Healthy Activities For Children

Kids have so much natural curiosity and energy, it seems a shame to set them in front of the tube as a regular activity. Playtime should ideally serve to forward a c h i l d ' s development across the board, but in true play and fun mode. For example, encourage regular physical activity with sports activities and walks in the park. Spark the c h i l d ' s imagination and creativity with art projects. These types of children activities satisfy both objectives. Let's take a look at some activities for children that provide lots of fun for the kids while promoting healthy age-appropriate development.

Craft projects help children develop their motor skills, creative nature and problem solving abilities. Making colored paper daisy chains and clay objects are a couple of examples of good activities for younger children. Older kids enjoy weaving and beading kits.

Science can be an excellent and favorite activity for children. Kids are very curious about nature. They love to dig around in the dirt and get to know the bugs, birds and plants. Get an ant farm. Go to the hobby shop and buy an inexpensive microscope and a prism. Kids love checking things out with a microscope - it's a whole new look at the world they want to understand. Prisms are fascinating to kids.

Although it's true most kids spend too much time in front of the TV, judicious use of the tube can work for you. The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet provide programs that enrich a child's knowledge in terms even young children can understand. Kids who see these programs when quite young often continue to catch these programs on their own, well into their teens. So don't discount TV altogether. This strategy allows the kids to feel they aren't deprived of television time, while being a terrific activity for children of any age.

Video games are a subject of some controversy among parents, educators and psychologists. Some say it should be allowed only on a limited basis, so kids don't become totally screen oriented. However, there have been a number of studies which show that video games prove to boost motor skills and complex problem solving abilities remarkably when compared with kids who don't play. If you screen out the violent and aggressive games, video games are excellent activities for children. To prevent the addictive potential of video games, just set aside approved time periods for this play.

Any activities for children that involve putting things together are recommended. This includes paper projects, L e g o s (TM), T i n k e r toys (TM) and Lincoln Logs(TM). Clay, paper m a c h e and beading or weaving projects fit in here too.

When you think about it, the best kinds of activities for children, that also promote healthy development, are ones the kids love best. You just need to give a little direction. Read More..

Missing Children Facts and Tips on Keeping Your Child Safe

There Are Many Things We Can Do as Parents, and Things We Can Teach Our Kids, to Keep Them Safe

FACTS

There are different types of missing children. The largest group of missing children is those who are runaways. The children at greatest risk of injury or death are those children who are abducted by nonfamily. There are also family abductions usually done by the non-custodial parent or
another family member. Children also go missing when they become lost, injured or become disoriented and separated from a parent or caregiver.

According to Nismart-2 Research for the year 1999 there were 797,500 missing children during that year. Missing children has become such a nationally recognized problem that in 1984 the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was created as the clearinghouse federally mandated by the U.S. Congress to assist families and law enforcement in cases of missing and exploited children.

TIPS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD SAFE

Here are some tips that may help to keep your child safe. Assure your child of your love and that you will never stop loving them or wanting them. Often in noncustodial parent abductions the child is told that the custodial parent does not love them any more and does not want them. If you have often assured them that this could never happen they are more likely to question the validity of this statement.

Make it a strict safety rule that your child either is with you or play using the buddy system. When playing outside, they must always be with at least one other child. Although it is no guarantee that abductions won’t happen when your child is with another child, it is less likely. Should the unthinkable happen and an abduction happen when your child is with another child, if that child is old enough to understand and remember details of the abductor then they may be of assistance in giving clues to who did the abduction. Another child can also let an adult know of the abduction and give information concerning what happened and where it happened. Read More..

How To Prevent Obesity in Your Child

We have all noticed throughout our country the rising epidemic of obese children. Every single one of us know of at least one family that has several obese children. This is not something that is rare, as it used to be. But now, having a child that is overweight is very normal. When I was a child, I was quite overweight, and it took many years for me to shed the weight, however, the emotional toll that being an obese child causes can stretch many years, far after the weight has left. But how can you keep your child from becoming obese? I have listed out several tips that will aide you in your quest to keep your child healthy and fit for years to come.

Within the past two years, the counts of obese children have doubled according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is why it is so important that you teach your children healthy eating habits when they are young. Some of the things you should do is DON'T force him/her to eat when he/she is not hungry --- the child shouldn't have to clean his/her plate if she/he is already full. I remember being a child and this was a number one rule -- "you can't leave the dinner table until your plate is clean." What this teaches your child to do is gorge him or herself. This teaches them that it is okay to just eat when you are not hungry.

Another thing you should not do is use food as a reward, or as a comfort when they are upset. By dong so, you will inadvertently create a deep emotional connection to food. Have you ever heard of "emotional eaters"? Perhaps you, yourself are an emotional eater. This is why you mustn't use food as a reward or a punishment. You do not want to create any emotion attachment to food. You must teach your children that food is there to keep you alive. And yes, it can be very tasty, and there are certain foods for certain occasions, however, food will in no way make you happier, feel better, or have a happier outlook on life. Food IS NOT comfort. Read More..