Keeping Your Child’s Teeth Healthy

Parents often have questions about how to take care of their child’s teeth. Whether it’s when they should go for their first dental visit, or when they should start flossing. Kids Health offers some great advice to help answer parents most common questions on taking care of their child’s teeth. Click here to read the whole article.

Water Play

With record high temperatures last week, many of us were looking for ways to keep the kids cool and entertained. There are so many things your child can learn through playing with water at home.

Here are some ideas on how to blend fun with water with learning. Some things you might need are:
- different size pots and pans
- containers of different size and shape
- funnels
- scoops (use big plastic serving spoons. in fact, many kitchen utensils often come handy in child's play)
- wine corks (they float)
- a small water toy or an empty shampoo bottle
- food coloring added to liquids offer different colors (you can buy them in a baking section of your supermarket)
- tongs (try to find ones covered with plastic or rubber as the metal ones can be quite sharp)

Obviously, water is going to get messy with all the splashing, otherwise it wouldn't be so much fun! Choose a play area carefully. During warm weather days setting up outside makes cleanup easy.

Work on your child’s coordination skills:
- fish wine corks (or other floating objects) out with a scoop, tongs or just fingers
- count floating objects out loud when you place them into a container
- fill up and squirt water with a shampoo bottle, try aiming at some lightweight objects that could fall when you hit them with the water, like toy soldiers or cars (or
even those useful wine corks)

Work on your child’s color and observation skills
- fill up different-size containers with water to different levels and use funnels to transfer the water to different containers.
- add food coloring to the water and learn about colors while you are playing. Mix colors to make it even more interesting.
- play and learn about household chores by playing wash the dishes
- learn about the importance of cleanliness by giving your dolls a bath, washing their hair
So go on, start splashing.

Teaching Your Child About Strangers

Every parent's fear is how your child will deal with strangers when you are not around.  You don’t want them to think everyone is bad, but you also don’t want them to be overly friendly to people they don’t know.  This article from Family Education gives some great advice on how to teach your kids about strangers.  Clickhere to read the whole article.

Potty Training Part 2

Last week we talked about the signs of potty training readiness. If your little one is ready to start learning how to use the potty, these tips may help:

• Build extra time into your busy schedule for frequent trips to bathroom both at home and when you’re out.

• Don't make your child sit on the toilet against his or her will.

• Look for the signs they are getting ready to poop. Here are a few examples: faces turn red, grunting and squatting.

• What time of day do they usually need to go to the bathroom? Be aware of the time and look for other signs so you can rush them to the bathroom. Right after a meal is a natural time for the body to evacuate, so you may want to pay particularly close attention.

• Establish a routine. Have your child try when they wake up, after every meal, before bedtime and anytime they ask. And don’t get frustrated if nothing happens. It’s more about establishing the routine.

• Lead by example. Have your child watch you or a sibling in the bathroom.

• Remove poop  from your child's diaper and put it in the toilet  to show your them that poop goes in the potty.

Remember to reward your child. Stickers, treats or character underpants works well as an incentive. Try to keep positive in all aspects of potty training.

Spark A Family Tradition This Father’s Day

Father’s Day is this weekend, why not start a new family tradition to celebrate this special day. Education.com gives some examples of Father’s Day traditions you can start with your family. Click here to read the whole article

Potty Training

Yes, that's right, June is National Potty Training Awareness Month, as if we need more incentive to potty train our children. So in honor of the momentous occasion, we are going to talk about potty training and give some advice for success.

First, it’s important to recognize that there is no magic solution for potty training. It’s a trial and error process. The second fact to remember is that it’s not fashionable for teenagers to walk around in diapers so chances are you’ll be successful.

That said, there are proven potty training strategies that have worked for parents over the years.

1. It’s important for you to wait until your child’s ready for potty training. Parents sometimes rush into potty training because the idea of no diapers is appealing to your budget. Your child must be mentally and physically prepared to learn to use a bathroom, otherwise the process will be frustrating for both of you.

Here are some signs that your child is ready to begin:

* Curiosity about the toilet
* Recognition - a child tells you just made or have to pee.
• Keep a diaper dry for two hours or more
• Physically sitting on and then get off the potty
• Pulling down diapers, or throwing away training pants or underpants
• Curiosity about wearing underpants

2. Make sure you have the proper training aids.

• A small portable potty – maybe even keep one in the car for emergencies.
• Floating objects can be placed in the toilet to peak your child’s interest.
• Pullup diapers

3. Buy clothing that’s easy to put on and take off. There is nothing more frustrating than a child wetting their pants because they took too long to get their clothes off. Slip on pants are the easiest and, of course, skirts and dresses make it easy for girls.

Each child learns differently it’s true in school and it’s just as true with potty training. Be patient, be positive and be prepared! Next week we will offer some tips to help with potty training.

Teaching Kids To Learn From Failure

No one wants to see their child fail at something but you need to remember that kids can learn from failure. This article from Parenting magazine gives some great tips to help your child along this bumpy road. Click here to read more

Bubble Fun

Who doesn’t like bubbles, they make you laugh, they float without effort and they can keep you clean. But if you’re looking for a summer activity, bubbles might be what you’re looking for. They are great way to play and learn with your child. Try a science experiment with kids who are little older by make predictions on what you think the bubbles will do once in mid-flight. Let younger kids experiment with art and movement by dancing while blowing bubbles and trying to recognize shapes and sizes in bubbles. This bubbles encourages curiosity and reinforces the skill of observation.

What You'll Need:

* Bubble solution that you purchase from the store or make your own with 10 parts water to one part dish washing soap
* Straws
* Plate
* Bubble wands
* Pipe cleaners

Here are some observations you can have your kids make:

* Are your bubbles bigger when you blow slowly or quickly?

* Are your bubbles bigger when you dip the wand in slowly or slosh it around?

* Use pipe cleaners to make homemade bubble wands. Can you make a square bubble?

* What household items can you use to make bubbles? A slotted spoon? A flyswatter?

* Pour bubble solution onto a plate or cereal bowl and use a straw to blow bubbles at the base. How tall can you blow your bubble tower?

* Add food coloring or tempera paint to your bubble solution and try blowing colored bubbles. Try to catch them; let your bubbles land on a piece of card stock paper to make bubble art.

* What color is a bubble? Bubble colors come from the light refracting through the soapy water.

So go out and have some bubble fun!