Eating Out with Baby: Tips for Less Stress

Eating Out with Baby: Tips for Less Stress

November 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When you first bring your baby to a restaurant at a young age, chances are she will simply fall asleep in her car seat while you eat. But as baby grows, dining out can become a bigger hassle than it’s worth. If you don’t want to give up on restaurant dining, you can still enjoy a meal out without major stress if you go prepared and make a few adjustments to your usual routine.

Choose Your Destination Wisely

Unfortunately, now that you are a parent, some restaurants are probably not a good choice unless you leave the baby at home with a sitter. While most restaurants are somewhat child-friendly and offer high chairs, there are some choices that are better than others. You have every right to have your child in a restaurant, but just as you would expect consideration from other diners, you need to give the same consideration.

Choose a restaurant where you won’t be the only one with a child and aren’t likely to disturb anyone attempting to have a quiet night out. With plenty of family restaurants in all types of cuisine available to choose from, it’s not hard to find a place where your baby will be welcome even if she is a bit on the noisy side.

Restaurants that are accustomed to serving families will also have staff prepared for the special pleasure of having a baby at the table. They will have plenty of high chairs, not mind a little mess, and even offer entertainment options for little ones such as crayons.

Feed Baby First

Depending on how old your baby is, odds are you won’t be ordering baby food from the menu, so there is no real reason for her to wait to eat. When you are seated and have placed your order, go ahead and feed your baby so that she won’t be hungry and therefore fussy. If you are ordering something off the menu for baby, put the order in as soon as you arrive and request that they bring it out as soon as it’s ready.

Reserve some small finger foods or snacks to offer to baby while you are eating in order to keep her occupied, but offer the bulk of her meal early on so that she will be full and satisfied.

Keep Baby Entertained

Showing up at a restaurant without anything to occupy your baby is a recipe for disaster. Keep a variety of toys on hand so that you can dole them out slowly as they are needed. Toys that can be attached to the high chair or table to avoid having to pick them up from the floor repeatedly are a good idea. Keep some toys that are only for eating out so that your baby will be excited to see them and they aren’t old news. It might mean carrying a lot of stuff around, but if the payoff is a relatively peaceful meal, it’s well worth it.

Remember that eating out with a baby will never be quite the same experience that it was before you became a parent. It’s a little more rushed, a little louder and a little messier than it was before. You can still enjoy eating at a restaurant, however, if you go in prepared and are able to take a little chaos in stride.

Spread Holiday Cheer with Homemade Cards

Spread Holiday Cheer with Homemade Cards

April 9th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Instead of store-bought cards, this year get your kids into the holiday spirit by making homemade cards. You’ll have a blast making them, and your friends and family will love to receive a special and unique card from the heart. Here are three simple holiday card ideas even young kids can help to make.

Snowman Cards.
What you’ll need:

  • Construction paper
  • Round cotton pads
  • Whole cloves
  • Black Felt
  • Glitter
  • Glue

Start by folding a piece of construction paper in half, then in half once more. On the bottom quarter of the card, spread some glue and sprinkle with glitter. One it’s dry, you can build your snowman on top of the glittery snowy ground. Take three of the round cotton pads and glue them one on top of the other. Then glue two whole cloves for eyes onto the top cotton pad (they’ll make the card smell lovely). Cut a top hat shape out of the black felt, and glue it above the snowman’s head. You can add extra glitter to create falling snow too.

Fold Out Christmas Tree Cards.
What you’ll need:

  • Construction paper
  • Tissue paper
  • Ribbon
  • Glue
  • Glitter

Fold a piece of construction paper as in the previous example. Then lay it on the table with the inside of the card open. Cut a Christmas tree shape out of green construction paper, and repeat three more times, making sure they are all the same size. Take three of the trees and fold them in half down the center. Glue the fourth flat on the center of the card, so that the crease of the folded card is directly in line with the center of the tree. For the remaining three, glue only the crease you made when you folded them to the center crease of the card, so they appear like the pages of a book.

Cut strips of green tissue paper and fold them accordion style. Glue several strips of the folded tissue paper between each layer of the tree. When you close the card, the tree will flatten, and when you open it, the tree will spread open. Decorate your tree with glitter, pieces of ribbon as garland, and construction paper gifts at the base. Be creative and let your kids think of new ways to decorate the tree as well!

Wreath Cards.
What you’ll need:

  • Construction paper
  • Ribbon
  • Colored beads
  • Glue
  • Glitter

This time, fold a green piece of construction paper in half only once. Cut out a circular shape, leaving the folded edge intact so that you end up with a round card that can be opened. Cut a circle out of the center to make a wreath shape, then trim the edges so that they appear less even and smooth and more like a wreath. Pinking shears make a great edge for your wreath, or you can cut in a wave with regular scissors. Decorate your wreath with beads, ribbon, and glitter. You can also add a piece of ribbon to the top of the card, so that recipients can hang it as an ornament or decoration.

You can also add the clove idea from the first card to either the tree or the wreath to bring that spicy scent to your card. The smell will impart a feeling of festive warmth the minute the recipient opens the envelope!

The key to great holiday cards is creativity, fun, and a little love. When these special cards arrive in the mail complete with a hand-written message, your family and friends will feel the holiday cheer from across the miles.

Tricks for Healthy Halloween Treats

Tricks for Healthy Halloween Treats

April 8th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Halloween is the holiday that children anticipate and dentists dread. While every holiday has its traditional treats, none can quite compare to Halloween for sheer sugar overload. Halloween doesn’t have to be a junk food nightmare, however. You can balance the scales a little by making some healthier treats at home to accompany the trick or treating goodies.

Naturally Sweet

Fruit may be the closest thing nature offers to candy, and it won’t be a tough sell to get your kids to eat some Halloween treats that are both sweet and healthy thanks to some spooky fruit recipes.

Make a healthy jack-o-lantern using an orange instead of a pumpkin. Hollow out a navel orange and cut out a face just like you would a pumpkin. Then fill your mini jack-o-lantern with tasty treats such as fruit salad, gelatin squares or crunchy nuts – whatever creative and healthy filling you can think of!

Caramel apples are a great way to combine a sweet treat with healthy fruit. You can buy caramel dip at the store, or make your own at home. They are delicious with just the caramel, but you can also dip them in nuts for an added touch and crunch.

Turn grapes into eerie eyeballs by cutting a small opening and pressing a raisin into one end. A bowlful of these creepy but tasty and healthy treats are sure to please your little ones!

Shape It Up

Turn all kinds of healthy foods into Halloween treats with cookie cutters. Pick up shapes like a pumpkin, ghost, and cat, and get creative. Make breakfast fun by cutting pancakes or toast into ghost shapes, and covering with a sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar to turn them white. A couple of raisins make perfect eyes!

At lunchtime, use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter on a grilled cheese sandwich, and then cut eyes and a mouth. If you cut while the cheese is still warm, you’ll get a creepy oozing of cheese into the openings. You can do the same with peanut butter and jelly. Or make a jack-o-lantern face on a quesadilla, the round shape is perfect!

Cut Halloween shapes into pitas or another flat bread, and then bake until crispy. Serve your creepy crackers with black bean dip, or salsa. Or, cut shapes out of cheese slices for a matching accompaniment to the crackers.

Devilishly Delicious Drinks

Serve up fun Halloween beverages that will refresh without a ton of sugar. For a fizzy treat, mix orange juice with sparkling water, and add a touch of blood red by drizzling grenadine slowly into the glass.

Add fun to any Halloween drink by adding a few drops of food coloring to the water in your ice cube trays. Red and orange are great Halloween colors. Make your ice cubes extra creepy by freezing a small plastic spider into each cube!

Be Realistic

Keeping Halloween healthier is a great goal, but don’t cut out the candy altogether. Denying your kids the Halloween treats they have been waiting for won’t win you any fans. The goal for this sugary holiday should be to teach moderation, self-control, and also show kids that healthy foods can be fun and delicious too.

If you can get this message across successfully, you will raise kids who know how to enjoy a treat, but won’t turn their back on healthy snacks.

Give Thanks with a Pinecone Turkey Centerpiece

Give Thanks with a Pinecone Turkey Centerpiece

April 7th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

A turkey centerpiece made from a pinecone is a fun craft your kids will enjoy making and displaying. This Thanksgiving craft requires only a few easy to obtain items, some of which are found in nature! Here are two great pinecone turkey crafts to choose from.

Remember that gathering the supplies for this craft is half the fun! Take a stroll through your local park or nature trail with your kids to find pine cones, and enjoy the fall foliage and fresh air while you are out there. Look for the largest pinecones you can find, but gather up some small ones as well. If you’re planning to make the second type of pinecone turkey, search for the largest, most brightly colored leaves you can find.

Pinecone Turkey with a Feathered Tail

For this craft, you will need:

  • One large pinecone
  • Colored feathers, around two dozen
  • Craft goggle eyes
  • Construction paper or crafter’s foam in brown, red, yellow and orange
  • Glue

Start by laying the pinecone on the table to be sure it won’t roll away. Next, take your feathers and fluff them up by running your fingers over them. Arrange a row of 5-6 feathers in a fan shape. Glue them one by one to the back of the pinecone. Make two more rows in the same manner to create a multi-layered tail for your turkey.

Next, create a face for your turkey with construction paper or crafter’s foam. Cut an oval shape of brown paper or foam, and two teardrop shapes out of orange and red. Glue your turkey’s eyes to the center of the brown oval, near the top. Then glue the two teardrop shapes, pointed end down, to the bottom of the brown oval to create the turkey’s beak and waddle. The yellow teardrop should be a little higher and more centered to create the beak, and the orange one a little lower, forming the waddle.

When this is done, attach your turkey’s face to the front of the pinecone. Finally, make feet for your turkey from yellow construction paper or foam cut into rounded triangle shapes, and glue them to the bottom of your pinecone.

Fall Leaf Pinecone Turkey

To make this craft, gather the following:

  • Large fallen leaves in bright colors (press them for a few days for best results)
  • One large pinecone
  • One acorn or similar shaped nut in the shell
  • Craft goggle eyes
  • Construction paper
  • Yellow paint
  • Glue

To get started, follow step one above and lay the pinecone on the table to find where it is most stable. Create the tail by gluing your leaves stem down onto the back of the pine cone to form the tail. Place larger leaves towards the back and smaller ones towards the front.

Next, glue the eyes onto the acorn, and attach it to the front of the pinecone to create your turkey’s face. Cut a teardrop shape out of construction paper, and glue it beneath the acorn to create the waddle. Add a bit of yellow paint to the very tip of the acorn, giving your turkey a beak.

For added fun, use small pinecones and single leaves to make miniature turkeys for each place setting around the table. You can even use these small turkeys for place markers by slipping a small card with the person’s name into the pinecone.

With these easy Thanksgiving crafts, your holiday table will be both festive and fun!

Fall for Fun: Great Autumn Activities!

Fall for Fun: Great Autumn Activities!

March 9th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Fall is a great season for family fun; the temperatures may be cooling off, but the great outdoors still has a lot to offer before winter sends us in to hide!

Gathering Fall Treasures

The cooler weather is great for getting out there and doing some hiking and exploring. Walk a nature path and examine the changes that the fall season is bringing. Gather fallen leaves and make a game of finding leaves from as many different trees as possible. Don’t lose them! You can bring them home for some fun autumn crafts. It’s also a great time to gather pine cones, also perfect for crafts.

Fall is pumpkin season, so find a pumpkin patch to explore! Let your kids choose their own pumpkin to turn into a jack-o-lantern. Look for a pumpkin patch that offers lots of fun family activities. Some have hayrides, farm animals for petting, corn mazes and more. It’s a perfect way to spend a fall day.

Pumpkins aren’t the only produce to go in search of in the fall. If you live in the right part of the country, you can go apple picking as well. Find a local orchard and pick your own apples. Take them home to bake an apple pie, dip them in caramel for a real fall treat, or just enjoy them as they are, fresh and delicious.

Fabulous Fall Crafts

Those treasures you gathered on your walk in the woods can be put to good use in some fun fall crafts. Leaves can be glued into a scrapbook, or used to make a colorful centerpiece for your table. Fill a clear vase with leaves to display them beautifully as a fall alternative to flowers.

Turn your pine cones into little animals; pull pipe cleaners through at the top and bottom, and twist them underneath to make two sets of legs. Then glue on craft eyes, and add various finishing touches to make different types of animals. A pig might have a curly pipe cleaner tail and perky felt ears. Add wings for a bird, or a cotton ball tail for a rabbit. The possibilities are endless.

Your kids will have fun making their very own scarecrow to watch over the yard. Bring it down to kid size by using outgrown baby clothes or old doll clothes. Put sticks through the arms and legs of the clothes, and stuff with leaves. A larger piece of wood will form a backbone to help your little scarecrow stand. Top it off with a miniature pumpkin for a head, and draw on a face with markers.

Get in the Game

Autumn is football season, and kids will really enjoy the fun of attending a game. Skip the expensive tickets for the pro teams and go support your local high school team instead. The smaller venue will give you a better view of the game, and the community camaraderie will warm the atmosphere even on a cool fall evening. Snacks and hot chocolate in a thermos complete a fun family night out.

You don’t have to be spectators all the time! Spend a fall afternoon in the back yard or at the park playing a friendly game as a family. Keep it safe for young kids by skipping the tackles and playing touch football instead. You’ll get some exercise and have a lot of fun at the same time.

Fall offers endless opportunities for fun with your children. Enjoy the outdoors before it gets too cold, and share the beauty and wonder of the changing natural world.

Super Games for Summertime Fun!

Super Games for Summertime Fun!

March 8th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

There is no season quite like summer for family fun. School is out, the sun is shining, and everyone is ready to get out and enjoy the warm weather. Keep your kids entertained all summer long with great games that keep them active and occupied. And don’t forget to get out there and play with them! You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy the summer, so grab the sunscreen and get out there.

Keep Your Cool

Not everyone has a pool in the backyard, but that shouldn’t keep you from cooling down and playing in the water. Turn your hose and small kid’s pool into your very own water park with a few simple adjustments.

Set up a small pool filled with water at the base of your play structure’s slide. Place the spout of the hose at the top of the slide and turn it on to create your very own waterslide. Add extra pizzazz by using a sprinkler next to the slide instead of the just the hose, giving kids a spray of water to slide through into the pool below.

Take a cue from a birthday party classic and make a summer pinata – only instead of candy, this piñata will shower down cooling water. You can make your own with a trash bag full of water suspended from a rope. Make your piñata prettier by using leftover orange trash bags from fall leaf collecting. Let the kids take turns being blindfolded and using a broom handle or stick to assault the bag until it bursts. Or, they can all go at it at once, and share in the downpour! Skip the blindfolds if you go this route, to make sure they don’t hit each other. For extra fun, add assorted waterproof prizes, such as small plastic toys.

Summer Sports

Summer afternoons were made for sports, and you don’t need to be an athlete to have fun. Nothing says summer more than a game of baseball. Get the family out to the park and take turns pitching and hitting. Or, simply play catch and get everyone in the game by playing in a circle, rather than back and forth between only two people.

No visit to the beach would be complete without a Frisbee. This classic beach toy is a must for family fun. Kids will have a blast chasing it through the sand and into the water too. In fact, there is nothing quite as cooling and fun as tossing a Frisbee around in the water. A diving catch is also a chance to take a dip and cool off! The family dog can join in this game as well, to your children’s delight.

Carnival at Home

Summer often brings a trip to the state or county fair, but you can have the same fun right at home. Turn your backyard into a carnival by setting up booths with fun games such as a ring toss, fishing game, and balloon-popping dart throw (save this one for older kids). Visit the dollar store for small prizes to award to the winners.

Put the finishing touches on your summer carnival with classic foods such as popcorn, hot dogs, corn dogs and cotton candy. And don’t forget the ice cream!

Summer days should be filled with memories your children will look back on fondly when they are grown. Make the most of your summer and head outside with the family for some of these classic summer games.

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

February 28th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading books with your child is crucial to his development of language skills, and of course, literacy. But the children’s section at a bookstore or library can be daunting, with thousands of books to choose from. Luckily, there are a few simple things to look for based on your child’s developmental stage.

From Birth to Twelve Months

In the early months of life, babies are drawn to high contrast images and more than anything to human faces. Eyesight is still developing, and babies focus best at a distance of about a foot. Choose books with simple, large images with contrasting colors, especially black and white, and simple patterns. Books with a lot of close-ups of faces are a wonderful choice at this age.

After about 6 months old, your baby will start to interact a lot more with toys, people, and books too. In addition to wanting to touch books and turn pages, you will probably catch him chewing on books as well, as babies at this age explore the world with their mouths. Because your little one is now so hands – and mouth – on, look for sturdy board books that can withstand baby’s attention.

This age of learning by touch is the perfect time to introduce books with tactile features, such as a book about animals that offers fuzzy patches of fur for little hands to feel. Your baby will also start to recognize familiar images of things that are a part of his daily life, so books that include simple images of these things are a great choice.

With baby learning to sit up in the tub, this is also the age to check out bath books. Books made of waterproof materials, with simple stories and colorful images will make bath time as much about learning as it is about fun.

The Second Year

Around the time your baby smashes his first birthday cake, you will be noticing great strides in language and communication skills. At this age, the words in the book will start to become more important. Look for repetitive, rhythmic and rhyming text, and simple stories involving everyday things. Images are still important too! Look for colorful illustrations that help to tell the story, and that she can start to associate with the text.

As the second year of your child’s life unfolds, she will be learning at a very fast pace, and books are an important part of improving vocabulary skills. Books that have only a few words related to what is on the page will help her to recognize and learn the names for the objects pictured. It’s a great time to start a dialogue about the book by having her point out what she sees on the page.

Toddlers and Beyond

Further into the toddler years, your child will start to enjoy the story as much as the images. Understanding the text and being able to ask questions, point things out and even read along as familiar books are committed to memory, children at this age become truly active participants in reading. You will even start to catch her repeating the words to the story aloud while thumbing through the pages without your help. This is a great time to choose books with more involving stories. Books that address common childhood hurdles and fears are a good choice, and as her sense of humor develops, funny stories will be a hit.

Choosing the right books is not hard when you are aware of how age and development play a role in reading. With the wide selection available in bookstores and libraries, the possible choices are endless, and so is the fun you can have reading with your child. Still need a little help deciding? Take a look at this comprehensive list of the best books by age from Parents magazine.