Take 30

Take 30, thirty minutes that is and go outside with your kids. Kick the soccer ball around, throw the foot ball, make an obstacle course or play keep away. Getting your kids active with you each day helps instill a life long love of being active. It builds great memories and can give your own spirits a boost after a long day at work.

Spending time together as a family will only help to keep communication lines open as they get older. It may take a little effort to get it started but the memories that it creates will last a lifetime for your child. Invest in your children now while they are young and start a cycle that will be passed down to generations to come.

Bonding in the Kitchen

Spending time in the kitchen with your younger children can help them feel needed, while encouraging them to eat healthy. Most kids want to at least try the vegetables they helped to cut. As your children get older, having them know how to cut and chop veggies for soups and stews can really be a huge time saver.

Kids may not always do a perfect job, but practice makes perfect. This is a great time to encourage your child's heart while teaching them how to prepare healthy meals for the family.

Finger Paints for Toddlers

One of my favorite things to do when my children were little and still in high chairs was to let them finger paint. This isn't your normal finger painting works of art however, mine were edible. Therefore, it was very safe.

Preparing a box of sugar free pudding and letting it set up for 5 minutes was the perfect medium for my little artists. I would put about 1/2 cup on the tray of their high chair and let them smear it all around. Not only did we have fun, but I felt good knowing that anything that got in their mouth was completely safe. Playing with pudding finger paints is not mess free, but it is very easy to clean up. Not to mention it also kept them very entertained while I cleaned up after dinner.

Growing your Family with Love Notes

A great way to keep the communications open as your children get older is to start a notebook of notes together. In each of my children’s rooms is a simple little notebook and pen. At bedtime or in the morning they may write me a note. Sometimes the notes say "I love you" sometimes they say "Thank you for buying me new shoes" and at times the note asks me to come see them the next night to talk. I try my best to check them each day and respond. A few times I am the one to start it by telling them how proud I was of something they did. One example, the other night I wrote and told my son how proud I was that he had helped his dad stack wood for a neighbor. These notes will be kept for many years and I hope they will look back at it when they are feeling sad or lonely and see all the good things they have done to make their parents proud. My hope is that as they grow they will be free to write me anything and keep the communication lines open.

For your little ones, as soon as they can write simple sentences this is especially fun. My seven year old and I have a story going back and forth. She writes a sentence or two and I come in the next day and write another. We have a very long story now. I usually try to throw in some funny sentences to make her smile. The story we have going right now is about a cat that had kittens. I wrote “The mama cat began to dig under the fence" To which my daughter replied "The kittens bit their mom’s tail. She came back." We both have a good time writing and laughing. By writing back and forth it is also helping her to practice her reading, writing and story telling skills.