December 2008

Everyone loves a good game. We often don't know why, but getting together with some friends on a warm day in the great outdoors can be one of the most satisfying experiences. Some of my fondest memories are of playing... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Teens"

Outdoor games are great. If you have ever played a great game of football in the warm summer sun you know exactly what I mean. There is nothing better than being outside with your friends and enjoying a wonderful afternoon... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Small Groups (2-4 people)"

Everyone loves games. They are great for socializing and for entertaining us. But what could be better than sitting inside all day playing chess? Perhaps playing a great game with a large group of people outside? As for me and... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Large Groups"

What are some of your favorite memories? Do they involve working? Do they involve something sad or happy? Many of us have childhood memories that stand out more than almost any other. Among those memories there are probably several that... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Kids"

Can adults still play games? Aren't we too serious to be outside horsing around? It is a common myth that adults don't like to have fun or play games. Movies and books have us thinking that being an adult is... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Adults"

People love games. They are great for getting people back together. Games unify us and provide some healthy competition. They challenge us to progress and become stronger people. Without games we might live much more boring lives. But what could... Continue reading "Outdoor Games for Fun and Health"

Preschoolers often are in the busiest stage of early childhood development. During early childhood development, they will learn cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional skills. The cognitive skills they are learning focus on basic skills like the alphabet, colors, shapes, and... Continue reading "Where to Find Great Coloring Activities for Early Childhood Development"

Imagine the sun's rays on your back, the smell of freshly cut grass, the beauty of nature. Now imagine that you are with a bunch of friends and you are playing a great game of football. You pass the ball... Continue reading "Most Popular Outdoor Games"

One of the major milestones of child development is the appearance of motor skills. Generally large muscle (gross motor) skills develop first with small muscle (fine motor) skills following later. While every child is different here are some milestones in... Continue reading "When Should Children Develop Motor Skills?"

As the parent of a young child you may be wondering what you can do to help foster the development of motor skills. Motor skills are extremely important building blocks for a number of academic skills that your child will... Continue reading "Things You Can Do to Promote Your Child's Motor Skills"

All of us love games, but most of us also love to go outside and play. We love the warm air and sunshine. Studies show that people are actually much happier when they spend time outdoors in the sun. We... Continue reading "Fun with Friends in Outdoor Games"

Fine motor skills are those skills that allow you to develop the ability to do such things as write and manipulate small objects There are a lot of activities that you can do with your child to help enhance their... Continue reading "Why Coloring is Important for Motor Skills"

Do you remember when your parents spoke with you about puberty? Perhaps they never spoke with you about it? Was this confusing or difficult? You might remember that it was a very difficult thing for your parents to speak about.... Continue reading "Why YOU Should Talk to Your Kids About Puberty"

Fine motor skills can be defined as those small muscle movements that occur in the finger, in coordination with the eyes. Teaching fine motor skills is similar to teaching other skills namely because the instructor must always try to be... Continue reading "Developing Your Child's Motor Skills Through Coloring"

Some of my family's fondest memories are of our time spent playing games in the great outdoors. Maybe you have had similar experiences. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and with a slight breeze in the air you... Continue reading "Finding Ideas for Outdoor Games"

Puberty is a scary time for kids. There are serious changes with their bodies and their emotions. Their lives change dramatically over the course of very short time. Perhaps you remember when you were young and faced the challenges of... Continue reading "When to Talk to Your Kids About Puberty"

A favorite time for many young children in preschool is arts and crafts time, the time when they get to cut and color and paste and glue. These activities are crucial for helping children develop their fine motor skills, which... Continue reading "Evaluating Your Child's Preschool for Motor Activities"

Most kids naturally have a great sense of humor. They love to laugh and play--much more than most of us adults do. In fact, if most of us had the sense of humor of our children we would be much... Continue reading "Encouraging A Sense of Humor in Your Children"

Most of us remember how terrible puberty was. We know that it was a very hard time of life that we would not like to revisit. For many people puberty meant that their bodies suddenly changed, leaving them in a... Continue reading "Puberty: Health Class or Parents?"

If you are a parent or educator looking for ways to help foster motor skills in early childhood development you may be looking for coloring activities. With all of the sites on the internet it may be overwhelming trying to... Continue reading "Best Sites to Find Coloring Activities"

Kids are just great. While they are certainly kind of mischievous, kids can have such a great sense of humor. They love to laugh and play more than adults. They seem to be able to see the funny side of... Continue reading "A Healing Sense of Humor"

There are certain conversations that most parents would not like to have with their children. Most of us do not want to tell a child that someone has died. We do not want to tell our children about the death... Continue reading "The Birds and the Bees and Your Teenager"

Almost every person loves to laugh. Every once and a while you find someone who hates laughter, but they are fairly few and far between. Most people love laughter and feel that they need it in order to survive. Life... Continue reading "Encouraging A Sense of Humor by Reading"

Puberty is a serious subject and something that most of us do not want to remember or talk about. We remember how awkward it was. Kids might have made fun of us. We probably did not understand what it meant... Continue reading "Talking to Your Child About Hygiene"

Puberty is a scary time. Most of us don't remember how frightening it was. Our bodies were suddenly changing. Sometimes it seemed they changed over night. It can almost be like becoming a werewolf. Just as in those terrifying old... Continue reading "Talking to Your Child About Hormonal Changes"

Let's face it. Speaking to your child about puberty is probably not something you want to do. There are many reasons for dreading this conversation. You might feel embarrassed about the subject matter. You might not feel that it is... Continue reading "Talking to Your Child About Body Changes"

Puberty is a very difficult time of life. As the body changes so does the mind. Sudden alterations in body chemistry or physical changes often scare children. This is highly understandable. Most of us remember what it was like to... Continue reading "Using A Checklist to Address Puberty with Your Child"

Puberty is a scary time for children. Their bodies are changing and they rarely understand what is happening to them. They are looking for answers but do not know where to find them. Often school programs teach them something about... Continue reading "How to Talk to Your Kids About Puberty"

Many parents forget how hard it is to be young and to not know much about the world. There are plenty of things for your young child to be worried about and one of them is puberty. The changes occuring... Continue reading "Helping Your Child Feel Comfortable About Puberty"