Proper Food Safety – Are You Concerned About Food Safety for Your Preschool and School Aged Child?

Food safety is not just about how you prepare a young child's food, but also the way you serve your child their food. Our food safety article  includes tips on the preparation, serving, and supervision of a young child.

Here are some more tips for preparing foods correctly.

1. Food should be cut into easy to swallow, small pieces. Especially foods such as carrots, hot dogs, bananas, and grapes. These can all create a choking hazard.

2. Limit the types of food given to the child. Some foods just do not need to be given to a child under the age of four. Some examples include: popcorn, pretzels, peanuts, chips and marshmallows.

Food safety is equally as important for school aged children. Think about the things that you give your child to take to school in their lunch bag. Make sure that these are items that can remain in the lunch bag for several hours without becoming contaminated. Also, make sure that you prepare the items safely.

Here are some tips for school-aged children's foods:

1. Use an insulated lunch bag. This type of bag will keep the food cooler longer, ensuring that your child's food does not become contaminated. You can even include an ice pack to keep items extra cool.

2. Make sure to boil hot foods. Before putting hot foods, such as soup, to a boil before pouring it into a vacuum-sealed container to keep hot in their lunch bag this ensures that the food is safe to eat.

3. Give your child instructions. Encourage your child to place their lunch bag out of direct sunlight so that it does not get too hot. Also, have them keep their foods sealed off so that they stay fresh.

Using these tips should improve the safety of all children's food from birth through elementary age.

Children can learn about food safety and will know what is safe to eat and what is not. So, teach your children as you go along as well. It is too important of a topic to just skip over in your life. Encourage them not to take food from others which is not prepared correctly or if they are unsure about it. Saying, "No thank you" is a simple polite way to refuse food they are unsure about eating. This will ensure that you know your child is safe when it comes to the foods that they consume.

##

Wendy Wood is the owner of Mommies Magazine.com, an online website geared to mommies of all ages. Wendy, and her panel of experts, share information on topics from Current Fashion Do's and Don'ts and Parenting Teens, to Menu Planning and Health-Related Topics that covers all ages of family individuals. Can't wait to learn more about Diabetes and other health-related topics? Visit Mommies Health Section http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/category/health-matters/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/proper-food-safety-are-you-concerned-about-food-safety-for-your-preschool-and-school-aged-child-1783336.html

How to Adjust to Daycare or Preschool

Many parents struggle with leaving their child at daycare or preschool for the first time.  There are so many emotions involved in choosing the perfect place.  Even after you make the decision, you have another wave of things to deal with.

Leaving your child in someone else’s care can be stressful.  How do you know that you can trust the caregiver(s) to be loving and patient?  Did you make the right choice?  How do you get past the guilty feelings of not staying home with them?  All of these things and more can make the first few weeks of daycare or preschool especially hard on the parents.  Throw in the child’s adjustment time, too, and you’ve got a recipe for quite a stressful experience!

It doesn’t have to be that way.  Sure, you will have moments of doubt, fear, or regret, but by following a few of these tips will help you to cope and keep a positive outlook.

Think about the benefits of daycare.  Daycare and preschool offer children a unique opportunity to develop social skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.  Children that are in daycare learn to follow a group and obey the rules.  School is much easier on kids that have been in a daycare setting and they usually adjust faster and do better than other children in some areas.

Try to visit at a time when no children are present to start.  Ask in advance if lights could be kept low and noise kept to a minimum.  The goal is to have the first experience in the place be a pleasant and calm one.  Children explore and discover more if they are open to experiencing it.  Noise, harsh lights, other children, and new adults can put them on high alert, making them more resistant.  If all is calm, they are likely to enjoy checking out the new preschool toys.

Talk about how proud you are of them for being big enough to go to preschool.   However, don’t harp on it.  Toddlers will pick up on ways to test adults to figure out how strongly they should react to a situation.  You don’t want them thinking, “If Mom’s so proud, then maybe this is something that is much scarier than I imagined.”

Your best bet is to pretend like it’s no big deal.  Don’t let on that you may be feeling guilty or scared.  Be matter-of-fact when the big day comes.  Make the drop-off quick and sound confident.  Be careful not to apologize for leaving.  Keep the mood light.  It’s okay to break down after the door shuts, but don’t let them see you do it!  Children feel secure when their parents are secure.

Talk with your daycare provider or preschool teacher often.  Make sure that they know how much you appreciate them.  Commend them on their patience and be thankful for all that they do.  Comply with their rules and respect their decisions.  Don’t ask them to bend the rules for you, especially when it comes to tardiness, late pick-up, and tuition or fees.  It is important to make the person happy that you want to make your child happy!

Ask your child about their day on a level that they will understand.  Ask how they liked that activity table or the other preschool toys.  Ask if anyone was nice to them.  If you can get them to focus on the positives, then they will have a more positive view of their new daycare or preschool.

Jim Ford is the President of KinderMark, a family owned and managed business which sells waiting room toys and waiting room furniture used in doctor’s offices, hospitals, auto dealers, dentists offices and libraries. Preschool toys such as an activity table and learning toys are favorites for pediatric offices. For more information, visit www.kindermark.com .

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/how-to-adjust-to-daycare-or-preschool-1563257.html

Tips for Getting the best Educational Preschool Toys

If you are buying toys for a pre-schooler, then you are probably tempted to get something cheap and yet adorable. You might pick a stuffed toy, which your pre-schooler could hug at night. You might pick clothes or books, or other things that your pre-schooler could use. However, educational toys are now on the market, and they are playing a big role in preparing your child for school. Moreover, educational toys can kill two birds with one stone: while your child is learning, he or she is still having a lot of fun. Here are a few tips that you can use as you plan out your child’s toys and get your child the education that he or she deserves.

First, pick toys that have many bright colors. Dull colored toys will not attract the attention of your pre-schooler, and your aim right now is not only to have your kid start playing with good toys, but to play with them long enough. Moreover, dull colored toys will grow even duller with age, and their colors will make them even less appealing. They might even resist laundry and cleaning and will end up white! Bright colors can hold your children’s attention better, and it can catch their attention when they start scouting for toys to play with.

Second, pick toys that do not have small parts, or that may have small detachable parts. If you sit with your child and learn along with your child, then you could watch over your child and make sure that your child does not swallow any toy parts. However, educational toys can be fashioned so that your child keeps on coming back for more, and you should be delighted if your child gets a toy on his or her own without you having to prompt it. You will have to let your child learn on his or her own, so make sure that you can leave the toy with your child and not have to worry about safety.

Third, and last, get toys that also develop your child’s motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination. Such toys will help your child improve in his or her later skills. This way, you can prepare your child for pre-school and have a well-developed child even before your child steps into a school classroom!

These are only a few tips that you might want to use. For more information, talk to your child’s teacher or to child development experts.

If you're planning to buy a pre schoolers toys make sure that they are educational toys and easy to work with. Pick toys with lots of colors and that can hone children’s motor skills.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/tips-for-getting-the-best-educational-preschool-toys-1213426.html

How to Host a Backyard Fairy Princess Gathering

It's hard to incorporate a fun party for little girls and for adults.  Many families have small children that want to have a princess party, but the parents want to invite neighbors and older children who may have grown out of the princess phenomenon and want to do more adult activities.  How do you make it easy on yourself, but fun for all of your guests, young and old alike?

A fairy princess gathering in the backyard would be perfect.  You may invite the adults to wear fairy wings to the party and hold a contest for who has the prettiest, most unique, smallest, biggest, funniest wings, etc.  Adults love a challenge, so this would be a great way to get the competition going while still making it fun for the younger guests.

The children would be invited to wear a fairy princess or Disney princess costumes (or pirates & princes for boys).  There could be a contest for the costume for kids as well.  You may be surprised by how fancy parents will get when they know a competition is involved.

Decorate your yard with everything fairy.  Of course, balloons and streamers in your little girls favorite color, pink and white, are essential.  You could have fairy costumes hanging from branches on trees in your yard in which children attending the party could "win" by playing games and participating in princess activities.

The mother may want to dress up as a beautiful fairy and be in charge of hosting the games and activities.  This would make the day extra special and get the adults involved.  Each adult may be asked to bring a fairy princess game for the children to play and that would make it really easy for the parents.

You could even rent a popcorn machine or cotton candy machine to do something interesting and unique.

To end the party, you would serve cake and ice cream.  You could make or buy a special fairy princess cake, like Tinkerbell.  Or you could make cupcakes with fairy hair clips in the middle for the little girls to take home with them.

Make sure to send the adults and children home with something special as a favor.  Some ideas for favors may include:  fairy wings, fairy tutu, ribbon ties, fairy hair clips, a hand mirror (since fairies are so beautiful and like to admire themselves), snacks that fairies may like to eat, a fairy princess costume, or anything else you can think of that has to do with Tinkerbell or other fairies.

A great gift to give your child at a party like this would be a stunning fairy princess costume or a Tinkerbell DVD so she can learn all about what fairies do before she attends the party.

Normal 0

It's hard to incorporate a fun party for little girls and for adults. Many families have small children that want to have a princess party, but the parents want to invite neighbors and older children who may have grown out of the princess phenomenon and want to do more adult activities. How do you make it easy on yourself, but fun for all of your guests, young and old alike?

A fairy princess gathering in the backyard would be perfect. You may invite the adults to wear fairy wings to the party and hold a contest for who has the prettiest, most unique, smallest, biggest, funniest wings, etc. Adults love a challenge, so this would be a great way to get the competition going while still making it fun for the younger guests.

The children would be invited to wear a fairy princess or Disney princess costumes (or pirates & princes for boys). There could be a contest for the costume for kids as well. You may be surprised by how fancy parents will get when they know a competition is involved.

Decorate your yard with everything fairy. Of course, balloons and streamers in your little girls favorite color, pink and white, are essential. You could have fairy costumes hanging from branches on trees in your yard in which children attending the party could "win" by playing games and participating in princess activities.

The mother may want to dress up as a beautiful fairy and be in charge of hosting the games and activities. This would make the day extra special and get the adults involved. Each adult may be asked to bring a fairy princess game for the children to play and that would make it really easy for the parents.

Serve barbequed food like hotdogs, hamburgers and chips, and lemonade. Or make a true fairy princess tea party out of it and serve finger foods. You could even rent a popcorn machine or cotton candy machine to do something interesting and unique.

To end the party, you would serve cake and ice cream. You could make or buy a special fairy princess cake, like Tinkerbell. Or you could make cupcakes with fairy hair clips in the middle for the little girls to take home with them.

Make sure to send the adults and children home with something special as a favor. Some ideas for favors may include: fairy wings, fairy tutu, ribbon ties, fairy hair clips, a hand mirror (since fairies are so beautiful and like to admire themselves), snacks that fairies may like to eat, a fairy princess costume, or anything else you can think of that has to do with Tinkerbell or other fairies.

A great gift to give your child at a party like this would be a stunning fairy princess costume or a Tinkerbell DVD so she can learn all about what fairies do before she attends the party.

Shelby Strong is an at home mom of 3 kids. She enjoys running an online store called My Cute Dressups where she sells Cinderella Dresses, and other princess costumes like Sleeping Beauty dresses, Snow White costumes, princess accessories, boy costumes and more.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/how-to-host-a-backyard-fairy-princess-gathering-1221377.html

Weaning Equals Breastfeeding Plus Bottle

How do you wean off your baby from the bottle? Read on and find if it could help you as it has helped me.

Baby Halloween Costumes – How to Find the Best Ideas For Dressing Up Your Baby

Who could resist a baby wearing a cute costume for any given occasion? Babies look more adorable when they are clad in costumes. There are a lot of baby costumes available in the market. Choosing the best costume for babies can be a difficult thing to deal with because of the wide array of choices and ideas accessible on how to dress up your baby. We would want to see pictures of our babies wearing significant costumes during family gatherings for the holidays.

The Best Potty Training Age and Potty Training While Traveling

According to the experts, the best potty training age starts at around 2 years old, but this age varies from child to child. Watching for the signs of readiness is one of the best ways to help potty train your child. If you observe your child during the day, you will notice a pattern of potty times, and that can really help keep it from being so stressful for both of you.

The Benefits of Reading to Your Baby

Keep reading time with your little one short but frequent. Aim for five times a day for about five minutes each.

Language And Literacy-Building Activities For Babies

It's never too early to start reading to your baby. This article presents some fun games and giggles-and-grins activities to make books -- and your baby's world -- come alive.

3 Ways to Help Your Baby Fall Asleep Easily

Sometimes your baby may find it difficult to drift off to sleep. It could be due to a number of factors. Whatever the case may be, it's hard for both you and your baby when sleep does not come easily.

Next Page »