, rates of development and their own personal direction, as well as your own personal, professional and parenting situation, help is always available to reduce stress and nurture your children.

Just don't be afraid to seek it - the stress just isn't worth it when you can be enjoying your children's individual growth as well as being happy yourself.

Healthy section introduction

2012-02-08T14:42:00.002+11:00

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Philosophy

For the majority of children who are born healthy, they should be given every opportunity to stay that way throughout their childhood and into teens, providing great foundations and positive attitudes to becoming and remaining a healthy adult.

For children who are born with health issues, or where health issues present themselves later, children should have the right to easily and affordably access services, products, treatments, and an improved quality of life while living with, treating or recovering from health issues.

Children grow rapidly. As a parent, you want to give your child the very best but, with so many, often conflicting messages, you might wonder what the best actually is, and how much of it to give them.

You buy what you believe to be healthy products which have been a regular part of their lunchboxes, or treatments for common ailments that you've administered to all your children when suddenly one day you wake up with newspapers running reports on the latest research warning that these products are, in fact, no good at all.

You start questioning everything - do they eat too little or too much and did they miss essential nutrients because you grabbed a drive-through meal last week? Are they getting enough of the right kind of exercise or are you questioning their weight range? When they go off to childcare and school are they going to come back with a cold, contagious disease or head lice? And why don't any of their friends still wet the bed?

Then if you have a child who has serious allergies or special health needs requiring daily attention and extra care, you might wonder what you did wrong while you were pregnant or if you've passed on something genetic.
Kids don't like it when they get sick but most children with no special medical needs generally don't think about health problems or medical matters. When Children's Guide asked local students to provide their thoughts on the broad, general topic of "health", none of them said "I feel healthy when I get medicine or visit the doctor". Instead, we were told about fruit, vegetables, sport and playing outdoors.

Developing good diet, exercise and hygiene habits early will help prevent health problems in later life, and not only provide your children with healthy bodies, but healthy attitudes about balanced lifestyles as well.

Safe section introduction

2012-02-07T20:54:00.008+11:00

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Our philosophy

All children should be safe and feel safe, with their families, carers, friends,

peers and strangers, at home, in their communities and beyond, all the time.

When I first started working on the Children's Guide book and researching for the Safe section, I asked my eldest son, then aged 12, if he felt safe, "yes", and what made him feel safe. After some thought he shrugged and said "I guess I just don't feel like I'm in any danger." Now, at 16 years old I asked him the same question and again he gave it a moments' thought, shrugged and said "I don't think that there is anything threatening me."

I was glad then, and still am now, that he feels this way. As a parent I try to provide a safe environment for my family. We eat well, afford new clothes and have a nice home in a friendly neighbourhood. Our kids travel safely to and from school and childcare, neither bully nor are bullied and are taken care of during weekend sports and other outings and activities. On the whole, our basic needs are taken care of, we try and minimise risks wherever possible, and we feel safe in our personal environment and community.

Our kids may immediately recognise that they have food, shelter and clothing. They know they have to wear helmets cycling, shin guards at soccer and protection from the sun. They've had "stranger danger" talks and know to talk to us should anyone, familiar or a stranger, ever make inappropriate propositions.

But beyond what may be obvious to a child are all the little things we do to protect our children from harm. Our detergents and other poisons are in the top cupboard rather than under the sink and when the kids were toddlers we had safety latches on the lower cupboards which contained glass items and other possible hazards. We have locks on doors and windows, furniture in front of power points and security in place against potentially unsafe internet sites.

Children want to feel safe and I would like to think that all parents wanted to keep their children safe. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case. Some may be at risk due to ignorance of potential hazards in their home and community environments, while others are at risk of being harmed by the actual parents or carers themselves. This section deals with all these issues.

Numerous businesses and organisations have provided Children's Guide with their details and information to help minimise risks, offer advice and support for various safety issues. Some organisations provide a specific service, others may have a variety of services and several organisations may seem quite similar. Get in touch with them, ask questions, be honest so that you're comfortable in selecting the most suitable for you and your children.

Identify which issues you are facing now or may be facing in the future and which organisations can offer further advice and support to assist in alleviating the pressure of your situation.

Also have a look at some of the other issues outlined in this section and contact the relevant organisations to find out how to apply safeguards so that risks and hazards are minimised in your children’s environment.

Please make your children aware that the safety information in Children’s Guide is also for their use. The whole purpose of this information is to keep your children safe. Tell them how and when to use the 000 number particularly should a situation arise where you are unable to get to the phone.

Let your children know who your family’s emergency contacts are and that services such as the Kids Help Line are there specifically for them. Ensure that your emergency contacts are listed somewhere your children will remember and can easily access.

Our children are so precious.

Please, please, please, please,

KEEP THEM SAFE!

About your community

2012-02-06T22:44:00.005+11:00

Click here to view this page on the Children's Guide website....
It was really, really, REALLY tricky dividing all the towns, cities and suburbs in Australia into community areas for use in Children's Guide. It took A LOT of time! Even in our miniscule office we had arguments about which suburb should go where.

Our community areas are based on a combination of local government areas, tourism defined areas and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We spent countless hours researching population statistics of children under the age of 13. We even looked at maps and said "right, the community border is determined by this river / mountain range / desert / motorway / golf course or other. Where population distributions may not be even, as parents, we thought about our own experiences and how far we would really travel for a day time activity.

By no means do we think we've got it perfect, and we're very sorry if you disagree with the Children's Guide community in which your suburb or town appears. As more people use Children's Guide and we get more feedback, we may re-define some of the community areas. We obviously haven't been everywhere in Australia, so we very much welcome feedback, comments and constructive suggestions about our community areas.

If you're looking for a business or service and don't find it in your local area, have a look in a neighbouring community as you might find what you're looking for just a suburb or town in the other direction.

To find out which Children's Guide community you're in select your state under About my community from the left menu. You'll then be able to find communities within each state, see community profiles and which suburbs or towns have listed a product or service in Children's Guide.

If you're not sure which might be your community area, you can follow the Search by suburb and town link in each state. When you click on your suburb or town name, it will take you to your community page.

We'd like to think that over time Children's Guide will have a balance of safe, healthy, nurtured and happy contacts, activities and events across all Australian communities.

Our community

2012-02-06T22:39:00.003+11:00

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Philosophy

Children should find safety, comfort, happiness and belonging in their communities, to be able to learn from their communities, to find out about and enjoy other communities, to develop socially and be supported in their individuality

Children's Guide places a huge emphasis on local communities and we also celebrate Australia's diversity. Our communities range from those who are world leaders and innovators in engineering and agricultural technologies, to communities celebrating multicultural traditions which pre-date Australia's white settlement by hundreds, even thousands of years, and pretty much everything else in between and beyond.

Regardless of where we live or what language we speak at home, for the most part as families we tend to use businesses, services, childcare, schools, parks and attend social events in our local area. We do also travel to visit family and friends, see attractions, take holidays, access services which may not be available locally or move into a new area.

While Children's Guide is a national website, we have tried to identify very specific local community areas. As we continue to add businesses, services, facilities and events around Australia to Children's Guide, we hope to get feedback from parents, businesses and communities, so that we can start adding and defining community profiles.

This section will tell you how Children's Guide has grouped communities in About your community and how to find the one you're looking for, and then see community profiles and what each has to offer. A variety of Amenities and services are available in all communities which make it easier for parents and carers getting around with kids. When you're getting around with kids in your area and between communities, find out about using public transport, finding maps, driving, parking and pram access.

Like them or not, local representatives in Government & Councils make decisions on behalf of communities every day. We provide you with their details so you can make your voices heard to those who need to advocate and lobby for you. We also briefly explain how and when you should get in touch with each level of government (local, state or federal) with regard to different issues facing families and communities, or when a matter may be better referred to another agency or organisation. Council websites also provide information on many more services they offer families and the community.

We've provided very broad overviews of outdoor areas in all communities. As we travel around and take our own kids out to play, we will overview the different areas that we have visited and list the parks and activities outdoors that we've enjoyed with our children, or that other parents have told us about. Most Councils have details about local parks listed on their websites and we will aim to provide links where available.

We'd love you to let us know how you find this section useful and if there is anything else you would like to see in Our community.

Philosophy

2012-02-04T15:32:00.004+11:00

Click here to view this page on the Children's Guide website....

We at Children's Guide, our extended families and our circles of friends all have different parenting methods and very individual beliefs on what are the best way to raise our children.

However, for the purposes of the Children's Guide website, for providing information and registering businesses we have a few philosophies by which our work is guided.

Core philosophy

All children should be safe, healthy, nurtured and happy; with everyone, everywhere and always.

Throughout this website, we will endeavour to provide as much detail and as many contacts as possible with a hope to raise awareness of these core issues, and consequently minimise and eliminate the many dangers and risks to children, and make it easier for families and communities to keep children safe, healthy, nurtured and happy.

Family

All children should find safety, love and happiness with their immediate and extended families. Families should spend quality time together, and lots of it.

Parents

To keep children safe, healthy, nurtured and happy at home and in their communities, parents should have the right to make their own choices. Parents should have the freedom to access relevant, varied and sufficient information and resources, to enable them to make informed decisions on what is best for their families. Parenting should be a joy, not a burden.

Community

Safe

All children should be safe and feel safe, with their families, carers, friends, peers and strangers, at home, in their communities and beyond, all the time.

Healthy

Nurtured

Support, services, products and information should be readily available right from the very start for planning and caring for children, developing their social skills, learning and interests, and nurturing each child's own individual and unique growth.

Happy

"I'm bored" is a complaint which should be seldom heard, and when it is heard, children should easily be offered activity options which will keep them happy, and suit their families and budgets. Children should have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of activities which communities have to offer, freedom to use their imaginations and be resourceful in developing their own activities.

Balance

Children should have a balanced range of activities to stay safe, healthy, nurtured and happy, so that they may enjoy and fondly remember their childhoods, with the hope and promise of safe, healthy, nurtured and happy teen and adult years ahead.

Respect

Families and communities should have respect for and teach their children respect for all other families and communities, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, political, religious, philosophical, environmental, professional, associations or any other lifestyle choices or beliefs.

We know that our philosophies are not realities for so many children, but wouldn't it be nice?

How to use Children's Guide website

2012-02-03T12:13:00.005+11:00

Click here to view this page on the Children's Guide website....

Over 3,000 web-pages containing thousands more contacts, ideas, downloads & discussions have been planned so far, and is likely to increase. The home page will let you know how many of these have been uploaded to date. Despite being so big, we've tried to make it as simple as possible while still providing specific sections, categories and sub-categories covering as many areas of parenting as possible, yet hopefully easy to identify.

Children's Guide is more than just a list of services. It combines useful information and contact details of businesses and services where parents can get more information, with downloadable checklists and activities for kids. Parents are able to interact will all sections and categories of Children's Guide, make suggestions for topics of discussion, review many of the businesses and receive special offers and announcements via our social media pages.

Putting together the first Children’s Guide book enabled us, businesses and parents, to identify which sections and information are useful and referred to regularly and what additional information parents wanted to see.

So we listened, revised, fine-tuned and updated the design to be as user friendly as possible.

Sections of Children’s Guide

There are a lot of businesses, services and products which address a very large range of issues that face children, their families and communities. We've tried to simplify the sections so that readers don't have to look too far for what they're after and can see where they are in the website from any page.

The top of every single page throughout this site contains buttons for the Home page, About, Privacy, Disclaimer, Contact and a link to the site map and index. The bottom of every page states that "Information throughout this site may not be current, and should not be use in place of professional advice" with a link to the full Disclaimer.

There are 4 main portals to access information across this site. Each of these four entry points is colour coded and accessible via a left hand column which appears on every single page on this site. When clicked the sections are expanded.

Families - This section is divided into the following sub-sections:

Our community - expanded category menus, with each expanding into sub-category menus.

Safe - expanded category menus, with each expanding into sub-category menus.

Healthy - expanded category menus, with each expanding into sub-category menus.

Nurtured - expanded category menus, with each expanding into sub-category menus.

Happy - expanded category menus, with each expanding into sub-category menus.

Special offers - links to social media, where registered businesses can make special offers.

Calendar - When clicked, expands the following categories:

Add your event - Online form or downloadable PDF

Search by local area - Daily & weekly calendars, library & holiday programs by local areas.

Search by event type - Expos, festivals, fairs, fetes, Seminars, forums, theatre & live shows.

State & national dates - Annual and charity events, school & public holidays, & other dates.

News - When clicked, expands the following categories:

News, updates & statistics - New info & discussions this week, archives, visitor statistics

In the news - Media releases, media stories, archives

Social media - How we use social media, rules for posting and joining in discussions.

Business - When clicked, expands the following categories:

Registration buttons - Located at the top of all Business section pages.

Free and paid registrations - Summary of costs & different levels of registration explained.

Marketing - What we're doing to promote Children's Guide.

Sections and layout - List of the business sections & samples of different registration levels.

Submitting artwork - How to provide logos, graphics & PDFs for selected registrations.

The Children’s Guide Home page briefly explains each of these sections and when clicked, takes you to the landing pages which have additional descriptions of the categories.

All the sections, sub-sections and categories are always listed in the left-hand column. When you click on one of the section or sub-section buttons, a category menu is expanded. The section and category that you select is always highlighted in the left-hand column so that you can quickly see where you are in Children's Guide. Every page also has a heading telling you the section, category and if a community area has been selected.

When you select a category, the landing page is divided into three simple columns with clear headings - the left column will have a list of all the community areas where you can find businesses in that category, the middle column has a list of businesses that can be reviewed and discussed, and the right column has discussions that you can join in relating to that category plus any downloads and checklists. When you select a community area list or a discussion, there is always a link to take you back to the category landing page. Find out more about our social media and discussions.

Order and layout of businesses

For the most part, we have tried to organise menus, lists and businesses alphabetically. Some menus we've organised in what we thought were more logical or chronological progressions. Businesses registrations are available at 4 different levels which are then listed alphabetically in their community areas first by "Flying", then by "Dancing", then by "Clapping", then "Smiling", and finally public information details of other great businesses which other parents have let us know about or that we've come across. We then invite these businesses to provide additional information for your benefit.

No traditional website advertising

We also listened to parents who expressed their desire for a simple to use site, with no traditional website advertising, no animation or movement, distracting pop-ups or pop-overs, scrolling messages, pay-per-click links, or general bombardment of information distracting you from what you're trying to read. If you decide to leave the Children’s Guide website by following a link of one of the businesses, it is completely your choice.

We'd love to hear what you think and any constructive suggestions you may have. Thanks! :-)

Is this explanation of the Children's Guide website clear enough? Should we add graphics?

Is Children's Guide so obvious and easy to use that this explanation is not necessary?

Is there any way we can improve the way that Children's Guide is set out to make it easier to use?

History

2012-02-02T14:56:00.012+11:00

Click here to view this post on the Children's Guide website....

The original idea for Children’s Guide was inspired by a job I was doing for a client (actually, my local council) some years ago. Having worked on council projects in the past, my events & communications company was contracted to help develop a Residents’ Guide and Go Local Directory which was printed and 50,000 copies distributed for free to the whole community in 2007. It was a great guide to the various services provided by council and other local community organisations, sports facilities, health services, retailers, tradesmen and so on.

I did think, however, that it would be fantastic to have a similar publication directed at families. As a parent I regularly collected dozens of flyers and brochures which ended in cluttered, collapsing piles, visited difficult to navigate websites, and tried to decode directory and search engine terms, just wishing I could have everything accessible in one place.

My council wasn’t in a position to publish another book so soon, so between my two kids and work I wrote a proposal and approached other organisations. With no interest and no takers I suggested to my darling NJ that I write the book myself. I think the insane look in my eyes was infectious because he completely supported me and away I went.

Looking further out of just my local council area to the whole of Sydney’s inner west, I turned my proposal into a project plan, received advice and familiarised myself with copyright and publishing laws, got printing quotes and prepared a budget, and designed info packs and registration forms for local businesses. I displayed it all beautifully in folders which I put in the bottom of my 2 year old son’s pram and started pushing. We walked up and down the streets of Ashfield, Balmain, Leichhardt, Rhodes and more, saying hi to businesses and telling them of my grand idea. Like NJ, some of them were infected by my insanity, signed up and handed over money to register and advertise.

I hired an amazing graphic designer and photographer and ran an art competition amongst local schools in search of a cover picture. Not enough businesses handed over money, so NJ and I look several very deep breaths, went to the bank and drew a rather large cheque from our personal savings. We sent the book to print and Children’s Guide, City & Inner West 2008 – 2009 was born.

We were also expecting another birth as I was pregnant with my 3^rd child. The largest and most uncomfortable pregnancy of all my 3 kids, I suffered morning-noon-night sickness and woke up with a headache every single day for 8 and a half months. This was during the time that I was pushing the pram, phoning businesses, doing a lot of data entry and setting up a basic website, mostly laying on my side on the sofa with the laptop because I just felt so blah and yuck!

Children’s Guide was launched at the 2008 Sydney Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo. 3,000 copies of the book were delivered to our home along with posters, flyers and our first newsletter. With the help of some of my designer’s friends, at 7 months pregnant I stood around the PBC Expo for 3 days with serious heart-burn and a lot of pride. I’d written a book! It really was the worst time not to be able to drink champagne.

Books were distributed to newsagencies throughout the inner west and a few weeks later I got a phone call from the City of Canada Bay Council saying that I’d been nominated for the most child friendly business category in their annual Sustainability Awards. I never found out who nominated me but a massive thank you! NJ and I took our 2 week old son to the ceremony and I won!

Armed with an award, a book and a plan to write similar books for all the other areas of Sydney (yes, all around my 3 kids and still running my business) I started phoning other councils and businesses. I also started receiving fantastic feedback from other parents about what they liked and what they would like to see more of in Children’s Guide. The most significant feedback throughout 2010 was a majority desire to see the information available on the internet, rather than in book form. I really wanted my books, but I thought it was more sensible to listen to what other parents wanted.

So I took all the feedback and suggestions, rewrote my project plan yet again, and with a lot of assistance from the drop-down help menus of my website and database programs, redesigned the simple brochure-style website to be, as requested, a comprehensive website for Sydney in 2011. And as I didn’t have printing costs to think about anymore (the insane look in my eye has returned) I could go national with an interactive website in 2012!

I can’t really say “and the rest, as they say, is history” because this is really just the start. I sincerely hope it does well, because I’ve put a note on my company’s website saying it’s temporarily closed for business. My little team and I have to work hard to make Children’s Guide work or we’ll be looking for other jobs soon so we can feed our kids.

Julia

Publisher

Welcome to Children's Guide!

2012-02-01T22:26:00.001+11:00

Click here to view this post on the Children's Guide website....

Children’s Guide is for the benefit of all Australian children, their families and communities. It is for the parents, carers and teachers who look after children day-to-day, for the businesses and organisations who offer products and services, and events the whole family can enjoy.

Based on a little book I wrote a few years ago, Children’s Guide is an Australian website developed with the help of a few friends, working around our kids.

Children’s Guide is not a big business or government publication at all and receives no external funding. There are 3 of us plus a designer and a photographer working on the Guide. Our first priority is to provide an easy to use, one-stop, comprehensive resource, not litter the site with lots of money-making distractions which is why Children’s Guide is completely free of traditional website advertising.

We, the Guide team, get out into our own communities as well as travel to other Sydney areas, NSW and interstate, talking to and receiving information from other parents, businesses, support services and councils, to provide information to families all across Australia. The enthusiasm and support for Children’s Guide has been fantastic for which we are very grateful.

Children's Guide is more than just a list of services. With a major emphasis on local communities, it combines interactive articles, FREE downloadable checklists and contact details of businesses and organisations where parents can get more information.

Businesses also benefit by having the option of completely FREE business registration (seriously - no catch!), or choosing to add a little more detail at very low costs to enhance their listings.

We have spent a lot of time setting up this website, and plan to spend a lot more time adding lots of new articles, contacts, downloads, ideas and information.

Please have a look around and also join in the conversations and have your say through the various social media we use.

If you would still like more information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Otherwise, happy browsing!

Julia

Publisher