Search Results for: blog surviving the summer with a preschooler

Teaching Your Preschooler About Good Nutrition

Talking to your preschooler about the benefits of eating a healthy diet will likely do little to change his view on broccoli and cauliflower. However, if you invite him into the kitchen and allow him to work on recipes with you that include nutritious ingredients, your point will probably be better received. Kids love rolling up their sleeves and creating yummy treats so why not take advantage of their enthusiasm? The following tasty recipes are easy to prepare and the best part—-they are incredibly healthy. ORGANIC CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BALLS Ingredients: 1 cup organic peanut butter 1/3 cup honey 2 … Continue reading →

Fun Ways to Make Learning Fun for Preschoolers

Learning doesn’t only have to take place in a classroom. The following simple activities are designed to help educate your preschooler in a home setting. What’s more, the projects are so much fun, your child won’t realize he’s actually leaning important lessons in the process: SHAVING CREAM PAINT Materials: Shaving cream Sponges Paintbrushes Food coloring Popsicle sticks Small bowls Directions: Spray shaving cream into several small bowls. Add food coloring and mix with Popsicle sticks. Moisten sponges and paintbrushes. Allow your preschooler to paint with the shaving cream. Then, have him mix the colors and guess what the combinations will … Continue reading →

Passing Time with Preschoolers

Preschools around here open a week after public and private schools do. For parents with children in multiple grade levels the staggered start means having to keep at least one child occupied while the others are in class. If you are looking for ways to pass time with your preschooler in the days leading up to the start of his new school year, then consider the following fun and educational activities: COTTON BALL SNOWMAN Find different size plastic cups or round containers (you could also use canned goods) for preschoolers to trace. You’ll need three different sizes. On paper have … Continue reading →

More Inexpensive Ways to Keep Your Preschooler Busy

Did somebody say cheap? The following activities are designed to keep preschoolers busy long enough for you to make dinner, fold the pile of clean laundry sitting on your bed, or take a shower without having a 4-year-old clinging to your legs. What’s more, they can all be done without having to spend a dime: Indoor “Snowball” Fight: Get a large stack of old newspapers or magazines and divide it up between two kids. Have them wad up the sheets of paper and start throwing. When they get bored of playing “snowball” fight, place two garbage bins in the middle … Continue reading →

Inexpensive Ways to Keep Your Preschooler Busy

You just dropped a bundle on back-to-school supplies for your older kids and now you’re scrounging around for money to purchase another box of diapers for your infant. Where does that leave your preschooler? You can show him how much you love him without spending a dime. Simply set up the following activities and have fun playing together: Beads: String some plastic beads onto a straw in an easy pattern of alternating colors. Glue the first and last beads to the straw so they won’t slip off. Give your child another straw and have him string beads to match your … Continue reading →

Easy and Affordable End-of-Summer Activities for Preschoolers

The days of swimming until sunset, twilight marshmallow roasts, and flexible bedtimes are coming to a rapid end for many preschoolers (including my own). In our home the carefree days of summer will soon be replaced by structured school routines, but not before one last blast of pure preschool fun. The following are some of my daughter’s favorite activities, which we plan to partake in this week: HOMEMADE CANDY JEWELRY Materials: Your child’s favorite treats that can be strung on pieces of red or black licorice, such as Lifesavers, Gummi Rings, chocolate covered pretzels, Cheerios, etc. Directions: Measure the licorice … Continue reading →

Room Decorating with a Preschooler

If your preschooler’s room is ready for a makeover, but you don’t know where to begin, then consult with an expert—-your child. Spend an afternoon with your preschooler placing bedroom items where he or she would like to see them. Work together to place the bed, dresser, toys and other belongings in areas that will work for both of you. By spending time with your preschooler, you can get a good sense of what she values when it comes to design. Perhaps she sees something that you do not. For example, having the bed face the closet can be scary … Continue reading →

Parents, Preschoolers and Summer Safety

Summer’s not over yet. Just ask my preschooler, who has morphed into a little fish during the last few weeks. Like many kids across the country, my daughter has escaped to the swimming pool to beat the heat. Swimming is a great way to cool off, but it can also be dangerous. A new government report shows that children are drowning in swimming pools and spas at an alarming rate. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 320 children under the age of 5 died in pool and spa incidents in 2007, the latest year for which the … Continue reading →

Is Your Green Thumb Harming Your Preschooler?

Mommy, mommy, how does your garden grow? If you are one of the millions of parents around the world, who uses gardening as a means of escaping from the stress associated with raising young human beings, then you might want to brace yourself for some disturbing news: A new study found that children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) had a significantly greater likelihood of exposure to household pesticides compared with a control group. Translation: Parents of preschoolers, who use pesticides on their grass, in their gardens and around the house have a greater chance of developing cancer. According to the … Continue reading →

Summer Fun for Preschoolers

Preschoolers love to exercise their independence, so many of the activities that might keep them amused during the summer months should be designed so they can work with minimal parental interruption. Give yourself a break by allowing your preschooler to work on projects independently. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t supervise your child, it just means that you should allow him to work at his own pace and solve problems on his own. Here are a few ideas to keep summer fun for your preschooler: GARDENING Introduce your child to gardening by visiting a local botanical garden or farm (u-pick strawberry … Continue reading →