Alphabet-Painted Rocks

Have you been looking for some fun new ideas for arts and crafts time? We are always trying to think of fun ideas to do with our kids, and we have found one that is going over really great. Try painting rocks with letters from the alphabet! It can be a great learning experience for your toddler, and it’s fun for boys and girls!

You can make a game out of it too! Have your kids see who can spell the most words in 5 minutes, or who can use all the rocks to spell different words. The options are endless!

Time to Wash Those Hands!

Okay, so it’s no secret that germs are all around us. They are in our food, on doorknobs, and virtually anywhere else we can imagine. Scary, right? The good news is that we can prevent many harmful germs from ever getting to us!

Hand washing is our first line of defense against the attack of germs. Our hands go with us everywhere, and touch EVERYTHING. That includes our eyes and our mouth, which is where many germs enter our body. By cutting germs off at our hands, we dramatically decrease the amount that enters our body.

So, we get it, hand washing is great for fending off germs. Turns out, knowing is only half the battle! We can be great at washing our hands consistently, but how are we supposed to convince our kids to wash their hands too? One technique we’ve found that helps with our children is having them sing their ABC’s as they wash. The kids love to sing, and it takes long enough to where they get a healthy productive wash in. Now they have more fun, they learn, and they stay germ-free!

Attention World Travelers!

Are you raising a little Magellan or Columbus? Does your child talk about traveling the world? Perhaps someday they will, but for now, a globe is a great start!

A Raised Globe can help your young explorer map out their future voyages! To help them better understand where the countries and oceans are, make a game out of it! Spin the globe and have them stop it with their finger; once they do that, have them guess where it is! Kids can have a great time learning about our planet, so when they are ready to travel, they already know where they’re going!

It's a Scientific World!

Science can, and should be fun! The act of exploration and discovering new things is enough to excite any scientist, no matter what age. There is so much out there to learn about; it’s best to start now!

One of the most fun and educational ways to learn about and discover new things is playing with a Microscope! Everything looks different when it’s magnified to 300x, 600x, or even 1200x. Your children will have a blast looking at different household objects through their Microscope. You can even make a game out of it! Put items underneath the Microscope and see if they can guess what they are.

If you run out of things to examine at home, consider the Microscope and Slides Set. It includes slides that are pre-made, as well as blank slides for kids to create their own! Your kids will be building a laboratory in no time!

It's Garden Season!

Who doesn't love garden season? The sun is shining, and the birds are chirping, and we all get to go to our own outdoor sanctuary to harvest and grow our own fruits, veggies, and herbs. This year, perhaps you should consider getting your children involved with you!

The benefits of youth gardening are vast. It teaches kids the importance of taking care of the environment; it promotes healthy eating (we all know how hard it is to get our kids to eat their vegetables…that is until they grow their own); it is incredibly educational; and of course, you get to spend quality time with your children! And let’s face it…your kids are probably going to play in the dirt anyways…they might as well do something productive while they’re at it!

It can be good for the kids to share mom and dad’s garden, but they will enjoy one of their own much more. The Culinary Herb Garden comes with everything your kid needs to start their very first REAL garden, and they get to work on it right next to yours! With your help and the Culinary HerbGarden, they will be growing cilantro, parsley, and other herbs in no time.

Time For An Exciting Scavenger Hunt!

Do you live with a little explorer? Is your little boy or girl constantly going on little “treasure hunts”? Why not make a game out of it! Here is a fun idea for a two-part “distance” scavenger hunt to do with our Big Tape Measure that can be exciting AND educational!

First, hide little “prizes” or “awards” around your house and yard. After your child finds the items, they have to use their Big Tape Measure to record how long it is.

Second, have your kid use their tape measure to go find items that are a certain length that you specify. After they successfully do all that, have one grand prize they get for completing the hunt!

It can sometimes be difficult to help your kids learn, but in the right scenarios and with the right tools, learning can be easy and fun!

Healthy Snacks that Kids Love

Are you on a quest to discover new ways to get your kids to love their fruits and veggies?  Look no further, here are some very PIN-teresting ideas that will have your children asking, “Can I have more please?”

Check out all of our favorites on our newest Pinterest Board: Healthy Snacks that Kids Love!

 

First Real Gardening Set (CPX-529L)

Gardening with Kids

 Now that April Showers have brought forth the beginning of May flowers, what better time than now to get your kids outdoors! Here are some great ways to get your kids involved with this wonderful outdoor activity.

• Safety - Gardening with your children is a great way to introduce them to an outdoor education activity that will peak their curiosity. If your child encounters a small creature they are unfamiliar with, this is a wonderful opportunity to answer his/her excitement with a talk about creatures and the environment.

• Learning - Another great aspect of gardening is that it enables your child to learn vital life-long skills including the ability to prepare a garden, making decisions on what to grow, learning how to plant and tend the crops, observing and harvesting, and most importantly, being able to reap the rewards of working on a long-term task. Giving your child exposure to gardening may not only connect them with nature, but also allows them to do something real, with tangible results!

• Ownership - Giving your child the chance to care for plants and the environment is also beneficial to their moral development. No matter how your child contributes to the garden, they have the ability to take pride in their work and feel like they belong to something meaningful! This simple activity paves the way for your child to understand the importance of other tasks like chores and schoolwork.

• Food - An integral part of gardening is giving your child the ability to learn about food they can grow. Observing a garden provides your child with lessons on topics as diverse as life cycles, the concept of change, or practice in measurement. Gardening can also encourage your child to learn the importance of harvesting and producing their very own vegetables! In the long-run, this promotes healthy eating as your child learns more about how fun it is to grow!