This simple experiment with oil and water will introduce the concept of polarity and density to your child. Younger children will also enjoy this as a sensory project, too. As you experiment, ask your child questions that encourages him to observe and hypothesize. Does the oil and water mix? What happens when you whisk the two ingredients together vigorously? What happens when you let the solution sit still over time?
To read more about this experiment, click HERE
The kids are coming. The kids are coming! And they’re HUNGRY. After-school snacks meet the high-energy needs of kids who work hard all day in school. And in our experience, kids are content to nibble on a wide variety of foods when they get home. (Maybe they’re just extra-hungry. It’s a powerful motivator!)
You might default to crackers and peanut butter, granola bars, or a piece of fruit as an after-school snack. And seriously, there’s nothing wrong with those choices. But why not take advantage of kids’ hunger and general “school’s-out!” cheeriness to serve something a little different? Especially when you can highlight some of the food groups your kids might need more of, like veggies and protein.
Check out some of our after-school snack ideas in this roundup of healthy, fun, and rut-busting recipes.
To read them, ckick HERE
Are you struggling to pick the perfect gift for a child this year?
Let me help.
As a certified teacher, and a homeschooling mom to seven, I really believe in using learning games for kids. We play them regularly. With over 100 games in our collection, I think I’m officially a board game addict.
Here’s why:
As a mom to three kids, we have been around the block when it comes to owning toys. My kids are hard on toys…if they are cheaply made they don’t tend to last more than a few days around here (not for a lack of my lecturing about taking care of what we have, mind you).
Last year, I shared several of our favorite toys for babies along with toys for boys ages 5-7. Since Little Sister (21 months) is now officially considered a toddler. I thought I would share some of our favorite toys for toddlers! Many of these we currently have, a few we will be purchasing this year, and some we have enjoyed at other locations such as friends’ houses or church!
My list of the best toys for toddlers is divided into sections based on the domains of early childhood development. After all, toys can provide some of the best learning opportunities all while being disguised as fun. 🙂
To read more, click HERE
Looking for safe, doctor-approved cures for sore throats, coughs, stomachaches, and more? Check this out!
Whether your child has a tummy ache, a stuffy nose, or a bug bite, doctors say that old-fashioned home remedies are often the best way to help him feel better fast. These time-tested treatments rarely have side effects, cost next to nothing, and use items you probably already have on hand. “Some, like ginger and chamomile, have even been confirmed by scientific studies to have healing effects,” says Hilary McClafferty, MD, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ provisional section for complementary, holistic, and integrative medicine.
Of course, you should always call your pediatrician if your child’s problem seems serious. But the next time your child has a minor ache or injury, you can find these smart solutions all throughout your house.
Lemon dries up congestion and honey provides a soothing coating, says Lane Johnson, MD, associate professor of clinical family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. In fact, a recent study found that a spoonful of honey eased kids’ coughs even better than cough medicine. Mix together a tablespoon of each, microwavefor 20 seconds until warm (not hot), and have your child swallow the mixture a teaspoon at a time. Caution: Honey is not safe for babies under 1 year.
Peter Rabbit’s mother fed him soothing chamomile tea in Beatrix Potter’s classic tale, and you can give it to your infant to relax her intestinal muscles and calm her down, says Dr. McClafferty, a pediatrician in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Steep tea for four to five minutes, let it cool to room temperature, and then put one to two ounces in a bottle. Don’t give your baby more than four ounces a day so that she’ll be sure to have plenty of room in her tummy for breast milk or formula.
To read more, click HERE
What do parents dread most about family road trips? It’s not the cost of filling up the gas tank. It’s also not traffic or toll roads or Sunday drivers. It’s the thought of their own little cherubs stuck together in tight quarters for hours. Oh, the backseat squabbling. The poking. The whining. The impatient cries of “Are we there yet?” Just. make. it. stop.
1. I Spy. “I spy with my little eye, something red.” This easy-to-learn game is perfect for preschoolers, and can keep them entertained for unbelievably long periods of time. The directions are simple: One person spies something and recites the line, ending in a clue. Everyone else takes turns trying to guess the mystery item.
2. Road Trip Bingo. This fun game combines bingo with a scavenger hunt. Give each child a flat surface, such as a clipboard or hardcover book, to put on his or her lap. Each player gets a free printable bingo card and a zip-lock bag with 16 pennies. When a player spies an item on his card, he covers the picture with a penny. Just like in regular bingo, the first player to cover all the squares in a straight line wins.
3. License Plate Game. When we were kids, everyone seemed to play the license plate game on family road trips. Armed with a pad of paper, we would write down the name of each state as we spotted it. The goal, of course, was to nab all 50 states. If we were lucky, we’d bag the Canadian provinces, too. Nowadays we love the ease of an updated free printable license plate game, where kids cross off the US states and Canadian provinces as they spy them. For older kids learning US geography, we recommend the map version, which shows how far away each car originated.
To read more, click HERE
PopcornPopcorn is a sure-fire hit with kids, and … it’s a whole grain! Popcorn actually has 4 grams of fiber per 3-cup serving, which makes it a filling snack. Plus, it’s endlessly versatile. You can transform air-popped popcorn with all sorts of toppings, including grated cheese, nutritional yeast or cinnamon and sugar.
Ice PopsIce pops couldn’t be easier or more versatile to whip up. And when you make them yourself, you control exactly what goes in them. These Frozen Orange Pops deliver a helping of vitamin C and calcium to your child, courtesy of the main ingredients: orange juice and nonfat Greek yogurt.
CookiesHere’s the thing about cookies: You can make them healthy when you use the right ingredients. Whole-wheat pastry flour can be subbed for white flour in most cookies. Rolled oats add even more fiber. And in some recipes, like these Oatmeal-Chocolate Snack Cakes, you can replace some of the butter with applesauce to lighten up the saturated fat. Serve them with low-fat milk and you have a nutritious, balanced snack for your kids.
To learn more, click HERE
When you’re in the throes of parenting chaos, you can’t take yourself too seriously. Between the messes, sleep deprivation and utter frustration, it’s important to keep a sense of humor.
Luckily, there are many funny parents on the internet who provide comedic relief and inspiration. Here are some parents who were hilariously honest about raising kids.
To see the hilarious pictures, click HERE
If you’re saying, “Focus!” more than usual, read on for creative and constructive ways to increase your kid’s attention.
My 5-year-old son, Walker, pays attention only when he wants to. I’m showing him how to make the letter “A” for what seems like the millionth time. I say, “Start at the top, go down, and make a line across.” As I’m talking, he’s looking at everything except at what he’s doing. He fidgets and plays with his pencil. I keep pulling his attention back to what we’re doing and my constant refrain is “Pay attention!” but I’m losing my patience. He listens when I read his favorite books, and he listens to his swim teacher when she tells him to extend his arms to improve a stroke, but this is an exercise in frustration.
Child development experts say that, on average, a 4- or 5-year-old child should be able to stay focused on a task for two to five minutes times the year of their age. So, young kids should be able to focus between 4 and 20 minutes, possibly more, depending on the task. But this rule of thumb, just like any guideline for raising children, depends on the situation. “Attention span has to be contextualized,” says Neal Rojas, M.D., a developmental behavioral pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco. “Are we talking about the first thing in the morning, the middle of day, before naptime, before bedtime? I tell [parents] that they will see a variation throughout the day. Attention span is elastic.”
Give Attention to Get Attention
How much attention a child gives a task also depends on whether he is enjoying himself. Many children struggle when asked to do something they don’t want to do. “The first time you introduce an activity that is more important to you than to your child, you are testing your creativity and flexibility as a parent and teacher,” Dr. Rojas explains. This is where the struggle lies for many parents, because kids entering school have to do more structured, repetitive, and academic tasks, such as writing their names or sounding out letters. Walker and I certainly bump heads on this a lot. Some afternoons, I may want him to work on learning sight words but he’ll want to crash his Matchbox cars together on the family room floor. Still, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Playing with cars is intrinsically motivating for kids,” says Margret Nickels, Ph.D., a clinical psychologists and the director of the Center for Children & Families at the Erikson Institute in Chicago. “There are 5-year-olds who can play with Legos for 30 minutes but who can’t sit still to write their names.”
So a little creativity can go a long way in turning something dull into something fun. Instead of insisting that my son write the letter “A” with a pencil in his workbook, I can ask him to write it with chalk, shape it with Play-Doh, or even trace it with paint on a big easel, says Mary Doty, a kindergarten teacher at Waimea Country School on the Big Island of Hawaii. “Workbooks can be overwhelming for children, so make [your] own ABC book,” Doty suggests. “Cut pictures out of newspapers or magazines [of things] that start with ‘A’ or look through magazines to see how many ‘As’ can be found. Use blocks to make the letter ‘A.’ All of this helps with fine motor skills – and it’s more interesting.’ Even playing I Spy and Red Light Green Light, board games, and memory games can strengthen attention muscles. And parents should take time to notice small and interesting details in their surroundings, which shows a child how to pay attention. During a walk, parents can stop and point out the colors of flowers they see or talk about the shape and feel of the rocks they pick up.
To get a child’s attention, parents must also give attention. “It’s easy for a parent to get stuck in a rut. Our attention is often scattered,” Dr. Rojas says. “But if our attention is scattered, and we can’t bring ourselves back to the moment, we can’t expect a child to be able to do so.” Being in close physical proximity while giving clear and concise instructions helps children focus better on what is being said. “The best way to get them to pay attention is to be physically close to the child. Don’t shout requests from the kitchen to the living room,” Dr. Nickels says. “Go into the living room, stand in front of your child, make eye contact, be at eye level or touch their shoulder, and say ‘I need you to do this now.’ ” Dr. Rojas says, “If I stop and look at my child and say, ‘Hey, Alex, look at me. What do you need to be doing right now?’ He’ll say, ‘Reading’. Then, I’ll say, ‘Show me you know what you need to do.’ ”
Your child is more capable than you realize. Even your preschooler can begin to learn these essential life lessons.
With so much for our children to learn in today’s high-tech world, it’s all too easy for them to miss out on practical life skills, whether it’s running a load of wash, reading a map, or handwriting a letter. A recent study by the online security company AVG Technologies found that while 58 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds in the U.S. can navigate a smartphone, fewer than one out of six (15 percent) could make their own breakfast. “I see many parents doing everything for their kids instead of letting them figure out how to fend for themselves,” says Tim Elmore, founder of Growing Leaders, a nonprofit in Norcross, Georgia, that works with schools and civic groups to promote leadership qualities in children. Start teaching these life skills now, and put your kid on the path toward independence.
Too many teens head to college with no clue how to clean their clothes. Don’t let your kid become one of them. You can begin teaching your child when she is around 6. If you have a top-loading washer, keep a step stool nearby. Walk her through the process—how to measure and add the detergent, choose the settings, and start the machine. Amy Mascott, who blogs at TeachMama.com, taught her three kids (now 9, 10, and 12). She chose cute names for jobs: Wash Warrior, Super-Fly Dry Guy, Put ’Em Away Triple Play. Mascott says there have been snafus, like the time a whole load was folded and put away damp. “But I’m not aiming for perfection. I’m aiming for them to get the job done,” she says.
Lots of preschoolers learn to plant seeds in class but not how to transfer sprouts into a garden. Whitney Cohen, coauthor of The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids, shares the basics.
Joyland Preschool 