Spring is here, and with it the almost audible hum of energy that comes from children who have been cooped up inside too long. We all know the importance of limiting screen time, but did you know that letting a child experience nature can help alleviate anxiety, depression and attention disorders? The lure of laptops and tablets can make it hard to sell today’s children on the great outdoors. Sometimes they need a little help stimulating their imaginations. Here are seven books to do just that.
It seems hard to believe, but you don’t have to set aside special time to accomplish tasks like painting or gardening on your own. You can involve kids in housework, and not only will they learn important life skills, you’ll have some great bonding experiences, too!
Whether it was the epic Canadian fashion sported by Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and Michelle Obama at the recent White House state dinner or the new sense of hope and ‘cool’ that has descended over our beaver and toque-loving nation, our first Mother’s Day Gift Guide features all things Canadian. And yes, for you American readers, it means that the prices are about 25% less than what we are publishing so your purchasing power will go even farther for MOM! Let’s Go Canada for Mothers Day this year!
You’ve threatened, cajoled – even begged your kids to tidy up. But it still seems you’re the one facing the ultimatum: either ignore the mess or do it for them.
Here are 7 tips to encourage kids to clean their bedrooms, without raising your voice or losing your mind:
If you want your children to be skilled and creative problem solvers, consider preparing outdoor play spaces for imaginative play! Fantasy play and imaginative role playing, in spaces like fairy gardens, are well established pre-cursers to divergent and original problem solving later in life; skills that are well recognized in highly effective students! Fairy Gardens are a great way to encourage imaginative play and they are perfect for taking advantage of the magical thinking young children bring to their everyday play.
How do you keep date night from becoming stale? Dinner and a show just aren’t cutting it anymore, and you’re wondering how to change the fizzle back to sizzle? Here are a few ideas to reignite your relationship and reinvent date night:
Cabin Girl and Mr. Monkey have birthdays 4 days apart. Awesome planning on my end. We decided that this year, to make things simpler (HA!), we would do a combined birthday party for them. But, how to combine a birthday for a 7 year old girly-girl and a 2 year old rough and tumble toddler boy?
The answer, my friends, is in Never Neverland.
You’ve always wanted to try but have shied away. You see the pictures of your friends and family holding race bibs and posting about their latest training run. Why does it seem so hard to just start running? Trust me, I’ve had this conversation in my head many times. Do I want it? Do I want to be a runner?
April Fools’ Day is quickly approaching and my family is plotting. Alliances are being formed (and broken), plans made, and supplies collected. In this family, we definitely like to pull April Fools’ Days pranks on one another. We fully support the children joking around as long as pranks are done in kindness, not at someone’s expense, and don’t leave complete destruction in the wake of the prank. And as always, I find the family friendly benefit to joking with each other.
Do you want to go to frontier camp this year? I texted my son. My son, who has a cell phone and rides the bus and comes home to an empty house. Who towers over his twelve-year old buddies and can look me straight in the eye.
No! Frontier camp is for little kids and it’s stupid. I want to go to engineering camp, he texts back and I have to sit down for a minute. Engineering Camp? Who wants to go Engineering Camp?