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Make it Easy for Your Kids to Learn Origami with these Tips

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If you are looking for some arts and crafts ideas, you may want to consider making origami. Here are ways on how you can make it easy for your kids to learn origami with these simple and easy to follow tips.

Getting the Paper

One of the best parts about making origami art is that all is required is a piece of paper. You will not need to purchase any expensive paper from an arts and crafts store. Any paper you have on hand can be used effectively and put you on the path to creating some unique and fun origami art. The more paper you have the better, as you will have more than enough material to try out different designs.

Don’t Make It Difficult

Before your child begins making origami, make sure you start them off with something easy to make. Origami folds differ in their levels of difficulty. It is better to start off with an easy to follow design. That way, your child can get the hang of how to do it. It can be easy to get carried away and try and make a design completely out of your depth. If your child is struggling, make sure to let them know that practice makes perfect and give them as much motivation as you can.

Staying Inside the Lines

Children are not known for their patience or neatness, however, keeping inside the lines when creating origami will help create the best pattern possible. One of the main tips when creating origami is to focus on folding precisely and neatly, as opposed to trying to quickly get to the end of the instructions. When you are folding, the instructions can become confusing, but it is important to remember that each instruction needs to be followed carefully to finish with a good outcome. Also, staying consistent and motivated is a key trait to helping your child stay on track and finish a task.

Be Creative

Another great reason to let your child have a go at origami is giving them the freedom to create whatever they desire. Opening their imagination and putting all their thoughts and ideas onto paper can be a wonderful way to physically express their feelings. Being imaginative and thinking outside the box can enable your child to create a unique origami pattern.

It’s Just Paper

The main thing to remember about origami is that it is just paper. If your child falls at the first hurdle, make sure to reassure them and let them know that there is plenty more paper and they can have another go. It can be easy to lose motivation at the beginning, but if your child stays focused and determined, they can end up creating some fantastic origami. Websites like origamiway.com will provide you with more details on the diverse designs and patterns that you can make.

Learning and making distinctive designs and shapes out of origami should be a fun and exciting experience for your child. If your child is struggling with making a certain design, make sure to be on hand for support should your child need any assistance.

6 WAYS IN WHICH A PACIFIER CAN BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR BABY

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Pacifiers can sometimes be helpful in calming down a restless baby. The sucking provides comfort and soothes them. Pacifiers are not only handy in stopping babies from being fussy, but also provide temporary distraction or help them fall asleep faster. Having a pacifier can save you, and your baby, from a lot of pain. However, they can also harm your baby, for example, causing misalignment of teeth and increasing their risk of suffering from infections to the middle ear.

Here are six ways in which pacifiers can harm your baby;

Latex allergies

Latex pacifiers are preferred to silicone ones as they are softer and more flexible. However, most babies are said to suffer from latex allergy arising mostly from vaccinations. The allergy could lead to rashes, or even worse, asthma and shock.  The softness of the latex pacifier also makes it easily chewable and can cause serious health issues when ingested.

Silicone allergies

Silicone pacifiers are recommended because they are stronger, more durable and silicone allergies are not as common as latex allergies. Some babies are however allergic to silicone and any exposure, however minimal, can trigger a reaction. Silicone allergies are characterised by watery eyes, rashes, labored breath and in the worst cases, shock.

Sweetening the pacifier

Oral bacteria thrive in sugary environments and therefore can cause harm to the baby’s gums and teeth which are still developing. The bacteria release acids that cause decay and childhood cavities. Honey is also known to contain a chemical that can lead to food poisoning and should never be given to children under the age of two.

Contamination

Pacifiers, being constantly in contact with saliva and oral bacteria, can be an avenue for the growth, contamination and transmission of bacterial organisms. Given that most parents just wash and dry the pacifiers instead of disinfecting them, pacifiers can cause dental caries, intestinal parasitic infections, candidiasis and infection to the middle ear. Use of tap water to clean the pacifier has also been linked to bacteria that cause dental caries. While cleaning a pacifier in your mouth can help pass good bacteria to your baby, there are also risks of transmitting harmful bacteria to them.

Addiction

Frequent use of the pacifier can turn into a habit such that the baby cannot do it anything, including fall asleep, without it. This can interrupt the baby’s sleep, and yours, when it falls off in the course of the night. Addiction to the pacifier could also delay the baby’s speech development. As the baby gets older, consider restricting the use of a pacifier to bedtime only until you get them completely off it. Momcrib.Com recommends finding other ways of calming the baby down.

Gassing up the baby

It is inevitable that the baby will swallow air when feeding and have the need to pass gas. However, frequent and vigorous sucking on the pacifier could also cause gas problems. If the gas builds up, it may cause stomach acid reflux or abdominal pains which make the baby uncomfortable. When they cry due to the discomfort, giving them a pacifier further worsens their discomfort.

How to Prepare Your Child for a Visit to the Dentist

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Visiting the dentist can be a frightening experience for your child. However, knowing the right tips and tricks beforehand can help reassure your child and ensure they are well prepared. Here are a few ways on how to get your child ready for a visit to the dentist.

Let Them Know

Your child’s brain is like a sponge that absorbs everything you tell them. It is important to let your child know exactly what to expect before their dental appointment. Being honest with your child from the beginning and giving them instructions and guidance on how to best prepare for their appointment will help them enormously and ensure your child feels confident and ready.

Be Positive

A way to help your child be prepared for their visit to the dentist is by being upbeat and describing the dentist in a positive way. Letting your child know that they are the good guys and they are there to help protect our teeth can help in changing your child’s overall view. The way you speak about the dentist can have a significant impact, so ensure you remain positive and be on hand for any questions from your child. If your child is facing any problems with their teeth, websites like Health Row can give you more information and guidance on the appropriate steps to take.

Giving Support

Being on hand to give support to your child can help them feel relaxed and ready for their dental appointment. If your child has any worries or fears about going to the dentist, make sure that you empathize with them and offer any support that they may need. Be prepared to answer any questions your child has and try and relate back to when you were young, so you can understand why they are fearful about the dentist.

Practice Makes Perfect

Before your child’s dental appointment, make sure that your child is aware of the importance of good oral hygiene. Show your child how to brush your teeth correctly, so they can copy and learn from you. It is best to practice from a very young age, so your child is aware of how to practice good oral hygiene. Whilst your dentist will be able to offer advice and guidance, it is up to you to remind your child of the importance of brushing our teeth.

Make It Fun

There are ways to help your child prepare for their dental appointment and not make it seem as scary as it sounds. Many dental practices have games and activities in waiting rooms for children, which can give them something to look forward to and help take their mind off where they are. If your child has never visited the dentist before, it will be an unfamiliar environment for them so ensuring they can have toys and games to play with will help keep them relaxed.

If you would like more information on the best ways to prepare your child before their visit to the dentist, make sure that you look online at specialist websites that can give you more of an insight and learn tips and tricks to ensure the dental appointment goes as smoothly as possible.

Tips for Teaching Your Child to Play Nicely

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No parent is perfect, and when your child is consistently showing an inability to share, aggression towards others or other forms of bad behaviour, it can be difficult not to blame yourself or know what to do. It’s important to note that all children go through phases of bad behaviour as they grow and develop, and these are perfect opportunities to work on teaching your child how to play nicely.

Create a Chill-Out Zone

Instead of punishing your child every time they act out, which could lead to further tantrums and bad behaviour, try instead creating a ‘chill-out zone’ where they can go to cool off and collect themselves. Encourage them to think about their behaviour and what they could have done instead to improve. This helps your child to learn self-calming skills, as well as giving them the opportunity to reflect upon their behaviour.

Set a Good Example

Children see and copy everything, so if you want your child to play nicely with other kids, you’ll need to start setting a good example yourself. This isn’t to say you have to be perfect all the time, but try to make a concerted effort to display to your child how you overcome disagreements with your partner for example, or how you can stay calm even when you’re arguing. If you do mess up and end up getting angry or aggressive, remember to talk to your child about it and point out where you went wrong.

Encourage Empathy and Conversation

One of the key steps to learning how to play nicely with others is learning how to effectively communicate and empathise with them. It’s important to encourage empathy with your child, even if they are young, by asking them to consider how their actions affected other people, and asking them why the behaved the way they did. Often young children struggle to understand ‘why’ questions, so instead try using ‘what’ questions such as ‘what made you hit your brother?’

Read Books That Encourage Good Behaviour

Try reading to your child from books that encourage good behaviour, sharing, kindness and empathy. There are plenty of kids’ books geared towards encouraging nice play, such as ‘Why Should I Listen’ and ‘How To Be a Friend’. Reading these books before bedtime is a great way to calm your child down, ready them for sleep and teach them some life skills. Studies have also shown that we are more likely to remember concepts we learn before going to sleep, so making it a bedtime routine can help good behaviour to stick.

Create Some Art That Demonstrates Friendly Playing

An easy and fun way to encourage friendly productive play in your children is to incorporate it into an art session. For younger kids this might mean bringing out the finger painting kits and making a picture of them playing nicely. For slightly older kids, try using an online comic creator such as Rage Maker, to make a fun and silly comic addressing how to resolve conflict effectively.

Parenting is never easy, and we all struggle sometimes.  Searching online for a little help and guidance now and again can provide you with some tips and reassurance and will also make you realize that you are not alone.

Dealing with Your Child’s Use of Slang

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Children and young people have always delighted in creating their own languages and finding ways of communicating that their parents don’t understand. In the fifties, teenagers would say “razz my berries” knowing their folks wouldn’t have a clue it meant getting interested or excited about something and confusing your elders is still seen as an essential skill by many young people. In the modern world of constant communication and social media influence, these slang terms catch on and spread seemingly overnight, but they also come and go far more quickly too.

Why do kids like using slang?

As children grow up, they form their own social groups and networks, and being able to share a language no-one outside the group understands can make them feel a part of something special and different. Young people grow away from the dependent relationships they have as young children and are likely to go through a phase of seeing their elders as something of a hindrance interfering with their freedoms. If you can communicate with your peers without adults understanding what you’ve said, it makes you feel clever and reinforces the idea that your elders are stupid and don’t understand you. This pulling away from the parents is a normal stage of development and will usually pass as the child matures.

How can you get to grips with your kids’ language?

It can be very frustrating for parents when they don’t understand what their child is saying, and this can lead to conflict. Your child will probably be thrilled that this is winding you up, but try and stay calm and remind yourself it’s just a developmental stage. If you want to get to grips with the slang terms that are doing the rounds, a quick internet search should provide you with some definitions. You can also see what’s happening with trends in slang by going to a website like lolhit.com that analyzes the use of slang terms and catchphrases. It is a good idea to know what current slang terms mean, just in case your child is using offensive or unpleasant references, so you can step in and dissuade them from saying anything unsavory.

Joining in

There’s a temptation to want to use the same language as your kids when you’ve found out what their slang terms mean, but it’s best to resist. If your kids know you understand them, they’ll simply find or invent new ways of communicating that baffle you anew. They will not be impressed by your new-found knowledge either, and parents who start using the same slang terms as their kids are generally seen as being very uncool indeed.

Try not to worry about the slang your child is using, as there is little you can do to stop them and any efforts to do so are likely to be met with resistance. That’s not to say you shouldn’t maintain standards of communication at appropriate times, such as social occasions and family mealtimes, just don’t get too hung up on the way they speak with their friends. In general, it’s best to stop sweating the small stuff and try and stay frosty, hang loose and chillax.

Tips for Taking Great Action Shots of Your Kids

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If you love photography and would like to be able to take some great action shots of your kids to add to your photo album or hang on the walls, you’ve come to the right place. Taking photos of your kids as they are exploring the world and doing what they love can be a great keepsake and a memory you can treasure forever, in photograph form. Below are some great tips to ensure you get sharp, focused action shots of your kids rather than blurry ones.

Increase Your Shutter Speed

To get an action shot that is not blurry, you basically need to freeze motion. In order to do this effectively, you need a fast shutter speed enabled on your camera. This should be around 1/200 or above. If you are trying to take an action shot, or something that involves a lot of speed such as your child’s first football match, try adjusting your shutter speed to around 1/1000, especially if you are in natural outdoor light.

A Stabilizer is Your Best Friend

Trying to stay still when taking action shots is impossible! You may have everything else set right, but if you can’t stay in the exact same position then you may still get blurry shots. We are not made to stand still; we are not statues. A stabilizer ensures you get clean, crisp shots whether they are action shots or not. Indreviews have all the low down on the best stabilizer for your needs and price range.

Use Continuous Shooting

The best way to ensure you get the shot you want and to have a multitude of shots is to use continuous shooting. This means you can take many photos of the action, as and when it is happening. Taking them one at a time may mean you miss out on the shot you want. But remember, your camera will then have to process all these images, so the longer you use continuous shooting for, the longer your camera will need before it can begin shooting again. This also means the more shots you take the more chance one or a few of them have come out the way you want them, so you have more shots to play with this way.

Make Use of The Center Focal Point

When taking actions shots of your kids, it is best to fix the center focal point on the face to ensure they are in shot and not blurry. If you focus past your kids then chances are you will get an out of focus shot. This can be hard when they are constantly running around, and you will need the patience to get that dream shot, it takes time, but with practice, you will be taking professional-standard photos of your children in no time.

Having great action shots of your kids gives you great memories to hang on your walls and is much more fun than a standard family photo.  Also when taking pictures make sure your kids are dressed in nice fashion like uniquely printed kids t-shirts and cool sneakers. Action shots show true happiness as they aren’t posed and can be really heartwarming pictures to share with family and friends.

Easy Holiday Crafts for Kids

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The best way to bond with your kids when there’s a holiday is to get into craft projects together. Take some colourful pieces of paper, glue, glitter, scissors, and a box of craft embellishments, and you’re ready to create your own versions of these easy holiday crafts for kids.

New-Year Noisemakers

Want to make some noise but don’t want your kids to play with firecrackers? These noisemakers are a fun way to ring in the New Year!

Materials:

  • 2 Styrofoam cups
  • Glue
  • Glitter or metallic paper
  • Paint brush
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Scissors
  • Candies (optional)

Steps:

  1. Decorate your Styrofoam cups using some glue and glitter or metallic paper.
  2. Cut your pipe cleaners in halves, and then twirl each half using your finger. Once they’re all twirled, group them in two, and twist each group together on one end.
  3. Using your scissors, punch a hole on the bottom of each cup, and then stick the twisted end of the pipe cleaners into the hole. Bend the end so they don’t fall out.
  4. Put some candies on one cup and then carefully, without getting glue on the candies, use the paint brush to stick the two cups together.
  5. At midnight, break your noisemaker to welcome the New Year!

Easter Bunny Mask and Tail

Make Easter a little more special by creating Easter Bunny costumes for you and your kids. Here’s how.

Materials:

  • Cardboard
  • Cotton balls
  • Pink construction paper
  • Pink pompom
  • Black pipe cleaners
  • String
  • Pencil
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Safety pin

Steps:

  1. Using a pencil, trace the shape of a bunny’s head (minus the mouth part) and tail onto the cardboard. Cut them out using the scissors, making sure that you also cut holes for the eyes. Leave a small slit on each side of the mask for the string as well.
  2. On the pink construction paper, trace the shape of the bunny’s ears. Make sure that you make it half-an-inch thinner than the cardboard cut-out.
  3. Glue the pink bunny ears on the cardboard and then cover the mask and tail with cotton balls.
  4. Decorate the mask using the pompom as the bunny’s nose and the pipe cleaners as its whiskers.
  5. Using the string for the mask and the pin for the tail, you can now wear your Easter Bunny costume.

Christmas Wreath

What’s a fun and way to decorate your kids’ bedroom doors? Create this Christmas wreath with them!

Materials:

  • Paper plate
  • Tissue paper
  • String
  • Red pompoms
  • Red ribbon
  • Paint (green, red and gold)
  • Plastic container
  • Glue
  • Scissors

Steps:

  1. In a wide plastic container, mix your green paint with some water. Dip your tissue paper into the mixture for a few seconds and then let each sheet dry.
  2. While waiting for the tissue to dry, trace a lit candle on the centre of the paper plate. Cut around it by using your scissors, making sure to leave the candle and the ribbed edge as your frame.
  3. Paint the candle using your red and gold paint.
  4. Once the sheets are dry, crumple them into balls, and stick them to the frame.
  5. Decorate your wreath with the red pompoms and ribbon. Use the string to hang it on the wall.

So, here are a few Christmas crafts to try with your kids. Which one are you making?

Keeping a Close Eye on your Child’s Vision

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According to recent research, one in twenty pre-school children now wears glasses, and problems with visual acuity is a growing problem among younger people. This is down in part to poor eating habits, lack of exercise and increasing amount of time spent in front of a screen (as well as natural eye diseases and macular degeneration), and it highlights the need for parents to pay attention to their children’s vision.

But how can you do this? And what steps can you take to ensure your child’s eyes stay healthy? The first thing you can do is to ask your child if they have any problems with their vision. Often children don’t know there’s a problem (particularly if they’ve had issues from birth), or they don’t want to say anything for fear of being different from their counterparts. Ask your child regularly if they have any issues, and keep an eye out for tell-tale signs such as problems reading or difficulties at school.

Similarly, you should also ensure you get regular eye tests for your child. This is the best way of ensuring their eyes are healthy, or dealing with any problems with their vision. It may be that your child needs glasses or an operation, but it’s better to fork out for surgery or a pair of must-have Ray-Ban glasses than have them struggle through their school years with vision problems.

When it comes to keeping your children’s eyes healthy, there are several simple steps you can take:

  • Ensure a varied and healthy diet, containing fruits, vegetables and plenty of amino acids
  • Make sure you child gets regular exercise
  • Limit screen time, ideally to less than two hours per day
  • Schedule yearly eye examinations, both to ensure their visual acuity is good, but also as they can be an early indicator of other diseases
  • Ensure appropriate eye protection is worn during sports and other activities
  • Ensuring children’s eyes are protected from the sun, with 100% UV protection sunglasses being worn whenever appropriate

Of course, there are some things you simply can’t prevent – such as disease or certain injuries – but you can take steps to limit the likelihood of these things occurring, and keep your children’s eyes healthy for longer.

5 Ways To Relax as a Stressed-Out Parent

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Everyone will always tell you that whilst being a parent is stressful, it is so rewarding that you can live with it, something I fervently disagree with. Yes, being a parent is stressful and yes, the rewards far outweigh the problems but that doesn’t mean that you should simply accept being stressed out, on the contrary in fact.

The world is a stressful place and everyone needs to deal with this stress in some way, and being a parent is no different. And so, if you are a parent and want to alleviate the stress, here are some ways in which you can do it.

Meditation

Meditation is a great tool because with just 10 or 15 minutes each day, you can considerably reduce your stress levels. The key to mediation is to sit down somewhere quiet in a comfortable position, spend the next 10 or 15 minutes trying to clear your mind as you take a series of deep breaths. Don’t worry if you can’t get into it right away, most people can’t but if you stick with it then within a week you will be switching off, zoning out and calming yourself down.

Sharing is Caring

If you are the only parent who feels the stress because of the amount of time which you have with your kids then it is time to speak to your partner about sharing the load. Even just being without the kids for a couple of hours each week can do wonders for your stress levels.

Exercise

Exercise is not just awesome in terms of keeping yourself in shape, it can also be a wonderful stress management tool. Now, as a parent you may not be able to dedicate an hour per day to exercising but making 30 minutes every 2 days to do a fitness video or go for a run, can really help to bring your stress levels down.

Sleep

Being able to sleep as a parent is very difficult, not only are you always busy looking after the kids, but even when they are in bed, the worrying is enough to keep you awake. Sleep however, is vital in terms of keeping your stress levels down and if you can get into a nightly routine of sleeping at least 7 hours, you will be doing yourself a great favor.

Positivity

People will say that laughter is the best medicine and they are really on the money with this. The key to your happiness and your levels of stress, are a positive attitude. It can be easy to get wound up when things don;t go to plan but if you can approach them with a positive mindset and the kind of attitude which can shrug off issues, you will be far less stressed. We can all change our character if we want and if you are not a naturally positive person, you can become one, with just a little bit of effort on your part.

Parenting isn’t easy but you can take measures to reduce how stressful it is.

4 Delicious and Healthy Meals That Children Will Love

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Getting kids to eat healthy foods can be quite a challenge and for many years I tried and failed with umpteen recipes which I thought that my kids would enjoy. I know that my kids have to eat well, but the last thing I want to do is demand that they eat their veg and health portions, I will if I have to, but nobody wants to force food down their child.

Instead of this then, I went back to the drawing board and came up with some great recipes which my kids love as much as me. If you are trying to get your kids to eat well, try one of these four delicious and healthy options.

Pasta

I love to use pasta with the kids because it is so flexible and can lend itself to a variety of meals, plus it gives you the chance to sneak in some healthy goodness. I like to use wholewheat pasta for its health benefits and my pasta meal of choice is pasta in a Philadelphia sauce, served with mushrooms and fresh green beans. I always make sure that I add a little garlic and herbs to the Philadelphia sauce and the kids absolutely love it. This is also very easy to make, throw the beans in to cook with the pasta whilst slowly frying the mushrooms. The Philly sauce is made by simply adding it to the hot pasta, throw the mushrooms in, add some herbs and voila.

Turkey Burgers

I love to et my kids cooking with me and making burgers is a great activity, nice and messy! Use turkey mince as it has significantly less fat than beef mince. Simply mix the mince with some whisked egg and whatever flavors you can think of, bake it in the oven and then add some fresh salad to finish it off. Healthy, fun to make and the kids really like it.

Homemade Pizza

Shop-bought pizzas are usually very fatty and filled with preservatives and chemicals and it is far better to make your own. Use either a tortilla wrap or make your own very simple pizza dough, before letting the kids go wild with healthy toppings for their pizza. Bake the pizza in the oven and see who’s pizza turned out best.

Lamb Tagine

I was bought a tagging some years ago and it was only last year when my eldest asked me about it, that we started using it. Tagines will slow cook meat and other ingredients like fruit and veg, to give you a succulent and flavorsome meal, and my kids absolutely love it. We bought a tagging cook book and we are gradually working our way through the pages. Because of the way that the meat cooks, plus the veggies inside, these are some very healthy dishes, which kids really enjoy to eat.

What healthy meals do you make for your kids? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.