Monday 26 October 2009

Outdoor Play - Is Your Child a Couch Potato? Tips and Strategies For Getting Your Children Outdoors

Have you noticed a change in the amount of time your children are involved in outdoor play compared to when you were a child? For most of us the answer is yes, mainly due to the advancement of all things electronic that require a power point to connect into. But it doesn't have to be that way. If your child is a couch potato then here are a few suggestions for getting them away from the television and outside again.

It is a good idea to make outdoor play time a regular part of your child's daily routine. Have them go outside for a minimum half an hour as soon as they get home from school. Let them know that the Play Station and Xbox will be available to them only after they have had their outdoor play time. If you are consistent and disciplined with this rule your children will adapt quickly.

Of course outdoor play by yourself is not much fun. If your child doesn't have siblings then encourage friends to come over. But don't forget that Moms and Dads make great playmates too. Think of it as part of your daily fitness regime. Not only will you benefit healthwise, you will also be making time to talk to and be with your child on a regular basis. Teach them how to play some of the games that you grew up playing. Trust me when I say your child will love you for it.

Having equipment to play with in the backyard will help encourage children outdoors but doesn't need to be expensive either. For pre-schoolers a sandpit will keep them occupied for hours. Older children enjoy ball games, bikes, skipping ropes and hopscotch. If you have the room, a trampoline, swing set or basketball hoop are great entertainers. There are also games like hide-and-seek that require no equipment, just imagination.

We all know that outdoor play is important for a child's development both physically and emotionally but it won't happen unless we are willing to make some changes. Let's make it a priority to get our children enjoying the fresh air again and we will all reap the benefits.

Janeene is a mother and web publisher with a family focus. Check out her latest websites about swing sets for kids and masks for halloween for information on keeping your kids entertained.

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Child Development Made Simple

As a parent we all want what is best for our children and as a result we find ways to best equip them with the skills they need to succeed in life.

To help achieve this there are a number if topics that we, as parents, need to understand, these being


Our role as a Parent
Understanding Your Child's Development
The importance of play in child development
Temperament and Your Child
Developing Self-Esteem
Essential Parenting Skills
Emotionally preparing your child
Chill out time for Parents

to name but a few topics. Hopefully these will get you to start to think how you can help your child develop.

Regardless of your child's age, all parents want to help their children to reach developmental milestones. Whether it be fine or gross motor skills or speech and language development, there are several activities and ways a parent can encourage their child's development.

Child development begins at an early stage as babies, where they simply act as human sponges soaking up everything around them and providing them with the right stimulus can get them off to a great start. As they progress into toddlers and become more independent, choosing the right play will help motor development, eye-hand coordination and vision, cognitive skills, hearing / listening / vocal senses, social / emotional development and potentially unlocking their creative / imaginative skills. Better start putting the paint and crayons away!

As they get older, teaching them how to recognize what they want and how to set goals to achieve what they want is one of the most valuable lesson you can give them to become successful in life.

Like myself and many other parents, after years of parenting, we find ourselves reflecting back over time, wishing "If I could do it over again I would do a better job". If we could only had the experience and wisdom earlier, then perhaps we could have given our children better start. Could I have done this or shown them that, then perhaps they could have ended up being stronger and better persons? Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing ?

Thanks to the Internet, information for parents is now more readily available making child development simple or at least less daunting. That information covers personal experiences, good and bad, successes and mistakes and all the stages of child development, from birth, toddlers, teens and through to adulthood. As this information is often widely spread on different web sites all over the Internet and other resources such as books, articles and other 'tools', this often takes a great deal of time and effort to locate and often patience is the key to finding the right resource for your needs. From personal experience, it would have been nice to have a one stop information site that brought together all the information and resources in a single useful location.

For this article I have set two goals. Firstly, to get you to think about what you can do to help your child develop and secondly to guide you to those resources and products that will help to achieve your goal. Being a successful parent doesn't mean having to win awards, it simply means doing the best you can for your child, with the best resources. I hope that by reading this article you are taking steps in the right direction.

About The Author:

Michael J Gettings is an IT worker, who is combining a long time interest in Internet Marketing with information sharing, gained through personal experience and other resources. Visit the first of these information / resource sharing sites at and share your experiences.

Child Development Made Simple

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Child Development Problems and How to Solve Them Naturally

Child development problems can vary from growth (too much, too little), to growing pains, to slow or too rapid milestones, and everything in between.

Here, I want to focus of a tissue salt which can help most children.

It's a tough time for kids. Growing puts huge demands on their bodies. Good nutrition is essential to a child's development, and this is rarely addressed adequately. The western diet at best is misinformed and at worst is downright disastrous.

So most children will suffer in their development, in some way or another.

There are twelve tissue salts which address the lack of minerals found in the body. The one most needed by growing children is called Calc phos. It is available in a 6x potency (strength) and should be taken at least twice a day, indefinitely, during the growth period.

Below are some of the symptoms a child may exhibit when needing Calc phos:


pale
very sensitive to the cold
suffer with headaches
oversensitivity to light
get lots of colds
have a poor appetite, and poor food absorption
craves salty or smoked food
delayed dentition and/or complaints during dentition

However, it isn't necessary to have any of these symptoms for Calc phos to make a big impact on your child development challenges. Why? Because calcium is needed in large amounts for bone growth and Calc phos is one of the best ways of addressing this imbalance.

But, apart from the development issues, you should notice an improvement in other areas, too.

However, there is nothing to beat good nutrition. This consists of real fresh food (rather than canned, packet, processed, sugar, preservatives, fast), especially lots of raw fruit and vegetables.

Dairy is not a good food for children. It does nothing for their calcium absorption. Green leafy vegetables have far more absorbable calcium.

Exposure to the sun, without any sunblock, is also essential to growing children. Rickets is making a comeback, with kids being kept away from the sun. Yet the sun is essential for healthy bone growth.

And exercise is another essential area for healthy child development. Exercise helps bones grow properly.

To combine exercise, exposure to the sun, fresh air, as well as stimulation, outdoor games, cycling and swimming come up top of the list.

Written by Madeleine Innocent

If you liked this article, then I invite you to my download my free report on how to naturally treat some common ailments at home. You can also receive my free, weekly ezine on how to improve your health and that of your family, including pets, naturally.

http://www.twolegsandfour.com.au

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Experts on Child Rearing - Should You Listen to Them

Listen to experts? NO! Not if you are about to use them as a step-by-step methodology for raising your child.

Now a disclaimer: I am a child development "expert." Starting out as an Early Childhood Education major, on to being a Kindergarten teacher; through to a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and life as a professor, text book author and parent - I live and breathe child psychology. Yes, I am one of those experts.

So why then do I ask if you should listen to child rearing experts and answer NO? In short - because your child is your child and not my child.

I didn't want anyone telling me how to raise my son and I wouldn't think of telling you how to raise your child. But there are ways an expert can be helpful. What an expert can do is suggest ideas, raise questions, and mention what research shows about children, parents and the interactions between them.

Parenting skills require thinking:

= thinking about the child and its development

= thinking about yourself and your development

= thinking about the interaction between the two of you

That's the simplistic part. Add in a spouse, other children, pets and life and - oops - you get a much more complicated scenario. A scenario most idiosyncratic to you and your home - nothing the expert experiences on a daily basis - if at all.

In fact, even within your home each being lives in a "different" scenario, as what constitutes "self" is different for each one of you - and "self" will differ from time to time even for an individual. So how you interact with your children, to my way of thinking, can and will change depending on many factors.

Only you, the parent, is an expert in raising your child. What the rest of us experts can do is offer information and advice...not step-by-step "rules."

And now I would like to invite you to claim your Free 30 minute consultation on parenting201 when you visit http://parenting201.org.

From Lynn Dorman, Ph.D. - The Parenting Guru and "scanner" at Gray Wolf Productions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Dorman,_Ph.D.

How to Potty Train Toward Independence

The actual time that you will want to start baby potty training toward independent use of a toilet must be based on the communication you have formed between yourself and your child. You will begin to see signs that will indicate that he or she may be prepared to start learning independent elimination techniques.

Though you may be anxious to get rid of the diapers, it is important to understand that your child simply will not be toiled trained until he or she is ready and you cannot force your child to reach that point. In fact, being too pushy about baby potty training before your baby is ready for the process can actually make the effort a much longer and arduous one. Instead of filling your time with frustration, headaches, and tears, work with your child's natural development to determine the time to begin.

Typically speaking, most children will start to communicate their ability to eliminate independently in around the age of 2 to 2 ½ years. Girls are usually prepared to start before boys will be. Equally, boys will often learn urinary control long before they establish bowel control.

The signs your toddler may show to indicate that he or she may be ready to begin independent elimination include:

Understanding basic terminology that you will use to communicate instructions, intentions, and other messages about elimination. These terms include things such as "dry", "wet", "potty" or "toilet", "poop", "pee", and other similar words.

Your child has started to talk about wanting to use the toilet and is aware of the times when he or she will need to go.

He or she is capable of letting you know when his or her diaper has been soiled.

Your child is capable of understanding the link between dry pants and using the toilet.

Your child's bowel movements are occurring within approximately the same times each day.

Your child wakes up dry after sleeping and can remain dry for a few hours at a time.

Of course, these are only initial indicators that the time for baby potty training may be approaching. There are other elements to independence that will also be very useful when the time comes for your child to eliminate all alone. For one thing, he or she should be able to understand concepts such as readiness to eliminate, and phrases that you will use to communicate such as "let's go to the bathroom". Other indicators you can look for in your child can include:


Imitating the actions of other family members
Asking questions about using the toilet, perhaps after watching it being used̢۬
The desire to do things for him or herself
He or she enjoys the process of washing hands
He or she is able to pull down and pull up his or her own pants
Your child has a desire to do things that will please you

Children going through toddlerhood will almost inevitably go through a stage where they will refuse to cooperate, no matter what is requested of them. It is often best to wait until this phase has passed before beginning baby potty training, as you will want him or her to be willing to obey certain basic commands and listen when you speak.

Of course, these are only the indicators that your child is giving you to say that he or she is ready to begin. There are, of course, many things that you can do to help with the process along the way, too. Remember, baby potty training is a team effort between you and your child.

Learn how to potty train in greater detail step by step and at no cost to you.

http://www.bestpottytrainingpants.com

Discover that potty training need not only start at 18 month. It could start as early as 1 month, and this article will show you how this is possible.

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Youth Fitness - How to Introduce Your Child to Physical Activity and Accelerate Their Development

There are some general rules when introducing fitness into a child's life, and there is also a lot of misinformation.

For instance, the whole "weightlifting can damage growth plates" idea that is now "common knowledge" is very, very misleading. In fact, it is inaccurate. That myth is based on a Japanese study in the 1940's that used children working in a dirty mine as their sample! Yes, too much weightlifting can cause damage, but under professional supervision, strength training can be a safer environment than competitive sports.

Exercise at a young age, including strength training, is a vital part of a child's physical, emotional, and mental development. (Suggest reading "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain", which talks about how exercise aids brain development and learning by creating new neurons in the brain. This is revolutionary information that will radically transform our school system, hopefully sooner than later.)

In general, it is best to introduce physical activity in a non-competitive setting first; this decreases the risk of injury and will prevent children who are not "good" at sports from getting turned off to physical activity in general. It also provides more control over the environment, ensuring a positive first experience with organized physical activity. Unfortunately, many schools present their children only two options: sports or inactivity. Fitness can teach them to compete with themselves, create and achieve goals, and self-empowerment, while building self-esteem. When a child is bad at a sport or sports in general, competitive sports lowers self-esteem. Fitness is a great alternative.

Weightlifting can be a very valuable tool to introduce to children even before sports, contrary to popular belief, because under the correct supervision, the child can practice controlling weights that are well within their skill and strength level, instead of pushing their limits in a competitive setting. That controlled environment is safer then sports and can then decrease the risk of injury when they enter that competitive environment.

Most research indicates that 5 years old is an appropriate age for MOST children to begin some type of exercise. Again, under expert supervision, they can start as early as 3 years old with certain basic activities. Issues with damaging a child's body are decreased greatly with the concept of micro-progression, in which the child starts with very easy "control exercises" and very slowly progresses from there. Isometrics, exercises where you hold a position instead of moving, are excellent for building strength and control while greatly reducing risk. From a physiological perspective, where the force comes from (weights, water, a ball or sport, their own body etc) is irrelevant in and of itself; properly prescribing and then progressing forces slowly is the key to successful adaptation.

There are many ways in which exercise and sports can teach teamwork and emotional development. Partner dancing has been taught in some school systems to utilize exercise for social development of pre-teens; while dancing, new neurons are created, which are then utilized for navigating a socially challenging situation (dancing with a partner of the opposite sex. EWWW!).

Unfortunately, the government, the media, and popular culture dismiss fitness and physical activity for young students as a luxury; nothing could be further from the truth. Physical fitness is a sure way to help your child grow socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually, all while teaching them how to overcome challenges, work together, and achieve goals. Exercise is a tremendous vehicle for self-empowerment and self-mastery, and is an essential element of education that should be brought back to the foreground of our national conscience.

Let me know your thoughts, and for more information, check out http://www.getdynamicresults.com

Until next time, train smart.

Jonathan Angelilli aka Johnny Fitness has worked as a full time trainer for over 8 years, has completed 8 certifications, trains several celebrities, and is currently the Training Director of Dynamic Results, an upscale fitness and lifestyle company in NYC. He has directly coached, managed, and mentored over 100 personal trainers in the last 5 years alone, and owns a highly successful consulting company for personal trainers.

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Mental Development in Your Child - How You Can Increase It

Trying to teach your child enough to give them a head start when they begin school can be a daunting and stressful task. Either you are not sure what you should be teaching your child or you are not sure how you should be teaching your child. With this system though, teaching and training your child to learn can be both fun and rewarding without the stress involved.

This program was originally started to help accelerate mental development in children It can be used successfully with babies, pre-schoolers and children with brain injuries or learning disabilities. Children at these ages are eager to learn, they have a hunger for it. The incredible amount of learning and retention of information that they take in will never be as great at any other time in their lives. You can teach them to read words, phrases and stories. They can also learn encyclopedic knowledge and learn to do simple and complex math equations. Even if your child is not born a genius they can become one.

With the Genius Maker program you can multiply your child's intelligence and guarantee your child's academic success in life. Instill a life long passion for learning in your child and help them create confidence in their abilities to learn whatever they set their mind to. The program utilizes frequent yet very short lessons because kids get bored fast. This can be made part of play time and it will help you bond with your child. Guarantee your child's success; give them a head start in life.

Imagine your child raising his hand excitedly in school always with the answers? Think about him not struggling with his homework, and loving school. Now think of him proudly headed to college with this same confidence. Your child needs a head start in life, it is not to early to start teaching them! I know you want them to have this head start, this is how.

Money well spent for your child's future!

http://teachyourbaby2.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lori_Doucett