I Like to Move It!

 News from the American Academy of Pediatrics

 It's not complicated: being active is what kids are born to do.  The problem is all the distractions of modern life that get in the way.  But all it takes is an hour of daily movement-on the floor, in the yard, or at the playground- to raise a healthier family.  "From the start, a new mom can take her baby for a walk everyday, which makes moving around a regular routine," explains Charles Cappetta, M.D., a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness.  The table below provides more easy, age-appropriate ways to get that little heart pumping!

Stage	Activity	Benefit
Babies	Let your baby roll around, crawl after toys and bang on pots and pans.	Playing on her belly strengthens the upper body.  Crawlers and cruisers build their large muscle groups.
Toddlers	Kicking a ball outside is super exercise.  Head for the playground slide for step-climbing action.	Getting sweaty and short of breath is fine for nearly every kid-and the key to heart health.
Preschoolers	Some structured sports can begin now, but it’s also fine to just play; jump rope, hopscotch, ride trikes and dig in the sand!	Full-body movement not only builds stronger kids, it improves memory and improves self-esteem.

10 Tips for Fun, Creative Back to School Lunches

Say goodbye to "blah" lunchboxes! Mix things up for your kids by getting creative with their school lunches. Try these 10 creative lunchboxes from  http://chefmom.sheknows.com, or make up your own and share it with us in a comment below!

Skip boring bread

Take an everyday sandwich to a whole new level by switching boring bread out with something a little more exciting. Instead of two slices of bread, fill a hot dog bun, pita bread, English muffin or bagel with whatever you were going to stack on your sandwich.

Make shapes

The next time you make a sandwich, pull out your cookie cutters and turn it into something else. It's funny how much better a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can taste when it looks like a star or a dinosaur. Don't worry about wasting the crusts — dry them out and use them to make bread crumbs.

Serve leftovers

Thermoses aren't just for soup! Use an insulated thermos to serve up whatever tasty dish you had for dinner last night. Heat up your leftovers and put them in a thermos while they're hot to have a warm, ready-to-eat meal at lunchtime.

Go for crackers

Not every kid is crazy for sandwiches. Instead, serve crackers with bite-sized meats and fruits. Your kid will love stacking and creating his own little "sandwiches!" It's a great way to make sure your picky eater gets enough grains.

Roll it up

Skip the bread and use a tortilla or flatbread when you're making your sandwich. Roll all the fillings up inside, then serve it as-is, or slice it for pinwheels. Your kids will go bananas for either one!

Serve a salad

Skip the sandwich altogether and serve a salad as your main course for lunchtime. Go for a standard house mix, throw together a taco salad, or create a salad of the fruit or pasta variety. If you're worried about it getting soggy, send the dressing in a separate container to be mixed just before eating.

Don't be afraid to waffle!

Waffles are too delicious to be just for breakfast. Keep them sweet by smearing them with cream cheese and adding raisins and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Thinking of something a little more savory? Waffles can make a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but any sandwich you would serve on bread will taste just as wonderful (if not more!) between two waffles.

Crazy for kabobs

Any kind of kabob is fun to eat, which is probably why kids love them so much. Stack your regular sandwich ingredients on a skewer, including chunks of meat, cheese, bread and veggies, with a side of dressing or their favorite condiment for dipping. If you want to keep with the theme, stack some fruit on another skewer for dessert.

Get dippin'

Kids love to dip foods, so send some finger foods they can have a little fun with. Pack pretzels, chips, crackers, fruits and veggies cut into bite-sized pieces, along with ranch dressing, cream cheese, peanut butter, salsa, hummus or yogurt for dipping.

Pick a theme

Have a little fun when you're packing lunch and create a themed surprise inside of her lunchbox. Choose a color and try to make everything match. Turn her lunch pail into a Mexican fiesta or a dainty tea party. It'll be fun for you to see how creative you can get, and she'll be floored when she opens it up and sees what you've done

Fun (and Functional) Back to School Projects

With only a few weeks left until the start of school, why not start getting their hands and minds engaged!  Babble.com offers 10 fun and functional back to school craft ideas to get you started.  From shirts for the little ones, to locker decor for your middle or high school student, this site offers something for everyone headed back to the classroom!

http://blogs.babble.com/family-style/2012/08/10/10-fun-functional-back-to-school-crafts/

Back to School Shopping Tips

School is literally just around the corner.....which often means a stressed budget!  Try these back to school shopping tips to save the most of your time, energy and money!

Shop at home first--and set up Supply Central

Any item already on-hand is a bonus freebie, so check the house for rulers and protractors, pencils and binder paper.

Stick to your list--and your budget

School supply aisles look like toy departments these days, and kids have big gimme eyes for school-day flash and bling. Shop from your list to keep back-to-school spending within budget.  Once you have an idea of your child's true needs, establish a budget amount, and create a learning experience. Yes, little Jenna WILL want the pricey licensed-character backpack and the lunchbox and the binder, no matter the cost. A bit of horsetrading along the lines of, "Well, the budget will let you buy the backpack only if we choose less expensive binders" can make the limits clear--and teach financial skills at the same time.

While we have already missed on shopping early.......

 Shop late!

While nobody wants to be caught dead dragging multiple children into the crowded school supply aisles the weekend before school opens, a short week later will see the same merchandise marked down to clearance prices--and no crowds.
Turn a deaf ear to children's pleas of "But I HAVE to have it all today!" and budget some cash for season-end discount buys. That's the time to stock up on the basics that will be needed all year: binder paper, composition books, spiral notebooks, pencils, erasers, crayons and markers.

Seek out the on stocking stuffers

If back-to-school is here, the holidays won't be far behind. Clearance-priced school supplies make great Christmas stocking stuffers. A quick trip after school begins--and once the items are marked down--can fill Santa's stockings inexpensively.

Money Milestones: An Age-by-Age Guide

Whether or not your child's idea of a fun toy is a cash register and fake coins, the fact remains that as a parent, it's your job to talk about financial responsibility with your kid.

But how young is too young to talk about budgeting or, say, credit reports? After all, we don't want them to grow up and start hiding money under their futons.

We tapped Erica Sandberg, national personal finance expert and author of Expecting Money: The Essential Financial Plan for New and Growing Families, to help us lay out money milestones for every age.

 Age 3: Practice Waiting

At this age, kids should be learning about patience, and how to respond when they don't get something they want right away. The simple lesson of delayed gratification will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Activity: Tell your toddler that you'll give him a cookie now if he wants it, but you'll give him two cookies if he waits an extra ten minutes. See what he chooses and try to encourage him to wait for the extra cookie.

Lesson Learned: Be patient and wait for a bigger payoff, rather than always going for instant gratification.

Age 4: Go Over Counting

Your kid won't understand the finances behind money at this age, but he should be good at counting and basic addition. So, this is the year to start linking those budding math skills to the concept of money.

Activity: Give your child a mix of coins and have her start by counting how many there are. Each week, introduce a new coin with its name ("this is called a quarter") and have her practice picking it out of a pile. Once she's learned all of the coin names, have her separate the pile into all of the different types, and keep growing the pile each week to escalate the challenge.

Lesson Learned: The names and sizes of each coin (plus math practice).

Age 5: Associate "No" With Spending

Kindergarten is when peer pressure starts to rear its ugly head, so stop the peer-inspired begging for stuff ("but Tommy has one!") before it even starts.

Activity: Tell your kid that you can't buy everything you want, so you have to choose the items that are most important to you. The next time your kid sees two things he wants at the store, make him choose just one. It can be just as hard for moms to say no as it is for kids to hear it.

Lesson Learned: It costs money to buy things, so you can't always get everything you want.

Age 6: Start Giving Allowance

This is the year of "make it work." Many experts advise starting kids with an allowance around age six, which means that if they want something just for fun, it's up to them to save and figure out how they'll get it.

Activity: Start giving your child an allowance on a weekly basis. The exact amount will vary depending on your situation and personal history, but a rule of thumb is a dollar per year of age, so you might want to start your kid with about $6 a week. Note that some experts say allowance shouldn't be tied to chores: It's a tool to teach your kid about managing money, not to pay her for household duties she should be doing anyway. Get answers to any other allowance questions you might have at LearnVest.com (see Resources below).

Lesson Learned: If you want something, figure out how much it will cost and save up.

Age 7: "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?"

This is about the age when teachers start to ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. That makes this a good time to talk to your child about career and work. You should cover the fact that, though you go to work to earn money, if you're lucky, you also enjoy it. Try to instill positive feelings toward work and earning an income.

Activity: Ask your kid what he wants to be someday, and have him draw a picture representing his dream job. Do this activity with him, sketching out a picture of you and your job (it doesn't need to be artistic). Explain what you do at work, why you chose that field and why you like it.

Lesson Learned: People work to make money, but they should try to choose their jobs based on what they enjoy.

Age 8: Show What Household Things Cost

By this age, your kid's understanding of addition and subtraction should be advanced enough that she can easily understand the broad concept of money coming in and going out. So, this is a good age to explain that, although you make money at work, you have to spend some of it on bills.

Activity: From now on, let your child sit next to you while you pay the bills. These numbers -- especially rent or mortgage -- will be too big for her to thoroughly comprehend, but you can let her help you with some of the math operations to balance your checkbook, like adding up the cents column in your transaction ledger.

Lesson Learned: Adults have to pay bills, but that's not a problem as long as they save up money from their paychecks.

Age 9: Open a Savings Account

By age 9, kids are old enough (and self-possessed enough) to understand the concept of saving money for items they need and want. This is the right age not only to set up a savings account but also to include your kid in the action so he feels ownership over it.

Activity: Open a custodial savings account with about $30 (see Resources below), and tell him you've done so. Don't let him withdraw money at will -- if he wants to save up for a big purchase like a bike, he should talk to you about it -- but tell him that you'll take him to the bank to make deposits whenever he wants. For every dollar he contributes, consider offering to match it

Lesson Learned: It's fun to save money!

Age 10: Teach the Truth About Cards

By the time your kid is in late elementary school, she'll almost certainly hear people mention credit cards. Before she takes in misinformation or bad habits from her peers, teach her constructive (and correct) information about the different kinds of cards and accounts people have.

Activity: Take all of your cards out of your wallet and go over which one is for debit, which is for credit, etc. Explain the differences between them. Then, when you're at the grocery store, let her swipe your card for you. Point out what that means for your money: If it's a debit card, she's deducting money from your checking account. If it's a credit card, you might want to say something like, "Swiping this equals borrowing money from the company that gave it to me -- if I don't pay it back on time, they'll charge me extra, but I always pay it back on time!"

Lesson Learned: How debit and credit cards work, and the importance of always paying back credit cards in full and on time.

Easy Bead Sun Catchers

Want a great activity or handmade gift?  Not only are these bead sun catchers beautiful, they help little ones develop fine motor skills, can be used as a color or pattern activity, and proved to be a fun activity for kids from 2-12!  Plus, they are super easy, relatively inexpensive and require very few materials!

Materials
Translucent Pony Beads
Muffin Tin, pie plate or cookie cutters on a baking sheet
Nail/Hammer/Drill
Fishing Line

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Have kids arrange beads in a single layer in a muffin tin or an oven safe cookie cutter on a baking sheet.  The beauty of this project is perfection doesn't matter!  Little kids randomly stacked, while older kids made meticulous patterns and they all turned out beautiful.

3. Bake beads for 20 minutes.  Open a window, and turn on a fan, as it does get a bit stinky!

4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  While you may be afraid of sticking, they literally just pop out when they are cool.

5. Using a small nail and hammer or drill, create a small hole in the top of your charm and hang with fishing line in a window.  If you don't want to complete this step, wire can be wrapped around the center and used as a base for fishing line.

Everyone Loves a Treasure Hunt

Next time you are our enjoying the summer sun, why not try a nature treasure hunt.  From toddlers to school-aged children, everyone loves a scavenger hunt.....and in addition to getting outdoors, it can also be a great way to combat summer learning loss.  While you could find a fancy hunt on-line, you can easily just grab a pen and paper and start listing interesting items that could be found in your own back yard.  Here are some fun questions to get you started!

1. Find 3 leaves, that are all different.
2. Find something round.
3. Find 3 sticks; 1 long, 1 medium and 1 short
4. Find something every color of the rainbow
5. Find something that starts with the letter.............................whatever letter you want!

Be Thinking About Back to School

Although it may seem early, getting a new school year off to a good start can influence children’s attitude, confidence, and performance both socially and academically. The transition from August to September can be difficult for both children and parents. Even children who are eager to return to class must adjust to the greater levels of activity, structure, and, for some, pressures associated with school life.
The degree of adjustment depends on the child, but parents can help their children (and the rest of the family) manage the increased pace of life by planning ahead, being realistic, and maintaining a positive attitude. Here are a few suggestions to help ease the transition and promote a successful school experience.

 

1 Month Before School Starts

Good physical and mental health. Be sure your child is in good physical and mental health. Schedule doctor and dental checkups early. Discuss any concerns you have over your child’s emotional or psychological development with your pediatrician. Your doctor can help determine if your concerns are normal, age-appropriate issues or require further assessment. Your child will benefit if you can identify and begin addressing a potential issue before school starts. Schools appreciate the efforts of parents to remedy problems as soon as they are recognized.

Review all of the information. Review the material sent by the school as soon as it arrives. These packets include important information about your child’s teacher, room number, school supply requirements, sign ups for after-school sports and activities, school calendar dates, bus transportation, health and emergency forms, and volunteer opportunities.

Mark your calendar. Make a note of important dates, especially back-to-school nights. This is especially important if you have children in more than one school and need to juggle obligations. Arrange for a babysitter now, if necessary.

Buy school supplies early. Try to get the supplies as early as possible and fill the backpacks a week or two before school starts. Older children can help do this, but make sure they use a checklist that you can review. Some teachers require specific supplies, so save receipts for items that you may need to return later.

Re-establish the bedtime and mealtime routines. Plan to re-establish the bedtime and mealtime routines (especially breakfast) at least 1 week before school starts. Prepare your child for this change by talking with your child about the benefits of school routines in terms of not becoming over tired or overwhelmed by school work and activities. Include pre-bedtime reading and household chores if these were suspended during the summer.

Turn off the TV. Encourage your child to play quiet games, do puzzles, flash cards, color, or read as early morning activities instead of watching television. This will help ease your child into the learning process and school routine. If possible, maintain this practice throughout the school year. Television is distracting for many children, and your child will arrive at school better prepared to learn each morning if he or she has engaged in less passive activities.

Designate and clear a place to do homework. Older children should have the option of studying in their room or a quiet area of the house. Younger children usually need an area set aside in the family room or kitchen to facilitate adult monitoring, supervision, and encouragement.

Freeze a few easy dinners. It will be much easier on you if you have dinner prepared so that meal preparation will not add to household tensions during the first week of school.

Have any other great Back-to-School strategies..........add them with a comment below!