Category: outdoor activities

Keeping Kids Active

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Obesity is a serious health concern in the United States and it is a growing threat to children, too. Due to sedentary lifestyles and poor dieting habits, more and more children are diagnosed as being clinically overweight every year, and an increasing number of these children are diagnosed as obese. Activity is important and it is incredibly beneficial to your overall health. By encouraging kids and teens to be active from a young age can help set good habits early on and will most likely help them stick with such habits as they get older.

There are many ways to help foster and develop skills that will encourage activity, while making sure that your kids are healthy too.

1. Be a good role model. Kids learn a lot by example and they easily pick up on things that their parents do, especially when they are younger. By being active yourself, your children are more likely to follow suit.

2. Be their cheerleader. Being positive or making activities fun can definitely be helpful. Many people, especially adults, see working out as a chore but if the idea of staying active is established and understood as a fun activity early on, this association may not exist and kids may be more likely to be and stay active.

3. Buy them “active play” gifts. Every kid wants a tablet or handheld device these days, but no matter what you end up getting your children for birthdays or during the holidays, make sure to get some things that encourage active play such as a bicycle, sports equipment, jump rope, etc.

4. Limit sedentary activities. You don’t have to be moving all the time in order to be fit, but with more and more people opting to sit in front of the TV or with a mobile device in hand, it can be easy to feel dissuaded from doing any other sorts of activities, especially ones that are more physically involved. Sure, it’s fine to watch a show, movie, or play a game, but it is important to limit screen time for a variety of reasons and can help open up opportunities for children to choose more active ways to pass the time.

5. Make time! And make sure there is time. Families are busy these days, and it can be difficult to schedule much of anything, but try to make sure that your family has some time to move around, too. Check in with your child’s school to see if they are active during the day and if there are any opportunities to participate in a sport or other active extracurricular after school as well.

6. Make sure that nutrition plays a role. Being active is important, but so is eating healthy, too! Make sure that your kids are hydrated, that they have access to healthy snacks and meals wherever they are prepared whether they are at home or at school.

There are so many ways to better incorporate activity into a daily routine, and the more a habit is positively enforced the more likely it will stick. There are so many benefits to eating well and staying active, especially for children who are still growing and developing constantly.

For more ways to keep kids active and creative parenting resources visit the KD Novelties blog.

Earth Day: Fun Stuff to Do with Your Kids

Posted on | by KD Novelties
The state of the environment is a major issue these days. When it comes to motivating others to take up more environmentally friendly activities and practices, one of the main points of argument happen to be that the world needs to be healthy and habitable for future generations. But in order to guarantee that these efforts are successful and continue to be so, it is imperative that the kids who make up the future generation know just how important this issue is and how best to help care for the world that they live in.
Earth Day April 22, 2015
Earth day is the 22nd of April, and what better time to teach kids about what’s good and green in the world? The snow has melted and making way for budding flowers, plants, green grass and trees are finally growing their season’s leaves. There are plenty of fun ways to get kids interested and involved in this day that will stress its importance in the present as well as the future. 
1. Read about Earth Day. Getting kids interested in the topic may first require some familiarity with this particular day, for starters. Books with pictures and easy digestible facts can help pique kids’ interest while educating them at the same time.

2. Get outside! It’s important for kids to have a relationship with nature if you want them to care more about Earth Day. This way the weight of the issues mean even more to them. Take them to the local park, go on a mild hike or even take them to national landmarks if you happen to live near them.  If you don’t you can always play around with Google Earth, plus you can explore natural wonders all around the world that can benefit from their protection!

3. Volunteer! Your child’s school or even the local park that you may have visited might have ongoing cleanup programs or they might be running something special for Earth Day itself. Find out what’s going on in your community and make a fun family outing of it!

4. Plant something! Whether you plant some flowers, some vegetables to feed the family or plant a tree as part of an Earth Day program or event, this can be a positive experience all around. Knowing that they are responsible for a living plant that will continue to grow can help kids feel more a part of Earth Day as well as an integral inhabitant of this planet as well.

5. Instill good habits all year round. Encourage your kids and your family to recycle, not to litter and to partake in other planet and environmentally friendly activities and practices. These are the things that are truly important and are helpful to practice all year round, not just on Earth Day. While such practices and ideas are important every other day of the year as well, you can still use Earth Day as an opportunity to teach kids these important lessons and to make positive memories that will stay with them forever, encouraging them, too, to teach future generations the same things as well.

Year Round Tip: We have great outdoor personalized books that can instill the love of the environment to kids.  Our Fishing Adventure personalized book and My Camping Adventure that helps kids understand the beauty in the mountains and all around them.  
Camping Adventure Personalized Book

Now is the time to purchase these two personalized books as we have an April sale of 15% site-wide. Use AprilShowers-KD at checkout – expires April 31st.




Tips on Getting Your Kids Outside

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Now that spring is finally here, spending time outdoors is a reasonable thing to do. Long winters can have anyone, especially kids, feeling cooped up – but these days it may be a little more difficult to get kids to play outside. Aside from growing comfortable indoors over the long, cold winter, there are so more gadgets these days that draw kids to spending time indoors. From televisions to tablets, kids have a wealth of different things to do when indoors, and while some kids are simply eager to run around and play outside, for others it may be a little harder to pry them from their precious screens.
Staying indoors is fine, but getting some fresh air and exercise is good for your health, especially for a child’s. Considering the growing problem of childhood obesity and other such concerns, it’s important that parents make sure that their kids are active enough and enjoying the outdoors as well. Tablets, television shows and books can be good, especially if there is a creative or educational element to them, however being active is also important.  What better way to get kids to play than entice them with going outside?

If your child is reluctant to go outdoors, you can begin by simply moving their usual indoor activities outdoors. Bring books and tablets out into the yard or to the park. Kids are still getting fresh air but just by simply being outside they may eventually feel tempted to run around a bit or participate in games with other children if they happen to be around. You could also use their favorite sedentary activities to inform ideas for more active ones. For instance, if your child loves a show that is about animals that live in the woods, you can entice them with a hike through a national park or local forest trail that you can explore, or even have a pick nick at a woodsy park. If sports are a favorite then try asking them to play or to even teach you what they know. If kids are really into tablet games, you can try and role-play and recreate the game in real life! For instance, if your kids love Angry Birds, you can set up Lego structures with stuffed animals scattered throughout – then you can try and throw soft balls such as hackie sacks at the structures in order to knock them down! This can be a great backyard activity that can get kids moving and playing outside.

www.KDNovelties.com publishes personalized children’s books, gifts, reading and parenting resources.