6 Tips to Creating the Balance between Video Games for Kids & Physical Activities for Your Children
When is playing video games unhealthy for my kids? How long is too long to be in front of a video game or a television? How do you create the balance between video games and outdoor activities for my children? Your schedule is full already with after school activities and music lessons; where can you find the time to spend outside doing some fun physical activities with your kids?
Today, the average child between the age of five to seventeen years old require only sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. Sadly, only seven percent of children in this age range actually meet this requirement. Is the rest of their time spent in front of a computer or video game or TV.
How can we, as parents, encourage our children to get involved in outside activities? How can we model, for our children, the benefits of physical activity?
We can start by using the following tips:
Babysitters: 10 Tips on How to Find the Best Childcare for Your Night Out?
We all wish that we could have Mary Poppins to take over the childcare while we indulge ourselves with a night out. Unfortunately, that is not possible. So, what does a parent do to find the best person to provide childcare for their kids, for just a few hours?
Here are five suggestions for you to consider when looking for your “Mary Poppins”:
- Start looking for babysitters within your family or your circle of friends. Knowing the family of babysitter will ease your concerns. Even start involving these possible babysitters in caring for your child. When you are at a family gathering, ask for help from the likely candidate. Watch their reaction and interaction with your child.
- Get references. If finding a babysitter within your family or friend circle is not possible, ask other parents at your child’s daycare or school. Even ask the daycare staff. Call these references. Think about the concerns you have and ask questions. How does the prospective babysitter interact with children and even other adults? The babysitter will be interacting with you just as much as with your children. Has the babysitter taken a babysitter course?
- Arrange a trial visit. Have the chosen candidate come to your house for a couple of hours. Watch how they interact with your children. Do they engage your children? Are your children comfortable interacting with this babysitter? Leave your children alone with the babysitter for a few minutes, then pop back into the room to see what’s going on. to continue reading or to comment
Cell Phones for Children: What age is the right age to give kids cell phones?
This is one of many questions that all parents ask themselves today. In this day of wireless kids, is it important that a six-year-old have a cell phone to add to the growing collection to “techno toys”? We want our children to be mobile but is it that critical that they be a “mobile child”? Another big question, are children responsible enough to take care of the cell phone let alone use it responsibly?
I believe this is a personal choice. For my husband and I, raising our children, we didn’t want the boys to become “techno” dependent. We were raised with the trust of our parents, that when we were playing with our friends and our curfew was 1030p, we would be home by curfew time. And if we didn’t get home by curfew, we would have to deal with the consequences. We wanted that for our children. It gave us and them a sense of independence and responsibility.
MarvinDiscovers Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas!
Start a family tradition of cooking dinner together!
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is prepared by Grandma or Mom. They spend hours, even days ahead of time, to ensure that each dish is perfect for the family and guests at the table.
This year, why not put a new twist on the preparation of the Thanksgiving dinner? Get the whole family involved in the preparation of specific dishes.
Here are a couple of suggested recipes that your children could create or at least help to make for the special day.
Serve biscuits with your dinner. Your child will love to help measure, pour, stir, need the dough and cut out the biscuits.
Marvin Discovers School – 10 Tips to Effective Study Habits for Your Child
Now that you have established the “family routine” for the new school year; it’s time to help create great study habits for your children. Tests and assignments are part of the school routine and encouraging good work and study habits will help improve your child’s grades and confidence.
The success of a child in school is dependent on their study habits and organizational skills. Establishing a homework routine or habit early will ensure fewer struggles for your child as they continue through school and life.
Tip No. 1: Create a “homework” area, now is the time. It could be the kitchen or dinning room table, the family “den”, even your child’s bedroom. Stock it with paper, pencils, pens, etc, everything that will encourage the successful completion of the assigned homework.
Tip No. 2: Set a time with your child to do their homework. Mark it on the calendar. Hold that time priority, straying from this time discourages good homework habits. Set reasonable consequences for not using this time effectively.
Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas & Under Budget
Finding it hard to stay within your budget for Halloween? Looking for ideas for awesome costumes that won’t break your bank account? Let me know what you think of these ideas.
Why not head to the nearest Value Village or Thrift Shop and look for items to create a Traveling Doctor costume. It’s perfect for little ones and with good picks, the suit could be worn again for Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s. Things you could look for:
Black suit (your child’s size)
Hat, Fedora
Doctor’s kit
When I created this costume for my first son, the total cost was $10-$15.
Be Safe this Halloween-10 Safety Tips to Ensure a Happy Halloween!
With all the excitement of the Halloween celebration it is easy to forget about safety. Here are 10 simple tips to ensure a safe and fun Halloween for you, your family and even your family pets.
Safety Tip No.1-Improve your child’s sight range. Use make-up instead of masks. Get creative and use face paint instead. Just remember to put on a little cold cream first, to make clean up easier.
Of course we all know that there are costumes that your child will insist on wearing the matching mask. When the eyeholes are narrow and hard to see through, just make the eyeholes larger with scissors.
Safety Tip No.2-Make your own mask. This is a great opportunity to create something unique with your child. Go to http://hgtv.com, search for Halloween costume patterns.
What Are You Thankful For on this Thanksgiving?
With the Canadian Thanksgiving coming this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to share what I am “thankful” for in my life. First, a little history;
An English Explorer, Martin Frobisher, created the Canadian Thanksgiving. He had been looking for a northern passage to the Orient. Even though he did not succeed, he did establish a settlement in Northern America. Which today is called Newfoundland. He then held a formal ceremony in 1578 to give thanks for surviving his long journey. This is considered to be Canada’s first Thanksgiving.
Today, Canadian’s celebrate a successful harvest and for our family, we celebrate all the successes of the past year and what we are thankful for.
I am thankful for my husband. He is super supportive and encourages me everyday to pursue what makes me happy.
I am thankful for my kids and granddaughter. They keep me young and focused on the important things in life, family.
How Do You Ease Your Kindergarten Child into the Routine of School?
If you prefer you can listen to this blog post about how to ease your kindergardener into the routine of school by clicking the player below.
For lots of kids, back to school is part of the norm. But for little Johnny, this is his first day at Kindergarten. You have taken him shopping for new cloths, backpack, lunch box and some school supplies. He seems excited to have all the “new cool stuff”, yet he hesitates when you ask him if he is excited about going to school.
What can you do to ease little Johnny’s anxiety?
Here are 10 tips on how you can help Little Johnny;
Tip Number 1: Check your own stress level: this can be an emotional day for many a Mom and Dad. It is very important to ease your own stress; kids will pick up on your anxiety.
Tip Number 2: If at all possible, take the day off from work: kids grow up fast and being part of this milestone is important for you and little Johnny. Johnny will be more comfortable with his new adventure to have you a part of it.
Back to School Mornings – 5 Easy Steps to Calming the Storm
When school starts back after the summer, the morning routine can be very demanding and stressful for the whole family. Most households are chaotic from the moment they wake the kids to the moment they drop them off at daycare or wave good-bye to them on the bus.
Do you often think, “OMG, get me out of here!”?
If your house is anything like mine used to be, mornings were one of the most stressful times of the day. There was bickering, fighting, and sometimes even crying. Can you relate?
