Big Foot Relay. Get the children take two shoeboxes with them. Tape the hats onto the corners, then cut a one-inch-wide and four-inch long slit in each top. Get the contestants slip their feet into the slits in the boxes and race.
Name-It Ball. Have players form a circle. Present one player a rubber ball. That player selects a class, such as “candy bars.” He or she then bounces the ball to another player in the circle, who must get the ball, state an item from the category, such as “Snickers,” and keep the ball mobile to the next player. If the player can’t name an item, holds the ball too long, or repeats an item, he or she is out.
Pick Pocket Tag. Put a strip of cloth in each player’s back pocket. Have the players try to grab each other’s strips without having their own strip taken. The player with the most cloth strips wins the game.
Kill the Cockroach. Part the players into 2 teams. Line them up, one in front of the other and set an odd object in front of the first players in line. They must kick the object across the yard and the across the end line to win a point for their team. Kick things like a pillow, empty can, a sock, and so on.
Nobody knows better than Celebrations that the most important part of any kid’s birthday are the birthday cakes that it features. From the cream in between each layer of cake to the fun you have with frosting decorations, creating the perfect cake is almost like a gift for your child.
Baking can be hard, but with the right recipe, you can create any style of cake you want. It can be themed or just full of frosting. Birthdays are a great way to show your love for your child, and we have the tips you need for creating delicious desserts your kids will love.
Birthday Sand Pail Cake
A sand pail cake a delicious addition to any beach or summer-themed party.
Sand Pail Cake
Purchase a small pail with shovels for each guest.
Bake or purchase a white or yellow cake.
Cut the cake into squares and fill the pail with these squares.
Cover the cake with white frosting.
Sprinkle plenty of graham cracker dust on top of the frosting for the sand effect.
Dump Truck Brownies
If you have Bob the Builder on your mind, dump trucks are the perfect way to go. Be sure to set out plenty of space for the kids to play with these brownies! Dump Truck Brownies
Bake or buy a sheet or two of brownies.
Once the brownies have cooled down, cut them into small squares.
Next, load all the brownies onto the back of a large toy dump truck.
Frost the brownies to act as a glue
Cover with crumbled Oreos cookies for a dirt effect.
When trying to conceive and to have a baby it all starts with a pregnancy test. Well, not really, but we leave the romantic part out of this discussion as this is not really something for the public. The timing of when to take a pregnancy test partially depends on how soon you are trying to find out if you are pregnant or not. Different pregnancy tests require different timing.
In general there are two basic types of pregnancy tests available nowadays. The two different kinds of pregnancy tests do either test your urine or your blood. Both tests look for the pregnancy hormone in your body that is only present if you are pregnant. The “pregnancy” hormone is referred to as ‘human chorionic gonadotropin’, or “hCG”. Modern blood tests can detect hCG already 6 to 8 days after having made love and have ovulated. Urine based pregnancy tests can detect the presence of the pregnancy hormone in your body about 14 days after ovulation.
Pregnancy tests using your blood to determine if you are pregnant need to be done under medical control - usually at your OB. Pregnancy tests that test for the pregnancy hormone in your urine are home-based tests. Home pregnancy tests are convenient, inexpensive and are discreet. A urine based pregnancy test should be done using in the early morning. The morning urine shows the strongest concentration of the pregnancy hormone. A pregnancy test using your blood is not tight to a certain time of the day to deliver better results.
Urine based pregnancy tests are often used too early and the test results are not clear enough. Follow-up testing is required to be certain. As pregnancy tests are not cheap this is unfortunate for the woman doing the test, but very fortunate for the manufacturers of these tests. Waiting an additional before taking the first test is difficult - especially if you are trying to conceive for quite a while.
If you feel you are pregnant but the home pregnancy test shows a negative test result, it is recommended to wait at least 24-48 hours before repeating such a test. Sometimes it is also just the brand that is being used. Different tests used at the same time sometimes show more clear results.
Being pregnant is a wonderful experience. Getting confirmation about being pregnant can be frustrating or exciting. Having enough patience and faith will help a woman to get through the “endless” waiting period before it makes sense taking a pregnancy test.
About the Author
Christoph Puetz is a successful entrepreneur and international book author. Christoph operates a successful Pregnancy and Parenting Website. One of the other websites he maintains can be found at Pregnancy Announcements ecards.
The method know as three dimensional ultrasound is used during early pregnancy, it provides 3d pictures of the unborn baby. Most of the time the ultrasound images are collected and combined and animated to make a 4d ultrasound scan.
Three dimensional scans works in the same way to the normal ultrasound methods except that the ultrasound waves are directed from multiple directions. The ultrasound pulses can be reflected back then captured to provide info to construct a 3d picture in very much the same way as 3d movies. 3 dimesional ultrasound was devised in the usa.
It’s important to understand that sonologists worldwide always pictured 3d images of the body in their minds whilst doing 2d scans. However, until recently it was impossible to do this type of reconstruction on patient data acquired using ultasound scanning. With the introduction of ultrasound baby scans for the first time allowed us a peek into the brain of a sonologist and hence letting us view the images on the ultrasound machine.
3d imaging should utilize ultrasound energy following the same limits as conventional 2d ultrasound to create the 3d images. While there is no information of harm due to 3d ultrasound, its use in non-medical situations should be undertaken with an understanding of the risks involved.
Studies have made the news again regarding television and our children. What are they saying? Too much television is not good for our kids. The very presence of a television in your child’s room can be a determining factor in how well your kids do academically. Kids today are continuing to be “plugged in.”
What is the solution? Limit television viewing. Move the TV out of you kids’ rooms. Be involved in what they are watching.
Okay. We move the television into a common and give our kids time limits. Now what? A comment I hear often when people ask me about the Tokens for TV program is what do my kids do now? Our kids are so used to being plugged in they don’t know what to do. They’re bored.
It doesn’t matter if your children are 6 or 16, the answer is the same. It’s time to teach our kids how to play again. Having a time for quiet and play are important life skills. How else will their imagination start working on its own again?
Start with the following ideas to help your kids in their unplugged play:
• Play a game. Dig out your board games. Checkers, Chess, Monopoly and Sorry! are all great games.
• Dig out the playing cards. Go Fish, Old Maid, War… There are even other specific card games such as Uno out there. You can also teach your children how to play solitaire.
• Be a bookworm. Go to the library in your home or your community. Scour the thrift shops and yard sales. Be a part of a book exchange. There are also some great audio books available at the library. You can also purchase audio books at thrift stores, department stores and online.
• Hands-on fun. Bring out the clay or play dough. Your teenagers may roll their eyes at this one too, but you would be surprised at how they will sit down and keep themselves entertained with this one. (And you don’t have to go out and buy your dough - have them help you make a batch. A recipe is included below.)
• Build something. LEGO’s, Lincoln Logs and K’nex. How many of our kids still have these in the back of their closet? Don’t have these construction pieces? Try creating structures using toothpicks and connecting them together with green peas. Sounds funny, but it works! As the structures dry they become sturdier and you can keep them around for awhile.
• Go outdoors. Outdoor games like marbles, jacks, hopscotch not only occupy your kids, they will also strengthen coordination skills. Too hot or cold out? The garage, basement and/or kitchen floors will work fine too.
• Become an outdoor artist. Buy a tub of colored chalk from the local discount store and give your kids a theme to create their own masterpieces on your front or back sidewalks. Take pictures of them for your family album.
Are these new ideas? Of course not. But when our kids are given a choice of any of these “offline” activities or the chance to plug in to their TV or games, what are they going to choose? When you unplug your kids, they will learn how to play again simply because they have nothing else to do. They will find other activities to keep themselves entertained.
Be prepared for a little bit of whining or frustration on your kids’ part. It’s normal. It’s so much easier to sit in front of a screen with mindless entertainment. It won’t take long and your kids will be able to find other things to do instead of plugging in and tuning the world out.
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There are many variations of homemade play dough. The Internet or any kid’s craft book are great resources if you would like more ideas. There are edible versions as well (less clean up!). The following recipe contains items commonly found in most kitchens.
UNCOOKED SALT DOUGH
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1/4 cup of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 cup of water
food coloring (liquid is best)
Instructions:
1. Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Add water and oil slowly.
3. Add desired amount of food coloring.
4. Store dough in air tight container.
Add water (a little at a time) if dough is too stiff. If dough is too sticky, add more flour.
Lisa Workman is the author of Tokens for TV: A Sensible Approach to Balancing Television, Video Game and Computer Activities. How much time does your child spend “plugged in” to some sort of electronic device? Get your FREE worksheet at http://www.tvtokens.com
Hiring a nanny is a sophisticated process that involves searching, interviewing, checking references and extending an offer to the right candidate. When the nanny has accepted your offer, the final step is conducting a criminal background check. Your offer should be contingent on the outcome of those results.
What to check?
It’s hard to imagine that in this era of the Internet and computerization there is no reliable national criminal database that is accessible by the public. The “gold standard” for checking a nanny’s background is to first run a search using her Social Security Number to see where she has lived in the past seven years. This is done so that a decision can be made on which counties should be searched. Yes, that’s right, these searches are done county by county, not nationally. Few states have a reliable criminal index that is suitable for nanny background checking because nannies tend to commit misdemeanors at most. Many of these indexes only turn up people who have felony convictions and/or have served time. Many states don’t have statewide indexes at all.
Which counties should you search?
Obviously the safest method is to check each county, but in some cases this can get quite costly. A fairly typical scenario may be a nanny who left home to go to college, after which she may have changed schools and then moved again after graduation. So let’s say she’s 23 now and there are four years that can be searched since she turned 18.
2001 lived at home, 18 years old
2001-2003 moved for college
2003-2005 lived at her second college
2005- moved after graduation to another city
In this case, since she turned 18 at home and moved shortly thereafter, the duration of time spent at her home residence and the city she moved to after graduation is brief. For someone who wanted to hold their costs down, the two most likely locations to check would be the two cities she lived in from 2001-2005. Again, if you want to be absolutely certain and costs are not an issue, you would need to check each place that appears on the Social Security address check.
What other types of checks can be performed?
Driving records are very important if there is driving involved in your job. A credit report can be ordered if you feel that information may be important to your decision. There is a sexual offenders list for each state that should be checked as well. There are numerous other reports that may be ordered if you feel the need.
How do I perform the check?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (which applies to more than just credit checks) requires that you have a written release from your nanny to perform the check. This form is downloaded and filled out by the family and then completed and signed by the nanny.
What are some of the limitations of the checks?
Every company that does these checks warns that these reports cannot guarantee complete accuracy. Also, there is a charge for each type of check that you order, so figuring out your budget ahead of time can help you prioritize which type of checks to run.
All in all, running a background check on a potential nanny for your children is essential. These steps should help make that process more informative and resourceful.
Author Bio
Steve Lampert is the President of http://www.enannysource.com, a web-based nanny search service. Prior to starting the company in 2001, he was president of a well-known nanny agency in Los Angeles. He lives with his wife of 13 years and 8 year-old son in the San Fernando Valley in California. His son’s nanny has been with the family since he was born.