Online Kids Activities

Cold weather, freezing rain and snow tend to keep kids indoors during the winter months. Scholastic.com has developed a list of activities, educational puzzles, and games to keep your kids busy for hours. Click here to read the article.

Learning to Write

It’s no secret that it takes children some time to learn how to write. Writing is a complex task that involves the development of motor skills and critical thinking. It’s also a skill that develops through building on skills one at a time.

The first stage involves young children scribbling on paper with crayon. This activity leads to the creation of pictures. The pictures are then used by your child to express emotions or events that occurred during their day. Writing takes further shape when your preschooler learns the alphabet and how to spell their name. Once your child reaches elementary school it’s like a whirlwind. Letters form words then sentences and then stories.

Here are a few tips to guide you through learning to write.

• Have paper and big easy-to-grasp crayons available to your child. Tell them to scribble and have fun writing as much as they want.

• Don’t be that concerned if when you child starts writing letters, they are all over the paper. Children learn individual letters first and it takes some time for them to grasp the concept of words.

• Don’t be that concerned if your child spells words without vowels. As kids enter school they are taught the concept of vowels, proper spelling and the difference between upper and lower case letters. The concepts really begin to develop as a child learns to read.

• Don’t expect handwriting to be neat initially. Motor skill need time to develop.

Of course if your child’s writing and reading skills seems to be lagging other children, consult your child’s teacher. If your child has a learning problem early intervention can really help.

Breaking Bad Habits

It’s hard to break bad habits that our kids pick up, whether it’s whining, falling asleep without your help, or biting.  These habits can be frustrating, but with a little patience and being consistent, you can help break bad habits. Click here to read the article.

The difference between Tattling and Telling

In most cases kids don’t understand the difference between tattling and telling. And with all the bullying problems as of lately we want to make sure our kids know when to tell an adult.

Stopping unnecessary tattling might be as simple as helping your child understand the situations where it’s important to report about someone else’s behavior versus when it’s not necessary or when they can handle a situation on their own.

Rules are everything to a young child. Their life is so structured and rules-driven that the breaking of any rule no matter how minor is a big deal. To begin to determine the difference in severity of a break in rules they need examples. That is why it is important that the adults around them lead by example.

Here are a few tips you can use to reduce the occurrence of tattling:

• Start paying more attention to your child’s tattling. This will help you understand what your child feels is an important infraction of the rules. Plus you never know when they might be tattling about something important.
• Each time they tell you an unnecessary tattle explain to them why it’s not a critical infraction on the rules.
• Explain to your child how they might have been able to solve the issue for themselves rather than tattling.
• Then reinforce that it’s important for them to continue to bring important issues to your attention. You don’t want to discourage them from confiding in you.
• If tattling persists, try spending a little extra time with your child. Sometimes tattling is another way for your child to get attention.

Hopefully you’ll begin to see your child make their own decisions on what’s important to bring to your attention and what’s not.

4 Surefire Tips to Help Your Child Open Up

You pick your child up from school and you ask how their day was. You get the traditional response “fine”. As parents and guardians we want to know what is going on in our kid’s lives. Scholastic.com offers some suggestions on how to get your little one to open up about their day. Click here to read the whole article.

Keeping Kids Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

It’s cold and flu season. Runny noses, coughs, aches, late sleepless nights, crying, it’s all part of cold and flu season. You might not be able to avoid the cold or the flu, but here are a few tips to help you survive the season and maybe avoid a bug or two.

Establish a Germ Fighting Routine

Use the Vampire Cough – Teach your children to cough and sneeze into the crook of their arm. It’s easier to prevent the spread of germs if they are not contaminating their hands when they cough into them.

Wash Your Hands– You have heard it from your mom and now you’re hearing it in public service announcements on TV. Wash your hands. This is the best weapon in your germ fighting arsenal. You should teach children when to wash their hands:
• After using the bathroom
• Before they eat
• After play dates
• When they return to the house after being out

And how they wash their hands makes a difference. Teach the steps below for a proper hand washing:
• Always use warm water and soap
• Sing "Happy Birthday" twice – to make sure your washing for 15 to 20 seconds
• Use hand sanitizing gel if water isn’t available
• When using gel, scrub your hands for about 20 seconds

Lead by Example – Show your kids good habits by following the germ fighting routine above on your own. This way they are much more likely to pick up good habits instead of germs.

Emergency! What to Teach Your Kids About Safety and First-Aid

Have you wondered how your child would respond in an emergency situation if you or another member of your family needed help. Kid’s can’t be expected to respond to an emergency in an adult way, but there are some basic tasks that you can teach them that could turn out to be life-saving. Click here to read the article

Indoor Activities for Little Ones

With the weather outside being downright freezing, you may be looking for some indoor activities to do with your little ones.

Toddlers

Whisper down the Lane is great indoor game. Not only does playing this game help keep their voices down and bring lots of laughter, it’s also a memory game. Trying to recall correctly what others are whispering helps to develop a child’s short-term memory and ability to follow directions.

Try some arts and crafts, make a Cheerio necklace. This will keep their little hands busy. Then the next time they tell you they are hungry let them snack on their necklace.

Preschoolers

Take a Trip
Tell your child you’re taking an imaginary trip. Ask them where in the world they would like to go. Look up facts on the Internet about the place they pick. Let them pack a small bag with clothes and maybe even pack some food that’s appropriate. Take it one step further and decorate your living room to resemble the vacation spot and play games.

A good game of Simon Say’s can take an hour off the clock. It also helps a child develop memory and listening skills. Preschoolers can learn a lot from simple games requiring them to follow basic directions, a skill that they will need to have to be successful at school.

Top 10 Outdoor Winter Activities

As the cold temperatures begin to take hold over the region, it signifies the official start of winter.  FamilyEducation.com suggests 10 fun outdoor activities for the family. Remember that winter temperatures and winter sports require special safety equipment and clothing. Be active and safe this winter! Click here to read the article.