Parenting Articles

Learn Some Fun Family Signs

Learn Some Fun Family Signs Together

By / 2 minutes of reading

As we head into the season of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, we’ll be helping our kids to plan and create fun gifts and activities to honor their parents. So as we work on these activities, let’s think of a few signs we could help our kids learn in the process. This family celebration time of year is a perfect time to learn some fun family signs together. Family Names The most obvious place to start is with family names. The People section of our free Signing Time Dictionary has instructions for signing several names for people in our communities. …

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reasons to appreciate your library

Four Reasons to Appreciate Your Library Today

By / 4 minutes of reading

Today is Thank You for Libraries Day! And we sure are thankful for libraries. Libraries are such a helpful resource for our communities, for families, and for each of us as individuals. And while we tend to think of libraries as large collections of books, they offer a whole lot more. So on this day to celebrate libraries, let’s look at four reasons to appreciate your library! The obvious one – the books If you’re a reader, you probably already appreciate your library. What a resource! How could any of us expect to own so many books? But thanks to …

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ways to celebrate earth day with our kids

Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with Our Kids

By / 3 minutes of reading

April 22 is Earth Day, and all of April is known as Earth Month. And this year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” While this is mainly focused toward businesses and governments, there are ways that we can teach our kids both to invest in and to care for our planet. Whether your family is highly conscious of environmental issues or not, there are little things we can each do to take care of our world. So let’s look at a few ways to celebrate Earth Day with our kids! Large environmental issues might be a little much …

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ideas for April Fool's Day

A Few Fun Ideas for April Fool’s Day

By / 3 minutes of reading

Do you celebrate April Fools Day with your kids? It can seem frivolous or even inappropriate to celebrate a joke day when it is another dark time in our world. And yet, when we choose to live, to laugh, to enjoy life, it’s a way to fight the dark. When we allow laughter to continue, we are choosing not to let the darkness win. And this is important, not to let it take hold of us or drag us down. So let’s take this opportunity to laugh with our kids. Let’s look at a few fun ideas for April Fool’s …

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celebrate springtime with our kids

Let’s Celebrate Springtime with Our Kids!

By / 3 minutes of reading

Has it been a long winter where you live? Some of us began spring weather weeks ago, while some of us are still covered in snow. Either way, the official first day of spring is coming up, so it’s time to celebrate. Here are a few easy ways to celebrate springtime with our kids. Decorate Children love decorations, and springtime decorations are so cheerful. You can keep it simple or go all out. Younger children could make traditional paper chains in pastel colors. It could be fun to cut out flowers or even to make tissue paper flowers. If you …

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Kindness is More Than a Nice Ideal

Kindness is More Than a Nice Ideal

By / 4 minutes of reading

We love to talk about kindness. There are cute signs about kindness that we put up in our homes. We save and share inspirational quotes about it. And kindness is an important ideal that we teach to our children. But kindness is about so much more than nice thoughts and good ideals. It’s about how we live, how we use our words, and how we respond to the unexpected or frustrating situations in our lives. So let’s think about how to make kindness more than a nice ideal for our kids and for ourselves. It’s a practice  Most of us …

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ways to celebrate the New Year with your kids

5 Ways to Celebrate the New Year with Your Kids

By / 4 minutes of reading

New Year celebrations look different once we become parents. We used to meet up with friends to ring in the New Year, but now we may be rocking babies to sleep or coaxing toddlers back into bed. Many of us don’t even wait up for the New Year because we are so tired, and those little ones will be up early no matter what. Some of us find this to be no big deal, and we think it’s far more comfortable to spend a cozy evening at home. And some of us miss the big parties to ring in the …

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games and puzzles for Thanksgiving week

Games and Puzzles for Thanksgiving Week

By / 4 minutes of reading

What perfect timing this is! We’re heading into a week of family gatherings and celebration, and we will need things to do, especially with children in the mix. So it’s fitting that November 20-26 is National Game and Puzzle Week. These special calendar days help us to focus and be intentional about things, and sometimes we need help like this. So let’s break out our games and puzzles for Thanksgiving week! The entire purpose for an official Game and Puzzle Week is to bring families together. Sure, we tend to spend time together during the holidays, but often this isn’t …

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it's a great time to take a hike

It’s A Great Time to Take a Hike with Our Kids

By / 3 minutes of reading

Here we are at Thanksgiving month, heading into what many of us consider the major holiday season. We’re getting ready to focus on food and gifts and celebrations. Winter is setting in for many of us, and our thoughts about outdoor activities may be changing with the season. Some of us are excited about snow activities, and some of us are ready to hibernate for the winter. But even with the holiday craziness approaching, there are other things to think about. Our everyday lives continue, and we have a chance to get in a little more outdoor activity before all …

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survive the time change

5 Ways to Survive the Time Change

By / 4 minutes of reading

We are heading into another time change weekend, and these time changes can really mess us up! It’s a big adjustment for us adults, and it’s even more of an adjustment for our kids. And while the “fall back” time change does give us back an hour, little children don’t care about that. Their built-in systems will wake them up earlier than we would like. Then those same systems will shut them down much earlier than what we are used to. Is there any way to make this transition easier? Let’s look at a few ways to survive the time …

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