New Year’s Eve Fun With the Kids

Plan a New Year’s bash with your kids that is fun and educational. Kids can feel left out of New Year’s celebrations because they can’t stay up until midnight. But with a little planning, your kids can have a New Year’s bash that they will remember for years to come.

It’s Always Midnight Somewhere – Plan your party by the world clock and ring in the New Year when the clock strikes 12 somewhere else. This is also a great way to teach geography and world cultures. Another option is ringing in the New Year at noon.

Imitate the Ball Drop – Buy a pinata so you can imitate the Times Square ball drop. At midnight, let the kids crack it open to get the candy. Or, try a balloon drop. Put a bunch of balloons in a large trash bag and then release them at your faux midnight.

Toast – Use plastic, fancy glasses with sparkling cider

Think Up Resolutions- Help your child stick to their resolutions by writing them down or making posters to remind them.

Make Noisemakers - Fill toilet paper roll with rice or dry beans. Cover both ends with paper and decorate the tube. Shake it as the ball drops to welcome the New Year.

Happy New Year!

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Fun Things To Do With Kids Over Holiday Break

With the kids home from school this week parents will be looking for activities to do with the kids.

Here a few ideas:

Cooking– Involve your child in the holiday cooking. Under supervision, letting them help you in the kitchen can be a great learning experience. Reinforce counting and measuring as they help you measure the ingredients. Let them help pour the ingredients into a bowl to practice coordination and fine motor skills.

Science Experiments – You can do some really interesting home science experiments with household items. Teach them about static electricity by rubbing your feet on the carpet and touching each other to see if a static shock develops. Mix some baking soda, vinegar, and raisins and see if you can get raisins to dance. Education.com has some interesting science experiments you can do at home. Just use your best judgment to determine what’s safe for you and your child.

Pen Pals– Teach your child how to send a good old-fashioned letter. Let them create their own holiday cards and send them to relatives or even classmates. Your child’s friends will be excited to get mail and your child will have fun creating their own holiday cards. It will just cost you some stamps.

The holidays are a special time for children. Take the time off to slow down, spend quality time with the family and enjoy the special moments.

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DIY Giving: 8 Gifts Kids Can Make Themselves

Children like to make gifts for those important in their lives too. With the holidays fast
approaching, Education.com offers some great ideas on gift ideas kids can make. Click here to check them out.




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A Season for Sharing in Fire Safety

Each year fires occurring during the holiday season claim the lives of over 400 people, injure 1,650 more, and cause over $990 million in damage. According to the United States Fire Administration (USFA), there are simple life-saving steps you can take to ensure a safe and happy holiday. By following some of the outlined precautionary tips, individuals can greatly reduce their chances of becoming a holiday fire casualty.


Selecting a Tree for the Holiday
Needles on fresh trees should be green and hard to pull back from the branches, and the needle should not break if the tree has been freshly cut. The trunk should be sticky to the touch. Old trees can be identified by bouncing the tree trunk on the ground. If many needles fall off, the tree has been cut too long, has probably dried out, and is a fire hazard.


Caring for Your Tree
Do not place your tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace or heat vent. The heat will dry out the tree, causing it to be more easily ignited by heat, flame or sparks. Be careful not to drop or flick cigarette ashes near a tree. Do not put your live tree up too early or leave it up for longer than two weeks. Keep the tree stand filled with water at all times.


Disposing of Your TreeNever put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood burning stove. When the tree becomes dry, discard it promptly. The best way to dispose of your tree is by taking it to a recycling center or having it hauled away by a community pick-up service.


Maintain Your Holiday Lights
Inspect holiday lights each year for frayed wires, bare spots, gaps in the insulation, broken or cracked sockets, and excessive kinking or wear before putting them up. Use only lighting listed by an approved testing laboratory.


Do Not Overload Electrical Outlets
Do not link more than three light strands, unless the directions indicate it is safe. Connect strings of lights to an extension cord before plugging the cord into the outlet. Make sure to periodically check the wires - they should not be warm to the touch.

Do Not Leave Holiday Lights on unattended


Holiday Decorations

Use Only Nonflammable Decorations
All decorations should be nonflammable or flame-retardant and placed away from heat vents.

Never Put Wrapping Paper in a FireplaceIt can result in a very large fire, throwing off dangerous sparks and embers and may result in a chimney fire.


Artificial Christmas Trees
If you are using a metallic or artificial tree, make sure it is flame retardant.


Avoid Using Lit Candles
If you do use them, make sure they are in stable holders and place them where they cannot be easily knocked down. Never leave the house with candles burning.


Never Put Lit Candles on a Tree
Do not go near a Christmas tree with an open flame - candles, lighters or matches.


Finally, as in every season, have working smoke alarms installed on every level of your home, test them monthly and keep them clean and equipped with fresh batteries at all times. Know when and how to call for help. And remember to practice your home escape plan.


Source: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/holiday-seasonal/holiday.shtm

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Creating a Reader-Friendly Home

We all have heard about the importance of reading to our children. It’s best for parents and guardians to read lots of different books to build your preschoolers vocabulary. It is also important to try to have set times to read together. Before bed works well, as do other "down" times in the day, like first thing in the morning or after meals. Click here for more reading tips.


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Car Seat Safety

With so much information about car seat safety, many parents wonder and worry if they are keeping their child as safe as they should be. Below are guidelines set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA).

* Select a car seat based on your child's age, height, and weight.

* Keep your child in a car seat for the maximum age, as long as your child

fits the seat's height and weight requirements.

* All children under 13 should ride in the back seat.

Birth – 12 months

Your child under age 1 should always ride in a rear-facing car seat.

There are different types of rear-facing car seats: Infant-only seats can only be used rear-facing. Convertible and 3-in-1 car seats typically have higher height and weight limits for the rear-facing position, allowing you to keep your child rear-facing for a longer period of time.

1 – 3 years

Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It’s the best way to keep him or her safe. Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat’s manufacturer. Once your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, your child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness.

4 – 7 years

Keep your child in a forward-facing car seat with a harness until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat’s manufacturer. Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness, it’s time to travel in a booster seat, but still in the back seat.

8 – 12 years

Keep your child in a booster seat until he or she is big enough to fit in a seat belt properly. For a seat belt to fit properly the lap belt must lie snugly across the upper thighs, not the stomach. The shoulder belt should lie snug across the shoulder and chest and not cross the neck or face. Remember: your child should still ride in the back seat because it’s safer there.

Many local stores and organizations offer safety checks were certified technicians are available to check your car seat installation for free. Click HERE to find your nearest inspection station.

Source: http://www.nhtsa.gov

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Ways to Introduce Your Kids to Foreign Languages

December is learn a foreign language month, so now is a perfect time to teach your child a second language. Because the brain of a young child is in language hyper-drive learning mode, they can learn a foreign language much faster and much more effectively than a teen or adult. We found some successful ways to help your young one to learn a new language.Click here to read the article.

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Learning Through Games With Toddlers

When your toddler is around 3 years old you may want to start thinking about using board games to help them learn and grow. When we were growing up, board games were all the rage. But as handheld technology started to rule the world, the board game fell by the wayside.

You may be asking why you should dust off the old board games in the attic. Board and card games have a lot to teach your children. Not only can they teach them about success and disappointment, they can teach valuable cognitive and social skills through hands-on experience. And many children learn more effectively through hands-on experience.

Here are some of the benefits of playing board games:

• Learning to follow rules 
• Being honest 
• Focusing on a single task 
• Social Skills 
• Taking turns 
• Sharing 
• Learning to count 
• Matching 
• Learning colors, numbers, and letters 

A few examples of games that incorporate these skills:

• Candyland 
• Chutes and Ladders 
• Sorry 
• Trouble 

There are so many board games that you can choose from. Not all the games above may be appropriate for younger children. Make sure that you check the age rating to verify that the game is appropriate for your child and be very wary of small pieces particularly around the younger players.

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A Big-Kid Bed for Your Toddler

Parents struggle to figure out the right time to move their toddler from a crib to a big kid bed. Toddlers struggle with how to deal with this new freedom. We found some advice to make the tradition easier for everyone. Click here to read the article.




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Stopping Tantrums

This time of year brings out the best in our children, their schedules are off because of all the fun and exciting activities associated with the holidays. Parents often try to squeeze in a few more errands before nap time and this can lead to the dreaded public tantrum. Anyone who has ever been a parent or guardian has most likely had to endure the public tantrum. Instead of losing your cool, and your mind, try taking a deep breath, smile at an understanding adult nearby, and then see if one of these tips will work:

1. Distract

Distract your child with something. This a great way to help children calm down. Put a video on, listen to music, read a story, watch television, go outside, or watch animals outside your window. This is often not easy to do, but if you find a distraction that works it might be enough to settle them down.

2. Provide Incentive

A goal of good behavior can do wonders. Something along the lines of, if you stop fussing until we get to the car, I'll let you watch your favorite video tonight”. The child's favorite things are truly wonderful motivators to use. However, be sure to use this tactic sparingly so they don't expect a treat every time they show good or bad behavior.


3. Pick Your Battles

Sometimes you need to step in and stop the tantrum, other times if they are not hurting themselves, or anyone, or anything around them, let your toddler express their feelings. Let them get their anger out and then explain the consequences of their actions.


4. Keeping Your Cool

Do not overwhelm a child that really just needs some peace and calm to settle down. Your child mirrors your response to their tantrum. If you respond by yelling at your child this might just increase the tension and raise the level of your child’s tantrum or make it last longer. Try a calming hug and some kind words instead. Your child may just want to know that you understand their feelings or frustration.

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7 Tips for Teaching Children Gratitude

With the holiday season almost here, some families like to focus on teaching their children to be thankful. The question is how do we teach our children to be thankful and to help other? Here are 7 tips for teaching kids children gratitude. Click here to read the article



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Table Manners

Every family has a different outlook on manners. How a child should act at the dinner table depends on what you as a parent think is appropriate. It is hard enough just getting kids to sit down for more than five minutes to eat dinner. But, if you want to reinforce good table manners with your children, here are a few tips.


Eating with a fork - around the age of 3, you can begin explaining the difference between finger foods, like hot dogs or a soft pretzel, and foods you eat with a fork, like a steak or spaghetti.


Switching from the shirt to the napkin – also around age 3, you can start to remind your children to use their napkin instead of their shirt sleeve. This not only reinforces good table manners, it will also save you money on stain remover and new clothes.


Please and thank you – if you are trying to reinforce the use of please and thank you with your children, the table is a good place to start. Have your kids practice these skills when asking for or receiving food. When eating at a restaurant, you can also reinforce the importance of thanking others outside of the family when they do something nice for us.


Eating slowly – it’s not only good manners, it is good for your health. Eating more slowly and chewing thoroughly is helpful for overall digestive health, it reinforces good manners and it will give you more time to talk and get to know what’s going on in your child’s life.

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Sibling Spats

Most siblings fight, but some days it seems like they are quarreling over everything. What can a parent do? Here are some suggestions on how to stop sibling fights. Click here to read the article.

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Dealing with Bullies

Schools, the press, and society are starting to improve our countries response to bullying. But, bullying still occurs every day. As parents and guardians, we want to protect our little ones but we cannot be there all the time. What steps can you take to help prepare your child to deal with bullies? Here are a few tips:

Tell your child to avoid the bully as much as possible. Stay away from him/her on the playground.

Have your child practice standing and walking with confidence. Bullies usually pick on people who are smaller and physically weaker than they are, or who they feel will not retaliate

Don't let a bully make your child feel bad. Teach your child that when someone says something bad about them to think about something positive about yourself.

Don't reward the bully with tears. The bully wants to hurt your feelings, so act like his name-calling and taunts don't hurt.

Teach your child to use humor when dealing with a bully. Throwing a joke back at bullies taunting, can help diffuse the situation.

Most importantly, make sure your child is comfortable keeping the lines of communication open with you.

If you think the bullying has gotten out of control, contact your child’s school for help.

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Kids and Stress

As adults, we deal with stress every day and we learn coping skills that allow us to deal with stress effectively. Even though you may think kids have nothing to be stressed about, they do. Your child’s personality often has a lot to do with how well they deal with their stress. Here are some different situations that can cause stress for your child and some tactics to help them cope.

Babies

What can cause your baby stress? An overload of sensory information or a lack of downtime (naps and quiet time with mommy or daddy) can lead to stress in your baby. To help your baby cope, make sure that they are getting enough sleep. If your baby isn’t a great at taking naps, take some quiet time to cuddle during the day. Find a quiet place and put on some soothing music or maybe read a book to your baby. This will help them reset their senses and reduce their stress levels.


Kids

What can cause stress in school-aged kids? School work and exams, activities such as sports, and problems with friends such as cliques, can all cause your child stress. In addition, children often pick up on major stresses their parents are going through, no matter how good we think we are at hiding problems from our children.


One way to help your school-aged child to deal with their stress is by talking to them. Let them know that stress is a normal part of everyday life. Ask them about their problems. Tell them that you are always available to help them with their problems. Real issues can arise when your child feels alone and unable to seek help for their problems.


Tweens/Teens
This is a time of life when major stress often hits children. Stresses can be caused by relationships, school work, and overall pressure to succeed academically, socially, and in activities. Throw hormones in with stress and you get rapidly changing moods and emotional outbursts or, what’s also known as the typical teenager.

Talk is also a good way to help your teen cope with stress. However, it might be more difficult to get them to talk. Again, let them know that they are not alone and you are always available to help them solve even the toughest problems.

Begin to teach your teen coping mechanisms that work for you. For example, limiting distractions so you can focus, or take a big problem and break it down into smaller more easily solved issues.

Remember, if you think your child’s moods, emotions and ability to cope with stress are a bigger problem than they can handle, seek the help of your family doctor.


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How to Help With Peer Problems

Your child may come home saying they had no one to play with, or no one likes them. You may not be sure what to do. We found some great tips to help your child cope with peer problems. Click here to read the article.



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Combat Toy Room Clutter

With the holidays sneaking up quickly some parents start to purge the toys their children don’t play with anymore to make room for the new ones coming in. The hardest part is trying to organize the toys and figure out where to put everything while making the room accessible for the kids. Here are a few tips to help combat the toy room clutter. Click here to read the article.

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What to do with all that Halloween Candy

Wow, Halloween is almost here, you may be wondering what to do with the candy your kids will receive during all the Halloween festivities.  We’ve searched the web and found the following creative uses for leftover Halloween candy.

Baking
Many candies melt in the heat of the oven, leaving you with a yummy treat. Here are some possible recipes:

Add candy to homemade ice cream
Bake cookies with peanut butter cups or M&M’s
Bake Peppermint Patty Brownies


Use Your Candy for Play
Try using candy for play and learning activities:

Use candy as building blocks.
Teach your toddler to sort the candy into sizes, colors, and shapes.
Teach them matching by matching up like candies.
Count the candy by fives or tens.



Use Your Candy for Crafts
Store the candy away for a few weeks and then use it to decorate a gingerbread house or save it for advent calendars.


Teach Your Child About Charity
There are many charities that will accept candy donations.




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Stranger Danger

Strangers, it’s a scary word. To parents, it represents one of our biggest fears. We worry a lot about a stranger harming our children. To continue with Goddard’s theme this month about safety, we are focusing on strangers this week. How do you strike the balance between raising a friendly child vs. raising a cautious child? Click here to read the whole article.

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Trick or Treating Safety Tips

Halloween is an exciting time of year for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) put together a comprehensive list of safety tips. Here are a few highlights. To read the full list click on this link American Academy of Pediatrics.

Costume:
Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.

Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags for greater visibility.

Because masks can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic makeup and decorative hats as safer alternatives. Hats should fit properly to prevent them from sliding over eyes.


Walking at Night

A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.

If your older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.

Only go to homes with a porch light on and never enter a home or car for a treat.

Healthy Food:

A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.

Consider purchasing non-food treats for those who visit your homes, such as coloring books or pens and pencils.

Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.

Try to ration treats for the days following Halloween.

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