by Audrey Penn
Ages: 3-7 years old
The Kissing Hand is a sweet story about a young raccoon struggling with leaving his mom’s side.
Chester Raccoon is about to start school for the first time, but doesn’t want to leave his mother. So Mrs. Raccoon shares a family tradition with Chester called “the kissing hand.” Mrs. Raccoon kisses the palm of Chester’s hand and tells him to press his hand into his cheek anytime Continue reading “The Kissing Hand”
Looking for new ways to deal with conflict at home that bring out your creative side? Try a calm down box! A calm down box is a small container filled with soothing words or objects. The items in the box should reflect the age of the person meant to use it, but the idea remains the same. Continue reading “Calm Down Box”
Need a creative rainy-day activity that’s fun AND encourages adventurous eating? Try an apple taste test!
Collect a variety of apples such as: Gala, Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, or Granny Smith.
At home, line up the apples and make observations with your budding scientist. What do you see? Is the apple round or oval? Red, green, or yellow? Shiny or dull? Which apple would you guess is the sweetest? Continue reading “Apple Taste Test”
I Spy bottles can keep little ones interested and big ones busy. All you need is an empty plastic bottle, such as a water bottle or empty beverage container, and some interesting objects to put inside.
First, place some small items in the bottle such as beads, mancala stones, paper clips, crayons, small blocks, dice, small bouncy balls, Legos, tiny shells, or anything else you think might draw interest! Continue reading “I Spy Bottle”
What is trust? As parents, how can we teach our children to be trustworthy? Trust is difficult to understand for most adults, and even harder to teach kids.
Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, recommends using a marble jar to help children visualize trust. Her research suggests that small, seemingly insignificant acts of support or kindness create trust, each action building upon the other. Use Continue reading “Developing Trust”
Parenting is not easy and it can be stressful sometimes. People often view the stress response as negative and want to avoid it as much as possible. However, there are some necessary and beneficial aspects to it. Our Continue reading “Parenting and stress”
