Google Surveyed Teens About What’s Cool

What brands does your teenager think are cool? Google surveyed over 1,000 teens that are part of Generation Z in an effort to find out what people of this age group think is cool. They put the results together in a project called “It’s Lit – A Guide to What Teens Think is Cool”. Generation Z includes people who were born between the mid-1990s to early 2000s. However, Google chose to focus their research on 13-17 year olds. The teenagers were asked to rank 122 brands based on how cool each brand is. According to the teens who took part … Continue reading

The Many Ways that Toddlers Play

Toddlers are very interested in exploring their world. They haven’t yet developed the social skills that preschools use to play with other kids. Parents might wonder what their toddler is thinking when he or she starts playing with “boring” household objects. Here is some insight about what’s going on. Parallel Play One of the earliest ways for toddlers to be social with each other is through parallel play. One toddler sits on the floor next to a huge pile of cars and trucks. She selects one, and starts rolling it back and forth on the floor in front of her. … Continue reading

Why Your Pre-Teen Quit Playing Sports

One way to encourage your child to get a healthy amount of exercise is to make it fun. Sports offer kids the ability to exercise while having fun, the chance to learn how to play as a team, and a good way to develop athletic skills. Despite these benefits, 70% of kids quit sports by the age of 13. Here are some reasons why that happens. It stopped being fun. Have you ever watched kindergartners play soccer against another team of kindergarteners? What happens is both adorable and amusing. They sit down when they get tired, and start playing with … Continue reading

When Parents Play Favorites

Which one of your children is your favorite? This controversial question is one that most parents cannot answer. They love all their children equally (as they should). Problems arise when parents make it clear that they have a favorite child. Those same problems come up when a child perceives that his or her parents are playing favorites – even if the parents are not actually doing that. A study done by Alex Jensen (and others) found something that could be really troubling to parents. It is entirely possible for parents to treat all of their children equally and still have … Continue reading

Fun Items for Frugal Dress Up Play

There is a quick and easy way to entertain your preschooler for at least half an hour or so. Let him or her play dress up! Preschoolers tend to love this activity because it lets them “become” someone else for a while. Dress up is a great opportunity for using one’s imagination. Here are some frugal ideas for dress up play. Frugal Dress Up Ideas for Preschoolers Old Costumes Previously worn Halloween costumes are great for playing dress up in. Your child can become a princess, a superhero, or both in the same day. Reuse the Halloween costumes that your … Continue reading

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Preschool

Your child has been happily attending preschool for a while now. He or she always comes home with a smile and a story about something fun that happened that day. Now, suddenly, your child has started to resist going to preschool. What happened? Here is a quick checklist for parents who are baffled by their child’s declaration of “I don’t want to go to preschool!” Keep in mind that it is totally normal for a child to decided that he or she no longer wants to attend preschool. There are days when you don’t particularly want to go to work, … Continue reading

Playing the Numbers Game

It’s dinnertime and you’re frantically scrambling to get your three kids under six years old fed before you have to get the oldest to his soccer game and the middle one to the barber.  You swing into McDonald’s, order, squeeze into a booth, divvy up a 20-piece McNuggets amongst your offspring, and then quickly shove the first meal of your day down your gullet. What’s the last thing you’re thinking about during this manic mealtime? Well, other than wondering if Kate Middleton is breastfeeding Prince George. That’s right; calories. Those numbers, which are now posted on many restaurant menus in … Continue reading

Summer LEGO Mania

My 8-year-old is a LEGO Friends fanatic. My dishwasher is not. I know this because of the horrible sounds it’s been making since swallowing one of the tiny plastic bricks meant to stabilize the slide on my daughter’s Heartlake City Pool set. I’m this close to tossing out the rest of the set and booking a trip to New York City.  That’s where Nathan Sawaya’s massive LEGO display is being showcased for kids of all ages to enjoy.  Perhaps, immersing my child in another LEGO lover’s colorful brick designs will take her mind off her mother’s moratorium on LEGO play. … Continue reading

Extending the Lesson on Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Moon is an American children’s book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. First published in 1947, this book’s popularity, charm, and quality still remain constant to this day. All of my children proclaimed this book to be a bedtime favorite at some point. The book is simple, sweet, and a wonderful way to gently lay your children down to sleep. Due to how loved the book is by so many children it is a great place to start a book study for little ones. Creating lessons from favorite books will encourage your child to read and … Continue reading

Fun and Easy Ways to Go Green

Earth Day 2013 is less than a week away.  How are you planning to celebrate? Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a lot of green to go green.  All you need is a little time and some motivation to recycle what you already own.  By repurposing materials you would otherwise toss in the trash, you are not only saving money and showing your kids simple ways to save the planet, but you’re also giving them an outlet to showcase their creative energy. Placemats:  Rather than spend cash on everyday placemats, consider making your own with poster board, old magazines and … Continue reading