- Activities for Kids
- ADD-ADHD
- Child Health News
- Children Media Safety
- Craft – Hobby Projects
- Development
- Family Building
- Family Finances
- Fitness for Kids & Teens
- Fun Family Activites
- Healthy Meals for Kids
- Holiday – Seasonal Articles
- Learning
- Learning – Homework Help
- Parenting
- Parenting Books
- Psychology
- Safety Issues
Getting Your Kids Interested In Learning
For any parent, nothing is more exciting than seeing a child with a keen interest in learning more about the world. Most small children go through a period of curiosity and questioning, and you need to show your child that this is a very healthy way to live. When your child questions everything and takes nothing for face value, he or she will grow up to be a very brilliant individual. There are many ways that you can foster this kind of attitude in a child, and you should do your best to encourage it in all of your children, if possible. Read on to find out some tips as to how you can do this.
First, you need to start incorporating books into the lives of your children from a very young age. Even before your child can understand what you’re saying, you should read picture books and describe what is going on. This may seem pointless, but studies have shown that it will lead to a more eloquent and verbose child. As the child gets older, start reading more complex books. Don’t worry about getting out of his or her reading level. Although it my not improve your child’s reading skills, it will help develop his or her level of understanding.
Inexpensive and Fun Family Days Out This Spring
While you’re in the midst of the winter doldrums, you can expect your children to begin to wear on your nerves. They’ve been cooped up all winter and they’re ready to get outside when spring arrives. You may be starting to think about inexpensive and fun family days out this spring, as well. Here are some ideas you may want to consider:
You don’t have to sit at home when the warmer weather hits, but it may not be possible to go to a park for a picnic due to rain. Instead, why not find some activities that will take you away from home and yet allow you to be inside to keep dry?
Many art museums offer a free day during the month. This would be a great way to get away from the house and introduce your children to a cultural activity at the same time. They might become fascinated by the artwork in the museum and find a new hobby they can enjoy.
Five Healthy Lunch Box Tips for Teens
High school cafeterias are notorious for offering foods that are less than healthy. If your teen is getting sick of hamburgers and pizza for lunch during the week, they may be considering brown bagging it. Here are five healthy lunch box tips your teens may want to incorporate into their bagged lunches.
1. Encourage your teen to pack foods from at least three food groups. This could mean sandwiches, some carrot sticks, and piece of fruit. It could also mean taking leftovers from the night before, a salad, and fruit at the bottom yogurt. The key is to consider what your teen likes to eat and then purchase things you know they’ll like and that are healthy choices. If they pack a healthy lunch they are more likely to have the energy and mental clarity for the remainder of the school day. If they eat cafeteria food, or worse yet – get something from the candy machine, they may have an energy crash from sugar overload.
2. Ask your teen to go with you to choose the food they’d like to include in their lunches. Then, when you’ve returned home, suggest to your teen that they may want to begin preparing their meals for the week. They can place some items in paper bags in the fridge so they can finish filling them the night before school. This way the bagged lunches are ready for them to grab and go.
3. Instead of placing everything in zip top bags, you might suggest that your teen place some foods into small plastic containers. This will help keep those foods fresher as well as contain any liquids that may be part of the meal. One great meal idea for small plastic containers is to chop up left over chicken breasts, add chopped grapes and a little bit of mayonnaise to create a wonderful chicken salad to make any teen jealous.
4. Rather than making traditional sandwiches, your teen can create wraps instead. Use tortilla shells and spread a little bit of cream cheese on it. Cover it with shredded cheese, chopped chicken and shredded carrots. You have a fresh take on a sandwich. They may actually find they prefer the roll-ups instead of sandwiches made with bread.
5. Don’t forget to include fish for your teen’s healthy lunch. They can make a tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat bread or can add the tuna to a tossed salad. Either way they choose to eat them, tuna is a good choice for a healthy lunch.
School lunches don’t have to be boring to be healthy. In fact, your teen can pick and choose healthy alternatives to what is offered in the school cafeteria and make them at home. Maybe they won’t eat a healthy lunch box meal every day of the week, but replacing cafeteria food with a healthy meal from home can do wonders for their health, how well they concentrate in afternoon classes, and the amount of energy they have left when they return home.
Teenagers and Personal Security Online
In some ways, the internet is safer than “real life” socializing – after all, your teen is not outside on the street after dark; he or she is camped out in front of the computer in your own home. But the internet also poses certain dangers. Teens’ personal information can be obtained and their identities stolen, or they may become victims of cyber bullies. Following are some tips for personal security online for teenagers.
1. Make sure your teen only sends credit card information through secure sites. Check the URL to make sure. Many anti-virus software programs will detect insecure sites and warn you.
2. Think before your share. Teens are often reckless, and don’t really comprehend the potential consequences of their actions. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have really clear guidelines as to what your teens can and can’t share, so your teen does not have to use his or her judgment each time he or she has something to share. Your rules could be as simple as no picture sharing unless Mom or Dad has seen the picture, or it could be more detailed, such as a list of things your teen is allowed to share online.
Another thing to keep in mind with regard to sharing photos is the issue of bullying. Your teenager should be aware that anyone can take that picture they’ve posted and use it to make fun of or otherwise defame them.
10 Fitness tips for the whole Family
Staying fit is important at any age. Maybe you want to get your family active but don’t know how to go about it. Here are ten good ideas to help educate you on fitness so you can make changes in your life.
Obesity is an epidemic in our world today. It is not just eating more fattening foods but the lack of activity that is contributing to the problem. As a family unit, you can help turn things around one day at a time. Try one idea and then another.
10 tips to make fitness fun and easy
No one necessarily wants to exercise. Doing it alone can be a chore, but when you are with another, say a family member, it can become friendly competition that benefits all involved. Try the following.
- Talk to your family – We all could be a little more active each day. Encourage your family by telling them that you are doing it together so the person with the most weight to lose is not singled out. Everyone works together.
- Have fun – Especially for kids, an activity that is fun is more likely to be repeated day after day. They may even remind you about an activity if you forget.
- Make fitness more accessible – It can be a hassle driving to the gym if it is not close. Also coordinating schedules could be a nightmare. For days when you can’t get away have equipment home to work with. Try DVDs, exercise bands, free weights or bicycles.
- Take a class together – The best thing about classes is that no one is looking at you but at the instructor. Zumba is a hot dance exercise craze that is a great calorie burner for men, women, young and old.
- Play sports – Organized sports not only builds physical endurance but also camaraderie in the family. It doesn’t have to be a school team but a church or neighborhood team.
- Plan healthy meals – Exercise is only a part of the equation. If you want to see your body transform quicker, make small changes each day to your household eating plan.
- Do something every day – There is nothing like consistency to bring about change. Plan to do something together each day even if only one or two can participate. Eventually everyone will be able to get on board.
- Buy sporting equipment – You can find items at a good price so that physical activity is only a few feet away at any one time.
- Prepare the back yard for fun – Anytime you want to have a friendly competition you can go outside. Keep the yard set up with volleyball net or bases for kickball or whiffle ball.
- Be a role model – Kids are more apt to follow what they see. If you, as a parent, are active they will try to follow suit.
You can turn things around in your family. It is never too late to get healthier and more active.
Honey, Don’t Stare
Children are not the most tactful people in the world, especially when they’re very young. They don’t understand that staring is rude, so it’s up to us to teach them. Here are some ideas you can use instead of simply saying, “Honey, don’t stare” when someone is different.
It’s not that children intend to be rude or to stare at people that are different than them. In many cases they are merely curious and don’t know how to handle themselves. No matter what their reason, staring is not acceptable behavior and they need to be taught how to act appropriately.
Teach your children that people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and with all types of limitations. Some have physical limitations which cause them to need help to walk, or they may not be able to walk on their own at all. Regardless of the differences, each one deserves to be treated like a person, with the same care as you would treat someone without limitations.
Take the Bite out of your Toddler’s Biting Problem
The majority of toddlers engage in some biting between their first and third birthdays. Probably the most common reason is that it is one of the few ways of communicating that’s effective for them, before verbal skills are developed. However, not all children bite. Some choose other forms of communication, such as grabbing, shoving, or punching.
Another reason toddlers bite is to express frustration, a feeling which is very common with toddlers, because both their communication skills and their motor skills are so limited.
To a young toddler it can be funny to see mommy suddenly bolt upright or for a playmate to start crying. Toddlers may also bite because they’re teething or because they put everything in their mouths anyway, so why not someone’s arm? It could even be something as simple as hunger.
But how do you teach your child not to bite? Make it perfectly clear that the biting is hurtful and wrong and point out to your child how much pain their biting has caused. Express that biting is wrong and unacceptable and that neither mommy or daddy like it.
If you discover that your child is biting out of frustration, try giving them an alternative to express to people they are having a difficult time. Though language is a difficult task at this age, most toddlers can be taught words that are appropriate for such a situation. For instance, “You need to tell mommy or daddy that you need help and not bite us,” or “Show mommy what you need, but don’t bite. You’ll hurt her if you bite and I know you don’t want to hurt mommy, do you?”
Experts agree that parents should try not to give biting so much attention that it becomes an attention-getter. This is true of all behavior that you don’t want to see repeated. Firmly tell the child again that there is no biting allowed, that it is wrong, and that it hurts people.
5 Tips To Help New Parents Get Some Sleep
The joy of a new baby is certainly special and something that all new parents experience. However, a lack of sleep is also part of having a new baby and new parents notoriously get very little sleep, if any at all. Fortunately, there are some strategies and tips to help new parents get some sleep when the new baby comes. Of course, with a baby you will never get an over abundance of sleep, but these tips will help you at least get enough sleep to keep your sanity.
Tip #1 Take Turns
When the baby starts crying both parents generally wake up, even if only one attends to the baby. However, in the first couple of months both parents might get up each time the baby cries. This will lead to a lack of sleep for both parents. The best plan is for mom and dad to make a plan of who will get up when to comfort the crying baby. Generally, taking turns is really the best option and will help everyone get just a little more sleep.
Tip #2 Nap With Baby
If you are caring for the baby and are tired and the baby goes to sleep then you should take a nap as well. This will allow you to get some much needed sleep. So, whether the baby naps in the morning, afternoon, or early evening you should also get a little rest because you never know when the baby might wake up.
Hobbies are Healthy
Hobbies benefit children in many ways. It gives a child an opportunity to express themselves, and it allows them to discover themselves and build self-esteem. They are also great educational tools. A child interested in rock collecting learns about geology and science, and a child in writing stories learns about sentence structure and proper grammar. Hobbies teach children to set and achieve goals, solve problems and make decisions. They can also set the course for what your child becomes later in life as they often turn into lifelong interests or careers.
Children who have hobbies are usually following in their parents footsteps, so set a good example by pursuing your own hobby. Your child will need space for their hobby, so find an area designated specifically for his hobby so he can work on it. Realize that hobbies can sometimes be quite messy, so be at the ready for messes as they come with the territory.
Providing a Safe and Secure Home for your Child
Accidents in the home are the primary cause of death in U.S. children.
By taking a few simple precautions, these injuries can be avoided, making your home safe for your child and the children who visit it.
Here are a few suggestions on how to make your home more safe for young children.
Follow Us!