Wrap It Up For Easy Summer Dining: Make-A-Meal Monday

Posted on May 17, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

Want a delicious lunch or dinner idea that’s easy to make and fun to eat?

Fill a whole wheat tortilla wrap!

Use shrimp, tuna or chicken salad and add lettuce, tomato, sprouts, mashed avocado to increase the nutritional benefits.

Do you have creative ideas for filling the tortilla wrap?

You can pair the wrap with corn on the cob or oven fries and your family will think that summer is already here.

Young children love to participate in the kitchen. Why not invite them to mix the salad ingredients and sprinkle on the sprouts? Talk about which foods grow and which foods come from animal sources. While you take care of the corn or oven fries, your children can be creating colorful placemats using construction paper and crayons.

Looking for more healthy child-friendly cooking activities to keep your little ones happy and busy this summer. Check out my book, now on sale for 50% off the cover price. Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking is an Indie Excellence Awards Finalist and provides hundreds of easy fun-filled educational craft and cooking activities for young children.

What are your plans for this summer? If you stop by tomorrow, I’ll have a craft idea that your children will love that is educational and fun to do.

Gossip Can Be Dangerous: Cinema Sundays: My Picks of Great Flicks

Posted on May 15, 2011 by viviankirkfield

Image by plenty.r. via Flickr

Do you remember playing the “telephone game” in school when you were younger?

All the children would line up and then the first child whispered something into the next child’s ear…she turned to the next child and whispered what you had said (or what she thought you said). That child whispered into the ear of the next child…and so on down the line. The last child in line then spoke out loud exactly what had been whispered to her.

We would all laugh hysterically, because what was said out loud was never what the original person had whispered.

Gossip is no laughing matter, however. Rumors spread like wildfire and can be just as damaging. And today, with the internet, I know it is even more important to teach our children how harmful it can be.

Yesterday, my husband and I watched one of the old Andy Griffith shows, Those Gossipin’ Men. Sheriff Andy makes fun of Aunt Bee because he believes that the women are always gossiping. However, when a traveling shoe salesman from New York City comes to Mayberry, we discover that it is not only the women who like to spread rumors. The men believe that the shoe salesman is really a talent scout or TV producer from New York and they fall over each other to buy shoes from him so that they can audition for him. Of course, no one is harmed and the townspeople will all have new shoes, but we see how easy it is for people to make up stories…and even easier for everyone to believe them.

What can we do to protect our young children and teach them not to start rumors?

Talk to them about being kind to others.
Play the “telephone game” to show them that not everything they hear from others is true.
Be a good role model when it comes to gossiping and spreading rumors.

There is a new review of SHOW ME HOW! at http://www.themomwrites.com

With summer coming, I know many parents will be looking for activities to keep young children busy and happy…why not get a copy of SHOW ME HOW! now on sale for 50% off the cover price! Visit my website, pick up a copy and

START HAVING FUN!

Please come back again tomorrow for Make-A-Meal Monday…another great child-friendly healthful recipe.

Making Memories With Your Children: Summer Craft Activities

Posted on May 14, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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I was in Chicago last weekend for Mother’s Day with my son and daughter-in-law. I also had an opportunity to visit with my sister and her sons and their families.

One evening, we all got together at a fantastic BBQ, hosted by my nephew and his wife. We all had a great time…the food was not only delicious, but healthful as well…kudos to Dave and Rebecca!

After dinner, we sat down to look at the old photo albums my sister had brought. As we turned the pages and my son and his cousin (both in their 30’s) exclaimed over each picture, I realized how important the pictures were…they reminded these grown men of the children they had been and the activities they had been involved in when they were young.

Summer is just around the corner…I know many parents are wondering how they will fill the long hot days with their children.

Of course, there are various solutions to this problem:

Put them in some kind of day camp…might be costly.
Sit them in front of the TV…how many cartoons do you really want them to watch?
Send them to someone else’s house…don’t you want to be the one they get their values and information from?

What is my solution to the problem of young children home for the summer?

READING…CRAFTING…COOKING!

Young children are always eager to hear a good picture book story.

Young children love arts and crafts.

Young children enjoy helping in the kitchen.

If you buy a copy of my book that is FILLED with picture book suggestions and summaries, easy arts and crafts activities and simple healthful recipes, you will be prepared for the long hot summer days ahead.

For starters, here’s a great idea that comes from Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking. It will help capture those memories for your child as you create a photo album together.

AN ALBUM OF ME

You will need: A small blank photo album, a selection of photos of your child at different stages of his or her life, self-stick labels and a fine point marker.

1. With your child, go through some of the pictures that you have of him from birth to the present…and let him choose several to include in his own album. Make copies if you want to keep the originals in the family album.

2. Help your child insert each photo and then write a description (with his input) on a label or small strip of paper and press or glue it on the bottom of each page.

3. Listen to your child while he turns the pages of his album and tells you the story of his life.

4. Important tip: keep a camera handy…you never know when a photo opportunity arises.

Activities like this help:

build your child’s self-esteem!
develop pre-reading skills!
create a life-long parent-child bond!
keep your child busy in a constructive positive fun-filled way that will be fun for you also!