Spring is in the air. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the daffodils are starting to pop up everywhere. It’s time to enjoy the outside again.  What better way then to grab our cameras and kids and have some fun just snapping away?

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I have been hearing a lot about gender reveal parties lately. It’s a trend on facebook and pinterest that has caught my attention. With today's progress with gender prediction test, parents can determine gender sooner and sooner than ever before, making the "party" planning process one of some time and commitment.

Commonly, during gender reveal parties parents-to-be will cut into a cake with anticipations of hot pink or royal blue filling.…

Working with and being a student of social media, I live on the computer, my iPhone and laptop. I don't have a pad..yet. I use twitter, skype, facebook, pinterest, stumbleupon, wordpress, hootsuite, instagram and whatever else I can get my hands on. I am also a mommy gamer. Yep, never let my inner geek child go. Being this connected obviously rubs off on the kids as well.

Connected…

As a mother of 3, one with special needs, I am always looking for different approaches, ideas and support for myself and others. We are flooded on a daily basis with suggestions, ideas, products and much more. This is my take on learning with my children.

Children are curious by nature. I know mine are. They ask countless questions throughout the day to satisfy their thirst for knowledge. This isn't the only way children learn…

A child’s eyes light up when he or she sees something common used in a new way. Common objects like a cotton balls become a source of fun and exploratory learning. If you start playing simple surprise games with common household objects, your child will begin to look for creative connections in other parts of her daily activities. That is, she’ll learn, by following your lead, to think of multiple uses for one object—a key concept for good critical thinking…and it’s…

A pattern is a set of shapes, objects, letters, or numbers that are repeated over and over. Children who pattern will be better prepared for school because it helps develop reading, math, and science skills. Young children need to be familiar with sorting and grouping before they are ready to pattern. They need experience sorting objects by…

What do Kindergarten children need to have in place before learning to write and work on higher order academic challenges? They need to coordinate the two sides of their bodies for bilateral activities, they need strong bodies to sit upright to work, they need strong hands and they need to pay attention.  Paying attention needs to happen when the…

Christmas ornaments make great gifts for family and friends from kids.  We have cherished ornaments that our own children and grandchildren have made throughout the years!  The Santa and Snowman Ornaments below are fun for children to make and…

Depending on where you live, December and January can provide challenges to staying active.



The days have gotten shorter, so there is less time to play outside after dinner. The temperatures have dropped quickly. Not to mention the busyness of the holidays.



These…

he “Back to Sleep” campaign was introduced in the early 1990′s to help prevent babies from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).  When a baby is born their heads are still soft and their skull will slowly harden over the next few months.

Find out why tummy time is important for your newborn, read more at Uplifting Families.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, these Indian Corn Mosaics make great decorations and are fun for the children to make!  

Materials needed:  One Indian Mosaics Corn Template (linked in blue here) …

Your 6 month old is learning and developing every day. Here are some ways to stimulate your baby's play.

• Always look your baby directly in the eye when talking and interacting with him. Studies have shown that this assists language development and it can also help with discipline as your child…

Here are a few ideas on how to help develop your baby's learning this month.

• Sing songs that have movements to them such as "If you are happy and you know it clap your hands"…

A young child’s eyes light up when he or she sees something common used in a new way. A common object like a cardboard tube can become a source of fun and exploratory learning.



If you start playing simple surprise games with common household objects, your child will begin to look for creative connections in other parts of her daily activities. That is, she’ll learn, by following your lead, to think of…

We, as parents, often take the turning of the seasons for granted—after all it happens four times a year (for most of us).

But young children have only experienced a few cycles of the seasons. Each time they have experienced a season they have had a more complex sense of sight, sound, taste, and touch which to experience the world, making every season seem entirely new.…

1. Fall nature walk

Fall is a great time to go on a nature walk to look for trees, leaves, and other items on the walk. Use the following activity to introduce this section of the Fall Theme.…

Use old magazines, junk mail and newspapers to create a letter collage. Choose a letter to search for and search through all of the different texts with your child. Each time you find a letter you are searching for help your child to cut it out and glue it onto a piece of paper.

This activity helps children to recognise letters and learn that one letter can be written in different ways. 

Discover more…

Playdough is a lot of fun for your child. This article includes a recipe for playdough and ideas on what you can do with it.

A perk of being an early childhood teacher for so long was never having to grow out of playdough. Now I have my own child, so playdough is here to stay (for awhile anyway). There is something very therapeutic about playing with playdough. I know playdough drives some parents crazy - no matter how hard…

Here are a few ideas on how to help your two year old grow and develop.

There is something special about two year olds. Everything is wondrous and magical to them. Their imaginations are really taking off and they have such a passion for life! Here are some tips for developing your two year old's…

Edible Instant Potato Dough

Edible dough is so much fun. But parents need to be careful about problematic ingredients, such as honey and peanut butter, found in many edible dough recipes. Instant Potato…