In today’s high tech world, it’s easy to keep kids entertained—but keeping them engaged in learning can be much tougher. Instead of banning computer games in favor of traditionally educational activities, blend the two worlds by giving your kids stimulating and enjoyable edutainment options they will love. The options for educational games are endless, and you’re sure to find something that both you and your kids will enjoy.

Tile games encourage your child to combine strategy and skill. A traditionally Asian game, Mahjong tiles can be used to play matching games or solitaire. Traditional dominoes also give your child hours of edutainment fun. In addition to playing the domino game, your kid can stand the domino tiles on end to create simple or elaborate rows. Use tiles for hours of fun and learning.

Memory games enhance your child’s visual perception while increasing his or her mental ability. Find memory games online or purchase one of many available board game options. Multiple skill levels helps young children learn shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet while more detailed cards challenge the memory skills of older children. Your kids can play Memory games by themselves or with a group of friends for added edutainment value.

Puzzle games like Bejeweled Blitz can test your child’s ability to concentrate. Working against a timer, your child must match three balls in a row from multiple rows of colored balls. Matched triplicates disappear from the scene and cause higher rows of balls to fall. Over time, your child learns to strategize and think several moves ahead in order to earn higher scores.

Crossword puzzles and word finds can give your kids spelling and vocabulary practice. Instead of drilling them verbally each week, give them a game that incorporates their school lessons, makes learning fun and allows them to learn while they play.

When evaluating edutainment options, choose games with kid-friendly features. The games should include simple instructions your kid can understand and colorful graphics that capture their attention. The rules should be fair and easy to follow. Choose games that match your child’s age and skill level in order to prevent frustration or boredom. Get the most value for your money and create learning opportunities when you select games that fit your child’s skill level and interests.

Edutainment games for your kids can help make after-school hours, weekends, car rides and summer vacations a learning experience without subjecting them to the rigors of the traditional classroom. By playing age-appropriate games, your child can gain an education without realizing they’re learning—and that’s a plus for both you and your child.

Along with her love for kids, Kristine also likes to write poetry and hang out with her pets.

At Christmas time, the kids are home from school and you need to help entertain them. Here are some simple, kid friendly crafts that you can do with your kids without a lot of time or money invested.

Cardboard Candle Sticks

A great idea for a Christmas craft is one that you serve a purpose on Christmas day. The kids can help you create these cute candles that can then be used to decorate the table. You can use a lot of materials that you have around the house so this is a great way to recycle some of the items that you have hanging around your house.

Christmas Dinner Place Markers

If you are having many people over for dinner, here is a cute idea to make name tags for everyone who is going to be coming over. Kids always want to be involved somehow and this is a great idea. Even if people end up moving their name tags around to a different spot, the kids can feel great about creating something so cute and your guests likely will exclaim and want to take these home.

Wrapping Paper Chains And Baubles

When you are decorating the Christmas tree, the kids may want to help decorate it with homemade crafts. But in order to keep your tree from looking like a hodge podge, you may want to have them help make some Christmas tree balls. All you need is some wrapping paper in colours that match your tree decorations and you are ready to get started.

Coffee Filter Angel

Chances are someone in your household drinks coffee and that you have paper filters hanging around the house. You can make a pretty angel by using some of these filters and making an angel with them. Add embellishments to give her more character and personality.

Pincone Trees

Depending on where you live, if you go outside and go for a walk, you will find pinecones just lying around. If you have any craft supplies lying around, you can pull those out, decorate the pinecones and you have little mini Christmas trees that the kids can keep in their rooms or hang them on the tree.

Nearly every piece of parenting advice or women’s magazine champions the benefits of children coupled with gardening. The pressure can sometimes seem overwhelming for parents that have children who show absolutely no interest in growing their own, and would rather be playing with friends. However there are some tricks that can be used to encourage children into the garden and to start a lifelong passion that may just become part of their everyday lives.

1) Start Inside
Growing anything inside is much easier for children especially if they are given the responsibility of a plant on their bedroom window sill. Pick hardy plug plants that don’t mind going without water for a few days, and striking ones that will encourage questions. A Venus fly trap is always a good idea as they see the garden come to life and can treat it like a pet. Any carnivorous plant will do.

2) Make it Instant
Children are impatient by nature so choosing plants that grow quickly will help. Cress is great, as are salad leaves and bedding plants in the summer. Beetroot takes only four weeks from the time of sowing, whereas sunflowers seem to grow before their very eyes.

3) Involve a Pet
If you have a dog, fish, a cat or even a pet mouse, they can be included in the growing process. Grow grass for the dog to play on, catnip for the cat to rub against, corn for a mousey treat or even pond plants for the fish. By introducing the family pet into the equation the child will already have some invested interest and will be more willing.

4) Pick a Favourite Family Member
Growing a plant for a favourite grandma can be much more rewarding for children than growing for the sake of it. Better yet, grow vegetables to give to grandma to cook for a family roast. Have a little chat with family members about the project and have them drop hints as to how much they like broad beans or peas straight from the garden. These are easy to grow and the child will place a lot of pride in the task if they think they can do this all on their own.

5) Use the Garden Play Equipment
If the child has a tree house a Wendy house or a swing set, then bring this into the growing process. Let the child browse through garden catalogues full of climbers, and let them choose what plants they’d like to see growing up their favourite play equipment. This will make the children feel as if they are decorating their own house rather than just helping with mum and dads.

Final Note:
Be prepared to help behind the scenes at first. A child may become disinterested if faced with mountains of weeding and daily watering. A little extra help will go a long way and nothing can replace the look of pure pride they emit when the final result is produced.

This was a guest post from Martina Mercer on behalf on Lavenderworld.co.uk. Lavenderworld provides a wide range of plug plants for the garden and a growing selection of beauty products.

English muffins are traditionally one of those items you buy at the store without a second thought. While they’re ideal for breakfast, you can also use them for brunch or lunch sandwiches and as small pizza crusts to pacify picky kids. There’s no doubt that they’re one of the more delicious bread options around when toasted and topped with jam or cheese, but would you believe that they’re 10 times tastier if you make them yourself?

It’s true!

Although yeast is involved, which means there’s some waiting, even the most amateur of bread bakers can come up with a piping hot batch of fantastic English muffins.

My personal favorite recipe comes from King Arthur Flour, the famed Vermont baking company, but my version is a tad healthier because it uses nonfat milk and incorporates some whole-wheat flour.

Ingredients (for eight muffins)
1 c. skim milk
1 1/2 T. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar
1 small egg
1 1/4 c. unbleached bread flour
3/4 c. white whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. rapid-rise yeast
1/4 c. coarse, whole-grain cornmeal

What You Do
1. Warm the milk in a saucepan on the stovetop until it is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. You want it warm to the touch but not hot or bubbling.
2. Pour the warm milk and all of the remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Mix everything until it forms a soft, smooth dough.
3. Knead the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes or a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for about five to six minutes. You can also use a bread machine to do the kneading.
4. Cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it has nearly doubled in bulk.
5. Take the dough out of the bowl and sprinkle your flat work surface with cornmeal. Roll the dough out to 1/2″ thickness.
6. Flour a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter and cut out portions of dough as close to one another as possible. When you’re left with scraps, use them to make irregularly shaped muffins or roll them up and cut them again.
7. Place a damp cloth over the cut muffins, and let them rise for 20 minutes in a warm place.
8. Get your griddle started. Warm it on low heat (low means low! It’s important for these!) and sprinkle it liberally with cornmeal.
9. Place the puffy muffins on the griddle. Cook them on one side for four to seven minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for an additional three to five minutes. The muffins should be golden brown on both sides.
10. Take the finished muffins off the griddle and let them cool unless you can’t stand it and need to tear into one immediately.

These are divine with jam. I used my new alpaca cookie cutter to make them. Alpaca muffins!

Enjoy!

This post was contributed by Carly Schuna, who occasionally writes about kids costumes at StarCostumes.com.

About a week and a half ago, I had the privilege of sharing with you my  Texas Style BBQ Beef and Shrimp Sandwich  which will be featured as a part of Kraft Food’s Sandwich Road Trip across America.   With that in mind, I also asked you “ my readers” to share with us your favorite sandwich for a chance to win a $100 Amex Gift Card.  the response was great and I had a great time browsing through all of the amazing entries.  The flip side of that was I then faced with the challenge of choosing only one winner.  It was a tough call but the jury is out!

The winning recipe was the Texas Chicken Fried Steak submitted by Shannon Stillwell.  Congratulations Shannon, great job!
 

 Here is the recipe below on how you can create Shannon’s Chicken Fried Steak Recipe.

What you Need

Recipe (Serves a family of four):

8 Slices of Texas Toast (toasted and lightly buttered)

4 Sandwich sized pieces of chicken fried steak (either use your own personal recipe or use the prepared ones from the freezer section and prepare according to package directions)

4 Slices of Cheddar Cheese

Thick Sliced Tomatoes to taste (we love the ones fresh from the garden)

Sliced Pickles to taste

Mayonnaise

Take one slice of warm Texas Toast and spread with mayonnaise then layer with the cooked chicken fried steak then cheese, pickles and tomato. If you like your cheese melty, put it under the broiler for a minute or two before topping it with your second piece of toast. Repeat until you make four sandwiches. Yummy!

Thanks to Kraft Foods for allowing me to represent the state of Texas in this exciting road trip and I  look forward to all the awesome sandwich recipes to try from each state!  How yummy!

The giveaway was sponsored by Kraft.  I was compensated for creating a recipe for the Sandwich Road Trip, but all opinions stated are my own.

Dog’s truly are man’s (and women’s) best friend, and getting a new dog can be an extremely exciting time for you and your family.  Still, not all dogs are created equal, and there are numerous things to consider before rushing into purchasing your next pooch.  Several different factors come into play when choosing the right breed, and fortunately there is a new Dog Breed Comparison Tool that eases the process, helping to sift through the dozens of dog breeds to find which one is perfect for your family.  Here are some of the things to consider when choosing your next dog:

• Shedding:  If your dog will live primarily outside, then this might not be very much of a factor for you, but most people should consider how much a dog will or will not shed.  A dog that sheds too much can ruin any relationship between you and your dog.

• Size: Some people like big dogs.  Some people like small dogs.  And yes, some people like medium dogs.  Make sure you know how tall, as well as how heavy your puppy will grow to be, because as much as you wish it wasn’t true, puppies won’t stay puppies forever.  Dogs can range from eight pounds to a hundred and eighty pounds, so whatever your preference is, make sure the breed of dog you get fits your fancy.

•  Temperament: The fact of the matter is, different breeds of dogs act differently.  Some are quiet, loyal and alert, where as others are social, responsive, and aggressive.  Knowing how a certain breed usually acts is critical to making the right choice.

There is a ton to consider before choosing which type of dog to get, but FindTheBest’s breed comparison tool can help to simplify the entire process.  Moreover, once you have narrowed your choices down to just a few different breeds, make a Side-By-Side Comparison and share it with your family before making a decision. Make sure to consider these factors next time you’re thinking about getting a new pup, and you’re sure to get a new best friend!

Graduation is an exciting time in your family’s life. For you as a mother, however, it can also be a nerve –wracking experience. Graduation is the event when all the sudden you realize your child will be moving away; whether it’s off to college or into the real world, you’ll be forced to let them go.

But not quite yet.

Summer is less than a week away and is the perfect opportunity for you to strengthen your relationship with your daughter. Now is the time when you can remind her that you will always be there – even if she thinks she won’t need you.

The following are three activities that you and your daughter should squeeze into your schedules this summer. These activities will give you the chance to strengthen your mother-daughter relationship.

Exercising together

If your daughter is getting ready to head to college or into the real world, “looking good” is on her mind. One way to offer your support, in addition to spending time with her, is by suggesting exercising together.

Doing a fitness class like Zumba or Boot Camp will help you bond because you’ll naturally support each other; if she’s having difficulty doing ten pushups, you’ll be right by her side encouraging her.

Likewise, going for walks together will give you a chance to exercise and catch up on each others’ lives. Whether it’s every Sunday morning or every Wednesday night, exercising together will be the time you need to spend together.

Shop together

It’s no surprise that women love to shop. As a result, start a new tradition where you offer to take your daughter shopping once a month. If she’s college-bound, then she’ll appreciate you offering to pay. If she’s heading into the real world, then she’ll appreciate your advice on what’s “work appropriate.”

As any woman knows, there is no time limit on shopping; so there is a strong possibility that you’ll end up spending an entire day with your daughter doing some retail therapy.

Dine together

It was nice when the kids were young and family dinners were an everyday event. Yet, somehow as the kids shifted into junior high and eventually high school, you were lucky if you got them to join you for one meal a week.  

As a result, making one meal out of the week a “mother-daughter date” can be a sure way to reconnect. Having dinner dates is a great way to ensure time together because no matter how busy her schedule is, you know she’ll eventually sit down to eat – and why not make sure that meal is with you.

Just because your daughter is growing up and moving into college or the city, it doesn’t mean that you have to let her go entirely; it just means that you have to figure out where you’ll fit into her new life.

Fitness, shopping and dining are three activities that she will probably do anyways. Therefore, it’s an easy activity to suggest that you do together. She may not need you for car rides anymore but now, more than ever, is the time when she’ll need all the advice you can give. This summer is the perfect time to start.

Sylvia Rosen is a web content writer with a background in newspaper journalism. She enjoys writing about relationships, family lifestyles and home services such as home security systems.  

Kids love their snacks. Even though parents struggle to keep snacks off the table during mealtimes, it’s hard to keep kids away from their snacks during the day. This is mostly because kids usually have strong metabolisms and they burn a lot of calories. As a result, they feel hungry and are tempted to eat often. While this is not wrong in itself, eating snacks in between mealtimes can have disastrous results. Most commercial and fast food snacks are high on salt, fat and sugar. Your kid could easily cross his or her recommended weight threshold and develop obesity-related issues in their youth itself. To prevent this, give them all the snacks they want to eat, but healthy ones. Here are 10 healthy, heart-friendly snacks for your kids.

Colorful Frozen Yogurt Sticks

You can buy this snack off of any supermarket shelf. They’re called Frozen Danimals, and are made out of low fat yogurt that’s natural, frozen in a tube or a cup along with mashed fruit. This snack contains no artificial flavors, artificial colors or high-fructose corn syrup. The sweetness comes from natural fruit sugars that are blended with the low fat yoghurt. These colorful frozen yoghurt sticks are a great heart-friendly snack idea for kids.

Fruit Smoothies

The next time your kid hankers for a snack, whip up a fruit smoothie. You can throw in any kind of fruits into the smoothie, as long as they all blend well together. Create berry smoothies with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. The fruit sugars will sweeten the smoothies, there’s no need to add sugar. If you do need additional sweetness, a couple of spoons of honey or brown sugar should do. Keep plenty of low fat yoghurt at home and fresh fruit from the farmer’s market and whip up smoothies whenever the mid-afternoon hunger pangs make your kids want to reach for those crisps!

Healthy Quesadillas

Melt and blend low-fat cheeses, and add cooked spinach, corn or broccoli to it. Layer the blended cheese and vegetable topping on slightly crisp tortillas for a shortcut to the popular quesadilla. Your kids will love it and it doesn’t take much time to cook either.

Fruit Salad With Yogurt Dip

For an interesting take on the ubiquitous smoothie, serve fruits and yoghurt separately. Cut red and green apples, pineapples, strawberries, peaches and watermelon into long, finger shaped pieces. Make a delicious yoghurt dip. You can make a sweet dip by blending yoghurt with honey, or even create a slightly spicy dip by blending yoghurt with spices. Your kids will enjoy dipping the fruit pieces into the dip and licking the dip off before eating the fruit.

Pita Pizza

Pizzas are made out of rich white flour, which causes cholesterol and triglycerides building. Definitely not good for the heart. Instead of feeding your kids the regular pizza as a snack when they’re hungry, create your own healthy version of the pizza. Toast pita bread till crisp and warm, add pizza sauce that has no added color or preservatives to it, pile on the toppings and layer with low fat melted cheese. Cut the pita pizza into sectors. Your kids will get the healthy whole-wheat pizza plus the vegetables.

 Vegetable Sticks With Hummus Dip

Make your own version of hummus; spice it up with Dijon mustard, French mustard or English mustard, or use your own spice mix. You can even make a sweet hummus dip by using honey. Cut long fingers of colorful peppers, cucumber, firm tomatoes and broccoli. To make this dish more filling, cut up toasted pita bread into long sticks. You can also add baby carrots to the mix, as they are sweet, extremely nutritious and kids love them!

Power Balls Made Of Peanut Butter

For smaller kids who get irritable now and then when you deny them snacks, something sweet always works. Make a pile of different kinds of raisins and sultanas; make sure they’re deseeded. Add milk powder, honey and crunchy peanut butter to this mix. You can even add toasted and broken nuts to this mix. Roll up the mix into balls; coat the balls with graham cracker crumbs so that they hold their shape. You can make these lovely treats in advance and store them in your freezer.

Whole-wheat Crackers With Peanut Butter

Here’s another quick and very healthy snack that you can put together in a jiffy. Buy whole-wheat crackers from a natural foods store. Toast them lightly to bring out the flavor. Layer them on a round plate and place a small cup in the middle for the dip. Make a dip using peanut butter and honey; make sure you beat the mix well with a spoon to ensure it’s smooth and silky. Check that your brand of peanut butter does not contain high fructose corn syrup.

Low Fat Granola Bars

Buy granola bars that have oats, crushed nuts and dried fruits in them. Make sure they’re free of high fructose corn syrup. Also, avoid granola bars that contain pieces of candy, icecream sprinklers, caramel and other items made of refined sugar.  The best thing about granola bars is that you can buy them, stock them and have them ready at a moment’s notice. They are great for taking along on trips as well. They’re full of natural sugars and carbohydrates that’ll keep your kids satisfied and full for a long time.

Whole-wheat Or Rye Bread Sandwiches

The quickest and simplest snack to put together is a sandwich. Yes, tried and tested and perhaps not very imaginative but you can do creative things to make the sandwich a treat. Cut the whole wheat bread into interesting shapes using cartoon-shaped sandwich cutters. Layer the slices with homemade fruit preserves, or low fat cheese. You can even make fruit sandwiches. Combine fruit and cheese together for a tasty, filling and nutritious treat.

John Smith runs and online nurse’s scrubs store NursingUniforms.net and blog about nursing on A Nurses World

Too many restaurant outings can definitely put a dent in your budget, especially if you go out with the entire family. These tips will allow you to maintain your budget and have fun with some cheap restaurant outings with your kids!

Only With a Coupon

Coupons aren’t just for groceries anymore. A variety of restaurants offer coupons and special deals, and the best way to find out about these is to sign up for email from your favorites. You’ll receive consistent email with the latest offers that you can print and use on an outing with your family.

Another option is to focus on local restaurants, which often provide coupons through your region’s Entertainment® Book as well as community coupon books distribute in your area. These often contain coupons that allow you to buy one meal and get one free, which equals considerable savings on your final bill.

Split and Share

If buy one, get one coupons aren’t available, consider ordering a meal that you and another member of your family can share. Servings provided for a meal in a restaurant tend to be larger than we need or can eat, especially when partnered with salad or bread served before the main entree.
Kids Eat Free
Mainstream restaurants have started to offer deals where kids can eat free with adults who purchase entrees. These offers generally can’t be combined with any available coupons, but can help you save money when eating in a restaurant with your family. A quick internet search can help narrow down which restaurants in your area offer a Kids Eat Free deal.
Hydrate With Water

It might be tempting to order drinks that contain alcohol, but they can exponentially add to your bill. Instead, stick with drinks that are refillable while you dine, such as coffee, tea, soda or lemonade. A free option would be to simply drink water, which is refreshing and can be jazzed up with a couple of slices of lemon!

Out to Lunch

Instead of heading out to dinner, take your family out to a special lunch instead. Overall, dinners cost more per person, while lunches are often the same portion sizes but are lighter on your wallet. Box up any leftovers to eat the next day, which will stretch your dollar even further!
Kelly Wilson is a busy mom and freelance writer who loves to take her family out to lunch in eateries like BJ Willy’s, a restaurant in West Linn, Oregon.

 
Father’s Day is only a couple of weeks away and I’ve been thinking about what a great opportunity to spoil the men in our lives who just so happen to be wonderful husbands and dads.   When we start to think about what gifts to get for our significant others, we tend to think of expensive or elaborate gifts – but most of the time smaller gestures mean just as much, if not more.  Pampering can go a long way and what better way to pamper your guy than by treating him with breakfast in bed.

So in honor of Dad’s everywhere and to celebrate their day, I decided to share some of my favorite Father’s Day Breakfast-in-Bed Menu ideas.

Scrambled eggs

You can never go wrong with scrambled eggs.  If you want to spice it up some mix up some peppers, mushroom and black pepper and serve on wholegrain toast.  Complex carbs and lean protein makes a great breakfast combination.

French Toast

There are three kinds of people in this world: pancake people, waffle people, and people who like French toast.  I like them all so I listed all three.  If you happen to be one who prefers one over the other than you can’t go wrong with either one.

Pancakes

Whether you call them “pancakes,” “flapjacks” or “hotcakes”, this traditional breakfast is a favorite amongst many and can be customized to suit all taste buds.  The best thing about pancakes is that you can have fun with them and create different shapes.

Waffles

 My favorite part about having waffles is that you can top them with whatever you want!  My darling husband likes strawberries, but bananas and blueberries are my favorites! “

Fruit salad

 Wanna go on the light side.  Fruit salad is always a good option; you could even serve it with a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice

 Biscuits

Homemade Biscuits are another one of my favorites.  The first bite of a delicious homemade biscuit fresh out of the oven makes every second of labor worth it.  They can go with just about any meal.  Try adding gravy and jam for extra flavor.  Whichever way you prepare them, they are sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Do you have other breakfast in bed ideas for Father’s Day? Share them below: