Friday, April 22, 2011

Easter Activities!

Happy Easter (or Happy Spring if you're not celebrating Easter)!  Any holiday is a great excuse to do some fun activities that are out of the everyday norm.  And these activities are not only fun, but also actually work on lots of developmental skills.  Some of them might even be family traditions that you already do and didn't even know were secretly good for your kids development!

Easter Egg Hunt
Did you know that easter egg hunts are great for working on so many developmental skills? To name a few: visual scanning and other visual/perceptual skills, reasoning skills, and some gross motor skills, like running. 
- If you want to up the challenge for your kids, hide the eggs in some hard to reach places to work on other gross motor skills, like climbing and balance.  Also, opening up the eggs and putting the two halves back together works on bilateral coordination (using the two sides of the body together) - a very important skill.
- To add an academic challenge, label the eggs with a letter on each that spell a word when put together correctly; if using multiple colors, have a word for each color and if you have more than 1 kid searching for eggs they will have to work together to combine their eggs to spell the words.  For younger children label eggs with letters or shapes to work on those early learning concepts (craft stores have fun foam stickers in letters, numbers, and shapes which would be fun to put on the eggs). 
- To cut down on sugar overload, fill eggs with non-candy items like, coins (then have older kids do some math with the money they collect), stickers, fortunes, silly bands, etc.
- To increase the cognitive challenge for older kids, turn the egg hunt into a scavenger hunt with clues in each egg leading to the easter basket at the end.
- If you have adolescents who are "too old" for an easter egg hunt, include them in the task of setting up a hunt for younger kids in the family or the neighborhood.

Easter Relay Race
Get the whole family involved in an easter themed relay race!  Each family member performs actions like, bunny hop, skip, hop backwards, or walk like a duck from point A to point B to see which team wins. Doing these actions works on motor planning, gross motor skills, coordination, and all the movement is good for kids too!  Plus, it's really fun, especially if you have a lot of family members involved - including the adults!

Decorating Eggs
However you want to do it, decorating easter eggs is a great opportunity to work on fine motor skills, creativity, sequencing and planning.  For some boys (and even girls) who are typically "too fast" and "too rough" with their movements, handling a delicate egg is a good way to help slow them down and work on being gentle with their movements.  But make sure to give these types of kids lots of preparation ahead of time on being slow and gentle, lots of cues during the activity if you notice them ramping up, and lots of praise for doing well throughout the task.

Outside Toys and Games
Easter is a great time to start pulling out the outside toys and games (or give new ones in the easter basket) because nice spring weather is usually ramping up and it's a great time to be outside.  Sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, kickballs, bubbles, velcro toss and catch, kites, etc. are examples of inexpensive outside toys that can be found anywhere from local drug stores to Target to amazon.com.  So, bring some toys out in the backyard, play with them for a while, then sit back with your significant other and enjoy a nice adult drink while you smile at your children playing in the yard on a beautiful spring afternoon, knowing that they are having fun, doing great things for their little brains and bodies, and going to sleep well that night!

Easter Dinner Helpers
Involve your children in helping to prepare for easter dinner by cooking with you (see the earlier post Little Chef for tips on how to include children in cooking), setting the table, playing waitress/waiter with appetizer trays, and making decorations for the dinner table.  All of these activities work on a variety of skills and are fun for kids to do!

Grow Your Easter Decorations
If planting some spring flowers to use as decorations this Easter sounds appealing to you, then involve your children.  Picking out the flowers and materials together at the store gives them some ownership of the activity, increases motivation to stay involved, and makes them feel proud of the final product.   Helping to carry the materials works on muscle strength and endurance.  Following instructions step by step works on sequencing and planning.  Getting their hands in the soil is a great sensory experience.  Manipulating the tools and plants also works on fine motor skills.  And the end products are beautiful spring flowers in pots or your garden to celebrate the holiday.

These are just a sampling of activities to do with your family!  I'm sure your kids can come up with even more ideas if you ask them!  Now, get outside and have fun!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Art of Playing Independently

On a daily basis I'm sure all parents can be heard telling their children to go play with their toys.  But how many children actually oblige and happily entertain themselves with their toys, puzzles, books, coloring....?  The answer should be ALL, but sadly it's not.  A great majority of children today do not know how to play by themselves.  It can be blamed on any number of things, but watching too much TV, especially from a young age, is right up there at the top of the list with inhibiting a child's ability to play independently.

As a parent, you may experience that your requests for your children to go play are met with whining, tantrums, and begging for TV or other entertainment.  Children respond with "I don't like my toys," "there's nothing to play with," "it's boring, " "I don't know what to do."  And as busy parents trying to deal with meal preparation, household chores, emailing, facebooking and surfing the internet, we give in to the resistance too easily and turn the TV on to stop the whining.  We all do it, but there are good reasons for making sure that as parents we take an active role in helping our children learn to play independently instead of taking the easy way out and letting the TV do the entertaining. 
**Play is important because it helps to develop fine motor and gross motor skills, it reinforces learning and develops cognitive skills, and it promotes problem solving and creativity, as well as social and emotional growth.  Independent play encourages a child to be imaginative and helps to increase self-confidence as children have opportunities to be successful on their own. Read the bottom of the post for some facts on why play is important and how the ability to play independently is negatively impacted by too much television.

How do you define independent play?  Your expectation of your child's ability to play on their own certainly affects how successful you consider your child to be in this skill.  Independent play (or solitary play) is when a child engages in play with toys on their own.  I consider a child playing on their own with toys that have been set up by an adult to be independent play as well, as most young children have difficulty accessing, moving, or setting up certain toys that they are capable of playing with.  In many cases of successful independent play, parents do need to get the toys out for their young child or show them how to play with it first before their child can play on their own.  If your idea of independent play is that your 24 month old go to his room, pick out toys and play without any direction or assistance from you, that may not be realistic; but helping him choose toys to play with, getting him set up to play with them, and then telling him you have to fold laundry for a little while (or whatever else you need to do) may be the key to setting him up for success.  By the time a child is at least 4 years old (younger in some cases), I would expect that they could be independent in choosing, getting out, and starting to play with most age appropriate toys that they have easy access to in the house (minus craft activities and complicated toys/games).
Also, when my kids play together without needing me, I consider this independent play as well.  And - when my kids are playing independently they will often ask me questions, ask for help with something, or need me to mediate a sibling disagreement and then go right back to playing on their own - to me this is fine and still successful independent play.
Watching TV is NOT  independent play!

Realistic Expectations: The average 2 year old should be able to play on his/her own for at least 15 minutes at a time and do this several times a day.  As a child's age increases, so should the amount of time spent in independent play; for example, my 3 1/2 year old daughter can play uninterrupted for 45 min (although during that time she may ask me a question or want to show me something).  Prior to 2 years of age, the time spent playing with toys independently varies and of course involves more adult supervision than older children.  But a child around 18 months can feasibly play on their own for at least 10 minutes while a parent is busy doing something close by.

What disrupts being able to play indpendently:
* Watching TV!  TV does all the thinking for those watching, so when an avid TV-watching child is expected to think creatively on their own, that skill just isn't there, but the desire to be entertained is!  These kids just don't know how to play with toys the way that kids who watch TV infrequently do.
* Missing play skills. Kids, especially young ones, often need instruction on how to play with their toys that are new or difficult.  Play with the toys with your child first before expecting him/her to play with them without you.
* Toys are inaccessible. Make sure that your kids can get to their toys easily, or at least the ones that you want them to get to. 
* Toys are not age appropriate.  When toys are too difficult to play with or too easy kids won't have enough interest to stay engaged with them.  Before expecting your child to play independently, make sure the toys they have access to are appropriate for them to play with and on their skill level.  They will need supervision and assistance toplay with toys that are above their skill level.  Some children with advanced skill levels need toys that are beyond their age limit to keep them challenged enough to be interested.  It's all about finding that "just right" fit when it comes to toys - challenging enough to be motivating to master and not so hard that they can't do it on their own.
* Separation anxiety. Very young children going through separation anxiety and may have a hard time playing on their own.  Young children who spend a lot of time in daycare may also not want to play without mom and dad when they are home.  Starting off playing with your child and then removing yourself to do something else nearby can help to ease your child into playing independently.
* Siblings. Don't be discouraged if your kids have a hard time playing together or side by side without it eventually turning into a battle.  Set clear guidelines for how to play together, consequences for not following those rules, and then be consistent with it.  For example, if my 2 year old hits his sister, he gets a time out; if they are fighting over a toy, even after a warning from me, they lose the toy for a while and have to find something else to play with; I have intervened and given them the tools to resolve conflicts so many times that every once in a while I will say to my 3.5 and 2 year olds to "work it out themselves" (mostly because I've reached the end of my patience with helping them) and incredibly enough, sometimes it actually works!
Playing together is a great opportunity for working on social skills, turn taking, and conflict resolution, even with toddlers.  It can be exhausting, but just remember that they are internalizing everything (even if it doesn't seem like it), so make everything you do and say to them count if you want to see positive results in the future!
* A disability. Children with developmental disabilities that involve delayed skills, problems with attention and focus, or require more supervision may have more difficulty engaging in independent play.  That doesn't mean that as a parent you have the green light to keep the TV on.  Instead, look for strategies to help your child play more indpendently.  Offer toys that are on your child's developmental level and not their age level. Choose activities that play to your child's strengths, not weaknesses, when you want him or her to play independently.  For example, if your child has difficulty with gross motor skills and coordination, but is excellent at fine motor and visual perceptual skills, then get out the puzzles and legos instead of sending him out to play on the swing set.  Also, start by playing with your child and once they are having success, leave briefly (even if it's in the same room and you "appear" to be busy) and come back right before they begin to get discouraged or upset.  Engage in play with your child again, then leave for longer the next time.  Continue this pattern of playing and leaving, gradually increasing the amount of time away from your child until they feel more confident playing alone.  This does not just happen in one play session; use this method every time you play together and over time you will see progress.
If your child struggles with attention and focus, let them be in control of choosing activities as they will be more motivated to do them that way.  However, if your child spends a lot of time on the computer or watching TV, limit this (as it increases poor attention skills) and instead guide your child to choosing non-technology based toys; even provide a few options to choose from if need be.  Activities that are well matched to their ability level can help increase time spent attending to the activity, and especially if there is a motivating end result to the activity, such as making an end product, winning a game, finishing a puzzle, etc. Set up play in a location that has limited distractions (no TV, music, extra people, etc).  Even provide a visual timer and explain that they must play on their own until the timer goes off.

Remember that it's important to give kids opportunities to learn how to play creatively and independently every day because it really is a skill that needs to be developed!

Disclaimer: I know it goes without saying, but I just need to reiterate that independent play does not mean that children play unsupervised!  Even if your child is playing independently in the next room, checking in on her occasionally is a good idea; and babies and toddlers should not be left alone.
Facts to Support the Importance of Independent and Creative Play:
* Creative play, free of all types of media entertainment, promote developmental skills, cognitive skills, social and emotional growth, and creativity. The TV actually hinders all of those things, preventing our children from developing any of those necessary skills. TV does all of the thinking for children; they are just passive observers, which inhibits their ability to initiate play on their own because they are used to being entertained.

* Playing independently improves attention span, whereas TV contributes to a decreased attention span. "Each hour of TV watched daily between the ages of 0 and 7 years equated to a 10% chance of attention problems by age seven years (Christakis D 2004)."

* Viewing TV and playing video games each are associated with increased subsequent attention problems in childhood (Swing, 2010).

* Exposure to “green space” results in a significant reduction in ADHD, in both areas of impulse control and attention ability. Nature not only has attention restorative benefits, but also activates all the senses to enhance multi-sensory learning ability (Faber-Taylor A 2001, Kuo F 2004).

*"Overuse of TV and video games may result in children lacking essential connection with themselves, others and nature. Children now fear nature, limiting outdoor play which is essential for achieving sensory and motor development (Louv R 2005)."

* Playing with other children and role playing with dolls or other toys is essential for social and emotional development. "The ability of the 21st century child to socialize with both adults and peers is deteriorating at a rapid pace. Sally Ward, a professor of speech and language pathology reported in her book “Baby Talk “ that one in five toddlers demonstrate speech and language delays (Ward S 2004)."

Cited articles are from the Fact Sheet by Cris Rowan, http://www.zonein.ca/index.html.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Weekend Activity with an Egg Carton

Wait! Don't recycle that egg carton just yet!  That cardboard container has endless possibilities to challenge your child's developmental skills and creativity, no matter how old they are.  And participating in any of these activities gets the mind and body moving without using TV, video games, or the computer. Read on for activity suggestions and a summary of the developmental skills they work on.

Painting - Use the egg carton as a palette to separate paint colors.  Or paint the whole carton itself.  Painting it turns it from an old egg carton into a treasure box or a jewelry box.  Painting works on fine motor skills, coordination, motor planning, creativity, and it is a great sensory experience.  And a toddler up to an adolescent could enjoy this activity based on their own skill level; obviously the younger the child, the more supervision and assistance they need.

Sorting box - Turn the egg carton into a place to sort objects (like buttons, or small toys by size, color, texture, or any other characteristic.  This is a great activity for toddlers and preschoolers to work on fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and academic concepts.  Older kids can sort coins to work on money and math concepts. Note: Do not give babies choking hazards and supervise toddlers with small objects!

Goggles - Add some "super goggles" to the dress up wardrobe! Cut out two of the egg "cups" so you have two individual ones.  Poke a hole in the bottom of each cup, use pipe cleaners or other objects to connect the two cups and make a band to go around the head or behind the ears to hold the goggles up.  Voila - fun goggles to add to dress up costumes!  The work that goes into making these goggles works on fine motor skills, sequencing, motor planning, and creativity, especially if your child paints or decorates the goggles before wearing.

Math games - Use a 12 or 18 count container to work on basic math concepts.  1. One example is labeling each egg "cup" with a number.  Give your preschool or early elementary age child a pile of small objects (beans, dried pasta, buttons...) and have your child count out the correct number of objects for the corresponding number in each cup.  To increase the challenge to work on number recognition and reading, cut up small pieces of paper that are labeled with numbers or number words.  Have your child choose pieces of paper, count out the correct number of objects, and place them in the corresponding "cup" of the carton.  There are many variations of this game based on a child's skill level.
2. Another example for working on basic addition and subtraction, is to place a cotton ball or small pom pom in each cup of the carton and add or subtract based on simple math equations on a card, using the "math carton" to solve the problem.  For example: 4 + 2 =   Place 4 cotton balls, 1 in each of 4 cups of the carton, then add 2 more and count the total.  Reverse the process for subtraction problems.
This obviously works on academic concepts and cognitive skills.  Adding in tongs, chopsticks, or spoons to move the objects increases the challenge for improving fine motor skills.

Musical instruments - Cut out egg cups in sets of two (keeping them attached).  Fill them with rice, beans, dried pasta, coins, etc., fold and tape around the edges to keep the contents inside.  Decorate with paint, markers, stickers, or glitter to make them fancy.  Turn on some music and incorporate your new shakers into a dance!
Separate the top of the container from the bottom, wrap a bunch of elastic bands around the top and you have yourself a little guitar.  Now get the shakers and guitar and you've got the makings of a cardboard band! This works on fine motor skills, motor planning (especially if you get your kids trying to make up or copy dance moves), coordination, movement, and creativity.

Planting - Use an egg carton to start a mini planting experiment.  Fill the cups with potting soil, plant a see in each, and water.  Keep the carton outside so that the water can drain and get some sun.  When the seeds start to germinate and require more growing space, transfer the seedlings to larger pots or your garden.  This activity is a great sensory experience, good for working on motor skills, coordination, sequencing, and cognitive skills.  For older kids, academic concepts can be added in like, keeping an observation journal, writing and/or drawing pictures to describe the process of planting and plant growth, measuring the plant growth with a ruler and graphing it, etc.

Make some Easter eggs - If your egg carton is still full of eggs and you want to make a few easter decorations, use the eggs and carton to make easter eggs.  Fill the cups with glue, glitter, dye, and other materials to dip the eggs into to decorate them.  Cut out empty cups to display individual eggs as decorations.

These are just some examples of activities to do with an empty egg carton.  If given the opportunity and support, I'm sure your kids can come up with even more creative things to turn the egg cartons into.  And just think of all the fun things other unused items in your house are waiting to turn in to! If you have a baby (about 9 months and up), just give him or her the empty carton and let the exploration begin.  Add in some pots and pans, measuring cups and spoons, and spatulas for a little more fun!
If you have a suggestion for another fun activity, post it below in the comments to share with other parents!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Parenting Tip: Handling Toddler Behavior Problems

Parenting Tip of the Day: When dealing with undesirable behavior from your toddler, keep your cool and rely on your two best friends: Distraction and Redirection. DISTRACTION to stop the behavior from going farther and REDIRECTION to get your child to do a different desirable behavior that they are motivated to do. Don't even attempt negotiating with a toddler or trying to make them do anything by asking or telling, they're just not old enough for those behavior strategies yet.


Here's a recent scenario from my house: My 24 month old son threw his lunch plate on the floor, a common occurrence, and after firmly reminding him that we do not throw plates (as if he was actually listening to that) I asked him to pick it up. He told me "no," which was my cue to use distraction and redirection. In this case the distraction was that I nicely got him down from his chair and with a completely different (positive) tone, I excitedly suggested that "we" put the plate in the dishwasher (something he likes to do), which was the redirection to more appropriate behavior. He immediately changed his attitude from defiant to happy and compliant. He put the plate in the dishwasher by himself, I praised him, he was proud of himself, and we moved on to playing with toys. Will he throw his plate again? Of course. This is a stage he will get over eventually. What I did here was to stop a bad behavior, manipulate the situation to get a good behavior while still allowing him to feel independent, and keep my sanity by avoiding a silly battle with a 2 year old.

Teaching good behavior is much more effective when it's done positively and done using age appropriate strategies. As a parent, it's hard to not lose it sometimes, but taking a second to take a breath and rethink your strategy before reacting negatively can make a huge difference in the response you get from your young child.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Little Chef - Cooking with your child

The thought of letting your child be your sous chef in the kitchen may cause you to shudder, but it's less of a  big deal than you think.  Actually, it can really be quite fun, for you and your child.  It just takes setting up the right situation and having the patience to move a little slower and get a little messier. 
Not convinced yet?  Read on. And if you are all-for cooking with your child or better yet, already do, keep reading to find out all the benefits this fun activity actually has for your child.


The joy of including children in cooking is more about the process than the finished product, so adjusting your expectations a little can make it a more successful experience for your child and for you.  It often takes a little release of control (on your part) and allowing for some margin of error.  For example, take making cookies from a mix with a 4 year old.  If you allow him the opportunity to really participate (not just watch you, because let's face it, that's just no fun for him), then you might end up with a few egg shell shards in the mix and part of the batter on the counter.  That's ok.  Repeat that to yourself if you need to; "That's OK!"  Just take a look at him as he cracks his first egg and feels the squishy yolk, stirs the batter cautiously at first and then with increased speed and control, slightly improves his pouring abilities within the span of making a batch of cookies, and marvels at his finished product.  Think of what you have helped him to gain in those few minutes: confidence in succeeding at something new, better pouring skills, a little increased strength from all that stirring, new respect for you for letting him cook, and some quality time with you.  Isn't that worth a few egg shells in the cookies and a little batter on the counter that will take you an extra 30 seconds to clean up?

Here's where letting your kids help cook actually works in your favor - The older the child, the more they can do, and the bigger help they actually are in the kitchen. Think about that - they can actually HELP you!  So start working on the pouring, measuring, stirring, and chopping skills when they're young so that they've got the experience to do it more independently in a few years. Can you picture your middle schooler making you breakfast in bed or your teenager cooking dinner for the family one night a week?  I'm telling you, if this sounds good to you, then start cooking with your kids now!

Cooking with a toddler can also be accomplished while avoiding a disaster in the kitchen.  Cooking with two toddlers is also possible - that's right, I said possible, not impossible .  Here's an example from my own kitchen; this actually happened this evening:  We had stir fry on the menu for dinner tonight and I included my 3 1/2 year old daughter and my son, who just turned 2, in the prep work.  I washed the vegetables myself (although my daughter could have easily helped with this), and cut only the green pepper into long, thin slices. I set each of my kids up with a cutting board, a bowl for the cut up veggies, small portions of vegetables at a time (green peppers, green beans, and mushrooms), and a crinkle cutter that they use to chop (a dull vegetable cutter; see the picture at the bottom of the post).  My daughter got right to work once I gave her instructions and a quick demo on how to chop each type of vegetable - she's been using the crinkle cutter since she was 2 and knew what to do.  My son needed some hand over hand assistance to control the crinkle cutter and the vegetable at the same time when he chopped, but I slowly let him take control until he was doing it all by himself successfully - (did I mention he just turned two, like a couple of weeks ago, and he doesn;t have any special skills; in fact, using the cutter is fairly new for him. So see, a typical toddler can help).  They chopped everything but the carrots and were incredibly proud of themselves.  Instead of cutting the veggies myself, my efforts were spent helping them do it and I think it probably took about the same amount of time, if not less since there were two of them working.  And instead of playing with their typical toys while I cooked, they practiced some new skills that will be very beneficial to them in the future. Of course my son cut the veggies in pieces that were too long or too short and he started to mess around with the scraps before I had a chance to clear them out of his way, but I expected these things to happen, so for me the whole thing was a success. Their assistance ended at the conclusion of the prep work, even though they asked to do more.  My husband finished this meal as planned, but the take home message here is that kids can be involved in any part of the making of a meal, it doesn't have to be the whole thing, especially if they are young like my kids.

Suggestions for Cooking with Kids
1. Choose age appropriate tasks - young children do well with short, simple tasks like stirring and dumping ingredients, with an adult's assistance.  As children get older and have improved coordination, allow them the opportunity to practice things like pouring, measuring, cracking eggs, etc. 
2. Keep it simple - Your child doesn't have to make the entire meal or recipe with you for it to be a successful experience.  Choose parts of the recipe or meal that your child can most easily help with or choose something simple to start with if you want your child to help with the whole thing. 
3.  Have realistic expectations - Plan on getting messy.  Plan on it taking extra time.  There's the potential that you might even have to start over, although I have yet to need to do that.  The finished product may not resemble your best work, but that's not what really matters.
4.  Have patience - Keep your child's abilities and attention span in mind when choosing tasks for them to be involved in.  But do allow them to get involved, not matter how much harder you think it's going to make cooking, you just might be surprised how much fun you have.
5.  Choose the right time - If week nights are chaotic for you and a mad dash to get dinner on the table before bed time, then choosing the weekends to cook with your kids is probably the best situation.  Allowing children to participate in cooking does not have to happen every day for them to enjoy it and learn new things, but by doing it on a somewhat regular basis provides them with the opportunity to improve their skills.
6. Use kid-friendly cooking utensils - They really do make these and sell them at stores and online.  Look for small whisks, spatulas, crinkle cutters (for kids to chop with - they have a dull edge), even a kid size apron makes them feel like the real deal (and keeps the food off the clothes).
7. Remember that cooking with kids is about teaching them and having fun. 

The Benefits for Children
The opportunities for children to participate in cooking tasks provides many benefits that affect a number of different areas of development that carry over to other things and future, more complex abilities (such as writing; interesting how cooking as a young child can have a far-reaching affect like that).
- Strength: Stirring, lifting, and carrying improves upper body strength which is needed for motor skills, such as handwriting and sports.
- Coordination and control: Dumping ingredients, chopping, stirring, cracking eggs, measuring, and pouring, etc. work on coordination skills and refining the amount of pressure or speed they use to improve control (coordination and control are important for just about everything!)
- Sequencing: Following directions in order improves sequencing abilities (not to mention memory), which is important for lots of daily tasks and also for writing and school tasks
- Reading: If your child is old enough to read, following recipes works on reading skills, comprehension, and new vocabulary; if your child is learning to read, looking for words they know or sounding out new words on ingredient containers helps to improve reading skills; and if your child is not yet a reader, looking for familiar letters or numbers on containers and learning new vocabulary is also important for future reading
- Sensory experience: Feeling the variety of textures involved with cooking is important, especially for young children who are still developing their understanding of the objects in the world around them; feeling food textures and becoming comfortable with them can also help young children and picky eaters expand their food interests
- Math and Science: Older kids can work on addition, subtraction, and fractions in real life situations, which helps to improve their retention of these skills; simple arithmetic, counting, and concepts such as more/less can be taught to younger children through cooking; and science concepts can be introduced to kids of all ages through cooking, such as temperature, how different ingredients affect the outcome of the recipe (chemistry), etc.
- Confidence: Helping, creating a final product, and learning new skills are all confidence boosters for children.  Cooking builds confidence in a postive way that watching TV or playing video games cannot.  Confidence affects many aspects of a child's life and is incredibly important as they get older and become more independent.
- Values: Spending time with family while cooking, cooperating, and enjoing the final product together or sharing it with someone else teaches and reinforces values that cannot be taught by watching TV, even if the show was about values.  Being part of the process and having good role models is what is so important.  Taking the time to cook with your kids shows them how much you love them and how much you care.


Crinkle cutter photo - the handles are small and the blades are dull; perfect for young children to use:

A Life Changing Revelation Leads Back to a Simpler Life and the Re-Launch of the Blog

Hello parents and friends!  It is time for a re-launching of this blog and I am thrilled to be back writing.  It has been about 6 years sinc...