6 Tips for Safe Toy Selection This Holiday Season

Posted on November 12, 2010 by viviankirkfield

With holiday toy shopping just getting underway, here are six tips that remind gift-givers to keep safety in mind when selecting toys for preschoolers. Many of these tips come from the American Academy of Ophthalmology www.eyenet.org

Select only toys and gifts that are appropriate for the child’s age and maturity level. Check the packaging for age recommendations.
Avoid toys with sharp, protruding or projectile parts.
Check labels for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) approval to be sure toys meet national safety standards.
BB, paint or pellet guns and airpower rifles are classified as firearms and make dangerous gifts in homes where there are preschoolers, even if the gift is intended for an older child. Similarly, darts and bows and arrows are also dangerous when they fall into the hands of a young child.
Younger children are now participating in sports such as baseball, football, hockey and soccer. If you are giving sports equipment, make sure to include the appropriate protective headgear such as helmets and facemasks or goggles with polycarbonate lenses.
A picture book, whether an older classic or one of the newer additions to bookstore shelves, is always a safe and welcome gift. Reading the story to the child will add so much value to the gift…it costs you nothing, but means the world to the listener. Choosing which book can be a daunting task. There are several sources you can consult. THE READ-ALOUD HANDBOOK by Jim Trelease is an excellent guide. You can also check out The New York Times Parents Guide to the Best Books for Children and quite a few other resources for choosing books for children at LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com/work/273100 For a list of 100 picture books every preschooler needs to hear, find a copy of SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING. This ultimate resource for parents and teachers of preschoolers also provides a story summary, parenting note, eco-friendly craft project and child-friendly healthful cooking activity for each recommended title. http://www.amazon.com/Self-Esteem-Through-Reading-Crafting-Cooking/dp/0967014751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289532916&sr=1-1

10 Crucial Holiday Tips for Parents of Preschoolers

Posted on November 6, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Happy Holidays, everyone! With the passing of Halloween, I feel we are really into the official holiday season…Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza…all celebrating life, family and love!

As much as we love holidays, they do bring additional safety concerns, especially when there are preschoolers in the home. As families gather, there may be even more young children in your home, so read this list of 10 crucial holiday tips for parents of preschoolers. Then, check them off the list as you make sure you take care of each safety measure to prevent accidents and ensure your family has a safe holiday season.

Check your smoke detectors (you should have 1 on every level of your home) and replace the batteries, if needed. Fire is the 2nd leading cause of unintentional death in the home. Each year, thousands of people die in residential fires. You should also have at least 1 fire extinguisher in or near the kitchen…and make sure every adult and grown child knows how to use it. Sit down and write out a family escape plan…and practice at least once a month.
Check your houseplants. Holiday plants like Poinsettia and mistletoe are POISONOUS! Make sure you keep ALL plants out of your children’s (and pet’s) reach. If you suspect your child has ingested plant material that might be poisonous, call your local poison control center immediately.
And on that note: Check to see that you have a list of important phone numbers (doctor, poison control center, hospital, 24-hour nurse line, several friends or family members who can be called upon at a moment’s notice to drive you somewhere or take care of your child temporarily). Then make sure this list is posted where it will be highly visible, near a phone…and keep a pen and pad of paper there as well.
Check to see that you have an emergency first aid kit…and make sure there are several working flashlights with fresh batteries.
Check that there are guards around open heaters and fireplaces and make sure no fabric (like curtains or bedspreads) or decorations touch lamps or night lights.
Check that all electrical outlets that are not being used have plastic plug covers and keep cords, wires and power strips out of your child’s reach. With holiday decorations, we often add many more items needing electrical power. Be careful not to overload power strips or circuit breakers.
Check that scissors (for doing holiday crafts and wrapping presents), knives and other sharp objects are locked up or in high cabinets. The same goes for cleaning supplies and items like potpourri oil. We get so busy during the holiday season, but we want to make sure our little ones are safe.
Check that pot and pan handles are turned away from the outer edge of the stove. Use the back burners when preschoolers are in the house. Involving your children with the holiday food preparation is great fun (and wonderful for building their self-esteem), but we want to make sure they are doing the measuring and mixing in a bowl at the table, not pouring the ingredients into the pot on the stove.
Check that decorations that are within reach of preschoolers have no little parts or pieces that can become detached. Soft stuffed decorations with sewn on ribbons are beautiful and festive. Perhaps you can put away the precious glass ornaments until your children are older…or you might decide to make a lovely display of those breakables on a high shelf, visible to adults, but unavailable to little ones. Homemade ornaments will be treasured for years (we still have several that our children made over 20 years ago). They can be made of paper, ribbon, yarn, felt and clay. The joy you all feel when crafting today will become a very important part of your families’ holiday tradition.
Check that your holiday schedule is not overwhelming, for you and for your child. Entertaining, attending holiday services and events, shopping, preparing the house for guests…these activities require extra time, energy and money…and add stress to our lives that are already often on the edge. Changes in routines can wreak havoc with your children’s tempers…and yours. So don’t feel you have to do EVERYTHING! If purchasing cupcakes from the store instead of baking them yourself for your child’s nursery school holiday party makes life a little easier for you, do it! Remember to take time for yourself…try to get enough sleep…eat as nutritiously as you can…walk or dance at least 30 minutes 4 times a week…and breath deeply.

I’m planning to do at least 2 more holiday themed posts: 5 Tips for Safe Holiday Toy Selection for Your Preschooler and 7 Critical Tips for Safe Holiday Shopping and Traveling with Preschoolers. I’ll also post some of the eco-friendly craft projects and child-friendly healthful cooking activities you can do with your preschoolers this holiday season.

Cooking With Preschoolers

Posted on October 26, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Cooking is one of the best activities for preschoolers. It builds their self-esteem as they master tasks and skills, mixing and measuring the ingredients. It teaches them about the foods they eat so they can make better food choices as they grow up. It encourages them to try new foods as they prepare various recipes, expanding their food horizons. Most importantly, they love to do it and cooking with your preschooler helps create a life-long parent-child bond.

Cooking with preschoolers is a passion of mine which is why my new parenting book provides 100 child-friendly healthful recipes and 100 age-appropriate, eco-friendly craft projects, in addition to pinpointing 100 picture books every young child should hear. The cooking experience is crucial because with each recipe your preschooler helps prepare, he gains confidence and competence and his sense of self-worth grows.

What ingredients should we use? The best that we can, of course! If you are able to purchase organic, locally grown, in-season produce…I’d encourage you to do that…I believe such ingredients will add immense benefits to your entire family while creating a less damaging impact on our planet. Organic or not, just make sure everything is fresh (check dates on dairy and other items…sometimes stores miss removing out-of-date stuff) and whether it is a snack or a meal, we want to provide low-fat, low sugar and high fiber combinations that are packed with nutrition. It’s important that they taste good also. However, taste is learned and we need to be careful of what we say and of our facial expressions when we are eating…many children develop food dislikes when they see a parent shunning a particular food.

Cooking with preschoolers is a great time to teach proper hand washing procedures. Make sure hands are washed before and during the food preparation process, especially if hands have touched raw meat or poultry. And definitely exercise caution during the cooking experience…preschoolers should be pouring and mixing the ingredients in the bowls, not stirring the pot on the stove. Any cutting with sharp knives needs to be done by the parent or other responsible adult.

I just came back from a wonderful week in New Hampshire…the New England fall foliage was at its peak…but the best part of the trip was the four days I spent with my two-year old grandson, Jeremy. We walked down to the pond every day to see the ducks, skip pebbles over the surface of the water, and collect leaves of scarlet, gold, green and brown to use in craft projects. He loved cooking in the kitchen…I’ve included one of the recipes below, along with the craft activity we did and the title of the story we read. If you’d like more story/craft/cooking ideas, you can go to the activities page of my website: http://www.positiveparentalparticipation.com/News.php

CHILD-FRIENDLY HOMEMADE CHUNKY APPLESAUCE

You will need: 3 lbs tart cooking apples (peeled, cored and quartered), 1 Tb honey, 3/4 cup water, 1 pinch cinnamon or nutmeg, and a large saucepan with a lid.

Combine the apples, water and honey in the pan, cover and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and simmer till very soft and mushy, about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with a little cinnamon or nutmeg and serve hot or cold.
Store in covered container in the refrigerator. Use within a few days. Makes about 4-6 servings.

The story suggestion for the above recipe is THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD. This classic tale of a little engine with a positive attitude helps preschoolers believe in themselves and encourages them to keep trying, even if they don’t succeed at first. Jeremy loved the story…he is excited about all trains right now…when I finished, he said, “More book, Nanu!”

A container train with moving wheels is a craft project will enable your child to have a whole fleet of trains…if you both have the time and patience. For each train car you will need: 1 clean quart-sized cardboard milk or juice container, construction paper, paste, scissors, markers and metal paper fasteners. When we finished the train, two-year old Jeremy exclaimed, “My train, my train!”

Depending on which train car your preschooler wants to make, cut the container appropriately (for example, for a coal car – lay the container on its side and cut off the top).
Cut a piece of construction paper to fit over the outside of the container and paste it in place.
Cut out 4 wheels from another piece of construction paper and attach to the container with paper fasteners. The wheels will be able to turn!
Ask your child what the name of his train is (for example: Jeremy’s Express), and write the name on the side of the train. Use the markers to add details to the train.

For more cooking with kids in the kitchen ideas, check out http://kidsparties.about.com where Megan Cooley, kids’ parties and celebrations guide for about.com is hosting a blog carnival for the month of November.