Child Development

The Importance of Family Time

Family time is a vital part of building solid relationships between you, your spouse and your children. It is often something that is overlooked when families are overwhelmed with busy schedules and events.

Setting aside time each week for your family to spend together is one of the most important things that you can do, apart from choosing adt home security to watch over your loved ones. Pick one night when everyone can be at home and do something together. This is a fun, relaxed period of time to interact, play games, eat out together and just enjoy one another’s company.

This is a great way for a step parent to start to bond with step children, which can often be an awkward experience for both. Blended families need this kind of time to start building positive relationships that are important when dealing with problems, behavior issues and obstacles that children face while growing up. Children learn about the new parent and a repoire is established that is necessary for trust and communication to occur.

This is not a time that should be spent in front of the television. The activities planned for this family get together needs to involve face to face interaction and doing things actively together. Television turns a focus away from this type of healthy interaction. Get out of the house and go shopping together, play miniature golf or go for a hike in a local park. You can even volunteer together for a cause. This can be a cheap, fun time to spend together without any expectations. Make use of this invaluable way to bring your family closer together.

Filed Under: Child Development, Family Tagged With: Child, Family, Stepfamily

Shopping for Your Doll’s Summer Wardrobe

Once you have the perfect American girl doll, or maybe even a collection, the quest to find the right accessories and unique, seasonal outfits begins.

Some girls will know exactly what outfits and styles they want for their doll, other girls will browse the options for hours before determining the perfect outfit. Luckily, American Girl doll clothing can accommodate both the girl and her doll.

Summer wardrobes can be as extensive or as versatile as your imagination. Whether you are looking to dress your doll in a special outfit for each event, such as the 4th of July, a family picnic or a day at the beach, or looking for some basic mix-and-match pieces that can cover any day of the week, it is out there. Some girls even like to wear outfits that match with her favorite doll. Whatever type of wardrobe fits your family, daughter and doll can be created.

In addition to a seasonal summer wardrobe, you can purchase accessories to go along with the outfit, era or season. For example, Kanani, the 2011 limited edition doll, is from Hawaii, so one accessory for her is a shave ice stand. Some girls are so attached to their dolls and looking alike that they even get the doll’s ears pierced, which is only done in select locations. Girls want to have their dolls do everything they do. Your daughter’s love for her American Girl doll will last, so investing in seasonal wardrobes will keep everyone happy and entertained. The only limit on the creativity is your daughter’s imagination.

Filed Under: Child Development, Family Tagged With: American Girl, Doll, Hawaii

How to Plan a Costume Party for Your Child

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A fun idea for your child’s birthday, is to have a costume party. This allows all of your children’s friends to wear their favorite Halloween costumes once more. Here are some ideas for planning a cool costume party for children.

Choose a Theme

One fun way to plan the party is to have a theme. There are many themes to choose from: super heroes, specific time periods, jungle animals, Hollywood, Disney movies, and more. Be sure to include your child in ideas on what the theme should be—they will be really excited. You can have so much fun with children’s costumes once you have chosen a theme. The ideas are truly endless.

Invitations

Since there is a little more planning needed involving guests for a themed party than a typical party, be sure to send out the invitations with enough time for parents to get their child’s costume. One potential hitch is someone dressing up in the same costume as your child. For example, if you’re doing a superhero party, and your son is Superman, you probably don’t want any guests dressing the same. After all, your child is the guest of honor. If this is the case, be sure to mention on the invite which character your child will be dressed as.

Costume parties can be a lot of fun, but they’re also a lot of work for you and your guests’ parents. However, they will still be something your child will never forget. It may just be his or her favorite birthday!

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Costume, Entertaining, Hollywood

Teaching Your Child to be Responsible with Money

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Teaching your child to be financially responsible with money is one of the best lessons that you can give them. This process should start at a young age in order to make the greatest impact.

One of the best ways to start instilling good habits in your child is to be a good financial role model. Sit down and discuss your family’s budget with your child and make them a responsible party in planning it. You can use your own checking account as a teaching tool as well. Sit down and show them how to balance a checkbook, explain its function and how to spend money responsibly. Their learning starts with the example that they see you setting.

Also, consider taking them to the bank and opening a savings account for your child. Have him or her help to keep track of how much money is deposited and doing it themselves. This gives them responsibility and an early hands on experience in saving for the future. It is also critical to discuss with them the responsibility and risks that come with having a credit card. They need to understand how easy it can be to overspend, causing debt and problems with credit.

This is important as children become older, enter college and are out on their own. The temptation to spend freely with plastic can be curbed and they will be better able to regulate their own spending. The time you spend early on teaching good financial habits will lead to a lifetime of responsible spending.

Filed Under: Child Development, Education Tagged With: Child, Education, Savings account

Keeping Discipline in Perspective

Parents all to often get frustrated with a child acting out and discipline can quickly turn from an effective means of altering behavior into a power struggle. When this occurs, the punishment meted out can often exceed the offence.

Keeping discipline in perspective starts with the parent’s attitude and understanding of a child’s behavior. Children have different issues at different ages and parents need to be aware of this. It is also important to remember that a child is not personally attacking you, but really is struggling to express what he or she is feeling. Keeping calm and detaching the behavior from the child can help to keep things in the right perspective.

When you discipline, make sure that the consequence you impose is consistent and matches the level of what the child did wrong. You also need to explain why you are laying out a particular consequence and discuss with the child what he or should could have done differently. This is supposed to be a learning experience, and your guidance at this point can make a difference in your child’s future behavior choices.

Consistency is also important. If you change tactics or blow up, the child will be confused by the inconsistency and will have unclear boundaries for behavior. Your calm, consistent and carefully considered consequences can help to effectively guide your child on how to make better choices. They will also follow your example of staying calm and thinking through things instead of acting rashly when upset.

Filed Under: Child Development, Family, Parenting Tagged With: Behavior, Child, Child discipline

The Milestones During the Younger Years

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There are several major milestones that parents will see during the younger years. These are times of celebration and change in a child’s life.

One of the first major milestones that parents will see as their child grows is the immense expansion in a child’s ability to communicate around the age from one to three. During this time, the child is absorbing everything that she hears, sees, touches, tastes and feels. This in turn spawns a huge need to communicate with parents and family regarding the environment and the people in it. The child will begin to form words, ask questions and even to express her own opinion about things. Coupled with this is the child’s struggle to deal with and express emotions. They may act out and are often not able to express their feelings in an appropriate manner. This is a time for parent guidance and patience.

This is where the next major milestone comes into play. Parents will see a major change in emotional control as children start to share, see things from another’s person’s perspective and to control his or her own behavior in certain circumstances. Children at this time seem to change on a daily basis as internalize everything they have learned. Parents can be better prepared for these changes by learning themselves about the various stages of development that a young child goes through.

Even with knowledge of these different stages, children will often surprise their parents at what they are able to do. Young children can benefit from having parents who work to be positive role models.

Filed Under: Child Development, General, Parenting Tagged With: Child, Home, Parent

The Importance of Family Time

Shopping for Your Doll’s Summer Wardrobe

How to Plan a Costume Party for Your Child

Choose a Theme

Invitations

Teaching Your Child to be Responsible with Money

Keeping Discipline in Perspective

The Milestones During the Younger Years

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