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Zooboo launches 4 new variants!
Ever since our launch in March 2021, we have received so many amazing reviews for our books. We also received feedback that users wanted more customization in the format of our books. Well your wish is our command! Here we are announcing the launch of 4 NEW variants to our existing books! You can now order all the Zooboo books in not only hardcover but also SOFTCOVER formats. For more sturdiness opt for the non-tearable ‘lustre finish’ paper. And as a special launch offer, get the newly launched 5.5”x5.5”softcover books at Rs. 99 only! Want to try the other variants? Take a flat Rs. 300 off on all book options! Take a look at your new variant options: 5.5x5.5” Softcover: When your kids have books with their name & character in it, chances are that they will want to carry these books with them everywhere. Try this handy size of 5.5”x5.5” softcover books that are printed on 170GSM art card paper in Matte finish with rounded corners. These are quick to slip into your child’s bag & perfect for slightly older kids who enjoy reading independently. 5.5x5.5” Premium Softcover: What makes a good kids book a great one? Stunning illustrations! If your kids love bright illustrations, then the premium softcover books are for you. They will love reading going through the premium waterproof lustre finish of the book with rounded corners. The softcover makes it lightweight to hold and easy to place anywhere! Perfect as a travel companion or an addition to your kid’s library. 8x8” Softcover: When kids are the main hero of a book, they want that book to be as BIG as possible right? Enjoy the larger size storybook in a softcover format with rounded corners. Great for children who enjoy being read to as well as those who want to read on their own! This size is also ideal for those looking to gift Zooboo books to nieces/nephews, friend’s kids or parents-to-be. 8.8" Premium Softcover: With carefully researched topics & expert illustrations, Zooboo storybooks are an ideal start to any kid’s library. Enjoy all the benefits of a personalized Zooboo softcover book, in a larger size & with non-tearable finish and rounded corners! The premium waterproof finish also makes your book more durable. Children will love holding the big size book and the lustre-feel of the pages will enhance their reading experience. Always wanted to order a personalized storybook for your kid? Or looking to gift something unique to a child? Well it won’t get better than this. Get all the 3 books for your child’s age group (0-3 or 4-8 years) in under Rs. 899! (shipping & taxes extra). How? Use code: STORY and enjoy Rs. 300 off on your favourite Zooboo books. (limited period offer). Keep reading :)
8 ways to build your kid’s Emotional Intelligence
Imagine these scenarios: Your child and his friend had a disagreement. Instead of flinging his toys or throwing a tantrum, your child comes to you and tells you how upset he is and also asks for help. One of your child’s sibling/cousin/friend doesn’t feel like playing together because they had a bad day. Your child understands that the other person doesn’t feel like socializing and moves on. These reactions may not seem like a big deal, but they are signs of emotional intelligence in kids. This intelligence is not measured by IQ test. But it is an important skill set that helps us respond to our environment in a socially acceptable manner. It helps kids understand and identify emotions, which in turn allows them to make positive connections with people. In simple terms, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to notice, understand & act on emotions in an effective way. Your child may be going through challenges each day. That which is so simple for adults, can be really complicated for a little child. It is important to help kids understand emotions from an early age. The good thing about EI is that is it not set. You can work with your kids to help them & with practice develop it over time. Especially now that children are mostly home with limited exposure to school, social settings, play-time, it may reduce opportunities to build some of the skills in a natural environment. Make use of the time with your kid and start your journey towards strengthening his emotional receptivity & conduct. Here are some activities and games to help you get started: Books & reading together: Reading together with your child has scientifically known to help develop their emotional intelligence.It helps them understand relationships, emotions & feelings that people go through. For example Zooboo’s book ‘Get’s wings’, strongly highlights the bond between a mother and her child. The protagonist shows excitement, happiness, mischievousness and even a touch of sadness at missing his grandma. He shares every part of the day with his mother. Books are also a great way to give children a social context & perspective, increase their empathy and self awareness & expose them to more vocabulary explaining emotions. For example Zooboo’s books like ‘Is that you?’, ‘Birthday’ & ‘Bo Peep’ all talk about different types of emotions, social settings, making friends, caring for animals around us etc. These are all soft topics that a child picks up on while reading with his parents. Tip: When you are reading with your child, keep pausing to ask them what the characters felt like? Try to label the emotions of the characters Looking to order Zooboo's personalized books? Check this great step by step guide + review to help you out! Feeling rocks:This can be a fun creative project for the younger kids. Pick up some rocks (alternative: simple paper cutouts of different shapes). Together with your child draw different facial features on them. On a blank paper create an oval to represent a face. Children can place the features & create faces with their rocks. Encourage them to talk about the emotions they created, explaining about how we feel and how we act when we feel that way. Tip: There a lot of confusing feelings for children for instance the difference between being surprised (in a good way) and being scared. Talking about these emotions through a fun creative activity helps toddlers. Play dough emotions:Another similar game to the feeling rocks is play dough emotions. For the slightly older kids, give them different coloured play dough, cutters & some googly eyes. You can find some face printables online and print basic outline of a face (or draw it if you can!). Be sure to laminate them to make them re-usable. Children can shape the play dough into different features and place them on the blank face. This encourages them to display different emotions like sadness, happiness, anger etc. And then of course talk about their creations. Huggables:If you find that your child is not being expressive about their emotions or is a little too young to fully speak how they feel then getting them a huggable or a soft toy can be beneficial. Having a favourite toy by their side can be a source of comfort to the young ones. It eases separation anxiety & often builds confidence. Tip: Kid’s sometimes talk to or about their soft toy. This also a good way to get them to open up, pretending that their toy is the one you are talking about. Educational videos/movies:Some educative videos also help children to understand what the different types of emotions are and what each of them mean. This is a good video for very young children. It introduces children to body language and facial expressions & is a good way to teach basic emotional vocabulary to little kids. Tip: Make a family movie Sunday plan. Watch the movie ‘Inside out’ with your kids. Be sure to discuss the different emotions & their roles after the movie! Role play:Role play or enacting a scene allows children to practice what they have learnt, fine tune and apply it in real life scenarios You can write down different situations on bits of papers and place these in a box. Examples: your friend is hurt and is crying. Your friend has snatched your toy in anger. Or your friend is not giving up the swing for your turn etc. Let your child (and their siblings/cousin/friend) pick out a chit and enact a scene on how they would act in the given situation. You can encourage their positive behaviour and guide them to manage their emotions and reactions in difficult situations. Thinking corner: Create a corner of the house into a ‘thinking corner’. This space can be used by your child to spend some quiet time, observe, reflect over any situation/behaviour, think of different solutions etc. This is not to be confused with a ‘time out’ corner but instead is a personal space where they can calm down (if needed) & think without distractions. You can do up this area with different cue cards that encourage your kid to ponder on their emotions. Make it as cosy as you can with cushions, curtains, pictures & books. Tip: Keep some of their favourite set of books there to make it alluring for them. Zooboo’s ‘What is behind that door’ is a good way to get them curious & reflective. Helping others: In the current times, a great way that you can make your child more empathetic towards others is by involving him in helping others. Have your child join you in taking care of people in need as a way to build empathy. Tip: You can join a volunteer effort, or just bring him along when you take food to a sick neighbour. It is important to be consistent in trying different ways to engage your child & help them with their emotional intelligence. Don’t give up if you aren’t successful initially. With some of the above suggested activities and gradual attempts, your child will come around. Have faith and be positive! If you think this article has helped you in anyway, then please do leave your comments below. Also follow us on social media Instagram & Facebook and share your experiences with us. Feel free to share this blog with your parent community! Let’s keep helping each other out. Zooboo does not own rights to any of the activity images. They are used for representation purpose only. Image sources: Mrsplemonskindergarten.com, Cubmamans.com, blessed.raisingtwo, Puttingwordsinyourmouth.com, Pre-kpages.com
6 DIY Summer activities for kids!
The rising temperatures and the aromas of mango’s in our homes tell us just one thing – Summer vacations have begun! Typically, this used to be the most fun part of the year, atleast for the kiddos! Weeks of weekend trips, visits to grandma’s house, outdoor playtime, hobby classes, summer camps, board games... the list was long. Now with the pandemic induced lockdowns, each day seems to be no different from the other as the weeks drag on. If you don’t add some variety to their daily routine, your kids are bound to get bored and hence frustrated. To avoid this lethargic state of mind, it is advisable to plan a few educational and fun activities in advance. Such activities help you by: It gives children a break from the routine – a feeling of doing something fun during the vacation It keeps them creatively engaged – they will definitely land up learning a handful of skills It will reduce their screen time during the day – bonus! This can become a family bonding time for everyone It will maintain a cheerful atmosphere at home – which is much needed as we tend to get bogged down by the news around us Okay enough of the general knowledge. Here is the fun part! Scroll own to find 6 amazing, easy and totally fun DIY activity ideas – all manageable indoors! 1.Games night: Organize a games night (or a games week?) for all members of the family: -Let children create invitation cards for the games night – they can draw the games of their choice, mention the date, time and venue -If they enjoy role play, let them enact story books like Zooboo’s ‘Bo-peep’ and ‘Birthday’ book where they can assign characters to each family member. The child can even be the narrator. Click here to order your personalized Zooboo books right away. -Other great games are charades, Pictionary, sequence for kids, scavenger hunt etc. 2. DIY Trash art: Free form of art is a great way for children to express themselves. Find some recycled material and let children paint and glue them on their own: -Find some recycled materials like packets, unwanted papers, cans, thread, egg holders, bottles and bottle caps etc. -Also provide them with some art supplies like glue, paints and crayons. -Children love painting random objects and making unique creations out of them. 3.Obstacle course: A great way to channelize your kids pent up energy is by creating an obstacle course for them. Here’s how: -Use pillows as stepping stones -Create tunnels with chairs and tables -Use cushions to climb over -Stick masking tape on the floor in a zigzag pattern for them to walk on -Tie a rope for them to jump over -Just let them crawl, jump, skip, hop, run! 4. DIY planters: Introduce your kids to the world of plants. Make a recycled tin can planter to teach them how to take care of their plants. For added fun, let them create bottle cap flowers to decorate their garden. 5. Sensory bins: Sensory bins are large containers filled with elements that stimulate a young child’s senses. These bins help focus and calm your child and teach them to explore the world with the help of their senses. -These are perfect for the younger kids and the slightly elder siblings to play together -You can come up with unique themes like seasons, creepy crawlies, different grains & pulses, sea creatures, types of textures etc. -Take 3-4 large containers and fill them with a mix of objects and toys. Place toys like a shovel, magnifying glass, spade etc in the box too. -Let them explore and have fun 6. Science experiments: Enjoy some easy science experiments with common household ingredients. Every kid loves these and you can do a mix of them for kids of all age groups: - Try making a volcano by using soap, vinegar and soda. Check it out here. - Use paper napkins and food colours to create a ‘walking water’ experiment. Check it out here. - Use glue, soda and contact lens solution to make slime. Check it out here. Bookmark this article for future reference and feel free to share it with fellow parents! Did you try these activities? Did your kids enjoy? What new projects did you try this summer? Follow us and tag @zooboostory on social media to share your summer activity plans! Let us create a fun knowledge sharing platform that can benefit kids as well as parents! Zooboo does not own rights to any of the activity images. They are used for representation purpose only. Image sources: www.katiemorissart.com, www.alumnoon.com, www.meijer.com, www.shuttershock.com, www.boardgamer.no, www.dyicrafti.com, www.almeezan.co.uk, www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com, www.growingajeweledrose.com, www.pinterest.com, www.willowot.com, www.craftymorning.com, www.messyplaykits.com, www.happytoddlerplaytime.com, www.funathomewithkids.com
25 ‘Me-time’ ideas for Moms
Happy Mother’s Day to all the MOMS reading this blog! What is the surest way to make an overworked mom laugh? Tell her something like “You should take some time out for yourself”. HAHA! How? When? Most of the day is mom-time, where is the time to indulge in frivolous things? But when we women are drained, stressed or burnt out, we are not giving our families our all. It is most important that we feel refreshed. Don’t think of it as self-indulgence but as self-preservation. And so this month, take it as a challenge to remove some ‘me-time’ for yourself at least once every week! Make a list of things you actually love to do, things that refresh you up. And if you need help with the list then here are 25 easy ideas: 1. Enjoy a cup of coffee or masala chai. Try to really enjoy it without simultaneously scrolling through your phone. But instead play your favourite songs and dive into another world. 2. Gift yourself something new – Check out some cute personalized gifts you could order to cheer you up. (https://www.zoomin.com/gifts) 3. Watch TV - Turn in half an hour early and watch some of your favourite shows. 4. Sing or Karaoke – You will be surprised how good it will make you feel to just sing your favourite tunes. Trust us. 5. Go for a walk/jog – Don’t worry about concentrating on calories. Just get out for a stroll or a jog and soak in what’s going on around you. 6. Call your friend/sister – Call someone who haven’t spoken to in a while and just catch up. 7. Bake – This may seem like a tedious task but it has proven to be wonderfully therapeutic. Try out different stuff like these ‘Oats brownies’ for some healthy baking ideas. (http://www.creativesaga.com/eggless-oats-chocolate-brownies-recipe-healthy-cake-recipes) 8. Create an album - Gather your favourite pictures, maybe some collages of your last few travels and gift yourself a beautiful photobook – check out personalized photo books here. ( https://www.zoomin.com/photobooks ) 9. Read. If not books, search about the things you always wanted to know. After all there is an ocean of knowledge still untapped. Dig in the knowledge gold. 10. List down things you are grateful for - In fact, make this ‘gratitude exercise’ a daily routine – spend 2-5 minutes a day to thank the universe for your health and loved ones. It instantly makes you feel positive! 11. Get artsy - Grab your kid’s colours and colouring book. Or check out simple DIY arts like a crayon candle. (https://www.evermine.com/blog/diy-crayon-candles/#:~:text=Using%20one%20crayon%20per%20color,dry%20for%2020%2D30%20minutes.) 12. Play a game. 13. Journaling. Many a times, penning down random thoughts or maintaining a journal helps to give a new perspective. Check out some beautiful journals. (https://zooboostory.com/collections/spiral-notebook ) 14. Make a vision board for yourself - check this (https://christinekane.com/how-to-make-a-vision-board/) article to understand what is a vision board and how you can make one. If you don’t have too many magazines you can always print your ideas here. (https://www.zoomin.com/photo-prints) 15. Do some planting – you can keep it as easy as some hassle free succulents or indoor plants. 16. Write down your bucket list. 17. Workout - Sign up for zumba, pilates or yoga classes online. Check this out for free online pilates. (https://www.blogilates.com/video-page/) 18. Fluid art – Look up online if there are any fluid art classes that you can sign up for. This type of art is free form and can make you feel really relaxed and in control. If you’re curious about fluid art, check out this article. ( https://www.thehansindia.com/life-style/fluid-art-the-fascinating-art-of-pour-painting-602121 ) 19. Try out a new makeup tutorial – there are tons of basic to advanced tutorials on YouTube and Instagram. Find one that you like and actually set aside time to try it out! 20. Meditate. Or do some light feel good stretches. Suryanamaskars are a great full-body stretch too. 21. Weekend hike - If you are in a location where it is safe to step outside, then take your kids for a weekend trek/hike – even though it isn’t ‘solo time’ but it will still get you close to nature and you will find yourself refreshed. 22. Self-care – Since we don’t have access to salons, keep some time to refresh your skin and hair weekly. You can pre-make hair and face masks to use a few times in the week. Try some scented candles during this routine to make you feel calm and pampered. 23. Take a nap. 24. Organize your closet – This may not seem like it’s a ‘me-time’ activity. But for many of us, de-cluttering and re organizing spaces can leave us feeling energized and fulfilled. 25. Do nothing (our personal favourite). What is your most preferred activity to recharge yourself? Share your unique ideas and let us keep adding to the list!
10 tips for improving parent-child communication
Talking to your child may seem like a daily routine event, but as we get busy we may not be able to put in the required time and effort into making a deep conversation. Whether you have a toddler, a teenager or a late talker, there are some tips towards good communication with kids that are common for all. These points are simple but meaningful in the long run. Your child may at times not respond the way you like or acknowledge your efforts, but it is important to stay consistent and keep trying. Here are top 10 tips to keep in mind in order to improve the way you communicate with your child: 1. No device zone - Set aside at least 20 minutes in your day to turn off all gadgets and spend quality time with your kids. It shows them that you’re completely focused on the interaction. 2. Observe - Maintain eye contact while talking and notice their body language. They may not verbally say something but you can pick up on non-verbal cues to gauge if they need to talk about something. E.g. “You seem very quiet today, how was school/how was your day?” 3. Positive tone - If you need to give some helpful feedback, start with positive messages. Rather than complaining or scolding about their negative behavior, first appreciate the good work and then follow it up by your point. E.g., “You are usually so prompt about keeping your school work away after you’re done. Could you remember tomorrow please?” 4. Talk about feelings, empathize – Most of the time, acknowledgement of their feelings is all your kid needs to start dealing with the problem at hand. Once you’ve voiced their emotions, you have made them aware of what they are feeling, given them permission to feel it and acknowledge it in others. E.g., “I can understand that you’re upset right now. You miss going to the park and meeting your friends. It must be a frustrating feeling isn’t it?” 5. Parallel talk – Often younger kids find it tough to get the right words to aptly express themselves. Keep the conversation moving ahead by expanding their sentences. Sometimes you can even become a ‘mouthpiece’ and just say aloud what they’re doing. E.g., your child may say “Du-du hot”, you can repeat their words in a sentence saying “Yes, your milk is hot?” 6. Talk indirectly - If your child is hesitant to talk directly, find ways to go on a round-about way to address the topic. For example, you can read some books or watch a short movie connected to the issue. After that discuss and ask them what they thought about the protagonist or the moral. It will encourage them to reach the core topic and open up about it. 7. Don’t complete their sentences – While you encourage them to make meaningful sentences, be careful to not complete their sentences for them too often. They might not get in the habit to try it for themselves. 8. Don’t use baby talk – Baby talk is fine when they are younger but always try and modify your tone as they grow. 9. Replace ‘no’ with a positive sentence – As an alternative to using negations, use the sentences which the child ‘should’ perform instead of shouldn’t. For instance, if your child is jumping on the bed, telling them “No jumping” or “Don’t jump” might make them do it more. Get into a habit of saying, “It sitting time now” or “Let us sit and read now” etc. 10. Read to your child: Books with simple language but a lot of illustrations are great open-ended sources of starting conversations with your kid. It will create excitement and interest in your child. Here are some good books to check out (link to ZOOBOO) When you consciously work towards developing good communication skills with your child, you are building their language skills. It also helps your child develop skills for communicating with you and other people. It also builds your relationship as they receive the message that you value your child’s thoughts and feelings!
14 ‘must-read’ books in your child’s library
Lockdown after lockdown, screens and video games are replacing classrooms and books. It is more important than ever to introduce your children to a variety of books and build on the habit of reading. As children, we all loved it when our parents read us story books before bedtime or during breaks. Make use of this opportunity and create a ritual of reading books together during your child’s bedtime. Here is our quick guide to some amazing stories that you can use to engage your child in many, many ways: Books on ‘Me and my surroundings’: 1. Karen Beaumont’s silly but serious book ‘I Like myself’ is about a little girl who embraces exactly who she is. This adorable narrative shows her identifying all the things she likes best about herself – on the outside as well as the inside. Children can learn about self-acceptance, about loving and appreciating everyone around them. 2. ‘I am enough’ by Grace Byers is a New York Times best-selling picture book. The book depicts different girls who are all diverse – with different skin colours, some in wheelchairs, some wearing hijabs. It conveys the message about respecting others and being kind to one another. Children can learn about confidence, how to help others when they are sad, how to cope when they are feeling sad etc. 3. ‘Is that you’ book by Zooboo is a great way to introduce your child to all the wonderful people and things that surround him. It a lovely book about ‘Myself’ written by Sarah Kutiyanawala and illustrated by Shubhangi Raheja. Children will learn all about who they are and about their family members. A perfect book for newly born kids and their parents as they settle into their new world. Books on ‘New words, colors, counting’: 4. ‘Brown bear brown bear, what do you see?’ is a great kids book by famous American illustrator and writer of children’s books, Eric Carle and Bill Martin Jr. A great read aloud book for young children, it is all about colours, animals and birds. 5. ‘Which colour do you like’ by Zooboo is also a perfect way to introduce the little reader to colours and learn new words. Written by Ankita Shah and illustrated by Shivani Danave, this book teaches children about new colours and object recognition too. Because it is personalized with your child’s name, it keeps up their curiosity by asking them their favourite colours! Books on ‘Nature’: 6. ‘The tiny seed’ is another good read-aloud book by Eric Carle. It shows a seed that travels through different seasons to mature into a plant. It is a good way to learn about seasons and nature. It’s also a cyclical book that is great for understanding the process of a life-cycle. 7. ‘What’s behind that door’ written by Sanskruti Gala and illustrated by Manasvi Rambhia is also a great way to learn about types of climatic conditions and their characteristics. This Zooboo book creates curiosity by asking the reading to guess what lies behind each page. Children learn about different sounds, seasons, opposites and new words. Books on ‘Imagination’: 8. ‘Everywhere wonder’ by Matthew Swason is a book all about a young boy’s journey into imagination. It is a good book to start as a picture talk and show children different wonders in the world. 9. Another great book to build children’s imagination skills is Zooboo’s book ‘Get’s wings’. Written by Purabee Nair and illustrated by Juliee Mahimkar, the book is an innovative tale about the adventures of flying. It stimulates a child’s imagination skills by asking them what all they would do if they had wings and could fly? Books on ‘Animals’: 10. While there are a lot of books on animals, here are some classic tales that are a must-read. ‘The Town Musicians of Bremen’ is a folk tale from Germany written by the Grimm brothers. It is an amusing story about four farm animals who are now old but think that they can earn a good living as musicians. 11. ‘The little red hen’ is another old English folk tale. A classic storybook by Paul Galdone, this tale is a must for all preschoolers. It teaches children about different farm animals and also talks about social values like helping, sharing, and the importance of hard work. 12. A wonderful book to encourage your child’s learning on animals is the Zooboo book ‘Bo-peep!’. Written by Namisha Sanghavi and illustrated by Blessy Paul, this book takes the reader through different animals in a nature park. Your kid will love learning about different animal features as he plays hide-and-seek with them! Books on ‘Social skills’: 13. ‘The Three little pigs’ in its best known form appeared in the English fairy tales by Joesph Jacobs. The story has many versions and adaptations, so try to pick one which is the most age appropriate for your child’s reading level. It is introduced in almost all schools and teaches social skills like caring for your siblings and encourages problem solving skills. 14. A book that you can’t miss is Zooboos ‘Birthday book! Written by Sarah Kutiyanawala and illustrated by Dhwani Gosalia, this book is perfect to teach children counting, backward counting, and new words. It shows the protagonist involved in all the planning process of his birthday party. Thus it teaches children to be independent, make decisions and how to be a good host at home. Bedtime stories or even just regularly reading books together with your kid is a great way to comfort your little one while also teaching them something new. Don’t hesitate to start building on your kid’s book collection right away. And the best part is that all of Zooboo’s books can be customised with your child’s name and character throughout the story! Check out Zooboo books here!
6 exciting benefits of personalized storybooks!
You may think that personalized storybooks for kids are just a gifting strategy, targeted at aunts, uncles, grandma’s, grandpa’s etc as an easy solution for a present. Yes, that is part of the story, but there is more to it than just a great present, they actually help children learn more… We already did a blog post about how ‘Zooboo books help enhance learning at home’ (link to blog 3), but while researching more we discovered that there were numerous, convincing reasons for investing in a set of personalised children’s books. So why are personalised books beneficial for your child? 1. More captivating A study conducted in the USA found that when personalized aspects were added to children’s school reading books, their reading comprehension scores improved by more than 40% compared with peers reading non personalized stories! This means that they are listening more attentively and getting more from the time you are spending with them than when you read a regular book. 2. Facilitates literacy skills A 2014 study exploring the impact of personalized story content on word acquisition in preschool age children showed “significantly better knowledge about the words that were in the personalized sections of the books than the words in the non-personalized sections.” The same study has also concluded that “reading personalized books provides a positive context for speech production”. Books undoubtedly help in improving children’s literacy skills; and adding the personalization touch eases this process. When the child is the star of the story, it is bound to really engage and encourage him to talk about it and hence learn better from it. 3. Boosts self esteem The National Literacy Trust research report says “There may be great potential for personalized books to facilitate positive shared book talk, young children’s reading enjoyment and motivation, their sense of themselves as readers, their self-esteem and aspirations”. There is a sense of uniqueness to a personalized book because parents and the child know that there is no other book out there like it. This feeling of ownership of the book and its content is a great first step in the process of becoming and perceiving oneself as a ‘reader’ and builds confidence. 4. Culturally suited The option of reflecting gender and cultural background in personalized books gives children the opportunity to see a person ‘just like them’ represented in a published book. Inclusion consultant Beth Cox says, “All children have the right to be included in books, to see faces that they can relate to on the covers, to meet characters with similar families, lives and experiences.” For example, Zooboo books have Indian cultural references like a typical doting Indian grandmother, characters that don’t look drastically different from the reader etc. These small details do make an impact on how the child perceives their place in the world. 5. Enhances social skills A 2015 review by ‘The reading agency’ and ‘BOP Consulting’ noted that “reading is closely linked to increasing understanding of our own identities and can also play a large part in relating to others, understanding their views and so forth”. When children read personalized books and view themselves as the protagonist, their brains see themselves enacting the behaviours of the hero – sharing things, being curious, helping out. They may gradually realise that they already have these traits and learn how to use them socially. 6. Perfect gifts and keepsakes Personalized gifts are wonderful keepsakes as it increases the connection between the gift giver and the child. And personalised books are the best kinds of gifts because they’re unique to the child, super useful, long lasting and impact a child’s life in such a positive way! A child will always keep and cherish this special gift. So now you know it – 6 excellent reasons why personalized children’s books are better than regular books. Hopefully this article has opened your eyes to the fact that a personalized book has many valuable benefits for a child, other than being just a really fun gift.If you’re interested in exploring personalized books further, then take a look at Zooboo story website and all our original and heart-warming personalized books. Written, designed, edited and printed completely in-house by our special team, with but one aim – make reading more fun for kids. Aimed at ages 0-8, our fun personalizations include your child’s name and character (boy/girl) on the cover and throughout the story!
5 skills you can develop in your child with Zooboo
Over a year of the pandemic and schools show no signs of opening up. Yes, the lockdown has definitely been one of the hardest on kids! Neither can they go out freely to play, nor do they find enough creative stimulation indoors. So does that mean that learning and growth has to pause? Why not start the process of skill development at home itself? Don’t let yourself get bogged down by fancy words. With little planning you CAN create a conducive learning environment at home – that too with as little time and resources as possible. Read on to know how we can help you! What are some common areas of development that you can focus on? How can you make learning easy yet fun? How can ZOOBOO books help you? 5 common skills & values that you can work on with your kid: 1. Visual recognition What: As your child grows, he will explore the natural environment around him. Encourage his eagerness to know more by helping him recognize colours, shapes, numbers and common objects. You can consider this as ‘pre math’ – a stepping stone towards learning mathematical skills like problem solving and lateral thinking. How? - Zooboo’s ‘Which colour do you like’ is perfect to start your journey towards introducing colours and common objects. Each page of this book will show them a new colour with so many fun objects to spot. Tip: Introduce one colour per week for better clarity. - To teach numbers to the older kids, you can use Zooboo’s ‘Birthday’ book. You can easily introduce numbers 1 to 10 and slowly move on to counting objects. The illustrations in this book are sure to keep your child coming back for more learning. In time you can even start backward counting through this book. - There a LOT of games to help kids match colours, count object to numbers, recognize and differentiate shapes. Matching coloured toys to the respective colour mat/flashcard, counting and placing stones on the respective number card or simply identifying common shapes in the living room! 2. Awareness of self & surroundings: What: As a toddler, your child will slowly become aware of himself, his body, his surroundings. This can be a very confusing stage for him. You can help him work towards awareness of himself and his surroundings. Guide him to build self confidence and a sense of belongingness. How: - Zooboo’s book for the youngest readers, ‘Is that you?’ works as an amazing tool to help your young one understand who he is. Make it a ritual to read this book to him at a fixed time every day. The bond that this special reading time creates between you is priceless. - As they grow a little older, it is important to help them to understand their emotions and express them in a socially agreeable manner. You can do so by creating emotion cards that depict basic human feelings of being – Sad, Happy, Angry, Sorry etc. Going over these cards with them helps young kids to understand what emotions they are feeling. Tip: Use sad, happy, angry emoji’s for these cards! 3. Sharing social spaces: What: Sharing does not come easily to children. And so it becomes important to identify this as an area where you can work with them. Sharing includes their toys, belongings as well as sharing social space. Sounds complicated? Let us simplify. Children can be encouraged to learn to wait for their turn, share space in the playing area, give up a swing when their time is up – these are all values that you can impart from an early age. - How: Since schools and classes might not be operational, you can create this in the safe environment of your homes. How? Organize play dates! Not only is it fun for your kids to play with his friends, it is also a perfect opportunity to work on their social skills. - Zooboo book on ‘Birthday’ is another great way to introduce them to concepts like sharing, decision making, playing a good host! The character in this book helps his mother in the entire planning process for his birthday. He is shown to be caring towards his friends, helpful at home and polite towards guests too! - Make use of your craft supplies! You can sit with them to paint out a list of ‘essential agreements’. This list can include a set of basic rules that are agreed upon to be followed. Tip: Hang these on the bathroom wall to be looked upon every day! 4. Encourage curiosity and build knowledge: What: Children will begin to ask you questions about things around them. Indulge and persuade this innate curiosity. This is one of the best ways to teach them different age appropriate concepts. - How: Take a walk outside to discuss about nature, trees, sky etc. Follow this up by reading! The zooboo range of books are the windows into all kinds of worlds to delight the curious mind. For example, books like ‘What is behind that door?’, ‘I got wings’, ‘Bo-peep’ are full of different natural concepts like nature, weather, climate, types of sounds, how birds fly, animal features, different games and so much more. Reading these books is an easy way to introduce so many concepts to kids. - Tip: Redirect, don’t discourage. What does this mean? If your child wants to play with the plants yes keep them out of reach. But then also give them an alternative to explore like dirt or kinetic sand in a container to play with, pouring water through funnels in a big tub etc. 5. Vocabulary and public speaking: What: Yes, even this is a skill that you can easily work on at home. It is natural for your child to pick up your mother tongue if that is the primary language at home. And that is very important too! However you can also start encouraging your kid to work on other language skills like learning new vocabulary, public speaking and speaking full correct sentences in English. - How: Obviously books help immensely! Creating a routine of ‘bed time reading’ works wonders. Zooboo’s books are age appropriate and are full of new words which are apt for kids of all ages. - Use Zooboo books like ‘Bo-peep’ to re-enact a story/play. You can make cut-outs of the different animal characters. Your child can be the hero and give out dialogues to the rest of the family. He can even narrate the story. This gives them confidence to speak in front of an audience and also help them learn new words. - Tip: You can also play simple word games like scrabble, sing rhymes, play the yes-no game, create a scrapbook with pictures of familiar objects and make up stories. All the Zooboo books are full of immense learning opportunities. Pick up your kids favourite Zooboo book and watch him/her grow and develop into a lifelong learner! Check out the books here! Zooboo does not own rights to any of the activity images. They are used for representation purpose only. Image sourced from: www.laughingkidslearn.com, www.chalkacademy.com
Inside Zooboo Storybooks (Part 2)
In the current times where most of the kids are spending maximum time indoors, a lot of parents are looking for new fun ways to keep them creatively occupied. Why not engage them with personalized story books? Don’t agree that books are important for your kids? Click here (insert link to previous blog) to read our previous post on WHY books are super helpful for kids of all ages. In our earlier blog, we have explained all about our first 3 books which are for the younger kids (ages 0-4 years). And now... yup you guessed it! We bring to you the other 3 books for the older kids, aged 4-8 years! Take a look below and let us know what you think of these funky stories: 4. Play Bo-peep! About this book: This entertaining book will soon become your child’s favourite animal book. Indulge your 4-6 year old with their favourite game of hide and seek but with a whole cast of cute animal critters. Your kid will love exploring a nature park and making friends with all the animals that live in it! Won’t you join him too!? Key takeaways for kids: This book encourages kids to understand different types of animals and their features. The narrative builds curiosity in the young reader to try and spot the animal that is hiding in the natural habitat. Age group: 4-6 years 5. Birthday! About this book: This captivating story book is all about the excitement around a child’s favourite day! It is a birthday countdown story that is sure to keep 4-8 year olds engaged and excited. The author involves your child in the birthday party planning process right from deciding the menu, cake flavours and party caps to designing her own birthday invite. Can’t you just visualize your kids falling in love with the stunning visuals of this book!? Key takeaways for kids: This book is the most fun way to introduce numbers to your kids. They will also learn counting and backward counting. The book is filled with describing words and a lot of new vocabulary for the young ones. Age group: 4-8 years 6. Gets wings! About this book: This one is an imaginative book that makes a child think about out-of-the-box scenarios. It is a beautifully illustrated tale that gets them to think of all the fun and wonderful adventures they can experience if they could fly. Could they go meet their grandma or their friends? Or maybe they can fly to the top of the tallest tree? Your kid will love coming up with his own ideas of what he would do if he could fly! Key takeaways for kids: This book strengthens their observational and innovation skills as well as their ability to visualize. It encourages them to broaden their horizon and be creative and use their lateral thinking skills. Age group: 5-8 years So are you ready to go ahead and buy your favourite set of Zooboo books!? Gift them to kids of any age group and watch them enjoy visualizing themselves as a part of the story – after all they are the heroes here right!? Check out the books here!
Inside Zooboo Storybooks (Part 1)
“One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children” – Carl Sagan Why are books SO important for a child? Yes, yes we know... everyone is always harping on about inculcating a habit of reading books from an early age right? And research does prove that there are many important ways that reading books help children. Let us quickly list down a few of them: · Books help children to learn sounds, words, language and develop early literacy skills (these ones are obvious, duh!) · They help in working on children’s focus, communications skills, social skills and overall confidence development. (sounds like a lot of pressure on books!) · Kids learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures too (tomorrow’s world leaders!?) · The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and helps to build your relationship with your child (aww, that’s heart-warming!) So you see? You’re basically gifting your kids a companion, best friend, teacher, a toy, guide, a window to the world – all in one! So what are ZOOBOO books all about? Why are they special and why will YOUR child love reading and learning from them!? Zooboo story books! Our team of experts have spent months researching and working on carefully curated stories that cover different reader levels. You will find picture books, read-aloud books, assisted reading books, books for those beginning to read and so on. Zooboo books are broadly divided into two categories: 0-4 years of age and 4-8 years of age. Here we are to help you with all the information you need to select the perfect books to gift any child! Let us start off with the books for the younger kids – ages 0-4 years: 1. Is that you? About this book: The joy of becoming parents and welcoming a new baby into your life and home is a joy like no other. This heart warming narrative takes a baby through the love and excitement felt by his family upon his birth. It’s a read-aloud book for kid’s up-to age 2 and beautifully conveys to the small child how special they are to their parents. You can personalize it with your child’s name, birthdate & your very own personal note. Isn’t this book the perfect gift for expecting parents/ new parents who are welcoming a baby into their life and homes? Key takeaways for kids: This book helps to build on speaking and listening skills, emotional and social bonding with the new family. It builds excitement in a child to explore the world around him. Age group: 0-3 years 2.Which colour do you like? About this book: A cute little introduction to the marvellous world of colours! This book is perfect for a young child who is beginning to explore his surroundings. He will learn about a brand new colour in each page along with so many common objects like different fruits, vegetables and toys! Don’t you think this might become the first and one of the most read books by your kid!? Key takeaways for kids: Children will enjoy colour identification and differentiation, object recognition and learning new words. Age group: 0-3 years 3. What is behind the door? About this book: This book is sure to create excitement amongst kids of all ages. It is ideal for 1-3 year olds who are in the phase of understanding the natural wonders around us. The book builds a surprise element by stimulating the reader to turn the page and thus ‘open a new door’. A different type of climate/weather is artistically depicted on each page. Won’t your kid love to explore what awaits them behind these doors!? We’re sure you’re curious too! Key takeaways for kids: Children will definitely enjoy getting to know about different types of weather conditions and natural elements that surround us. They will also learn different fun sounds, opposites and colours. Age group: 1-3 years In our next blog we will similarly take you through our books for the older kids – aged 4-8 years! Stay tuned and don’t miss out on this amazing gifting idea that will brighten up any kids (and their parents!) day. Check out the books here!
Welcome to the world of Personalized Storybooks!
Welcome to the world of Zooboo – a wonderful place of personalized story books where every child becomes the hero of their own story! Zooboo was branched out of our passion for the love for storytelling. When we toyed with this idea, we had but one dream - we want kids to fall in love with reading, with being able to visualise themselves as a part of the book! This power of personalization is still being explored and yet it is clearly recognized as an effective learning and development tool for children. The constant belief that guides us is that for young kids, seeing themselves in the book can drive home the warm thought that THEY are welcome in the world of the written word! Our objective is to spark curiosity in the minds of young children and encourage learning through our books. We aim to instil confidence, creativity and give children a broader perspective about their surroundings. Apart from making them fall in love with reading, our goal is to contribute to their growth and become their best childhood memory! But what makes us truly stand out? At Zooboo, each book is personalized with the name of your child on the cover and throughout the story! These story books are specially conceptualised, written, designed, illustrated and printed by the expert team at Zooboo. Concept & content: Our books cover a varied range of topics to make sure that children at each age are introduced to age appropriate concepts. Our team of authors have made sure that the narrative captivates everyone - right from those beginning to read to older kids who need stimulating content. Design & Illustration: We know how important good visuals are, especially when it comes to kid’s story books! You can pick up any of our books and we guarantee that you will not be able to put them down till you finish admiring all the beautifully made illustrations. They are designed in an easy-to-read manner for all kids. Printing quality: Rounded edge, hard bound paper and excellent printing quality – these will make sure that your books are sturdy and last long even in the hands of a toddler! Surprise your child with a book all about himself/herself The process of ordering your personalised Zooboo story book is super simple! Go to our website and select the books you wish to buy. Pick a girl or a boy character, add your child’s name and leave the rest to us. Once you enter the details, you can even preview the complete book before placing your order! A little about our amazing books! Our storybooks are ideal for kids upto 8 years. But we know elders will not be able to resist reading them too! There are 2 sets mainly for 0-4 and 4-8 years. Our books are durable board book pages with rounded corners for your child’s safety. They are available in 2 sizes - 5.5x5.5 inch and 8x8 inch. We take pride in our printing quality and assure you that our books will reach you in the best printed form. Hard bound print makes them a lot more durable too. We’re still learning and adapting at Zooboo. We value every single feedback on what you love about our books and what we could do better. This process is what makes all our efforts worthwhile when we see the effect of our books on kids. We’ll leave you with the words of one of our young reader Aadi, “I used to find reading boring, but now I feel I have a friend with me at all times!” Check out the books here!
