What price to entertain our children? How much entertainment do our children need? At the risk of sounding like an old fuddy duddy, how were children entertained a 100 years ago when there were no television or computer games? Very simply I would imagine.Imagination – The key to all adventures. Babies and small children will play with simple things like empty boxes, clothes pegs, pots and pans. To them they are all sorts of things because they use their imagination. They don’t expect to be entertained with expensive toys or computer systems they just need to touch and feel things to have fun. Simple songs with actions will be remembered well beyond childhood years and hopefully be passed on to the next generation of children needing to be entertained. Dressing up, making things out of cardboard and paper, the possibilities are endless all that is needed is a little imagination.Birthday parties used to be simple affairs, nowadays our children expect to have an entertainer or bouncy castle at their parties. Whatever happened to pass the parcel or blind mans buff? The more entertainment we provide for our children the more they seem to need.Today’s society seems to dictate the trend, maybe we should all try and steer our children gently back to simple entertainment. Switch the ‘telly’ off, dig out the board games, if you can survive the moans and groans of your children then you might just be able to persuade them that entertainment needn’t be just by means of televisions and computers. You can have fun together. You can talk and communicate and entertain each other. Go out to the theatre, see a pantomime, all good fun ways of entertaining the whole family. Memories are precious, if you have a great family night out and have fun together, you will keep the memory for a long time.Small children used to be given colouring books and pencils, now the trend is to plonk them down in front of the television and let it entertain them. Who knows what information they are subjected to. Children will learn to be inactive, not a healthy pastime.How often have you heard the words “I am bored”. Does this mean the child needs to be entertained? Certainly not, if you were to suggest that you can find something for them to do you will find that your child miraculously finds something to entertain them.Something as simple as playing with a ball can be healthy, amusing, fun, and the more people taking part in the game the merrier. Which one of us hasn’t been involved in a football game or game of cricket or rounders, which has grown into an incredible amount of people on both sides. Who cared who won? Playing and entertaining you was all that mattered and it was healthy!Interaction with others will stand our children in good stead by teaching them social skills and encouraging them to lead a healthy active lifestyle. So encourage your children to go on out there, go with them, entertain, be entertained and have fun !!!

Gold investments are among the best alternative investments currently available, especially in the context of the economic insecurity that still affects many world economies.Why It’s Worth Investing in GoldGold is seen as a great investment whenever there is the threat of a raising inflation, as it helps people convert volatile assets into a precious metal that will continue to be valuable regardless of what befalls the economy.But gold also makes for a possibly good investment for those who seek to get a nice return on their investments. Short term investments in gold, however, do not tend to be as rewarding as other investments, since the price of gold is somewhat more stable than that of say silver, which rises and falls more often and more significantly.But when it comes to long-term alternative investments, gold is considered by many to be unrivaled. That’s because gold has been since time immemorial prized for its beauty and value, and will continue to be so for years to come regardless of what happens with the financial markets.Unless an unimaginably vast deposit of gold is found soon – which is unlikely, considering that right known gold deposits are actually dwindling – gold will continue to retain its high value, which makes the precious metal ideal for an alternative investment.Gold is venerated and desired and these contribute to making it one of the most secure things to invest it. And besides, when you invest in gold you can actually own the material, which may give you a pleasure than not all the money in the world can buy.Gold’s Rivals: Silver and PlatinumGold clearly dominates the other precious metals. Silver is more volatile and much less valuable, its market being much smaller than that of gold. This makes silver investments potentially good for quick gains, but ultimately unreliable for long-term serious investments. And besides, silver takes more storage space than gold.Platinum, on the other hand, is more valuable, but also more difficult to handle. Investments in platinum are infamous for their high risk, and only few experts really carry them out. What’s more, unlike gold, platinum is hard to convert into cash.How to InvestGold investments can be some of the most rewarding alternative investments, especially when they are significant. But even investing in small quantities of gold can be rewarding.You can invest in gold by buying bullion or coins. Alternatively, you can buy stock in gold mining or gold producing companies, as well as gold futures contracts. Some say though that the best gold investments are those in which you buy and own the precious metal yourself.Investing in gold is definitely one of the hottest alternative investment opportunities today. But to invest successfully you need to compare investment opportunities and to go with the one your calculations point you to.

With the internet offering online resources for travel planning, you may be tempted to book travel in cyber space. If convenience, excellent service, and receiving the best value for your trip are important to you, booking travel through a travel agent is the best way.Travel agents offer convenience and peace of mind with travel plans. You will save time with an agent handling the research and enjoy the luxury of knowing that all aspects of your trip have been arranged. With trips involving many details such as cruises, which involve booking cabins, shore excursions, and airfare, having an agent make all of these arrangements will keep you at ease.TA’s offer excellent service as they act as a liaison between the travel provider and you, the traveler. In most cases, agents have visited your destination of choice or sailed on the cruise you are interested in. They know where you should stay, eat, shop, and sightsee. Travel agents are there for you to confirm arrangements and act on issues. This is a feature booking travel on the internet cannot provide. TA’s are experts in destinations, resorts, cruise lines, and tour selections. They have important contacts and connections with travel providers all over the world, which is an advantage to making the best travel arrangements for you.Finally, TA’s have the ability to offer special deals and rates that internet providers cannot generate. TA’s have access to venues and destinations that may be booked up if you try to book them on the internet. This feature is just for TA’s and not available in cyber space.