Kids

6 Fun and Unique Show and Tell Ideas for Kids

6 Fun and Unique Show and Tell Ideas for Kids

My son looks forward to his show and tell day every week. It’s a fun time for him to have his class’ attention and share something that’s important to him. The only problem is, around about week 10, ideas for things to send become very limited. There’s only so many super-fantastic, mega interesting toys a kid can share.

I encourage my son to shake things up and take different items that have significance to him or our family. It makes his show and tell time more interesting, and helps him appreciate things that are more important than a few cool toys. Today, he took a gigantic (I’m talking bizarrely enormous) carrot that my mother grew in her garden. He’s just as excited to share this rare find as he was when he took his robotic caveman last week. He was as proud of his grandma for her mad gardening skills as he was to be sharing such a one-of-kind treasure.

If you get stuck as to what to send for your child’s show and tell, here are a few ideas to get you started:

Old toys. If you have old toys that were yours when you were young, these make interesting show and tell ideas. My only suggestion is to avoid sending something that is very valuable or is in delicate condition, but that goes for anything you would send to school.

Books. Your child can share favorite bedtime books or even cook- or craft books that you’ve used together. If he’s sharing a recipe that you’ve made together, mark the page for him before he leaves for school so it’s easy for him to find quickly.

Pictures. Pictures of his family or from a vacation are always fun things for your child to share. He can point out things and people and describe them for his class. If a picture is super important to you, make and send a copy, just in case.

Souvenirs. Souvenirs from family adventures make fantastic show and tell treasures. He can not only describe the object, but the trip itself.

Crafts and projects. If you’ve worked on a cool craft project together recently, he can take it in and give a brief explanation of the creative process.

Old baby items. Did he have a favorite rattle that he couldn’t leave home without? These items are special to your child’s personal history and are cool things to share when the idea of loving something so simple seems unbelievable.

Show and tell is a brief, but important time in your child’s school week. It’s one of the few times that the whole class is focused on something that is special solely to him. Each week, he has the opportunity to shine and share something that makes him happy. Helping him choose a really cool show and tell treasure will keep him feeling like a superstar every week.

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Thirsty Kids? Get Your Children to Drink More Water!

Thirsty Kids? Get Your Children to Drink More Water!

The human body is primarily made of water, so it only makes sense that your growing kids should be drinking plenty of it. Still, if your children have grown accustomed to drinking flavored, sugary juices and drink mixes, plain water can be a hard sell. Don’t be embarrassed if your children are hooked on the sweet stuff, I’m speaking from experience here. My kids didn’t come with instruction manuals, either.

I actually didn’t realize how important it was to help my kids kick the sweetly-flavored drink habit, which includes juice, until my 4-year-old got his first cavity. The dentist explained that the top two causes of cavities in young children are juice and pasta (which gets stuck between the teeth and breaks down into sugar). Besides the damage to my kids’ chompers, sweet drinks can also negatively affect their behaviors (bounce of the walls much, kiddos) and development.

One of the best things you can do for your kids’ health is eliminate the sugary drinks and replace them with water. Water is important to children for a variety of reasons. Getting 6 – 8 glasses of water per day will:

  • Help nutrients and other vital goodies move around their bodies
  • Transport wastes out of their bodies through urine
  • Keep their bodies at comfortable temperature by sweating
  • Help to avoid painful constipation
  • Keeps dehydration (which causes dizziness, headaches and fatigue) at bay

Encouraging your children to drink plenty of water may require a little more effort than just sharing these benefits with them. Even if they can understand what you’re telling them, being able to poop regularly probably isn’t going to sound like a good enough reason to ditch the sugar-filled deliciousness of a soft drink.

If you don’t want a heel-digging battle of wills, give these tricks a shot to make water seem a whole lot more appealing.

  1. Glam it up: When it comes to kids and water, one of the immediate turnoffs is that it’s clear. How could it possibly be good if it’s just so boring, right? The solution? A few drops of food coloring. You can choose the color of the day or let them select it themselves. Either way, it just may be pretty enough to drink.
  2. Dress it for success: Choose some fun, reusable water bottles for the kids to drink from. Nothing quenches a thirst like some agua from a Dora cup.
  3. Get wacky with it: Never underestimate the power of some bizarre straws — and the bendier the better. There’s just something so fantastic about a twisty straw that kids have to have wills of steel to turn them away, even if the payoff is just water.
  4. Model it like a superstar: If your kids are watching you drink sweet drinks, they’re not going to want to drink water; parents are the most influential people in children’s lives. If you champion water by drinking it regularly, it will seem completely natural for them to drink it, too.

I know that it’s not easy to make the switch from sweet drinks to water, even as an adult. I grew up on Kool-Aid, juice and chocolate milk like most of the children in my generation, so I had to train myself to appreciate and drink enough water, too. Encouraging your kids to drink water may take some creativity, but given the benefits to their growing bodies, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

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Kitchen Lessons: Fun Cooking Ideas for Kids

Kitchen Lessons: Fun Cooking Ideas for Kids

My children are all getting to the age where they are curious about cooking. When I go into the kitchen for anything, whether to make a bowl of cereal or spaghetti, they all follow me hoping to have something to do.

The extent to what they can do depends on their age and interest. My eldest son is six, so he helps me prepare the food. He doesn’t get the knife to chop up onions or anything, but he gets to put things in bowls, mix batters and make hamburger patties (that’s his favorite).

My 4-year-old primarily likes to watch what’s going on. I sit there and tell him about what I’m doing and why. He sits there and soaks it all up. I can only imagine how much help he is going to be when he is older. He’ll already know how to do everything from watching me over all these years.

My youngest is only two, and his way of helping is grabbing whatever I put out and then running away with it. It could be the jam, bread or even a package of chicken. It then takes me about 30 seconds of running around to get it back. This is a habit that I hope he grows out of. Most of the time, I don’t even know he has done it until it’s too late.

I could have the refrigerator open for 10 seconds and the next thing I know, he’s sitting on the floor trying to drink a bottle of ranch dressing.

Children have a natural wonder about cooking and food preparation. It goes in the oven one way and comes out another. It tastes good, for the most part, and what parent hasn’t let their children get a finger full or cookie dough?

It’s important that children learn about food and cooking, not only for the obvious nutritional information, but their future as well. My husband never helped his mom cook, and when he went to college, everything he ate came from a microwave. It wasn’t until he met me that he began to understand and enjoy cooking. I don’t want my sons to have the same experience.

Let your children participate in cooking duties, even if they’re as small as getting something out of the refrigerator or mixing the batter. I guarantee they’ll love it and, eventually, they’ll be able to help you out with some of the cooking duties.

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How to Help Kids with Homework without Doing It for Them

How to Help Kids with Homework without Doing It for Them

All parents want their children to do their best in school. Part of that is being involved in their schoolwork. Sitting down with your children and helping them understand the instructions, working through hard math problems and looking over their finished homework is all part of a mom’s job description. But where do you draw the line? Is there such a thing as “giving too much help”? The short answer is yes.

There is a difference between helping and doing, and with your heart in the right place, it can be hard not to overstep that line. If you find that your children’s homework is looking more like your own, it’s time to step back.

Make sure the instructions are clear. If your son is having a hard time with a piece of homework, or you check it over and see a lot of mistakes, make sure he understands what the instructions are. Kids are only human, and sometimes have trouble admitting that they don’t understand exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. Have him read you the directions and then ask him to tell you what they mean in his own words. If he’s having a problem “getting” what he’s supposed to be doing, you can explain it in a way that he understands.

Give an example and then let them complete the work. If your child is struggling with fractions, help her work through one problem, supervise her as she works through the next and then give her space to complete the assignment.

Look for completeness and overall correctness. Check to see if the whole assignment is done and that a fair percentage of the answers are correct. If you notice an error or two, let it go. Learning from mistakes applies to homework as well as other life situations. If you see that there are more wrong answers than right ones, he either didn’t understand the assignment or hurried through it to move on to something else. Find out if he needs your help understanding, clarify an questions he has and then let him do the assignment over. If the problem was a struggle with understanding, you can help him learn what he needs to know. If the work wasn’t done correctly because he was rushing, he’ll learn that it’s better to do things right the first time.

Give guidance on projects, but don’t do the work. Throughout the years, your children will have their fair shares of essays, dioramas and presentations. If they ask for help, try to stick more to helping them develop their concepts and troubleshoot any hurdles they face, but let the basic ideas and work be their own. If your ideas take over the project, or you find that you’re up until 4 am the night before it’s due, just trying to get it done, or capture your vision, what did your child really learn? Not only will your child miss the benefits of learning through his work and being proud of his accomplishment, but teachers can tell when a project was done by parents and not students. You’ll totally get busted, and it could cost him a good grade.

Every parent has a duty to help his or her children with schoolwork. The level of help required for your child’s academic success totally depends on your youngster, and some guidance will be needed from time to time. That doesn’t, however, mean that you have to, or should, do the work for them, even with the best of intentions. The best way to help your child succeed in school is to let him or her do the work with your caring supervision. Then, they can truly learn the lessons they are being taught, and be proud of their accomplishments.

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Hands Off! Grilling With Kids Around

Hands Off! Grilling With Kids Around

I love cooking food out on the grill. The flavors of the meat and vegetables are unparalleled, and my kids always gobble everything up. What mom could complain about that?

Still, gobbling aside, cooking out can be dangerous when small children are around. Little hands like to grab BBQ tools – which tend to be sharp – and touch the lid, which can burn them. I like having my children outside when I grill, so they get some fresh air, but the grill is an attractive item. They seem to gravitate to it like moths to light bulbs.

The first key to demystifying the grill is to tell and show them how it works. Explain to them that the charcoal or gas gets very hot to cook the meat, and it’s no different than the stove in the house. Remind them that they should never touch, or go near, the stove, and the same goes for the grill.

Try and keep the kids about 10 feet from the grill if possible. This not only keeps them from getting burned, but also from inhaling smoke if the wind suddenly changes. If you are making steaks for yourself and burgers or hot dogs for the kids, cook their food first, and serve it at a safe distance from the grill.

The sooner they eat the sooner they are out of the way of the grill.

Gas grills are particularly hazardous because of the canisters of propane. Little hands like to pull hoses and turn nobs, so they should never be left alone when the grill is cooking. In fact, construct a cage around the tanks to keep the children out, and lock it with a padlock.

Don’t cook greasy meats such as bratwurst when the children are around. The grease is very flammable and can create a tower of flame when it ignites. Instead, cook the non-greasy food first and give it to the children before cooking greasier meats.

Children are naturally curious and that could be detrimental when grilling outside. Parents should keep an eye on them at all times, and never leave the grill when the children are outside. It just takes one second for a child to touch the hot surface and get really hurt. Keep your children safe while you’re grilling, and every barbecue will lead to full bellies and happy memories.

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School: Can Bad Teachers Actually Be Good for Our Kids?

School: Can Bad Teachers Actually Be Good for Our Kids?

One of the hardest things a parent has to do is give his children up for six hours a day for the sake of their education. I can clearly remember being in school, and all the different teachers whom I loved and hated throughout the years.

My eldest begins his first day of kindergarten, and I can only imagine what the next 12 years are going to be like. He’s got a few behavioral issues, and it’s important that he has the right kind of teacher to work with him. He needs someone laid back and not stringent on procedure and protocol. If you try to dig in your heels and create a battle of wills, he’ll win.

Sadly, we don’t have the ability to choose which teacher he gets. If parents did, then some classrooms would have 80 kids each, because everyone would pick the same teachers. Sometimes, I wonder if the teachers I didn’t like were the best ones of all. I remember an English teacher in high school who nobody like. She had no sense of humor and killed us with homework.

And here I am, 15 years later, spending my days writing and using grammar all the time. I wouldn’t have learned nearly as much if I hadn’t been forced to learn under a dictatorial thumb. We all wish we could have a Mr. Holland or Mr. Schuester that puts his life into his work and spends all his time helping children. There is a reason why Glee is fiction, and it’s not just because they spontaneously break out into song.

Teachers aren’t supposed to be a friend. They are, in many ways, like parents. We can have fun and joke around, but when it comes down to it, it’s our responsibility to enforce the rules even when it makes our children sad or angry. I look back at some of the teachers I didn’t like and realize that I learned far more from them than I wanted to admit. I only hope my children have teachers who they can’t stand and end up respecting.

Don’t get me wrong, there are teachers that, to this day, I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, but they are few and far between. I know my son will come to me one day about a teacher being too hard on him, and I’ll tell him about my teachers…

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Easy Craft for Kids: Tissue Paper Flower

Easy Craft for Kids: Tissue Paper Flower

When I was in fifth grade, I had the best teacher, Mrs. Brewer. She was just one of those teachers who you knew was passionate about her job and loved molding young minds. She always knew just how to challenge, engage and entertain us, and disappointing her was just as awful as disappointing our own parents. I adore this woman as a teacher and friend…over 20 years later. Remarkable woman.

I still remember all sorts of stuff from her class, especially the fun crafts and games (sorry, Mrs. B. I was a kid after all). Now that I’m a mom, I often pull these rabbits out of my hat for my own kids, and they always think I’m some sort of miracle worker. I mean really…only a master magician could turn some Taco Bell wrappers into a gorgeous flower, right?

Stand back, Criss Angel, mama’s one of Mrs. Brewer’s kids.

What you need:

4 – 8 inch squares of tissue paper for each flower (Taco Bell wrappers work in a pinch, but mind the sour cream, kids.)

1 – 12 inch Green pipe cleaner

Instructions:

  1. Layer the squares of tissue paper on top of each other
  2. Fold the squares (together) back and forth like a fan or an accordion
  3. Pinch the center of the folded paper
  4. Fold the pipe cleaner in half over the pinched center
  5. Under the paper, twist the pipe cleaner so it holds the pinch tightly
  6. Twist the rest of the length of the pipe cleaner together
  7. Gently pull each layer of the paper up toward the center

When all the layers are pulled up on both sides, you can carefully adjust the petals to your beautiful new flower.

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Learning Fun: Making Flashcards for Your Kids

Learning Fun: Making Flashcards for Your Kids

Flashcards are a great learning tool for young children, whether they’re readers or not. Traditionally, they’re made with different themes, such as numbers, math, the alphabet, people, places, shapes and colors. In most instances, you can find a variety of flashcards in family-friendly stores, but sometimes it’s hard to find the perfect set for your particular needs.

Maybe you want to work on teaching your children another language, or you’re looking for cards that are either simpler or more complex than the ones at the market. If you make them yourself, you can design your children’s flashcards exactly the way you want them.

What you need:

Plain Index Cards
Glue
Scissors
Pictures printed from the Internet or cut from magazines
Internet access for terms or words you need to research
Self-adhesive laminate sheets
Printer
Ruler

Choose a Theme

Let’s say you’d really like to teach your child some basic Russian vocabulary. Chances are, you’re not going to find appropriate flashcards at the local dollar store. Your options are either to look online, or make some yourself.

Choose Words

First, you need a list of words you’d like to teach your child. If this is just a beginner’s deck, you’ll want to pick common words that will have significance to your little one, like mom, dad, food, water and bathroom. You can always move on to more vocabulary words later. If you’re already fluent in the language, matching the English words to the corresponding Russian ones will be a snap. If Russian is as foreign to you as it is your munchkin, you can look the words up in an English/Russian translation dictionary, or online.

Label Cards

You can write the words directly on the index cards or type them on your computer, print them and paste them on. If you’d like to just use words for your flashcards, you can label one side with the English word and the other with the correct Russian word or term. You can also use the printed Russian term on the back of the card and add a picture to the front by choosing pictures on the Web, printing and pasting them on.

Seal Cards

Once your cards are labeled and pictured, you’ll want to seal them so they last. You can pick up a variety of sizes of peel and stick laminate sheets in most big box and craft stores. Place each card onto a piece of laminate and carefully press down the other sheet on top of it. Firmly swipe from one side to the other with a ruler to work out any bubbles. Trim around the edges about an 1/8 of an inch from the sides of the card. Repeat the laminating process for each card and they’ll last you a long time.

You can use this process to make flashcards for any theme and every age range, from farm animals for toddlers to road signs for your student driver.

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