Search Results for: blog should i get my preschooler a pet

Harnessing the Hamster: Preschoolers and Sports

Small children are amazing in their energy output. Often, I am tempted to put my daughter into an oversized hamster ball and use her to power my kitchen. Perhaps I could automate the snack-making process. Hmm, now there’s an idea! Over the last four years, we’ve registered for everything from baby swimming lessons to a class that featured an assortment of indoor sports. We’ve done ballet, and my daughter has gone running with me as I trained for a marathon. As I look at my friends and relatives, I realize that the sports that we learn to love in childhood … Continue reading →

Preschoolers and Happy Meals

It’s official… I’m old. An impromptu trip to McDonald’s with my preschooler late yesterday assured me of this fact. My daughter is partial to Ronald’s Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich and rarely ever requests a Happy Meal unless the toy is too good to resist. So when we entered the fast food giant yesterday and she saw the huge Happy Meal display containing dozens of stuffed animals, she just about fainted. She is the queen of fluffy fake pets, after all. The reason for the colorful menagerie of mini fluffballs: McDonald’s is celebrating the 30th birthday of its iconic Happy Meals. … Continue reading →

How to Encourage Creative Thinking in Your Preschooler

Thinking outside of the box is a useful skill for anyone to have. It goes hand in hand with creative problem solving, an ability that is highly valued by both schools and employees. Creative problem solving can lead to all sorts of successes in life, from basic survival to an abundant life. Encouraging creative thinking should start early. Even toddlers can come up with a bit of creative thinking. By the time a child is of preschool age, you should foster an environment that offers plenty of opportunity for creative thinking and problem solving. So how can you create this … Continue reading →

Board Games for Toddlers and Preschoolers

By the age of two, most children are ready to play simple board games. Here are some of the ones I recommend for toddlers and preschoolers. Yesterday, after a long day running around the house (my oldest son said it was exhausting work), and a quick dinner, I decided to settle things down for my own kids and one of their friends who spent the day with us. I suggested that we bring out a board game. “What’s a board game?” the little girl asked. In all of her six years of age, she had never played, let alone heard, … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: October 2008

If you had an October baby, congratulations! I hope that you will spend some time with us here at Families.com, as we bring you the latest news and tips for you and your family. Here is the Baby Blog month in review for October. October 1st Insect Repellent and Young Children Protecting my children is the number one priority, but one thing that I tend to avoid is insect repellent. I figure that putting additional chemicals on my kids is not the best idea, that is until now. These days, a mosquito bite is not just an annoyance, but it … Continue reading →

Why Parents Should Say “NO” to the Real Life “Wonder Pets”

“Wonder Pets Wonder Pets We’re on our way To help a friend and save the day…” Parents with young children feel free to join in: “We’re not too big And we’re not too tough But when we work together We’ve got the right stuff… GOOOOOO Wonder Pets… YAY!!” I dare you to watch even half an episode of the popular animated Nickelodeon show about a determined guinea pig, an independent baby turtle, and an adventurous duckling without humming the theme song for the rest of the week. I should know. My preschooler has been a fan of the show for … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: Tips on Making Baby Food

Good morning readers! I am introducing a few new categories here in the baby blog. The first, is ‘Ask a Baby Blogger’. We bloggers love questions, especially ones that gives us blog fodder! So if you have a question, feel free to comment or leave either Heather or I a private message and we’ll try to answer as best as we can! Our first ‘Ask a Baby Blogger’ question has to do with making baby food. I am trying to make my infant’s baby food. I used the blender method but it came out all goopy. What did I do … Continue reading →

Preschoolers & Sports

Is it me or are kids a hundred times busier today than when I was a kid? I don’t remember being enrolled in a dozen different activities and when I look at my own daughter’s busy schedule, I have to wonder – are we doing our preschoolers a service or not by enrolling them in sports? The answer to this question is both yes and no. Want me to vague that up a bit more? The truth is the answer is based on a number of different factors including the type of sport, your child’s level of physical prowess and … Continue reading →

A Few of My Favorite Things: Art

In my house, our refrigerator is full of child made art. . .as is our entry way, our hallway, our parents’ refrigerators, some of their walls. . .and believe it or not we even throw stuff away–lots of stuff. My children are prolific in the amount of art work they produce and so my first “Favorite Things” blog is dedicated to the area of art supplies, art curriculum, art websites and other art “stuff”. I must mention that this is not the end all of lists to look at when selecting art supplies and other art things for your curriculum. … Continue reading →

The Trouble with Toys

(If I step on these one more time I’m going to…) Actually, it’s not the toys I have trouble with; it’s the child owner who repeatedly neglects to pick-up said playthings despite various forms of yelling, nagging and threatening. Sound familiar? Then, you too can likely relate to that Febreze commercial where the mom places all of her kids’ stuffed animals in the toy box only to find them strewn back on the floor the instant she turns around. How many times have you seen that ad and thought, “That’s so my life”? Not the possessed toy part; rather, the … Continue reading →