Disney Personalized Books

Posted on | by KD Novelties

The upcoming holidays are on everyone’s minds – especially children. When it comes to holiday magic, there is nothing that compliments the season better than the magic of Disney. Disney films are always instant classics, and for many families are the stories that parents pass down to their kids for generations. The films are always fun to watch, and we have a series of personalized Disney books that can place your kids right in the center of the story!

With personalized Disney books, your kids can go on daring adventures alongside their favorite characters. With popular titles like Frozen, kids can join Anna as she embarks on a quest to find her sister Elsa before Prince Hans finds her first in a race to save the kingdom. They can even join in on the fun in Disney and Pixar’s latest Finding Dory as they help reunite Dory with her loved ones. On these adventures, kids take part in all of the action and all of the fun, so they can feel like a part of the story as well. With the personalized Aladdin adventure, Aladdin and Jasmine ask your child to accompany them on an adventure to find the Genie who has gone missing. The story brings them around the world where they’ll look for clues and try to solve the mystery, so not only will they join their favorite characters and become a hero of the story, but they’ll also be encouraged to be brave and engage their critical thinking skills at the same time.

Personalized books have proven to help enthusiastic and reluctant readers alike by making your child feel special, by inspiring their interest in the act of reading, discovering and learning, and by engaging positive skills and modes of thinking. With these personalized Disney adventures, your kids can live out their fantasies while learning at the same time – and creating a memorable experience, too.

We have over 25 Disney adventures for your kids to embark on, including Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, The Avengers, Star Wars, and much more.

How to Get Kids to Listen Without Nagging, Yelling or Reminding

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Getting children to listen can be incredibly difficult, and there has to be a better way than by screaming yourself hoarse, right? Children can be frustrating, especially if they are doing something they are not supposed to, acting out, or simply just not listening. There are many ways in which parents and guardians can approach getting a kid’s attention that are effective as well as healthy on a number of levels, not to mention a lot more stress-free.

For the most part, children may not actively be ignoring you, so taking a different approach to communicating with them can prove to be more effective than you think.

A Simple Reminder
If your child forgets to do something, it’s normal. They are still young and still learning. They may not be actively defying you or their chores – they may have simply forgotten. Instead of sitting them down for a lecture after a forgotten or overlooked chore or command, you can instead remind them simply. Kids actively forget, which is not unusual considering their brains are working at maximum capacity as they learn and take in the world around them with overly active imaginations. The moment you realize your child has forgotten something, see if a simple reminder will get them going – chances are, they simply just forgot what you asked them to do for you earlier.

Empower Their Ability to Think for Themselves
Kids may not always do or act as they are told, but in general kids tend to be fidgety and do things without thinking of them beforehand or without thinking them through. Instead of purely condemning this natural behavior with commands like “Sit still,” or “Mind your manners,” offer them information that is more useful to them. Reminding them that “chairs are meant for sitting,” or that certain behaviors may be seen as rude to others in a calm and informative manner, can allow them to come to the conclusion on their own that they need to change their behavior to suit the situation. Simply telling a child to do something may not always work, and in such instances telling them why they should do something instead of just to do it, can help them listen and come to a state of truer understanding more effectively.

Give Them a Choice
Instead of offering up an ultimatum for not listening, offer kids a choice in a persuasive and negotiable manner. If they won’t sit in their stroller or do as they are asked, let them know what the consequences are, but not in an “if, then” format. “If, then” statements can be helpful but they can also be threatening, and some kids may react adversely to that by acting out even more or throwing a tantrum. According to How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, “threats and punishment don’t work,” Faber explains, “Rather than feeling sorry for not cooperating, a child tends to become even more stubborn. But when you make him part of the decision, he’s far more likely to do what’s acceptable to you.”

Explain Yourself and Your Expectations
Sometimes, kids may not realize why you ask them to do things, or how their compliance can help you get things done as well. Many parents struggle with these kinds of issues when it comes to getting ready for work and school in the morning. Trying to get everyone ready and out the door in time can leave you scrambling, so a non-cooperative child can certainly throw a wrench into the mix. Instead of yelling or just getting frustrated, explain why their behavior is unhelpful to you as well as them, “I need to get to work on time, but if you don’t get dressed you’ll be late for school, too.” The same goes for other kinds of behavior as well. Explaining what your expectations are beforehand can help significantly, whether you’re getting ready for the day or explaining how you want them to clean up after themselves or get their chores done.

Acknowledge their Feelings
Sometimes kids are inconsolable because they haven’t gotten their turn, they want to play with something, or they otherwise think something is unfair. Telling a child to calm down or ignore what is upsetting them can only make them even more distraught. But not only that, everyone wants to be heard and understood. Stating that you understand how your child feels can tell them that you care about them while also telling them to calm down and relax. “Everyone wants to know they’ve been heard and understood,” says Adele Faber. Telling a child to stop crying sends the message that their feelings don’t matter. Kids often cry or act out because they can’t communicate why they’re upset or don’t know how to deal with the emotion that they are feeling.  However,  if you empathize with them and their situation, you can get through to them while also providing them with better tools to handle their emotions and feelings as well.

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Life Essential Skills Kids Should Know

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Kids need to learn a great many things before they become independent, autonomous adults, however, parents tend to underestimate just how much their child can do at their age.  It’s important that kids eventually learn how to take care of themselves. There are several ways in which parents can help instill helpful skills while also allowing their child to learn about responsibility and self-reliance at the same time.

Making a Meal
Kids are usually the ones waiting around for dinner to be ready, and chances are you’re the one who packs their school lunch every day. It helps to involve kids in cooking for a variety of reasons, including introducing kids to different, unfamiliar foods and encouraging them to eat healthier, too – but have you thought of letting your kids cook, for a change?

Kids shouldn’t be using kitchen tools they’re not old enough or experienced enough to use yet, but it can be extremely valuable to teach your child how to make a simple meal for themselves, or even a few. Cooking and preparing food is a life essential skill to have. Teaching your child how they can feed themselves not only helps them feel more grown up, but it can help in an emergency. If you’re sick, or unable to make food, or even if you are simply busy, knowing that your child has knowledge of simple food prep can go a long way.

You can teach kids age appropriate meals as they get older, and who knows, you may even inspire a young chef!

Doing the Laundry
It’s surprising just how many kids in high school, or even college, do not know how to wash and care for their clothing. Doing the laundry can help teach kids how to be responsible for their own things, how to care for different fabrics (which can be applied to a variety of other domestic situations as well), plus it can help take a load off your back, too! If your child knows how to do their own laundry, you can include it in their weekly list of chores or rotate responsibilities when needed.

Shop Savvy
Many parents give their kids some kind of allowance. Giving children money for completing chores or doing well in school is one thing, but it also helps to teach them smart habits about spending (and saving!) that money as well. Teach kids about comparison shopping and looking for good or better deals, teach them about couponing and research, and give them a few tips about creating a budget, too – especially if they’re looking to save up for something special but find themselves tempted by wanting to buy other things in the interim. These are great skills for children to have before they get jobs or go live off on their own, like college living or their first apartment.

Writing a Letter
Writing letters may seem antiquated now, but it’s important for them to know how to construct a proper letter of acknowledgement, like a thank you letter for a gift from a relative.  Writing can help to teach a child to properly conduct their thoughts and ideas into a formal letter. Children will certainly need to compose essays for school and college acceptance, and or need to write cover letters for jobs when they are older; therefore letter-writing skills are definitely handier than most people think.

Staying Safe
It’s especially important that kids are aware of what to do in an emergency. You never know when they will be in a situation where they cannot get to you, are alone, or you are incapacitated. Make sure that your child knows your basic information and whom they can trust to tell it to. Teach them about calling for help and how to articulate themselves as well as the potential situations they may need help for. It’s also vital that families discuss emergency protocols such as what to do in the event of a fire or any other kind of disaster. This may be a difficult subject to discuss with your children, and parents may be afraid of scaring their kids, but these are important things to talk over and make sure they understand thoroughly, for their own sake as well as your own.

KD Novelties is a publisher of personalized children’s books and provides reading tips and resources for parents.