Fourth of July Fun With Kids

Fourth of July will be here later this week and you want to make it a fun event for the whole family. Below are a few tips on making it an exciting time for the kids.


Head to your local library and pick out some books to read to the kids about Independence Day.

Teach the kids some patriotic songs like "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Crafts are always a great hit. Have them make an American flag or a paper chain of red, white and blue construction paper. Make fireworks on black construction paper.

Everyone loves a Fourth of July Parade. If you don’t have a parade in your town let your children decorate their bikes and make their own parade. Even better, get kids from the neighborhood involved. You just might start a tradition.

Everyone loves dessert. With some whipped topping, strawberries and blueberries they can create a sweet treat everyone can enjoy.

When the sun goes down attend a fireworks display or, have them look for fireworks off in the distance. End the night with a fun game of flashlight tag.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!



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Managing Your Toddler's 5 a.m. Wake-up Call

It’s the weekend and your toddler has decided to wake up before 6am. What is a parent to do? Do you keep them up later at night? Parenthood.com offers some great suggestions on how to deal with you early riser. Click here to read the article.


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Reading During Summer Break

School’s Out For the Summer!!! It’s a proven fact that kids that read over the summer retain more knowledge from the past school year allowing them to be better prepared to start the next school year. But parents sometimes have a difficult time getting their kids to read. Here are a few simple tips on how to get your children excited about summer reading.

Provide them as much incentive as possible to read. Some stores like Pottery Barn Kids and Barnes & Noble offer rewards for summer readers.

Read together – to make things more interesting try playing out the characters. Use funny voices, be animated and try to make the story come to life. Have your child do the same while reading to you.

Keep it fun - don’t correct your child for every mistake they make while reading. Instead give them lots of positive encouragement just for reading during the summer.

Make going to the library a summer event. Let your child search through and pick out the books that interest them and that they want to read. The library often has summer activities that can help reinforce that libraries and reading can be fun.

Many children get hooked on reading through reading a series of books. Think of all of the kids who have become great readers through Harry Potter and other series books. If your child gets intrigued by certain characters, they may get hooked on the next book in the series and become a reader for life.

Enjoy your summer reading!



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Teaching Your Preschooler to Dress Himself

One of the most important skills your preschooler needs to learn is dressing themselves. By creating a positive environment and giving them choices your little one will be a pro in a short amount of time. Click here to read the whole article.






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Easy Summer Games

Here are some easy games for when you’re on a limited budget and your kids are bored.

Green Bowling
Find a volleyball, basketball or soccer ball and set up a bowling ally in your backyard. For bowling pins, here is where the green comes in, go to the recycling bin and find discarded plastic bottles to use as pins. Have your children keep score. This will reinforce counting and basic math skills during the long summer break from school.

Pickpocket Tag
Use some old shirts or cut up some cloth and tell each child to tuck it into their back pocket. Have the kids play tag by pulling the cloth out of each others pockets. The child with the most pieces of fabric wins. You can also add to the fun by having the kids dribble soccer balls while playing tag for an additional challenge.

Cold Potato
Here is a tricky spin on the old game hot potato. Instead of a ball or an actual potato, fill up a balloon with water. Have your children get into a circle and pass the balloon from one to another. On a hot summer day, when the water balloon pops, your children will just love cooling off.

Walk Don’t Run
This is another way to take what’s in the recycling bin and use it for summer fun. Set up a course with old plastic bottles from the recycling bin. Let the children take a long look at the course. Then, blindfold them and let them walk through the course without going outside of the boundaries. Just make sure you follow each child so they don’t fall and get hurt.

Other Options

Flashlight Tag

Red Lights Green Light

Kickball





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Your Child’s Learning Style

 Understanding how your child learns can help you understand the best way to reinforce new concepts at home. Scholastic.com offers a quiz to help parents figure out their child’s learning style. Click here to read the article




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Kids Allowance

It’s important to start teaching your kids financial responsibility at a young age. An allowance is a good way to begin to teach basic concepts like how to earn and save money and the basic concept of investing.

Not only does an allowance help kids understand the concepts above, it can also teach responsibility, counting skills, and independence.

When and if to start instituting an allowance with your child is an individual decision but here are some basic guidelines you may want to follow:

Consider Age

You don’t have to wait until your child can count or understand the concept of money. Non-monetary rewards like TV time or working toward a toy they really want can work just as well. However, they should be able to understand why and what they are working for, otherwise setting goals and rewards will be meaningless.

Start Small

A great rule of thumb is small rewards for small tasks. If the task is too big or the reward takes too long to achieve your child will lose interest. Household chores are good to start; helping Dad take out the trash or cleaning up their room can make your work easier too.

Clarify the Rules

Make it crystal clear what it takes for your child to earn their reward. Make the rules clear to avoid potential conflict and disappointment later.

Once your child has nest egg built up, try borrowing money from them one or twice a year and pay them interest on your loan. Borrowing can teach them the basic concept of investing and returns.




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“Life is good”: 4 Ways to Nurture Optimism In Your Kids

Optimism can help your child cope with the challenges of life. Sometimes it is hard to to optimistic about things. Parents.com offers 4 great ways to nurtures your child's optimism. Click here to read the article.






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Toddler Teeth

Toddlers usually feel two ways about brushing their teeth. They are either excited to be a big girl or boy, or they are uncooperative. It’s important to help your young one develop good oral hygiene. Here are some tips on handling common teeth brushing problems.

Start with good habits early – when your baby's first tooth pops out, you can begin to brush their teeth.


Take advantage of your child’s curiosity – if your child wants to brush their own teeth, and you feel they have the ability to brush their own teeth, let them. However, you should supervise the process up until your child is school-aged.


Let Your Child Express Their Independence– let them have fun picking out the toothpaste and the brush they want. This is just another way to get them interested.


Be Creative – there have been a lot of changes in tooth brush technology since we were kids. A toothbrush can now play music, speak to your child, and they are shaped as your child’s favorite character. Take advantage of these gimmicks to increase your child’s interest in teeth brushing.


If you have a real dental question you should always contact your friendly pediatric dentist.







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