Toddler

Helping Your Child Make Healthy Choices

lba-admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 15:29:39 +0000

Helping Your Child Make Healthy Choices

lba-admin Fri, 01/11/2019 - 10:29

Helping little ones make healthy choices in the kitchen can seem a little daunting but the rewards of a good diet are well worth it! Whether you are wrangling a picky eater or fighting a time crunch, try offering a few key nutrients and encouraging healthy choices along the way. After all, a balanced diet helps give your child(ren) the energy they need to learn and grow.

Consider this - a toddler only needs about 1,000 calories a day. This translates to 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetables in a serving and a piece of meat that would fit in the palm of their tiny hand. When you break it down like that, it doesn’t seem quite so difficult!

Here are some ways that you can encourage your toddler to make healthy food choices.

Get creative. Young children love new adventures and are fascinated with making things – especially in the kitchen. They want to do what you do, so invite them in to help when time allows. Cooking can help kids learn too! They can practice some basic math skills by counting eggs or explore their senses by rolling out dough or smelling the different spices as they sprinkle and shake. The experience of creating meals with you can help build their self-confidence and give them a sense of accomplishment. Believe it or not, they will be more willing to try new tastes when they are excited about what they made! Even very young kids don’t have to feel left out — give them empty pots and spoons so they can pretend to cook with you!

Make meals and snacks fun. Instilling in your child an appreciation for healthy eating doesn’t have to be a chore. Since shapes and colors are fun and interesting to little ones, enlist your toddler's help in choosing healthy toppings for a pizza or grating cheese on a casserole. Arrange veggies into works of art by using carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers to make faces on their plate. Make pancakes in the shape of your child’s initials or try this delicious bunny pancake. Cut sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters or try this adorable lion-shaped sandwich. Adding fun touches at mealtime is a simple way to help your child find joy in eating healthy.

Stop the food fights. Give your toddler a little autonomy and let them decide how much to eat - just don't use sweets as a bribe. Do your best to eat together as a family — at the table, not in front of the television. This is a great social experience as well so try not to rush. Slow down and enjoy some time together. Providing healthy options and making good choices yourself, is a great way to start! Plus, spending mealtime together and allowing them some control over their eating can help establish a healthy view of food and encourage making good choices as they grow.

How do you inspire your child to eat healthy?

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Healthy

Food

Toddler

Routines - Things to in the Morning vs. Things to do at Night

lba-admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 12:15:51 +0000

Routines - Things to in the Morning vs. Things to do at Night

lba-admin Wed, 09/26/2018 - 08:15

Do you have trouble getting your child dressed in the morning? What about having them brush their teeth before bed? Even simple tasks such as washing hands can seem like climbing Mt. Everest with children! There IS hope.

We are always teaching children routines - it is how they learn to tell time, gives them a sense of security and helps them develop self-discipline. When we keep to a daily routine, the day just flows better because the children know what to expect. They may not know what art project we will do today, but they know when it’s art time. The same concept applies at home - when you have the same routine each day, the process just flows.

With consistency, you will find your child is more cooperative and willing to do simple tasks. In time, these routines will become a habit to your child and you will experience less friction and frustration. Who wouldn’t want that?

It’s hard to establish and teach routines to your children when your day starts by mumbling "Have you seen my keys?" to your spouse. (Smile. Help is on the way.) Linked below are two checklists for you to use as your guide – ‘Things to do in the Morning’ and ‘Things to do at Night’.

As your little one completes each task on the chart, they can put an ‘X’ in the box for that day and you will start a new chart at the beginning of each week. As they complete each task, they will increase their ability to be independent and achieve set goals.

Establishing routines for preschoolers and toddlers that actually work may seem like a daunting task, but the results will be well worth it! We wish you easy mornings and care free evenings!

Click here to download the Things to do in the Morning checklist.

Click here to download the Things to do at Night checklist.

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routine

Toddler

Preschool

The Clothes Battle

lba-admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:34:03 +0000

The Clothes Battle

lba-admin Mon, 04/16/2018 - 10:34

“You’re not going out of the house dressed like that.”

“No, you can’t wear your swimsuit to school.”

Whether we’re addressing our school-age children or our preschoolers, the clothes battle can begin as soon as children are able to make choices. Even children as young as toddlers start to demonstrate self-expression and independence through the clothes and accessories they choose to wear. Much to our dismay, our little ones may insist on wearing their Spiderman costume for days at a time, or even demand to wear their new shoes to bed. School-aged children often opt for trendy and cool. And cool usually translates to expensive, name-brand sneakers, jeans, shirts and more. Some teens prefer attire that we consider grungy and ill fitting. Whatever the choice, it’s not always what we would chose for them.

Why are clothes so important? Clothes and appearance are the most demonstrative ways for children to express themselves to others. Clothing becomes increasingly important to children as they get older. Our children want to fit in, be cool and feel accepted by their peers. In retrospect, many of us may have made some poor clothing choices. Just take a look back at your old middle school and high school yearbooks. Clothing choice is also a safe way for children to express normal adolescent rebellion.

Does it matter what our children wear? The old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” doesn’t ring true when it comes to clothing in our society. Children are judged by their peers and other adults based on the way they dress. And to make the clothes battle even more complicated, what our children’s peers find cool is often what parents and other adults find inappropriate. Although it doesn’t seem fair, the way our kids look and dress is often how others judge our parenting skills. Do we care what others think? Do we care how our children look when they leave the house? Most of us are just glad to get out of the house on time. But when it comes to determining what’s appropriate clothing, there are lots of factors to consider: the age of our children, their destination, our budget and our personal preference. After all, we are the parents and we have the final say.

Having our children learn to dress themselves is a life skill they just can’t live without. Here are some things to consider:

Decide if it’s worth the battle. Do we really care if our young children go to school with one white sock and one black sock because they “did it all by themselves?” Does it matter if school-age children wear all black and spike up their hair? Ultimately, most of us have to conform to societal expectations of appropriate clothing in order to be successful, but most children are merely experimenting with self-expression, exerting independence and expressing normal rebellion.

Determine what is inappropriate. Clothing that does not protect your child against the weather and clothing that is revealing would probably be considered inappropriate by most of us. What’s too revealing? Do the twist, turn and lean over test. If your child’s undergarments show when they bend over or raise their hands up, their clothes may be too revealing.

Reserve the right to veto certain clothing. Even if you feel comfortable letting your child express themselves, let them know that you reserve the right to object to them wearing certain outfits.

Establish parent choice days. From the time your children are young, you can establish occasions when your child has to wear what you choose. These maybe holidays, religious services, special ceremonies or family gatherings.

Give your child choices. For infants and toddlers, the dressing part is not so much “the what” of clothing as “the how” of dressing. Kids just don’t want to get dressed sometimes and that’s especially true when it’s the morning and we’re in a rush. For young children who are reluctant to get dressed in the morning, dress them in comfortable sweat or short outfits, depending upon the season, for bed. In the morning, change the diaper, brush the hair and go.

For preschoolers, try selecting all of their clothes for the week ahead of time to avoid morning battles, or give your child two outfits to choose from when getting dressed. For especially independent dressers, remove any clothing that you’re not willing to let them to wear from their closet or make “I dressed myself today” stickers and let your child have at it. Then everyone will know that your child’s ensemble was a kid choice and not yours.

For school-age children, shop together. Let your child know your expectations before you get to the store. For example, say, “We’re not buying any belly shirts.” Give your child a clothing budget for each shopping trip and with your assistance, let them decide which clothing and shoes they want.

Usually the biggest problem with our children’s choice of clothes is our own parental embarrassment. Other adults expect us to have our children "properly" dressed, and if they aren't, they judge us as incompetent parents. But as long as a child is warm and dry, does it really matter if they’re wearing something unusual? As Barbara Coloroso said, "It's not life threatening and it's not morally threatening." Seems easy enough, but somehow a toddler in a Spiderman outfit seems much cuter when it’s not your kid.

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Clothes

Toddler

child care

Thanksgiving and Toddlers - What's a Parent to do?

lba-admin — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 18:40:24 +0000

Thanksgiving and Toddlers - What's a Parent to do?

lba-admin Tue, 11/21/2017 - 13:40

No parent likes to fight on Thanksgiving. Yet this year, millions of adults will venture into epic battles with their toddlers over eating their vegetables. The good news is: you don’t have to.

Unless your child is in the one percent, the vast majority of children hate eating vegetables. Somewhere deep in history, children started perceiving vegetables as “yucky”, when the reality is, the vast majority of adults would love to remind themselves of the regret they have for not eating more as a child.

Science can play a role in the eating of veggies. Did you know:

Babies are more likely to eat carrots, green beans, spinach or broccoli when they’ve tasted the vegetables mixed into milk or rice cereal for 12 days each.
Children aged three to five are more likely to eat bell peppers after watching a video of a child eating bell peppers.
Children aged three to five are more likely to choose vegetables over a granola bar when the veggies are packaged with cartoon character labels and they had to wait an extra five minutes for the granola bar.

Rather than having mounds of leftovers (you, too, will splurge on turkey and stuffing), here are six tips to help fill Thanksgiving with love instead of war:

Create an Incentive: The Thanksgiving table is full of delicious foods. Trade them one bite of biscuit for one bite of veggies. Trade them one bite of veggies for 15 minutes of TV or cell phone time. While you want to be careful to not tie an incentive to every bite, having fun with the plate of food can encourage better eating behaviors over time.

Create a “Try It” Game: By encouraging your child to just take one bite, you will eventually, over time, change their eating behaviors. Dieticians suggest it will take eight to 10 times before a food habit is changed. Why wait for a New Year’s resolution for your five-year-old? Encourage change now! Play a game to see who can eat the most bites of vegetables (which is especially beneficial if other children are present).

Don’t Force Them to Finish a Full Plate: Too much is too much. Set small goals for them in the beginning. There is true benefit in baby steps. Celebrate the winning of one-bite. Give them high fives and a heaping scoop of praise.

Play to Their Favorite Color: What is your child’s favorite color? When shopping for veggies for Thanksgiving, let them pick out veggies that match their favorite color. This will create collaboration around the experience. When you get home, let them participate in the prep and cooking of the food. And, in a worst-case scenario, use a vegetable dye to change the color of their food (especially for food color-friendly foods like cauliflower).

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon – Oh, and Butter: There isn’t much more that has to be said about this one. While not particularly the healthiest options for making food taste better, a little bacon or butter can add familiar flavors to their palates. Also, a good game of hide and go veggie is fun, too. Those rolls, that stuffing, that pie – adding fruits and vegetables (grounded up) can help distribute more good-for-you foods into the mix.

Children Love Patterns: At school, many learning exercises are created around patterns. Do the same with their plate. Have them create patterns of similar foods. Have them go around in a circle, taking one bite of each. Have them mess up their plate and organize again. A little food fun can help encourage exploration of new foods.

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Thanksgiving

Toddler

vegetables

Teaching Your Child Kindness & Love this Valentine's Day

lba-admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 18:37:59 +0000

Teaching Your Child Kindness & Love this Valentine's Day

lba-admin Mon, 02/13/2017 - 13:37

While we love to buy little chocolate hearts and toys for Valentine's Day for our children, why not make this Valentine's Day a little extra special? You can do this by teaching your preschool child kindness, compassion and love by helping and caring about others in your community.

Raising children who are kind and compassionate is an important goal as a parent. Every parent wants their child to grow up to be a kind, thoughtful and loving adult. The training can start now while your child is young by learning to help others and doing nice things for others in small simple ways.

Here are just a few ideas that you can do to help teach your child about kindness and love this Valentine's Day:

1. Draw or color a picture for a neighbor, friend, family member or teacher at your early learning center. Explain to your child that you care about them. It is sure to put a smile on their face when they receive their "kindness gift"!

2. Have your child pick out a few nonperishable food items to donate to your local food pantry. Show your child that you are helping others with their basic needs.

3. Have your child share a toy with a friend. Teach your child the importance of making others happy by being kind.

4. Make a special treat for the birds or animals. This is a fun and easy way to teach your child that kindness is important for all living creatures. It is easy enough to do with a pipe cleaner, ribbon and a few Cheerios. Form into a circle, string the cheerios around and hang on a tree with a ribbon.

These few simple ideas can make a big difference in lessons that will last a lifetime in the heart of your child. Happy Valentine's Day from Lightbridge Academy!

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Working Parent's Guide to Online Shopping this Holiday Season

lba-admin — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 16:11:19 +0000

Working Parent's Guide to Online Shopping this Holiday Season

lba-admin Mon, 11/21/2016 - 11:11

No busy mom or dad wants to take their cranky toddler or hungry infant holiday shopping. It just adds extra stress and makes for massive meltdowns in the store. The easy solution: online shopping. Whether you're a last minute gift shopper or the type who has been stocking away presents all summer, you will find a few tips below that will help save you some cash during this busy holiday season.

Start Now. Believe it or not, November has been reported to be the best month to start your holiday shopping! Thanksgiving Monday and Cyber Monday are some of the best days to find online discounts on clothes, toys and much more. So start your shopping and save BIG. Another tip: Sunday has been found to be the worst day to shop online so make sure you don't wait to the weekend to do all of your browsing.

Find & Apply Coupon Codes Automatically. Are you tired of searching for coupon codes and sales? Google has added a new feature as part of their Chrome browser called "Honey". This "wonder tool" finds discount codes, free shipping deals and promotions for online retailers and applies them before you "add to cart". Check out Google for more information.

Score Free Shipping. Now that you saved 20% on the hottest toy of the season, you need to get free shipping as well to make that deal even sweeter. Always check RetailMeNot, EBates, Freeshipping.org and the specific store's website for discount and free shipping deals. (Watch for minimum purchase requirements.) Tip: December 16 is Free Shipping Day for many online retailers!

Join A Loyalty Program. Most of us have our favorites stores and if you find yourself a regular shopper, it's a good idea to join their loyalty program. You can save lots of money by getting in on exclusive deals and discounts.

Find the Filler. To take advantage of Amazon's free shipping, you need to spend at least $35. If you're short, you can always check out www.filleritem.com or www.filleritemfinder.com to see what items you can add to your cart in order to make the minimum.

"Like" them on Social Media. You can get special deals and discounts on some retailer's web sites when you "like" their page on social media. This can translate into great savings for you by following Facebook or Instagram.

These are just a few simple ways to save some dough and still be super generous this holiday season. Happy Shopping!

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