Category: parenting tips

Free Apps and Websites to Teach Kids While Having Fun

Posted on | by KD Novelties

With the increased popularity in mobile devices, almost everyone is constantly on their phone or tablet. Whether you are checking Facebook, your email, watching a show or playing a game, almost everything can be done from the comfort of a mobile device of some sort. As this becomes more and more of a popular practice, kids are getting hooked too. While it is important to make sure that kids do not spend too much time in front of screens, there are ways to make their screen time valuable to their education. With the accessibility of mobile technologies and development software, many companies have created fun and interactive apps that can actually help teach kids about a variety of different things while also having fun.

There are thousands of apps out there, and it can be difficult to keep track of them all. When downloading an app, a lot is taken into consideration, but price probably factors in more than most other attributes, especially for parents. Luckily, there are plenty of different free apps out there that can be fun as well as educational for kids to interact with. Kids can learn a great deal, about math, reading, chemistry, geography, engineering, languages or even coding and outer space.

Here are some apps that may be worth looking into – and it may not hurt to try, especially since they are free!

● Math Playground can help teach math to kids from a first to sixth grade level. It offers activities that involve logic puzzles, math games, and arcade-style number games, as well as interactive tools for teaching fractions, functions, percents, and more.

● Kodable is an app available on more recent Apple iOS devices that teaches elementary-aged kids how to code. This growing field is becoming more and more in-demand, and your child can learn basic concepts of modern computer programming from quite an early age and get a head start.

● Kid Science: Chemistry Experiments, a kids app that features videos of simple chemistry experiments as well as full text descriptions that explain what is happening in the video and why. Once each video is complete, kids can take a short quiz to test just how much they’ve learned.

● Duolingo is a great app for kids and adults alike who are interested in learning a second language. Duolingo features a variety of short game-like exercises that teach vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar. Duolingo has over 20 languages you can choose to learn from including Spanish, French, Chinese, and Arabic among others.

● The NASA Kids’ Club website is a fun and interactive place where kids can learn about space through games and simulations.

There are so many free apps out there that can be both fun and educational. Even companies like Khan Academy have become popular with kids, teens and adults alike, and many of these apps can be used to help supplement school-work or your own personal sense of curiosity.

For more free resources and parenting tips please visit our website at KDNovelties.com or the KD Novelties Blog.

Should Your Kids Make New Year Resolutions?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

The idea of New Year’s Resolutions may not hold too much meaning for some, especially since so many people end up abandoning their New Year’s aspirations by the wayside come the second week of January. But the idea still holds, and there are plenty of people who make their lives better and improve their character by making an active choice. The idea behind a New Year’s Resolution is to essentially to look back at the previous year and consider what you want to happen for you in the one approaching. With this in mind, you can list changes that you want to make, goals you wish to achieve or healthy habits that you want to embrace. This sort of positive thinking can be beneficial to children, especially as they get older and become more self-aware and begin to grow into individuals of their own.

Lead By Example
When it comes to developing healthy habits and overall behavior, kids learn best by example. Sit down with your kids and talk with them. Ask them questions about their year and what they hope for the year to come. But don’t just get into a discussion about observations and aspirations. Share your own resolutions with them and lead by example.

Parents, like many other adults, tend to make the same resolutions year after year. Lose weight, eat healthier, and travel more. But many of these aspirations are abandoned due to continuously busy schedules and life simply getting in the way. While it is still good to think about bettering your lifestyle as best as you can, you can also consider adopting other resolutions that may be more attainable. As a parent, you can make aspirations to commit more one-on-one time with your kids, devoting a certain amount of days per week to read them to bed, play a game, or prepare a meal together. You can improve daily family routines that will help you all excel in the upcoming year such as everyone in the house getting involved with chores, cooking dinner or planning family time together.

Stay Positive
Make sure that you present resolutions and the idea of making them in an optimistic way. Sure, resolutions are about bettering yourself and your life, but it does not mean that it has to be presented in an obligatory manner. Kids don’t want to feel like they have homework and they may generally respond negatively if the idea of making resolutions is approached in a preachy way or enforced with a punishment of sorts, or even the mere idea of negative side effects arising as a result if a goal is not met. Kids should feel excited about the resolutions they make! This enthusiasm will better ensure that they are successful in their endeavors and will help them feel confident enough to do so as well.

Keep it Simple
This advice does not just apply to kids looking to make New Year’s Resolutions but to adults as well. Keeping your list to around three is a great (and realistic) start. Having too many resolutions can feel overwhelming and it may seem impossible to complete the list. Sticking to a few goals and working at them day by day, you and your child are more likely to see positive results.

Resolutions
Now that you have an idea of when New Year’s Resolutions may be good for kids, how they can be helpful in building character and how to go about doing it, what are some good resolutions for kids? Here is a starter list to help you get going:

1. Read more!
—- As a parent, you can help your child choose a number goal if they would like based on their age and reading level. Make a game out of it and create a chart to track your child’s progress throughout the year!

2. Learn and maintain healthy habits
—- This resolution can apply differently depending on the age of the child. For instance, kids aged 3-5 can resolve to brush their teeth on their own, or at least try, every morning and night, whereas kids aged 7-12 can resolve to drink more water or make healthier lunch choices at school.

Courtesy of Dr. Theresa Fuller S.M.A.R.T Resolutions

3. Eat more veggies
—- A bit like the previous resolution, eating veggies can help kids live better, but when it comes to eating healthy you can incorporate meal prep and cooking into their resolution, too. Have your kids prepare one meal a night that includes veggies – studies show that kids are more likely to eat new foods, especially veggies, if they had a hand in the preparation.

4. Stay active!
—- Whether your children choose to pick up a new sport or devote a certain amount of time per day or per week to a certain activity, this can be a really fun resolution.

5. Do chores
—- Without making it sound too much like a demand, discuss with your child a chore or two that they can become in charge of this upcoming year.

6. Be kind.
—- Encourage your children to perform acts of kindness. There need not be a specific reason or prerogative behind the gesture, but by enforcing the idea, kids may develop the habit of treating others well, being polite and helping others without needing to be prompted as they get older.

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7 Ways to Teach Kids Not to Take Things for Granted

Posted on | by KD Novelties
Being Thankful

In today’s world, we have so many resources available to us. Not only are we lucky to have so much information and so many everyday advances at our fingertips to make our daily lives easier, but we also have a plethora of entertainment options ready for the choosing whenever we so please. As parents, it is only natural to want to do everything for your children and to provide them with all of the conveniences and commodities that you may not have had access to during your own childhood. Many generations are like this, and we always want to do better and give more – but there can be a downside.

In today’s world, television, mobile devices, music, the internet, you name it, is always readily available. It may be difficult for some parents to limit the time their children spend doing any of these given things, leading to a sense of entitlement and selfishness. Sometimes, these side effects occur by accident. You want your child to be happy so you provide them with the means to be happily content every moment of their lives, but this may lead to issues with gratitude and can really affect how they view others and the world around them. Without actually taking your children off the grid, there are some ways you can make sure that they learn to appreciate what they have in life and how to be humble, well-rounded people as they get older.

Be Their Role Model
Kids learn by mimicking. This means that they will learn to conduct themselves much in the same way that they see others around them do, and as a parent you are arguably your child’s biggest influence. In order to teach your children gratitude, you will need to actively practice showing gratitude yourself as well.

Be Sure to Thank Your Children
As a role model, you will need to actively show gratitude and be thankful for what you have as well as for what others do for you. When your child completes a task, does something nice without being prompted, or accomplishes something, make sure to thank them. Being on the receiving end of gratitude can help children to understand just how much this sort of sentiment really means to them and how much it must mean to other people as well.

Importance of Thank You

Do Some Teaching
As Americans, we are awarded many freedoms but it is more complex than it simply being the law. Teach your children about American history and those who fought for the freedoms we have today. There are many things that even adults take for granted that are not part of the realities other people around the world experience. It is important for kids to understand where their privileges come from and to be thankful for them instead of thinking that they are a given.

The Importance of “Thank You”
Many kids simply say ‘thank you’ because they are told to do so without really understanding why. Explaining what the sentiment means and how much weight it can really carry can help kids realize how integral showing thanks can be, whether it be in the form of a verbal “thank you”, a thank you note or even a gift.

Prompt You Kids to Give Back
Kids are more likely to follow through with something to the end if they have a part in coming up with the idea, just like how kids are more likely to try new foods if they have a hand in the meal prep. Ask your kids to do something nice for someone that might have a need that they can help with, or someone that cares for them, or has helped them in the past, and encourage them to do something nice for them.

Challenge Entitled Behavior the Moment it Happens
If your child expects something and is unhappy with being denied the thing they want, whether it be a treat, a toy or extra TV time, nip it in the bud as soon as you can. Ask your child what is really important. Ask them what it is they think they deserve and why. Making it a point of conversation can help children understand the true value of the things that they have as well as what the true value of their actions and beliefs are.

Learn to Love the Small Things

Gratitude is the greatest of virtues

Children can take certain things for granted because it is simply all they know. Point out little things that both you and your children should be thankful for and explain why. Your children may not realize just how valuable having clean water is and just how lucky they are to have it in order to survive. Having warm clothes and even amenities like kitchen appliances, toilets, heating, you name it! Remind your children that there are other kids out there who may not have any of these necessary things, let alone a toy to play with.

Teaching your child to be thankful and to show gratitude is not going to happen overnight, and it is not something you can teach with a single lesson. As a parent, you will have to make sure that you set a good example, too, so remember to be grateful as well.

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KD Novelties publisher of Personalized Children’s Books