Summer days are long and hot in Texas, and we are always looking for a way to beat the heat and have fun as a family. Recently we had the opportunity to visit Amazing Jake’s in Plano, and it was a blast for the whole family. Located close to 75/North Central Expressway in Collin Creek Mall, Amazing Jake’s is worth the drive from all over the metroplex. Read on to find what we thought about the entertainment at Amazing Jake’s for toddlers, preschoolers, and adults.
Managing your child’s hygiene can be a daunting task. Those little fingernails grow so fast, the dirt just seems to stick, and they never want to brush their teeth. While the nails and the dirt can’t be helped, we’ve found the easiest solution to get our kids to brush their teeth. I shared strategies for teaching kids how to brush their teeth last week. Establishing healthy oral care routines for kids is so important, so this time I’m sharing how to get them WANT to brush their teeth. It is so simple, I can’t believe it took me so long to figure it out.
It isn’t fun to talk about, but bed wetting can be such a frustrating struggle for kids and their caregivers. Our son was potty trained for months, with no accidents during naps or a night when all of a sudden he started wetting the bed again. It was so hard not to get mad and frustrated when we were changing the sheets AGAIN after months of dry nights. When I learned that enuresis (bed wetting) is normal for kids long after the potty training years, I realized we needed to develop a few strategies to make sure we were all getting good sleep and help us conquer bed wetting.
Glow in the dark activities are REALLY fun for kids (and you), but they are SUPER difficult to photograph. I tried, really I did, but nothing worked out. So, I’m sharing a few fun ideas for glow in the dark fun with your kids for those hot or rainy days when you need to play indoors and you’ll have to use your imagination to picture them. Thanks for understanding. These are ideas are simple, but will provide endless fun for your family. Be sure to check out the rest of the A to Z Rainy Day Activities Series at Something 2 Offer for more fun indoor play ideas.
Kids are a blessing and a gift to parents and family, but they can be expensive. There are so many ways to save money on your child’s wardrobe to help you make it through these fast growing years without breaking the bank. How many times have we had a child outgrow an outfit before they even get a chance to wear it? Very rarely do my kids actually get to wear something until it is worn out. They grow too fast! Spending a ton of money on kids’ clothes just doesn’t make sense when you are on a tight budget, but there are ways to dress your kids well without spending a ton.
We love to play outside, but sometimes need fresh ideas to get the kids engaged. They’ve been really in to bubbles lately, so after making a DIY bubble solution with dish soap and water I was inspired to try a new twist on clean mud dough. Play dough of all kinds is so much fun and give kids a great sensory experience, but making it yourself can be a challenge. This recipe for clean mud bubble dough is pretty much the easiest sensory dough ever and creates clean bubbly fun for your kids. It takes only 3 ingredients and about 5 minutes, plus the clean up is super simple as well. Ready to have some bubble dough fun?
We work on lots of preschool skills at home with our kids, all while having fun. Our almost four year old loves to learn through play, so I try to make our home preschool activities an exciting adventure rather than boring and stiff. We’ve worked on pre-writing skills all year and it has been really fun to see his handwriting skills develop. Lately we’ve been doing preschool name recognition activities to tie in with the writing practice so that soon he will be able to write his own name. We love to play with sidewalk chalk outside, so I combined the skills practice with play to help him learn to recognize his name and practice writing it.
In celebration of Earth Month, I’ve gathered 12 fun activities to help get kids learning about the earth, conservation, pollution, and all things earthy. These activities are hands on, teach other important skills as you go, and will help kids to better understand the world around them and appreciate and care for the environment. Read on to find 12 of the best preschool activities for Earth Day from the Kid Blogger Network.
Have you noticed how kids will turn something bound for the trashcan in to a treasure? At our house, this most commonly happens with cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet paper. The Bear (almost 4) loves to turn them in to swords, binoculars, and telescopes. We don’t use a lot of paper towels, so whenever we run through a roll he gets really excited to make an “eye scope”. Usually the roll becomes a telescope until it is too bent to see through and then transforms in to a sword. Paper towel rolls get taped together and made in to “knock-ulars”. For this spring’s 60 Day Junk Play Challenge, we decided to take a few of our old paper towel rolls and turn them in to special works of art.
Raising kids to appreciate and care for the world around them isn’t easy in our society that loves instant gratification, constant entertainment, and disposable everything. We want our kids to become adults who appreciate the earth, take responsibility for their effect on it, and work towards conservation for future generations. We believe that it is our responsibility as their parents to teach them about nature and how to love it and care for it. Today I’m sharing a few easy ways we work to give our kids a green childhood. April is Earth Month, so this year I’m joining with a group of bloggers for a series on Natural Parenting and Green Living. Join us we celebrate Earth Month and help each live a greener, more environmentally responsible life. We are far from the greenest family on the block, but we are working to become more eco-friendly every day.
