Neighbourhood Network Articles | Juggle Street Blog

Child Development

The benefits of dance for young children

Dancing can be a fun source of exercise for children of all ages and is proven to produce various benefits to mental, physical, and cognitive health and development.

Children's Activities

How Learning an Instrument Benefits Your Child

Being exposed to music (especially learning an instrument) has nearly countless benefits for growing children. When your child actively participates in music lessons, here are some of the key benefits they will gain.

Children's Activities

How team sports help children develop social skills

When children develop skills in effective communication, self-discipline, and teamwork, they're more likely to make a successful transition into adulthood. Team sports equip children with the skills needed to cope with the daily demands of life. Additionally, they're known to instil values of collaboration, determination, and allow students to identify the strengths of others in team settings. Children's local team sports aim to foster principles of teamwork, fair play, verbal and non-verbal

Soccer training drills to help your kids train at home

Soccer is a sport that helps kids maintain cardiovascular health, while increasing coordination, muscle strength, flexibility, and self-confidence. By regularly training outside the field or at home, children can correct their technique.

Child Development

How to help your children cope with sibling rivalry

For parents with more than one child, sibling rivalry is a development they would rather not experience. That visualisation of a harmonious relationship between kids filled with bantering and laughter can appear to be a 'hoax' when the screaming and shouting occur. Don't despair. You're not alone.

Child Development

How to raise a confident child

Raising a confident child may involve the parents, teachers and caregivers, including the nanny and babysitter. Children learn by watching those around them. To ensure positive and polite behaviour, including confidence, the actions of the child’s caregivers are of utmost importance.

Child Development

The importance of positive discipline

Positive discipline is a way of teaching children that is based on the concept “there are no bad children, just bad behaviours”. It treats children as an actor with the ability to use their personal power to influence the world around them and shapes them to do so with respect and empathy.

Homemade slime – simple activities to do with the nanny or babysitter

Sometimes when babysitting or working as a nanny, it is natural to run out of stimulating, fun and educational ways to entertain children. If this sounds familiar, or there is a need to add a new activity to the “kit” when children are with the babysitter, why not try making homemade slime?

Parental Advice

Why boredom can be good for your child

You might think it's good for your child to be stimulated all the time because they're having fun, and you never have to hear the dreaded phrase 'I'm bored'. However, research suggests that boredom, or at least quiet time or inactivity, is actually good for your child. Here's why.

Child Development

How to help a shy child

Some children seem to be born with effortless confidence and have the innate ability to shine in social situations. However, not all children have this skill and for some, learning to feel comfortable and confident in social situations takes some work and practice.

Child Development

Preparing for the teenage years

The teenage years can pose great challenges and conflicts for both teenagers and their parents. Parents may discover that the relationship they had with their preteen child is changing. Effective and consistent communication is essential to help both the parents and the child feel more connected

Child Development

How technology is changing the way children learn

Schools and other educators have had to make huge adjustments in light of our constantly evolving and increasingly digital world. Today, with the advent of COVID-19 and the sudden switch to online learning, online classrooms and online tutors, technology's role in education is bigger than ever.

Child Development

Do boys learn in a different way to girls?

The way in which girls and boys learn is vastly different. Traditional classrooms are not the ideal environment for young boys. However, by working with teachers and home tutors, it is possible to learn more about the different ways in which boys and girls learn and what you can do to support them.

Parental Advice

Ten tips to help your child enjoy reading

Research has shown that frequent reading has a direct effect on brain development and cognitive functions. Not only will their literacy skills improve, but through reading, they are acquiring knowledge, language skills, and even the development of empathy and social engagement.

Child Development

Board games provide clear benefits for your child

Board games are a fun way to introduce learning opportunities into the home. From more directly school related ideas like literacy and numeracy, to more general skills like turn taking and spacial awareness, the benefits are significant. Board games are a great way of getting the family together.

Parental Advice

Birthday Party Games for Kids

There are few things as exciting to a child as their birthday. So, if you want to make sure that your child has a memorable party you may wish to include tried and tested fun games. We’ve compiled our top 10 games for your child’s birthday party. These games are sure to be a hit with all the guests!

Child Development

Why it’s important to make time for reading with your child

Reading is a time-honoured pastime for children and adults alike, but did you know that reading has clear and proven learning benefits for your child? The benefits include a growing vocabulary, a creativity boost, an opportunity to bond, as well as teaching both moral and direct lessons.

Before & After School Care

The benefits of having a before and after school nanny

Tired of the juggle? Ever thought about adding a helping hand? Before and after school care can not only take some weight off your hectic day, but have some real benefits for your kids' development, education, and relationships. Read on for our top reasons to welcome a nanny into your family's life.

Before & After School Care

How to brief your before and after school nanny

We've put some handy tips together to help you get started on a brief for your before and after school care nanny. You may want to have a verbal discussion, but also provide a word document or written summary of the most important points! Remember, the brief doesn't have to be set in stone.

Before & After School Care

Activities to do with your before and after school nanny

Before and after school nannies are fantastic options for families looking for wrap-around care either side of school or nursery hours. We've looked at some activities for your before and after school nanny and child to do, helping to promote child development and have fun at the same time.

Questions to ask a nanny in an interview

When hiring a new nanny or replacing your current nanny, you may feel stressed or nervous when making your final decision. It's important to ask the potential nanny the right questions during the interview. Here are some tips on how to structure your interview and what questions to ask.

What do parents look for in babysitters?

When parents think of finding a babysitter, they envisage someone with the right qualities for taking care of their child. That is why picking the right sitter is not an easy choice. If you are a great babysitter, any parent will feel comfortable leaving their most treasured possession with you.

Questions to ask a babysitter in an interview

When you hire a babysitter, naturally you'll want to ensure you hire a qualified individual who will take good care of your children. When you find a babysitter, however, it can be hard to know what questions to ask them to get a good understanding of their experience and personality.

What is the difference between a babysitter and a nanny?

The terms ‘babysitter’ and ‘nanny’ are often used interchangeably. However, they encompass very different roles. If you’re in need of at-home childcare assistance and are wondering whether to find a babysitter or a nanny, we’ve put together a quick guide below to help you find the perfect solution.

Parental Advice

What’s the difference between a nanny and an au pair?

Nannies and au pairs both work in childcare, taking care of your little ones in your home and carrying out tasks such as taking them to school or getting them their meals. The work they carry out might be similar, but there are some major differences between hiring a nanny and taking on an au pair.

What should I know about hiring a nanny?

Choosing another adult that can be trusted with your children is one of the most serious decisions you'll ever make and there's a host of factors that need to be taken into account to find a nanny that's a good fit. Before hiring a nanny, there are a few things you'll need to know.

What Au Pairing Means And Why It Will Change Your Life

“What is an Au Pair?” you ask. Juggle Street is here to clear up all of these sorts of questions for you. Working closely with both carers and host families, we have put this article together to help describe what Au Pairing means and how it has the potential to change your life.

How To Make The Most of Your Au Pair Job

Au Pair experiences tend to be once in a lifetime. These positions are often incredibly beneficial for both the Au Pair and for their host family. Understanding your Au Pair role is one of the best ways to make the most of your job. Find out more about the unique opportunity of being an Au Pair.

Top Tips For Being A Successful Au Pair

An Au Pair is someone who lives with a host family while taking care of their children – usually in exchange for accommodation, meals and a weekly allowance. It can be a wonderful learning experience and an opportunity for cultural exchange, both for you and for your new host family.

Parental Advice

Prepare For Your Au Pair

So you have gone through the process of hiring an Au Pair in Australia. Now you need to prepare for your Au Pair including setting up their room and organising their schedule. This article is designed to simplify that process for you, offering tips for what you can do to get ready for your Au Pair.

Find The Perfect Au Pair

Are you considering hiring an Au Pair, to help care for your child? At Juggle Street, we find that Au Pair experiences can be incredibly beneficial for both the family and for your carer. But an important part of this process, of course, is finding the right person for the job.

Top Ten Reasons To Hire An Au Pair

Finding the right care for your child can be overwhelming, but Juggle Street is here to take the guess work out of this process.. If you have ever wondered what an Au Pair is, then this blog post is designed to clear up all of your questions and run through the top ten reasons for hiring an Au Pair.

Tutor Resources

There never seems to be a middle ground. Either you have hundreds of resources at your fingertips and can’t possibly choose which one to use, or you find it incredibly hard to get your hands on even basic resources. How can we find and choose the best resources for what we need?

Making a First Impression

It goes without saying that as a new tutor, you’ll want to make a good impression and see academic improvement in your students. However, wanting to be an effective tutor is not the same as having experience. To save you learning everything as you go, here are five key pointers to get you started,

Choosing the Right Tutor

If you are on the hunt for a tutor, you’re probably motivated by one of two main reasons (though there are others). You’re concerned that your child is under-performing or you're worried that your child will be ‘left behind’ in today’s increasingly competitive landscape. So what makes a good tutor?

7 Tips to Help with Primary School Homework

We’re all about taking the struggle out of your daily juggle. That’s why we’ve prepared 7 handy tips on how you can support your primary school aged kids get through their homework. From planning ahead, to seeking help from a private tutor, read our tips to help get through your daily Juggle.

Find A Tutoring Job With Juggle Street

Connecting with families to find private tutoring work just got a whole lot easier. Juggle Street have over 50,000 parents who have been using our platform to book babysitters and nannies in their local neighbourhood since 2014. Now we’re excited to help support them with our home tutoring service.

How to be the Best Babysitter or Nanny

If you’re new to babysitting or have been doing it for years, it’s always helpful to remember what parents are looking for. That’s why we’ve shortlisted the top tips on what you can do to have the best babysitting experience with Juggle Street.

Juggle Street Grows in New Zealand

Since the first kiwi Juggle Street helper signed up in late 2018, Juggle Street New Zealand has grown quickly - much to the delight of local parents.

Parental Advice

Child Safety Out and About

While most children can recite what they’ve been taught about ‘stranger danger’, they often don’t act on it in a potentially dangerous situation. Here are some pro-active ideas for protective behaviours to help drive the safety message home.

Choosing a Babysitter on Juggle Street

So you need a babysitter? Leaving your children with a new babysitter can induce feelings of anxiety in the best of parents. These little humans are precious….but you’ve still got to have a break now and again and having someone to help your family that you trust is paramount.

Tips for a Smooth Handover to a New Babysitter

So now you’ve chosen a new babysitter on Juggle Street, what can you do to make the handover as smooth as possible for both your family and the babysitter? We've compiled a list of handy tips to ensure you've covered all your bases when it comes to starting a new babysitter.

The Childcare Juggle when Kids Start School

Juggle Street can help parents connect with carers in their local area that are looking for before and after school care work. It might be an empty nester keen to connect with families in the neighbourhood or it may be an eager high school student that’s looking for some pocket money.

Finding Babysitting Jobs in New Zealand Just Got Easier!

Gone are the days of having to put ads up on supermarket noticeboards and having to ask your friends. We take the struggle out of finding babysitting work by connecting you to families in your area that are looking for help. All you have to do is set up a profile and parents can post jobs to you.

Parental Advice

School Bullying Q&A

Is your child being bullied at school or do you think they might be at risk? We’ve answered some of parents’ and carers’ most-asked questions about bullying, the signs to look out for and ways in which you can help.

Parental Advice

Child safety on the Internet

Worried about keeping your family safe online? Take a look at Juggle Street’s essential information to help protect young children when in the cyberworld. Love it or loathe it, the Internet is here to stay. So, of course, you want to steer our children clear of the dangers that come with it.

Child Development

Why kids should hang out with older folks

What do you get if you combine a preschool with a home for the elderly? According to recent social experiments, a lot of happy kids and an elderly generation that can't stop smiling. Whether it’s the grandparents or a friend - making sure they get quality time together is good for the whole family.

Child Development

The cool side-benefit to hiring a foreign nanny

There are several distinct cognitive advantages for bilingual children including improved executive functioning of the brain, which means they can switch between tasks and solve problems more easily, as well as the ability to learn other languages more easily.

The simple secret to reigniting the passion in your relationship

Parenting is a tough gig at the best of times, let alone when you add the pressures of going to work. It’s important to invest in your relationship daily, and not just save it all up for date night - and that starts with being mindful of your daily interactions with your partner.

The ‘secret’ working mums need to stop feeling guilty about

Assess how the day is broken up, and where you can slot in that time for yourself. You don’t have to say, ‘That’s too hard, or I can’t do that’. It’s about making a bit of space in the day just for you - you need to think about what you can do at home to make yourself feel good and pamper yourself.

Confessions from the woman looking after your kids

Striking a balance and keeping both you and your children happy is the name of the nanny game. We all want the same thing: a healthy, happy, and nurturing environment for the kids. So, does it really matter if we stress-eat our way through a difficult day with your kids and raid the fridge?

A village is raising my children

"Attend to that which needs you most first, be it a child, work, your family, your friends, or yourself. Don’t always try and multi-task, you will be beating yourself up for being sub-standard at everything. This includes making time for yourself and making sure you get enough sleep".

Meet the families using Juggle Street to transform their routine

Many working mums and dads have a family network living nearby to help with childcare, usually in the form of wonderful grandparents. But a lot of people have no family living locally, or in the country in the cases of the Interstate and expatriate families who are Juggle Street members.

Before & After School Care

5 things to help your after-school juggle

Many children of working parents attend their local Out Of School Hours Child care (OOSHC) centre after school, but here’s another great alternative: a Juggle Street nanny or babysitter to care for your kids on weekday afternoons. Here are five reasons why this could work for your family.

How To Be A Super Sitter

Being a good babysitter has its own special skill set but having initiative and being pro-active will set you apart. It’s about pre-empting children’s needs, thinking on your feet, doing a little extra that could help out, even if you haven’t been asked to – especially if you haven’t been asked to.

Child Development

Dealing With Disasters

No matter how hard we try to shield our children from tragic events, it’s inevitable that they’ll hear about them, whether from TV or overhearing conversations. The best way to help distressed children, including those directly affected by a disaster, is to help them work through their fears.

Parental Advice

Flying With Kids - Baby On Board

First flight with bubs? Yes, it can be pretty daunting but being prepared and well organised will help big time. Keep travelling with babies as stress-free as possible by following these 20 tips from some jet-setting Juggle Street parents.

Parental Advice

5 reasons why it’s okay to take a break from parenting

It doesn't matter if you're a working mum, a stay-at-home mum, or a combination of the two. It doesn't matter how old your children are, if they are well-behaved, or if they are troublemakers. Being a mum is rewarding, but also extremely exhausting.

A working mum's heartfelt appreciation for her babysitter

The first time I looked at my son, I felt like my chest would surely rip in two. The pulse of fierce love throbbed strongest of all, but there was also fear, and awe, and, yes, dread – because never before had I realised just how deep my capacity for pain could run.

Parental Advice

7 simple ways parents can have it all

How can you juggle everything in a way that works not only for you, but also those around you? To help us learn to navigate this balancing act, we’ve enlisted Alli Price, single mum and founder of Motivating Mum, the mum-to-mum networking and mentorship company helping mums reach their goals.

Parental Advice

Top 10 tips to help your kids with their homework

There are kids who happily do their homework each day without being asked. Then there’s the other 99%, or thereabouts. Here, the Juggle Street team and some homework-seasoned parents share 10 top tips to help ease the endless nagfest.