A Back-to-School Checklist Kids Can Actually Help With
Make back-to-school routines easier with a simple checklist kids ages 5-8 can understand, practice, and help complete at home or in class.
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Child Profiles In Kids Apps: Why Personalization Can Make Content Feel More Age-Aware
Learn how KidNation profiles can help families create a more personal app experience for each child.
Music And Movement for Kids: How Sandwich Helps Start the Conversation
Use Sandwich from KidNation for a focused activity with kids ages 5-8.
After-School Meltdowns: How Calming Music for Kids Helps Children Reset
Help kids ages 5-8 reset after school with Calm Down, emotional vocabulary, and creative reflection on KidNation.
20 Best Summer Activities for Kids
Summer’s finally here, school is out and it’s time to have some serious fun! Get the sunscreen out, the shades on and put your brain on fun mode, because we have a list of the coolest summer activities for the family.
20 Best Summer Activities:
Groove Fest: Nothing beats dancing and singing to summertime beats. So, turn up the volume to this refreshing summertime song. Remember, it’s summertime and every day should feel real good!
Coloring: Coloring is a fun sensory activity for kids. You can have fun with crayons and coloring books or printables. Finish off each coloring activity with this color song for added learning around the different types of colors.
Arts and Crafts: DIY some simple and easy craft projects. Whether it’s making origami, painting, drawing or any other easy arts and crafts ideas, they keep the kiddos entertained. It’s also great fun for the entire family.
Organize a Scavenger Hunt: Hide different items with the goal of rewarding whoever finds them. You can use different physical items or this fun and free scavenger hunts printable.
Storytelling Activity: Allow them to imagine and narrate their own stories. You can also use story prompts, puppets or family pictures to help them with their story’s characters and dialogue. Here are 15 fun storytelling activities you can try with the kids.
Host a Bike Ride With Music: Have your kids decorate their bikes, helmets and knee pads. You can also invite the neighborhood kids to join in. Have them go round the neighborhood on their bikes. Pick a simple route with minimal traffic and have adults around for supervision.
Enjoy Nature: Have access to public parks, gardens, or live in a rural area with plenty of natural resources? You can get the kids to explore and engage with the natural world. From nature walks, bird watching to searching for wildlife, plants or colorful leaves, you and the kids can enjoy these simple and fun nature activities.
Outdoor Games: Get your kids to go out and play with friends in the neighborhood. You can also join in helping them choose from outdoor activities such as a game of catch, soccer, lawn games, double dutch and many others. But don’t forget the sunscreen!
Explore Local Sites: Summer is the perfect time to explore local sites around you. You can go with the kids to local diners, garage sales, historic sites, farmers’ markets, parks and many other fun local places around you.
Tie-Dye Projects: Getting the kids to engage in tie-dye projects is a fun way of keeping the kids busy and creative. Whether it’s an old white tee, bag, shoe or even tank, they make a perfect tie-dye material. For coloring, the kids can use markers, spray paints, or this complete tie-dye kit to create a tie- dye on any white item of your choice.
Plan Movie Nights: Plan an evening out for a kid-friendly movie night. You or the kids can choose the movie. Turn your living room or backyard into a theatre. Grab some snacks, get comfy and enjoy the movie!
Good ol’ Hide and Seek: You can do this pretty much anywhere – indoors or outdoors. The idea of the game is one person closes his or her eyes and counts to 10 while the others hide. After counting, he or she goes to find those hiding. This is a classic game that brings out the giggles.
Build Sandcastles: Got sand in your backyard? Cool! Simply dampen the sand with water and fill up a bucket. Flip it over and make your castle. If not, go to the beach and have fun in the sun!
Try Out Dice Games: Dice games are fun and versatile. Asides from being easily accessible and inexpensive, they are very educational. If you don’t have a dice at home, you can always make a paper dice. Check out this video for steps on how to make paper dice at home.
Playdough Fun: Get crafty with some playdough. Encourage them to make any item or shape that they like. It helps to keep kids creative and excited. This 10-pack case of color playdough is perfect for kids to have fun with.
Try Backyard Camping: Got a backyard? Perfect! Give your kids a nice and cozy camping experience right in your backyard! Time to pitch up a tent. You can also get out the grill or make a fire pit for some delicious BBQ.
Experiment Recipes: Pick out a few fun recipes with the kids. It could be as easy as grilled cheese or cooking your favourite family meal together. In addition to teaching them culinary skills, you’ll be building their self-confidence and healthy eating habits.
Organize Sleepovers: Sleepovers can be a blast for kids. Talk to parents of your child’s friends and invite them for a sleepover. Get the snacks ready and make the room cozy! Allow them to choose any fun activity of their choice. Sleepovers build confidence and friendship among kids.
Doodle Arts: Get kids to doodle their favorite characters or objects on a plain paper or cardboard. Let their imagination go crazy! Doodling builds imaginative and cognitive skills.
Go Stargazing: Set up a nighttime tent, borrow binoculars or telescopes and gaze into the sky. Lastly, grab a journal or book for noting celestial bodies. You can do this right in your backyard!
We hope you enjoy our list of summer activities. Keep the kids active and healthy, and remember to enjoy yourself during the summer too!
Friendship For Kids
As the world becomes more connected through social media, it is vital to nurture the physical connection of friendships. Friendship plays an important part in a child’s social development. We can help kids understand the value of friendship and show them ways they can build friendships.
Here are five fun ways to help kids begin connecting and building friendships:
Teaching the Value of Sharing
Whether it’s sharing toys or allowing friends to take turns in a conversation, it’s important to help kids understand the value in sharing. Teaching kids that sharing is far better than being alone is one step parents can take. Likewise, kids learn by example and we must constantly practice the act of sharing and caring through modeling.
Imaginary Play
Set up a make-believe scenario with your child’s favorite toy. The toy will serve as the imaginary “new” friend. Encourage your child to introduce him or herself to the toy and find out the toy’s name, favorite foods and colors, and games. Pretend play helps your child learn and what a real-life friendship is. Imaginary play also builds confidence and independence.
Extracurricular Social Activities
Get your child involved in extracurricular activities. Enroll them in sports, hobby groups or after-school activities. Extracurricular activities allow children to find friends who share similar interests. These activities can be a catalyst for building new connections.
Tap into creative learning
Puzzles, coloring activities, and even music can teach friendship building skills. Kids often learn faster by modeling actions they hear and see. Our super-catchy KidNation song, “Good Friends”, teaches kids the importance of ‘homies that keep it real’. Because, isn’t that what life is about?
The Compliment Game
The Compliment Game is a game you can play to boost your child’s social skills. You and your child take turns giving each other compliments. You can commend them on “a job well done” or remind them of how kind they acted towards their friends. Acknowledging the good actions of others and showing appreciation can help start meaningful conversations.
All in All
In short, parents influence the social development of their child. Encourage your child to speak with a classmate they may not know or compliment them. Meaningful friendships keep life vibrant and fulfill our need to connect.
New Year, New Us: Setting Resolutions As A Family
New Year’s resolutions often never make it past the first couple of months of the new year. But that doesn’t mean they are pointless. In fact, setting resolutions together as a family can have a great impact on your young ones. Here are a few ways to be most successful in helping your family reach their goals for 2022.
1. Let everyone know what your goal is
If everybody in the household knows what your goal is, then they are more likely to help you achieve it or remind you of it when you fall behind.
2. Write it down, and make a plan!
Try writing up everyone’s goal on a whiteboard or poster in the house, so the goal stays in sight and mind. Make sure every goal has a detailed plan, including baby steps.
3. Make resolutions that are achievable and realistic
Make sure everyone in the home is choosing a goal that they are capable of reaching. Usually a goal like “make 100,000 dollars” isn’t achievable for your 10-year-old. So if your child’s goal is hard to reach, have them scale back their goal.
4. Make resolutions that are specific and measurable
The best goals are ones that you can measure easily. For instance, a plan of reading more is okay, but a goal of reading for at least 3 hours every week is better because it is easier to track.
5. Allow your child to choose their own goal
Let your child choose their own goal to ensure they are motivated to accomplish it. By all means offer your support in terms of developing the plan, but let them ultimately choose what they are aiming for.
6. Share your progress as a family
Tell your family members any progress you’ve made towards your goal, and be honest about any setbacks you’ve experienced. Even if you don’t meet a goal, your honesty will make sure your children feel comfortable sharing their shortcomings. It also shows them that temporary failures do not mean you can’t start again.
7. Be the best goal-setting role model you can be
Because our kids learn more from watching us than listening to us, take on being the best goal-achiever and show them how to accomplish goals!
All in all sticking to these goals as a family will make your family unit stronger and also help make each of you a more successful individual. Happy New Year and happy goal-setting!
Internet Helps Kids? What The Marshmallow Test Revealed
We may need to rethink the concerns we have about today’s youth and the internet. When the Marshmallow Test of the 1960s was redone in the 2000s, researchers were shocked at the results. They found that modern children were able to wait on average 2 minutes longer than kids of the 60s. And they think the internet is the reason why.
Why is this important and what happened to modern children that helps them to wait longer?
Children who waited longer in previous studies correlated with better future outcomes because they could delay gratification. Some child development theorists believe that these new results prove a few things, the positive impact of technology being one of them.
Their theory is that technology has increased the brain power of today’s children. Technology helps to develop skills such as abstract thought and conceptual thinking. These same skills help with delaying gratification.
But how does the internet have this impact?
It seems that interacting with screens has actually had a positive impact on children, while most adults thought it would do the opposite. Because the presence of technology is increasing in both the home and the classroom, it is good to know that technology can actually help our children. This is also great news for busier parents, who may need a little extra help raising their kids. Screens can offer a healthy distraction to keep the kids busy.
So whats the takeaway about technology and our kids?
In conclusion, a healthy balance of online and offline time is still highly suggested. However these studies can help calm the concerns of parents who are afraid of their kids online presence. Nevertheless, it is important to consider what types of sites and applications your children have access to. With some parental guidance and time limitations, the future of children and technology is brighter than we imagined
Reading Together Matters
Reading has almost fallen out of style. Because of entertainment streaming services like Hulu or Netflix, more kids open up screens than books. However, the benefits of opening up a book will never disappear. That is why child development theorists call it one of the most significant activities for your child’s future success.
Reading is necessary for your child’s development
Parents know that a huge part of a baby’s development happens in the first 5 years of their life, but this doesn’t end at age 5. Whether your kid is 2 or 11, reading increases literacy and comprehension skills. It also adds to the number of words in their vocabulary. It can even strengthen their social skills. Not to mention doing the activity together helps to build bonds within the family!
Get creative!
There are ways to make reading as a family fun and engaging. Try creating special “book nooks” around the house specifically for opening up books. You can also have your kids come up with their own endings to their favorite stories to test their creative skills and imagination. You can even add family karaoke nights to your week, turning reading into a fun and musical event. The possibilities of reading together are endless, as are the benefits for your child’s learning.
Black History Month: How To Explain It To Your Little Ones
Black History Month is here! But what exactly is this month and how do you explain it to your kids? Thanks to Carter G. Woodson Black History Month is a time to recognize and celebrate African-American people. We put together a few tips for you to keep in mind while teaching your young ones about the importance of this month.
Start with the idea of fairness
All children understand the idea of unfairness, which makes it a great place to start when explaining the difficult parts of history. You can explain how African-Americans were treated unfairly for hundreds of years and fought for over a century to be treated like everyone else. As your children get older, you can explain to them the history in more detail.
Talk about the positives!
Remember–Black History is more than just hardship! Talk about the amazing contributions they have made to society as a whole. A great place to start is to teach your kids about the impact of Black music, Black scientists and inventors, activists, and any other important cultural contributions. There are a ton!
Don’t forget to mention the present
Remind your kids that the fight is not yet over and that inequality still exists. History is still being made every day, and by learning about Black History they are contributing to the fight for freedom and equality for all!
It’s never too young to teach your kid to celebrate differences and to have respect for different backgrounds. And it’s also never too late to teach yourself more. After all, Black History is American History and is something we should all know and appreciate.
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