So, just like my mother I bake with my children every year. Here I
Some of my fondest memories growing up is baking with my mom and my sister.
Yes, it was messy and time consuming and probably very stressful, but my mother
made sure to bake with the kids year after year.

So, just like my mother I bake with my children every year. Here I
have added many Kid Friendly Holiday Recipes that you can enjoy this Holiday
Season with your kids. All of them are Kid Friendly,
fun and totally yummy. Enjoy!!

Kid Friendly Holiday Recipes

Magic Reindeer Food Recipe

Your kids will love making this Magic
Reinder Food Recipe with you. And, there is nothing that will make the Reindeer
happy this Christmas than to enjoy some of your child’s homemade Magic Reindeer
Food.

Rice Krispies® Treats Wreaths Holiday Recipe

Okay, I don’t know about your children, but I know that my children absolutely
love Rice Krispie Treats!! Well, look at these Rice
Krispies® Treats Wreaths…. they are not only Holiday beautiful, but
I have no doubt equally YUMMY!!!

Snickerdoodles Holiday Recipe

These cinnamon sugar cookies are wonderful!! And, they are a terrific addition
to the other Christmas Cookies you might be making this year. Try rolling them
in Red and Green sprinkles… that will add a nice Christmas touch to these
delicious Snickerdoodle
Cookies.

Whoopie Pies Holiday Recipe

In case you don’t know what a Whoopie
Pie is it is two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, with a sweet,
creamy frosting sandwiched between them. And, Whoopie Pie = Total Yum!! Not
only will you and the kids love making this Holiday Recipe together…. you
will no doubtingly love eating it too.

Jolly Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies

Total Cuteness + Total Yummyness = Family Total Delightfullness!!! Okay, well
maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but these Jolly
Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies are so cute and delicious I just had to
say that. Plus, your kids will have a ball decorating them… let alone eating
them. Isn’t that what making Holiday Recipes together is all about anyway?

The Elves Snickerdoodles Holiday Recipe

I already explained above how delicious Snickerdoodles are. Well, these Elves
Snickerdoodles are just the same type of recipe, but they are made into
balls and are smothered in sparkly sugary topping…. exactly how the sweet
Elves enjoy their Snickerdoodles.

Cranberry Applesauce Recipe

This is a wonderful recipe that you and your children can make together. Cranberry
Applesauce is a great dish to serve during the Christmas Feast, so it gives
something that the children can say they helped with when make the Christmas
Dinner. They will feel so proud…. especially when the people at the dinner
table are enjoying their treat.

Candy Cane Marshmallows

This is one Holiday Recipe I have got to make with the kids this Holiday Season.
These Candy
Cane Marshmallows look so pretty in pink that I need to find out how wonderful
they taste. Because if they taste half as beautiful as they look they will sure
be a hit.

Hanukkah Latkes Holiday Recipe

Hanukkah
Latkes or potato pancakes are wonderfully delicious!! I know, because I
have them every year around this time. They are so good with a dollop of sour
cream or apple sauce. Make them with your children and talk to them about Hanukkah
and how Latkes are Jewish Tradition during Hanukkah.

Fabulous 5-Minute Fudge Wreath Holiday Recipe

There is only one word that I want to use to describe this Fabulous
5-Minute Fudge Wreath Recipe……FUDGE-A-LICIOUS!!!! Seriously, look at
this Christmas Recipe…. if you love Chocolate you will no doubtingly love
this Christmas Recipe. YUMMY!!

Fresh Cranberry & Orange Bread

I love bread and this sweet bread is no exception. Have it warm with some bread
and you will not regret it!! Make this Fresh
Cranberry & Orange Bread with your children this Holiday Season and
enjoy the bonding and fun experience for a life time.

Holiday Wreaths Recipe

Made with Frosted Flakes Cereal, Marshmallows and some other fun ingredients
this recipe is sure to be a big hit with your family. These Holiday
Wreaths are very festive and equally delicious.

Top Image by 1Happysnapper(is
trying to catch up )

October
just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go.
It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities
that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year
that you’re not suffering the stress [...]]]>

October
just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go.
It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities
that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year
that you’re not suffering the stress of the upcoming winter holidays so
you can relax some and really enjoy creative lessons with your kid(s). But it’s
a busy month with a lot of fun kid-oriented activities (mostly centering on
Halloween) so there are plenty of different things that you can incorporate
into the day to keep things fun and interesting.

Halloween
is the big October theme that you’ll probably spend a lot of
lessons focusing on. There are many fun things that you can do with this theme.
Art projects galore spring from Halloween. Witches’ hats and pirate swords
can be made from construction paper. Counting and coloring activities can be
done with pumpkins and goblins. Halloween songs are almost countless in number.
But there are also plenty of lesser-known things that you can teach kids using
this theme. For example, even though your kids are going to be eating lots of
candy during this time, you can teach them about the importance
of nutrition. This is where moderation comes in and kids can learn
that it’s okay to indulge sometimes but not to go overboard. Similarly,
haunted houses and scary Halloween themes can be used to teach kids about good
fear vs. bad fear. Think outside of the costume box when you’re
coming up with Halloween theme activities this October.

October may be a
great month for holiday themes but that’s not all that’s going on
in October. In most places, the weather is changing dramatically with leaves
turning colors and falling off of the trees. This makes October
a terrific month for lessons about the weather, nature and seasons.
This is good for science lessons and can be incorporated into art activities
as well. If it’s warm enough to get outside with the kids, you can have
them do observations about the changing weather. Fall animal themes
are also great in October. For example, squirrels may still be seen
out and about which is great for lessons about how animals store food and how
some hibernate in the winter. This even lends itself well to lessons about how
our own bodies change in the winter.

As you can see,
October is a fun month that allows for many different preschool themes. Like
all other months, these themes are great for art, reading, writing and singing
activities. However, they are also great for teaching social studies and science
lessons. See what October lessons you can find out there and
then expand on them with your own creativity to make October a fun and
educational month for the kids.

Technorati Tags:preschool fall themes, october, seasons, themes, preschool, kids, children, activities

What better time
to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the
midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies
to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons,
but they also learn about the [...]]]>

What better time
to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the
midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies
to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons,
but they also learn about the nature behind the seasons changing. As kids get
older, these lessons can be used again and again in different ways. For example,
as adolescents, they will learn about literature and poetry and the images and
lessons of fall will play a big part in that. And when it comes time to learn
hard lessons about death and loss, your kids will have a better grasp on it
if they can compare it to the changing of the seasons.

One thing
that you can do with your child is to keep a journal throughout the season.
This may be a written journal, a photo journal or both. You may keep
it daily, a few times each week or just once per week. Each time that you go
out, you will focus on looking at certain things in the neighborhood. For example,
there may be a big tree at the end of your block that you journey out to each
day. You’ll take a picture and write down observations about what you
see. At the end of the fall season, your child will have an entire book of observations
that he or she made. You will be able to see how the trees changed, how the
weather altered, and what other differences took place because of the changing
of the seasons. This will really help to reinforce the seasonal changes that
your child might not be able to see on a day-to-day basis. Plus, this
kind of observation is great for developing a science background for your child.

Of course, it’s
not just the changing of the leaves that fall is all about. Another
important fall lesson is that it’s a time when we normally start to eat
different foods. Watermelon and other summer foods are out and we eat
more squash and pumpkins. We may also eat more stews and foods for warmer weather.
Learning about fall foods will help your kids to learn about nutrition
and how we eat different things in different seasons to give our bodies a well-rounded
diet. Kids can also learn about cooking during the fall months and cooking is
great for all sorts of different lessons that kids need to learn. While cooking
fall foods, you’ll have reason to discuss what importance the different
foods have to different cultures and you’ll have an open doorway for teaching
your child about important fall holidays like Thanksgiving.

By teaching your
child about fall from a young age, you’ll be teaching him or her many
different lessons. Learning about the change of seasons will be the most important
of these lessons because it will apply learning to understand the seasons (or
cycles) of life. But there will also be many minor lessons learned that will
help your child with different areas of life for years to come.

Technorati Tags:fall activities, preschool, children, kids, fall, autumn

September is rapidly
coming to a close but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to incorporate
some great September themes into your preschool lesson plans.
September is a fun month because it’s all about going back to school,
meeting new people and getting ready for the holidays ahead. That [...]]]>

September is rapidly
coming to a close but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to incorporate
some great September themes into your preschool lesson plans.
September is a fun month because it’s all about going back to school,
meeting new people and getting ready for the holidays ahead. That makes September
a terrific month for transitional themes that allow you to really explore some
creative lessons. You can begin teaching fall themes during the month of September
but you can also use themes that aren’t related to any particular season
so it’s still an in-between kind of month.

September
is a great month for all kinds of outdoor activities. It’s usually
not too cold in most places to really get out and enjoy the weather. Take the
kids outside for lots of physical education. Go on field trips and treasure
hunts. Have the kids start noticing what is changing in the area, such as the
changing leaves as well as subtler changes in the weather. September is a great
month for taking the time to help kids notice what’s going on in the world
around them.

Of course, there
are plenty of indoor activities that are great for September as well. Did you
know that September is classical music month? This makes it
a terrific month to incorporate music themes into your children’s
days. Classical music CD’s and DVD’s for kids can be used
during rest times. During more active times, children can learn to make this
kind of music themselves. They’ll have fun doing it, build up their motor
skills and probably even experience a boost in self-esteem from the praise they’ll
get for performing for family and friends. You can incorporate short
lessons about the history of classical music to supplement this type of theme.

Interestingly, September
is also National Chicken Month. This is terrific because September
is a great time to teach kids a lot of lessons about nutrition.
This can sometimes be difficult to do in the months that follow since we all
make exceptions to our dietary rules for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Winter
Holidays. But in September, we can eat relatively healthy. Teaching
kids about the health benefits of chicken compared to red meat and
of free-range or organic chicken as compared to other chicken can be part of
the chicken theme for September. Of course, coloring activities and cooking
activities will go well with these. Even physical education can be worked in;
a group of preschoolers can play chicken, chicken, turkey instead of
duck, duck, goose.

September may be
more than halfway over but there is still time to incorporate new September
themes into your preschooler’s day. And of course, some of these
themes can easily spill over into next month which means that all your planning
will actually be done in advance!

Technorati Tags:preschool themes, fall, september, lesson plans

Fall is an exciting
time of year for preschoolers. School starts up again which is exciting itself.
Plus, there are changes in the seasons which gets everyone a little bit excited.
That excitement comes from knowing that fall is filled with lots of fun holidays
and activities. And of course [...]]]>

Fall is an exciting
time of year for preschoolers. School starts up again which is exciting itself.
Plus, there are changes in the seasons which gets everyone a little bit excited.
That excitement comes from knowing that fall is filled with lots of fun holidays
and activities. And of course it means that the winter holidays are just around
the corner so everyone’s fall months are filled with that great anticipation.
To make the most of these months with your preschooler(s), you should incorporate
a number of different fall themes into your lesson plans.

Here are some great
ideas for preschool fall themes that you might want to use this year
(and for many more fall seasons to come):

• Fall
  foods.
  Cooking is great for kids in so many ways, teaching them not only the basic
  life skill of making food but also other skills like math (when measuring)
  and reading (of recipes). Fall foods are great foods to incorporate into themed
  projects. Painting gourds, cutting pumpkins, and making pumpkin pie or pumpkin
  seeds are all terrific ways to spend an afternoon with youngsters. This is
  also a great way to start teaching kids about how different foods are good
  in different seasons which is an important nutritional lesson that is often
  overlooked in standard lesson plans.
• Halloween.
  Halloween is a great holiday that lends itself well to many different activities.
  Make ghosts out of tissue paper, sew costumes and incorporate Halloween themes
  into coloring and other daily activities. You should also use Halloween themes
  as an excuse to get outside with the kids; go to a pumpkin patch and learn
  lessons about how pumpkins grow.
• Thanksgiving.
  This is the other big fall holiday and it also lends itself well to many different
  activities. Art activities, lessons about sharing and the first Thanksgiving
  dinner and cooking traditional foods are all great ways to spend the last
  few weeks of November.
• Columbus
  Day.
  This is a lesser-celebrated holiday but it’s great as a theme for lesson
  plans. Kids can learn geography and history at the same time that they are
  learning about diversity and other important social issues.

If there’s
a holiday marked on your calendar, it’s probably a good idea to incorporate
into your themed lessons plans. Don’t forget that it’s not just
holidays that make fall so great though. The changing seasons really
lend themselves well to a number of activities, both indoors and outdoors,
which you can use to teach your children the things that you want them to be
learning. They’ll probably remember these activities every fall to come
for years.

Technorati Tags:preschool themes, fall, education, kids, children, preschoolers

You know that kid. He’s
the one who is appalling even the other children with his atrocious table behavior.
He spills food all over the place, he doesn’t ask before grabbing items,
he makes obnoxious bodily noises and he talks with his mouth open. He’s
only a child and yet [...]]]>

You know that kid. He’s
the one who is appalling even the other children with his atrocious table behavior.
He spills food all over the place, he doesn’t ask before grabbing items,
he makes obnoxious bodily noises and he talks with his mouth open. He’s
only a child and yet you can’t help but be a little bit repulsed by him.
When you look at your own children, perhaps in a public place where you can
feel the scrutinizing eyes of other parents’ judging your parenting techniques,
do you see this child in place of your own?

Don’t fret if you do.
First of all, it’s unlikely that your child’s table manners are
as atrocious as you think that they might be. And secondly, even if they are,
you can teach him the manners that he needs to avoid being labeled “that
kid” at every table he sits at for the rest of his life. But if you’re
going to teach good table manners, there are a few things that you need to know:
you must model good behavior, you must accept that change comes slowly and you
must be realistic. With these things in mind, you’re well on your way
to having children whose table manners are appropriate for public eyes.

Model good behavior

It’s true for all of
the things that you want your kids to do and it’s even more true for table
manners: if you want them to have good habits, you have to model them yourselves.
When your children are young, you put a bib on them to make sure their food
doesn’t get all over the place. As they get older, you teach them to use
a napkin. But do you use your napkin? Take a look at the habits that you hope
your children will have and then do a good once-over on yourself to make sure
that these are table manners that you yourself can model. Your child learns
a lot better, especially in the preschool years, from the “monkey see,
monkey do” mimicking process than from being told what to do and trying
to remember to do it.

Change comes slowly

If your child has already
developed bad table manners, you have to accept that changing them may take
a little bit of time. Don’t punish your child for forgetting table manners;
instead, make the table a pleasant place where pleasant behavior is rewarded.
Safety at the table (not talking with your mouth full because it could lead
to choking) is the primary concern so you should start your efforts there. Then,
if there are particular table habits that your child has which really bother
you, focus on changing those. Finally, once you’ve gotten good table manners
in place in those areas, you can adjust other manners.

Be realistic

Kids are kids. Preschoolers
don’t always have the coordination to keep their food on their plates
and they don’t always remember to say “please pass the salt”
before reaching it. Set your table up in a manner that is conducive to their
developmental stage and be understanding as they face the challenges of table
manners. Also, be realistic about why you want them to have good table manners.
Is it because you’re concerned about their safety and their social acceptance
or is it because you don’t like the way Ms. Jones looks at you when your
kids get a little bit loud at her table?

There is no denying that
table manners are important. We learn them so that we can keep the dinner table
safe and comfortable and so that we can go out and socialize over meals as we
get older. But they aren’t the be all and end all of your child’s
social skills. It’s highly unlikely that the rest of the world sees every
little table manner problem that your child has; you see it because you’re
working on it with him. So, relax, and take the process of teaching your child
good manners with a little grain of salt.

Technorati Tags: table+manners, table+etiquette, manners, child+behavior, kids, children, parenting, family, nutrition

There was a time when parents
didn’t worry about their preschoolers getting enough exercise. After all,
kids that age are a bundle of energy that don’t ever seem to stop being
in motion so they naturally get all of the exercise that they need, right? Wrong.
It was probably always [...]]]>

There was a time when parents
didn’t worry about their preschoolers getting enough exercise. After all,
kids that age are a bundle of energy that don’t ever seem to stop being
in motion so they naturally get all of the exercise that they need, right? Wrong.
It was probably always true that kids needed more exercise they were naturally
getting but it’s even truer today, when technology has created more sedentary
activities for children as young as toddler age.

Television, video games,
computers … these are tools that, when used correctly, can help improve
your child’s life. They can give him or her new skills, be used for educational
purposes and appropriately entertain your child at certain periods throughout
the day. But these tools come with a price (or several, but we’ll focus
on one) and that price is lack of exercise. With more sedentary options available,
young children are exercising less. We’ve all heard that obesity is increasing
and we know the risks that come along with that. Don’t let your child
become a victim early on; make sure that he or she has a daily routine which
incorporates regular fitness.

Luckily, it’s not too
difficult to get kids to exercise. Fitness is fun at their age. They like to
be out, running around, playing games like tag and taking risks on the monkey
bars. Find out which activities interest your child the most and make sure that
you make them a regular part of the day. For some families, this could simply
mean a certain amount of outdoor / playground time each day. For other families,
a more structured activity like a tumbling class or a preschool sport may make
more sense. Fitness for kids just means getting them moving so do whatever is
right for you and your kids.

And when we say “you
and your kids”, that’s precisely what we mean. If you want your
kids to understand the importance of fitness, you really need to make sure that
you practice what your preach. Get out there and play ball with your kids or
take a class that lets you and your children engage in fitness activities together.
By modeling good exercise behaviors, you’ll show your children that fitness
can stay fun at all ages. And by enjoying their fitness time with them, you’ll
make it that much more fun … for both of you!

Technorati Tags: kids+fitness, children’s+fitness, exercise, kids+exercise, children’s+health, preschoolers, activities, family+health