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Summer is quickly approaching and for many families, swimming becomes a staple of summer activity.  Whether it is at a lake or an indoor/outdoor pool, it is important, as parents, to make sure your child is a smart swimmer and you are providing safe measures to your child! 

Foss Swim School has provided a few tips for parents and the swimmer (please keep in mind the age of your child and determine the proper safety steps). 

1. Ask your swimmer to show you how far they can swim in a lake.  With factors like wind, waves, and coldness, swimming in a lake is very different than a pool.
2. Give your child a physical "MOM or DAD spot" where they can always look and see you for comfort or confidence.
3. Take breaks every 20 minutes even if it is just for 5 minutes to regroup.
4. Buy a colorful/bright swimsuit so your child is easy to spot.
5. Remind your child when they start to feel tired or scared to roll over onto their back and float, stand up or get to the nearest dock to hold on to catch their breathe.
6. Tell your child if they are really in danger or too scared to YELL FIRE as loud as they can.
7. Teach your child not to reach into the water for a toy.
8. Wear a life jacket.
9. Consider enrolling your child in formal swim lessons.  Participation in lessons provides an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning in 1 to 4-year-old children!

To read more, visit Mom Enough.

Are you looking for a safe, online educational resource for your children?  Many exciting, new possibilities exist that incorporate just the right amount of fun and learning for children. For example, Turtle Diary is one such possibility that takes the concept of education to a whole new level.
 

Turtle Diary is a one-of-its-kind online experience for kids, where learning is done the 'fun' way. The webiste offers a wide variety of online educational games and activities for kids, which stimulate their senses and add to their knowledge, and at the same time, make learning a fun activity.

The interactive educatonal games, arts and crafts ideas and printable coloring sheets,  and printable worksheets on a variety of topics are just a few of the resources available on this site.

Turtle Diary is free, full of fun, easy to use and the ideal learning space for kids.  Go check it out!

Ever have one of those days where everyone (child, mom...whole family)  is on edge, whiny, can't calm down...?  Here is a great list of some perhaps new and some old tricks for turning those frowns upside down, thanks to The Pennington Point.

1. Deep breath. Call out, “Deep breath!” Then everyone stands up and takes long, slow breaths and raises hands over heads.  Then let the air out slowly while lowering your arms.
2. Jumping jacks.  Stop what you are doing and do 20 jumping jacks.
3. The color game. Take a stack of different colored construction paper, and some tape outside.  Tape a whole piece of  paper to trees, the car, a bush, the front door….making sure they are spread out. Set a chair in the middle for mom to sit and gather all of the kids around and say, “Ready……RED!”  Then they have to find the red paper and run to it.  Once the kids return to the middle call out another color.
4. Play stations in the kitchen.  Fill the sink half full with water & utensils, fill a 9×13 pan with rice, another with straws, a plastic bowl with beans.  Set the timer for 5 minutes.  They play at each station for only 5 minutes then they switch. 
5. Emergency toys. Keep a stash of toys in a closet to pull out for such an occasion.  Set the timer for 30 minutes.  Once the timer goes off, the toys get put away. 
6. Play a game.  Play something like Go Fish or a simple board game.  Sometimes all they need is for you to stop and give them your full attention for 15 minutes.
7. Music.  Turn on some fun kid music and dance around to one song.  One song can reset everyone’s attitude.
8. Tear paper.  Give each child 3 pieces of construction paper and stand in a circle.  Say, “GO!” for everyone to start tearing up paper and throwing it on the floor.  After 5 minutes say, “STOP!” and everyone has to clean it up as quickly and silly as they can.
9. Lie on the grass. Everyone takes turns telling what they see in the clouds.
10. Drink something green.  Put green food coloring in either lemonade or water for  “Green Goop.”
11. Crawling.  Have everyone put shoes on their hands and crawl around until you say stop.  Then they have to freeze like a statue until you say go. 
12. Baths.  These are not get-clean baths.  These are play-baths. 
13. Read a book.  If everyone is tired, grab a book and read it aloud in an unusual way…with an accent, like a monster, while acting it out, hanging upside down off of the couch….something that makes it different.
14. Hold hands.  Sometimes everyone just needs Mom for a few minutes.  So hold hands and walk around, outside if possible but inside works too.  Say something like, “Tell me what you liked about today."
15. Quizzes.  Line the kids up in front of you and zing them with questions.  They have to answer really quickly and if they take too long say, “Zing!” and they have to fall down and get back up again. 
16. Color their name. Write their name in really big, puffy letters and they get 3 Crayons to color it in.  No sharing, no trading…just 3 colors…GO!
17. Have a snack.  Sit with them and talk for just a few minutes. 
18. The Whisper Game.  Say, “Let’s play the Whisper Game!” and set the timer for 5-10 minutes.  That whole time you sit and talk but everyone has to whisper. 
19. Animals.  Sit on the couch and and gather the kids around, with an arm length between them.  Then call out animals and they have to act like that animal until you change the animal.
20. Slow down.  This one is good to do after any of the other activities.  Everyone move and talk in slow motion.  You be the leader and have them do what you do...all in slow motion.  Then give them turns being the leader. 

To see the full article, visit The Pennington Point.

Join the Working Family Resource Center as they take a unique look at the balance between stress management and peak performance.  On Friday, March 30th at 12:00PM, Dr. William Kriva, will provide tools to increase your enegery levels, accomplish more in less time and still  maintain a healhty balance in your life.  You will also learn how to deal with "life's little surprises" without being knocked off your game.

To register for this FREE webinar event, please register here.

Parents recently posted simple activities to get your child talking from Jamie Loehr, M.D. and Jen Meyers, authors of "Raising Your Child."

1. Read to your child: talk about illustrations, have child point out specific objects, and read alphabet books.
2. Have him describe a story to you: have your child turn the pages of a book and describe the story to you. 
3. Encourage intellegient conversation: consciously hold a conversation with him asking him his opinions, likes and dislikes.  Listen intently when he talks to you.  Repeat what he says back to him to model appropriate articulation and good listening skills
4. Use complete sentences: if he asks "More?" and points to the crackers, says to him, "You want to have more crackers?"
5. Practice using the telepone: play with a telephone and soon your child will be picking up the phone saying, "Hell." (pause) "Good." (pause) "Bye-bye!"
6. Sing songs: listen to music, attend a concert with your child and soon your child will be singing along.

For more development activities for all ages, visit: www.parents.com

Struggling to find new and healthy foods for a picky eater? Try these suggestions from Mom Enough and  St. David's Center:

1. Offer a nibble tray: a compartmentalized tray (an ice cube tray works!) with bite-sized apple, avocado and cheese
2. Dip it: let them immerse food (apples, bell pepper strips, bagels) in cottage cheese, guacamole or pureed fruit
3. Spread it: give them a kid knife to smear cheese, peanut butter or fruit concentrate on crackers, toast or rice cakes
4. Top it: put favorite toppings (such as yogurt, metled cheese) on less-desirable foods
5. Drink it: make a smoothie with milk and fruit and add juice, egg powder, wheat germ, or honey for a very healthy meal
6. Cut it up: cut sandwiches, pancakes, waffles and pizza into shapes using cookie cutters
7. Package it: try using your child's own toy plates, plastic measuring cups or ice cream cones to serve food
8. Become a veggie vendor: plant a garden with your child, put grated or diced veggies into favorite foods, top with a favorite sauce, steam your greens or make veggie art
9. Share it: try group feeding so your child sees another child their age eating
10. Respect tiny tummies: keep food servings small-a child's stomach is approximately the size of his fist
11. We all have appetities: let your child set the pace for meals but if you want them to eat dinner with you then try to time snacks at least 2 hours before dinner
12. Use sit-still strategies: allow your child to sit at a child-size table and chair where their feet touch the ground or with firm support under their feet to reduce the dangly feet that makes children squirm
13. Turn meals upside down: let your child set the menu sometimes even if it means having dinner for breakfast
14. Have them help cook: children are more likely to eat their own creations.  Let them assist in tearing and washing lettuce, scrubbing potatoes or stirring batter
15. Make every calorie count: offer your child foods that pack lots of nutrition into small doeses such as avocados, pasta, peanut butter and eggs
16. Count on inconsistency: what and how much young children are willing to eat varies each day.  Try to simply roll with these mood swings.
17. Relax: expect food fixations especially between his/her second and third birthday.  Toddlers have a mindset about the order of things in their world so they expect food to prepared a certain way (peanut butter on top of the jelly)

To read the full article click here

The Working Family Resource Center is providing a FREE Webinar on Early Literacy on February 8th at Noon. 

Early literacy is developed when we sing a lullaby, listen and respond to a baby's babbling, say a mealtime prayer, read the directions for pancakes, or write an email to grandma.  All of these meaningful activities help children learn language, vocabulary, and the purpose of print.  These are the skills they need to be good readers.

Presenter, Angele Sancho Passe, MA will talk about what family literacy is, have you consider what you are already doing at home to promote literacy and learn new ideas!

To register for the webinar, click here.

Let's Talk Kids is a weekly newsletter that contains information on how to raise healthy, happy children.  The articles will supply caregivers with content on commonly asked questions, new activies and recipes for kids. 

Recents articles have included:

• Ouch, biting hurts
• Children's brainpower
• Fathers parent differently
• Family traditions

If you are interested in receiving the weekly article, send an email to ordering@letstalkkidsnet or join the mailing list at www.letstalkkids.net/subscription

Here is a great website that provides 10 Ways to Play each month that don't require a lot of special supplies or preparation and can be enjoyed by a wide variety of ages.

Here are a couple of examples for February:

1. Set-up a stuffed animal zoo or vet office. Make signs, tickets, prescriptions, and feeding schedules. Lead zoo tours or treat your patients with bandages, medicine (poms poms work great), and love!
2. Have a living room picnic!
3. How tall of a block tower can you build? How many blocks can you stack in one minute?

Visit Let's Explore for Monthly Ways to Play along with book lists and many, many other great ideas!

Join the Working Family Resource Center as they provide a FREE webinar on getting your child ready for kindergarten.  During the conversation, they will discuss:

1. Developmental milestones birth through five
2. Provide resources and strategies for you to support your developing child
3. Discuss Kindergarten Readiness Indicators
4. Explore additional resource links and videos
5. Discuss how resources can suppor you, your child's first and most important teacher!

If you are a parent with a young child or someone who cares about young children's success, you won't want to miss this webinar on January 11th from 12-1pm.  Register today!