creativity!

11 Activities to Encourage Creativity by Amanda Lehrman 

http://www.parents.com/fun/activities/indoor/activities-to-encourage-creativity/#page=10

Aspire to Be an Architect

Help your kid discover a talent for architectural design! Visit your favorite playground and evaluate what your child loves most about it. What equipment does he enjoy the most? Can he think of a new type of slide? What could make the playground more interesting? Use these visits and conversations to inspire him to design an original jungle gym or swing set. Start with graph paper and have him illustrate diagrams and plans with specific placement of each piece of equipment. Then create a visual representation using straws, cardboard, toilet paper, and paper towel rolls.

Invent a Superhero Identity

Every child wants to have super powers, so challenge yours to create her own superhero persona. In You Are Your Child's First Teacher, author Rahima Baldwin Dancy states, "Children .. love to transform themselves into characters who can act out roles in imaginative play." Ask your child what super powers she would like to have and what superhero name she would choose. Then draw a superhero logo and use old sheets and scraps of material to create an outfit (and potential Halloween costume)

Form a Family Book Club

Gather other families from the neighborhood orschool and take turns choosing age-appropriate books each month and writing a list of questions for discussion about the characters, plots, themes, and settings. Make the meetings a fun potluck dinner with foods that relate to the story -- your children can take part in the cooking and help brainstorm appropriate foods. For example, if you're reading James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl, each participant can create a dish incorporating peaches, like peach pie or salsa.

Celebrate Moments Every Day

There is something to celebrate every day. Research each month's holidays, observances, and awareness weeks and have your child think of fun and creative ways to honor the occasions. For instance, May 1 to 7 is National Summer Safety Week, so brainstorm a list of ways to ensure a safe summer. August 10 is National S'mores Day, so make s'mores bars over the grill. In honor of Good Nutrition Month, November, involve your children in planning healthy meals and compile the delicious recipes in a family cookbook. Inspire your children to think about original and interesting ways to look forward to days and seasons.

Learn a Second Language

Speaking a second or third language is a wonderful skill, so start the process by posting a words or phrases in another language in your home. Connect the words to a milestone or event in your child's lives. For example, mark the start of a school year with the word "school" or the phrase "I love school" in another language. Each week, practice using a different word or phrase in the car, at the dinner table, or on the way to soccer practice. Introducing one new language at a time will help your child gain a deeper understanding of the patterns and sounds of various dialects. You can also check with your child's schoolteacher to see which language, if any, is being taught and then integrate that language at home. As your child learns new words, keep track of them by adding them to a bulletin board, poster, or scrapbook. For additional resources and reinforcement, parents can download mobile apps by MindSnacks, such as Learn Spanish, Learn French, or Learn Chinese.

Explore Other Galaxies

The mystery of the universe provides an awesome space for imagination to grow. Foster it by visiting a planetarium and then encouraging your child to create a planet or galaxy of his own. Invent the planet's name, characteristics (like rings, red earth, moons), and placement in comparison to other planets. Or create a papier-mâché version of the planet. According to Baldwin Dancy, "actually making something is so much more satisfying for children than cutting out shapes or fitting pegs into holes." Take it a step further by splattering white paint on black paper to create new constellations and then suspend the planet against the starry background. Reward your kid for the hard work by making ice cream comets!

Keep the Camera Rolling

Bring Hollywood right to your living room by putting together a television show (a comedy sketch or a sports program). Together, create a name, outline a basic concept, and write dialogue for a segment or episode. Or assign specific roles to each family member: script writer, director, producer, camera operator, actor, and so forth. Then use a video camera to film scenes from the script. Feel free to shoot retakes or to alter the script to make words and scenes come to life. You can even create a music video with original lyrics and costumes, or recreate a famous music video with your own family twist. For the next family movie night, set aside time to screen the finished product (complete with outtakes!).

Launch a Family Blog

Design a private family wiki page or blog with updated photos and videos from trips, holidays, and special events. This is a great way to stay connected while enhancing everyone's computer skills. With adult supervision, each child can add personal (but not too personal) information to the page -- new hobbies, latest accomplishments, goals for the year -- and share the page with family members across the country. You may discover hidden talents and interests -- perhaps one of your children likes to document family adventures through photos and another likes to work on page design.

Plan a Political Platform

Your kids are too young to vote, but you can teach them how political campaigns work by holding your own election. Suggest two child-friendly opposing topics (i.e. Candy Land vs. Monopoly, cats vs. dogs, ice cream vs. Popsicles) and have two children choose which topic each would like to represent. Talk about the debates that happen during a campaign and create posters, slogans, and arguments to illustrate why one choice is better than the other one. Then hold a campaign period at home for a week or two, and work on formulating arguments. Set aside a day to have a real debate and have friends or family members as the audience.

Send a Flat Stanley

With the popular Flat Stanley book series as inspiration, have your child write letters to friends and family around the world. Ask them to take and send back photos of Flat Stanley next to famous landmarks, along with stories of Flat Stanley's exciting adventures. As you receive responses, locate on a map the places Flat Stanley has visited and mark them with pushpins. "Regularly engaging with and keeping track of information on a world map will develop your child's understanding of places around the world on a deeper level," Bruel says.

iStockphoto

Fill Up on the Funnies

Explore the comics section of the local newspaper with your child and discover what makes him laugh. Use his response to create an original comic strip, complete with characters and illustrations. Create a storyboard and have him fill in each box by drawing a scene with a speech bubble. Come up with a name for the comic strip and each of the characters. "When children realize that writing is a medium for communicating their ideas and stories, the possibilities for expression become limitless" says Mariah Bruel inPlayful Learning. Discover your child's talent for writing or drawing comic situations through this activity

expressing emotions

Frustration Factor: Help Your Toddler Express Emotions

Toddlers have more will than skill. Your kid can tame her powerful emotions with these fixes.

By Corinne Garcia from Parents Magazine

"Bawaaaa," my 16-month-old son, Eli, screamed for the third time, his anger mounting. I looked around frantically, trying to guess what he wanted. No clue. But later, when I grabbed a banana for his snack, he said it again. Aha! I made sure I registered "Bawaaaa" as a part of his rapidly forming (but mostly incomprehensible) vocabulary.

Eli had entered a stage all kids go through starting around age 1 in which they can become frustrated seemingly out of nowhere. By toddlerhood, a baby's brain has evolved from a virtual blank slate to being chock full of information, according to John Medina, Ph.D., author of Brain Rules for Baby. But despite their improved understanding, young kids still lack the language skills to communicate all the things they want -- or the motor skills to fulfill their wishes themselves.

For increasingly independent-minded toddlers, this is a massive source of aggravation. Fortunately, there's plenty you can do to reduce your child's dismay, starting with these fixes.

Put Your Kid in Charge

Parents control almost every aspect of their children's lives, from the foods they eat to the clothing they wear. In toddlerhood, kids start wanting to have more of a say. "When young kids aren't allowed to have the power they crave, it's a major cause of frustration for them," explains Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., coauthor of Baby Minds. Letting them take charge -- even for just a few minutes -- can make an enormous difference.

Whenever possible, try to give your child two choices, Dr. Acredolo suggests. For example, in the morning, ask her if she'd prefer to wear a red shirt or the yellow one. At lunchtime, let her choose between string beans and peas. These might seem like minor decisions to you, but they'll quench her thirst for power -- and reduce the likelihood she'll tantrum about other things.

Be Empathetic

It might seem like your toddler erupts into tears over the tiniest things, but the anger young kids feel when they are denied is big. This powerful new emotion can be confusing and scary, Dr. Medina notes. You can help alleviate his frustration -- and remove that element of fear -- by empathizing with your child when he's upset. Articulate how he must be feeling in language that he can easily understand: "You're mad because you want to hold Bunny, but she's not here. I also get so mad when I can't have the things I love." It will make him feel understood -- and make the emotions feel less foreign to him the next time. As he gets older, this can turn into a conversation. "Teach your child how to verbalize his feelings," says Dr. Medina. "Having children describe their emotions, especially intense ones, with words has been shown to greatly help them understand and manage their feelings."

Try Sign Language

As young toddlers, kids can generally understand language and even form sentences in their brain, but they don't yet possess the motor skills necessary for forming words. "Imagine knowing exactly what you want to say but not being able to say it," says Monta Zelinsky Briant, author of Baby Sign Language Basics. "It would drive you crazy!" Teaching your child sign language can help. Ideally, parents should begin signing words as they say them when their baby is around 6 or 7 months old, but if you haven't already done this, it's worth making the effort now. Just teaching your child a few signs -- such as the ones for the words milk, more, eat, bed, hot, cold, hungry, finished -- can significantly improve your understanding of what's going on in her head. (Visit parents.com/sign for a hands-on vocabulary lesson.)

Switch Gears

Distraction is an age-old parenting technique, and for good reason. When your toddler is getting bent out of shape about something he can't have, or you don't understand, redirect him, suggests Dr. Acredolo (Maybe do a silly dance or point out something interesting, like a bird in the sky.) You can also give your kid a job. "Toddlers love to feel helpful," says Michelle Anthony, Ph.D., coauthor of Signing Smart With Babies and Toddlers. "It gives them a sense of importance, which can reduce their frustration." You might say, "I'm sorry I don't understand you. Mommy's really trying, but right now I need your help." Then, immediately give him a task -- pushing a mini shopping cart at the grocery store or bringing something to the other room, like a book. He'll probably be so proud he completed a big-boy task that he'll forget what was making him frustrated in the first place.

Originally published in the July 2012 issue of Parents magazine.

7 delicious foods for your kid's heart

You may have read the news yesterday that blueberries and strawberries can lower your risk of heart disease by about a third. I thought the study—a joint effort between Harvard University and East Anglia University in England—was totally cool for two reasons: Researchers started tracking the women when they were young moms—25 to 42—while most other work of this kind has been done in older women, and blueberries and strawberries are my daughter’s two favorite foods. Seriously, Katie said to me a couple of weeks ago, “I like strawberries better than candy.” And knowing how much she loves candy, that’s a bold statement!

Last night, I sent a note to one of the study’s authors, Aedin Cassidy, Ph.D., from East Anglia University, asking whether she thought her results applied to kids as well as moms. She responded right away: “This is a very interesting question,” she wrote. “We don’t have data on kids but if you extrapolate from our study, it’s likely that a healthy diet in childhood will also play out to a reduced risk of heart disease later in life.” That’s good enough for me. High cholesterol and high blood pressure, two big-time risk factors for heart disease, are becoming increasingly common in kids. One study published last year found that 24,000 children received treatment for elevated BP in 2006—double that compared to a decade before.

Dr. Cassidy also added that besides the strawberries and blueberries that got all the attention on the news yesterday, eggplant, plums, red cabbage, and other berries (like cranberries and raspberries) are also rich in pigments called anthocyanins that help lower the risk of heart disease and keep blood pressure in check. I’ve found some great recipes for each of them. Dig in!

* Strawberries: Puree berries in the blender for strawberry milk or make this strawberry soup for a Valentine’s treat.

* Blueberries: For baby, consider this blueberry puree while older kids will love these blueberry yogurt pops.

* Eggplant: Watch Disney’s Ratatouille, then make this pasta and eggplant dish.

* Plums: This plum pizza with feta cheese is a great way to work fruit into dinner.

* Red cabbage: Try this recipe for apple and cabbage baby food. For older kids, slip shredded cabbage into sandwiches—they’ll probably like it better than lettuce.

* Cranberries: Both fresh and dried are packed with the healthy pigments. Try these cranberry granola bars and this homemade cranberry sauce (it’s not just for Thanksgiving!)

* Raspberries: Whip up a healthy raspberry sauce to top whole-grain pancakes and waffles.

by kcicero

http://www.parents.com/blogs/goodyblog/2013/01/7-delicious-foods-for-your-kids-heart/

10 things you taught your baby (without even trying)

10 Things You Taught Your Baby Today (Without Even Trying)

If you're like most new parents, there are plenty of days -- ones when your baby won't stop crying and there's oatmeal on the wall -- when you feel as if you can't do anything right. But think again. Even if all you did was feed your little one when he was hungry, talk to him as you did the laundry, and take him for a stroll, you offered him fantastic learning experiences. Still doubt it? Here's what your baby would tell you himself -- if he could.

From Parents Magazine

I learned I can always depend on you.

Each time you soothed your child's persistent cries with food, a cuddle, or a dry diaper, you taught him that he matters and that he can trust you to help him. Even something as routine as putting him down for a nap fortifies his trust and self-esteem. Eventually, he'll figure out that even when you're out of sight, you still exist—and you'll be back.

I learned I can depend on myself too.

Instead of dashing into your baby's room when she fussed in the middle of the night, you forced yourself to wait for several seconds, then several more. Silence. Perhaps she found her thumb or snuggled into a comfy corner of the crib—whatever it was, she fell back asleep on her own. Without even getting out of bed, you taught her that she can take care of herself once in a while.

You learned something too: that sometimes good parenting means doing less for your child, not more. The same wait-a-minute approach is also wise if she's struggling to achieve a motor skill, such as reaching for a toy. Pulling back a little and letting her wiggle closer on her own steam challenges her to learn.

I learned that I can strike a balance.

Toting your little one around, whether in your arms or in a carrier, stimulates his vestibular system, which helps his body maintain its balance. And when you give him a ride on your shoulders, he also gets a visual bonus—the chance to take in the sights from a different vantage point.

Once your baby is able to sit up, take him for regular stroller rides over a variety of surfaces—like your gravelly driveway, a smooth sidewalk, and a grassy lawn—at different paces. It'll further refine his balancing skills and strengthen the muscles that keep him upright.

I learned that I can make all the right moves.

Maybe your baby—finally!—got her toes into her mouth, picked up a cracker by herself, or took her first halting steps today. She beamed, and you smiled and applauded, showing her she had a right to be proud. There's no big secret to helping your baby develop her motor skills. Just clearing the floor and giving her opportunities to move around is almost enough. The other essential? Cheering her on.

I learned how words work.

Did you call your child by name when you picked him up? As you went grocery-shopping together, did you describe each item as you put it in the cart? If so, you gave him bite-size—but big-time—lessons in language.

Any opportunity your baby has to hear you speak will support his verbal development, as he takes in the tone and rhythm of the words you use. Baby-friendly topics and baby-size words are nice, but not necessary. Even reading him the sports page, telling him about your day, or singing to him counts. So if you like to chat while doing chores or belt out show tunes in the car, go ahead.

I learned that I can take turns.

Remember playing peekaboo? First you covered your face, then your child did. Back and forth the two of you went. When you take turns with your baby during everyday interactions and simple games, you're teaching the importance of sharing, being social, and cooperating with others.

Just about any exchange that's simple, repetitive, and reciprocal does the trick. For instance, when you ask, "What does my little girl want to do today?" and wait for your baby's response with rapt attention, you're showing her the give-and-take of communication. Sure, her answer may only be a gurgle, but an intimate conversation between the two of you has begun.

I learned neat things from making a mess.

While you were cooking, you gave your baby a bowl and some plastic spoons to bat around the kitchen. During dinner you kept handing him Cheerios, even though you knew he'd throw them off the high chair. And you didn't cut bathtime short when he splashed water out of the tub. Congratulations! You provided lots of learning experiences.

Early in life, the most enriching play is the kind that's served up fresh—unstructured, unscheduled, and not centered around certain events or toys. When he played with the bowl and spoons, for instance, he actually conducted a bunch of science experiments: "Will the spoon fit in the bowl?" "How hard do I have to bang the spoon to make a noise?" "How much noise can I make before Mommy takes everything away?"

I learned that my feelings count.

You nibbled on your baby's toes, and she giggled. But after a while, she started frowning and turned away, so you stopped. In that moment, you taught her that you read—and honor—her cues.

Because your baby can't talk, she depends on you to interpret her gestures and facial expressions. It takes dedicated attention to learn how to do it right. But making her feel understood strengthens your emotional bond and spurs her efforts to communicate, which in turn may help her learn to talk.

I learned that there's a whole wide world to explore.

Today you took your child to the dry cleaners, the park, and the bank. It may have been just another boring round of errands for you, but for babies, every day is an adventure. They don't have long-term memory, so whenever they go to the park, it's almost as if it's the first time.

I learned that my life has a pattern.

You changed your baby's diaper and fed him his breakfast, put him in the car as you dropped off his big sister at school, and later, as the daylight waned, made dinner. Just by going through the usual motions, you've taught your little one that his world is consistent, predictable, and stable. By following daily rituals, you're helping your child learn what he can expect next—and look forward to it.

http://www.parents.com/baby/development/intellectual/10-things-you-taught-your-baby-today-without-even-trying/