Potty Training Tips
Potty Training Advice and Tips From Moms & Dads Like You.

Toddlers, ever going, never tiring and ultimately chaotic… so just how do you find enough activities to keep them entertained and give them an education at the same time?

Toddlers aren’t old enough to entertain themselves or get involved in pretend play (without a little help), which means it’s up to you to keep them entertained and happy. The best activities for toddlers are fun-filled while still fully helping them developmentally.

So what are some fun but also educational activities for your toddler? The good news is that toddlers are fairly easy to entertain so there’s no need to go out and spend a fortune or turn your house into an amusement park.

Here are a few fun ideas:

Go for a nature walk – Educational yet lots of fun. Your toddler will love exploring and collecting different treasures to bring home. Point out big leaves to him or different colored plants or flowers. Collect opposites such as a small leaf and a big leaf or a small stick and a big stick.

Take your time and have fun. Don’t worry if you don’t live near a nature reserve or park. A simple walk around your neighborhood will be sufficient. Your toddler won’t mind and there will still be lots for him to see.

Bake Cookies – The bad news first, things will get messy. The good news, cooking is both fun and educational and even children as young as 2 can get involved. Depending on your toddler’s age let her help and don’t worry too much about how the final product will look or even taste, concentrate on the actual putting it together part. As you’re mixing the ingredients tell your toddler what you’re doing. Name out each ingredient and measurement out loud and once you finish enjoy your delicious homemade treats.

Have Fun With Water – Fill a small tub with water and give your toddler several containers of different sizes. Let her pour water from one container to the other and you can even add some bubbles for extra fun. This is a fun activity that also helps build hand eye coordination. You can also place different objects in a tub and show your child how some of them float and others sink.

Start a Photo Album – Make a photo album and fill it with pictures of your toddler, your family and extended family as well. This is especially good if your toddler has relatives that live far away. Talk about who each person is and where they come from or where they live.

Paper Tearing or Cutting – Find a couple of old magazines or catalogues and let your toddler tear pages out, try to get her to tear small shapes or just let her have fun. If your toddler is a little older you can teach her how to use toddler scissors to cut out shapes.

Toddlers are constantly learning. This is the perfect age for you to have fun with your child while helping them learn. And don’t think you have to do something too elaborate. Toddlers are easily pleased and will find wonder and amazement in even the smallest of things. Enjoy these years.

Out of healthy packed lunch ideas? Packing a nutritious packed lunch your kids will actually eat five days of the week is no easy feat. It’s no wonder many of us get stuck in a rut and end up packing the same lunch time and time again.

When packing your kids lunch, the main thing to keep in mind is that the lunch is nutritious and balanced. Try to include a mixture of whole grains, protein, calcium, fruit and veggies in each packed lunch and don’t worry it’s really not too difficult.

To help get you started, here’s a 5-day sample lunch menu which is balanced to include a little of everything mentioned above.

Day One:
Whole-wheat bread sandwich filled with ham and cheese and cut into triangles
Fruit yogurt
Cut melon cubes and cucumber rounds
Small packet of raisins
Milk or fruit juice

Day Two:
Pita filled with turkey and cream cheese
Carrot sticks
Pineapple chunks
Mini muffin
Milk or fruit juice

Day Three:
Homemade Pizza Quesadilla
Apple sauce
Cherry tomatoes and cubes of ham
Yogurt covered raisins
Milk or fruit juice

Day Four:
Bagel spread with peanut butter and full fruit jam
Fresh peach
Carrot sticks and cubes of cheese
Yogurt drink
Milk or fruit juice

Day Five:
Roll filled with tuna and sweet corn
Cucumber slices and cubes of cheese
Bunch of seedless grapes
Mini Fruit Muffin
Milk or fruit

We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!

Running late for school yet again? Just give the kids a Pop Tart on the way out the door and they’ll be fine. If you’re all out of the sugary toaster treat, just swing through Krispy Kreme on the way and your offspring will be good to go. Right? Wrong! Wrong! And Wrong. You might as well give your children a cup of coffee if that’s what you consider a good breakfast.

Well sure it’s quick, convenient and tasty! In addition to lacking any nutritional value, the sugar buzz will quickly wear off and then your little one will fall asleep right before morning recess. So what about a bowl of cereal and a bagel? Nope, that’s not much better; although some cold cereals are clearly better than others. You want to feed your children a nutritionally sound breakfast, complete with a source of protein.

Quick and convenient does not have to equate to a boatload of carbs and sugar. How many times have you heard, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”? It’s true; it sets the tone for the whole day. Children need to be able to focus, and they need to be awake.

Eggs are a great source of protein. If you don’t have time to cook in the morning, then make some hard boiled eggs the night before. Those are quick and easy. You can also make fruit smoothies with yogurt and your children’s favorite fruit. Add a little cinnamon and vanilla, and then pour it all in the blender.

How many years has Carnation Instant Breakfast been around? It’s been around longer than most readers will remember. But there is good reason for their longevity. It’s chock full of antioxidants (as much as a cup of green tea) and it has twice the protein of an egg and twice as much calcium as a 6 oz. container of fruited yogurt. It tastes like chocolate milk, but it’s oh so much better.

Maybe your child just isn’t a breakfast person. Who says you have to eat typical breakfast food in the morning? Have you read “101 Delicious Chicken Recipes?” If your student likes chicken, serve up a 3 oz. chicken breast for breakfast. There’s no rule against it. And it’s a nutritionally sound breakfast, complete with a source of protein.

Don’t forget to put a small baggie full of almonds in your child’s backpack. Nuts are also a great convenient, energy boosting addition to breakfast. Just say ‘No” to sugary toaster treats!

We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!

1. Flip Books

Create a moving picture of your summer fun with a flip book. Start out with a Post-It pad or a pocket-sized spiral notebook. Draw the first picture on the last sheet of paper and work your way to the first page by changing the picture little by little. For instance, if you learned how to surf over the summer, you might start with a picture of you lying on a surfboard in calm waters. The next picture could show the waters growing a little choppier. The following drawings could be of you slowly turning, then standing on the board as the wave grows larger, and so on.

2. Summer Collage

Illustrate your summer happenings with one of my favorite forms: collages. Simply use glue to cover a poster board or even several small postcard-sized papers with magazine cutouts, sections of road maps, photographs, movie and concert ticket stubs, restaurant menus, train schedules, and any other mementos from your summer.

3. Map It

Instead of just telling the class where you went and what you did, pinpoint our summer destinations and activities on a map. If you stayed close to home, use a local road map. If you were able to travel to several cities and states, use a countrywide map. Glue magazine cutouts of activities, or actual photos of your fun onto the map. For example, if you went to a dude ranch in Dallas, glue a picture of a horse onto the map in Dallas. If you visited Mount Rushmore, glue a photo of your family onto the map in South Dakota. The same goes for rock climbing, swimming, snorkeling, and anything else you had a chance to enjoy over the summer months.

4. Seashell Memories

Capture every fun moment of summer vacation on seashells. If you didn’t get a chance to go to the beach, don’t worry-most craft and hobby stores sell bags of seashells. Use acrylic paint and a clean paintbrush to paint pictures inside the shells. My son’s summer shells feature an octopus in the ocean (from snorkeling-we didn’t actually see an octopus, but he wishes he had), a colorful clown from a friend’s birthday party, an airplane in the clouds, and the night sky filled with stars and a bright crescent moon.
Deborah Shelton is a mother, freelance writer, and author of “The Five Minute Parent: Fun & Fast Activities for You and Your Little Ones.” Visit Deborah’s website for more family-friendly ideas: http://www.fiveminuteparent.com

Additional Resource:

Not sure what to read to your child? Take a look at our Book Reviews in our new Product Review Section.

Here are reviews of some of our favorites for preschoolers and beyond.

Highlights for Children Magazine

Potty Training Tips
Potty Training Advice and Tips From Moms & Dads Like You.

Teachers know that children thrive in an environment with routines, boundaries and rules. Unfortunately, parents often forget it! And yet by establishing good routines and encouraging children to help you maintain them, you have an opportunity to set a pattern and a discipline that will stay with your children for the rest of their lives. You will make school days easier and far less stressful, reduce the chances of starting your day late or dragging on forever with the homework, put an end to nagging and shouting, and have happier, more relaxed kids.

Here are 10 tips for establishing a solid, school day routine.

1. Lay the breakfast table the night before

Put everything out apart from perishables. If you keep all your breakfast things in one cupboard or one area of the kitchen this routine will be easier to establish, and older children can take it in turns to do it.

2. Put out your clothes the night before

Lay out a complete set of clothes for each child, checking them as you do it. Older children should do this themselves – you can double check when you say goodnight. Then if something is missing (or shoes need polishing) you have time to put it right. Lay your own clothes out too!

3. Brush teeth at the kitchen sink

Keep a toothbrush and toothpaste for each child in the kitchen and brush teeth at the kitchen sink immediately after breakfast. It may not be perfect for the house-proud, but if you send your child out of your sight to do a chore in the morning, you lose control. If you lose control, he may start dawdling.

4. Set up base camp

Establish a “base camp” where the children keep all their school things. You will need room for kit bags, satchels, swimming bags, sports equipment, ballet bags, library books and whatever else the kids need! Provide at least one hook per child for their coats (in our house kids must hang coats up as soon as they take them off) and a basket or box for school shoes (in our house kids must put shoes in the box as soon as they take them off too – sometimes they do!)

Another basket or box for each child can be used as a place to put anything that needs to go to school – gloves, letters to teachers, music, library books etc. Everything is in its place and ready to go out the door first thing in the morning without any fuss.

5. Make a list

Fill out a schedule of what is needed at school on each day and pin it up at “base camp”. Check each morning before you walk out the door that you have the appropriate kit. You will find a school week planner to print here: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/school_week_planner.htm

6. Nail up a notice board

Keep a notice board at “base camp” so that you can pin up reminders, invitations, school menus or whatever else you need to keep tabs on.

7. Do it now!

If anything comes home from school that requires your attention, do it immediately. Fill out forms and put them straight back into the satchel. Write dates into your diary there and then, and reply the same day too. If you postpone it, you will forget it!

8. Give homework a home

Establish a place and time for doing homework and stick to it. Keep dictionaries and other necessary books nearby, as well as a spare set of pencils, rulers and other stationery you might need. Make sure that homework is put back into satchels as soon as it is completed and that satchels are returned to “base camp” straightaway. Get out a kitchen timer if kids are reluctant to start (or finish!)

9. Be prepared

If your car is running short of petrol (gas), fill it up on the way home from school in the afternoon rather than panicking the following morning! As you drive home, run a mental check on whether you have the necessary supplies for dinner, and breakfast. Nothing makes kids more miserable in the morning than an empty fridge.

10. Get ahead

Set your alarm to wake you up 10 minutes earlier than usual. You will be amazed at how much more in control that 10 minutes will make you feel. And finally, leave for school 5 minutes early. Arriving early takes away an enormous amount of stress and will put your children in the right mood for school.

Are you convinced? Start initiating some routines in your school days and you and your kids will feel the benefits very quickly. Making sure that your kids feel comfortable and in control before they get to school gives them the best possible start to a school day. And once they get used to afternoon and evening routines for homework and preparation for the day ahead, nighttimes become more peaceful too.

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”
–John Dryden

Lindsay Small is the creator and editor of Activity Village – providing the ultimate one-stop resource for parents and teachers looking to educate and entertain their kids. Visit the website at ActivityVillage.co.uk and subscribe to the free newsletter at ActivityVillage.co.uk/free_newsletter

Beginning in early August and all the way through much of September, schools throughout the country begin welcoming students back from their summer hiatus. Whether you are a parent, child, school administrator, driver, or a concerned citizen, the following tips will help keep our nation’s students safe.

1. Bus Stop. Your child’s bus stop should be in an area that is well lit, easily accessible, and away from traffic. If it is not, contact school administrators to have the stop moved. In some situations you may need to contact the school board instead. If you live in an area where there is heavy snowfall, make sure that the stop is sufficiently free of snow, ice, and related debris.

2. Clothing. Children should be wearing bright colored clothing, especially if waiting for the bus before sunrise or getting home after dark. Place removable reflective tape on their outer garments including on their hats and coats.

3. Boarding. Teach your children to only move forward to board the school bus when it has come to a complete stop and the driver opens the door. Children should line up single file as they await entrance.

4. Seating. Virtually all school buses DO NOT come equipped with seatbelts, nor are seats strong enough to resist impact in the event of a crash. Teach your children to be seated at all times and facing forward. Study various brace positions to prepare for the possibility of an accident. Learn optional exit strategies including using the emergency door or windows.

5. Exiting. When exiting the bus, children must move far away from the vehicle to allow the driver to see that they have cleared the bus and are safely away from traffic. Instruct your children to stay away from the bus’ rear wheels at all times.

6. Awareness. Teach your children to be aware of other traffic in the area. Do not assume that drivers will stop for them or even see them. If children must cross the street, they are to do so only with the driver directing them. Have them constantly looking both ways as they cross the street until they are safely on the other side.

Every year children die or are injured in school bus related accidents. Many die as a result of a collision involving their bus with another vehicle while others are killed or hurt as they fail to clear the area around the bus or are hit by oncoming traffic.

You can keep your child safe by raising their awareness of potential hazards while the rest of us can make school bus safety a priority by obeying the rules of the road. Let’s make this school year a safe one.

Matt Keegan manages over a dozen websites including The Aviation Employment Board and PJ the DJ.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Our School Bus Craft gives you a great opportunity to practice getting on and off the bus with your child.

“What do you mean you forgot to do that?” I told you last night before you went to bed. Well you better hurry or you’re going to miss the bus.”

How smoothly your bedtime routine goes will determine how smoothly your morning goes. It’s important to have routines for bedtime as well as in the morning. The best way to keep track of needed tasks is to use a chart.

If you leave it to your memory or that of your children, something will slip through the cracks. In this fast paced world we live in, and with children’s developing brains, someone will forget. I don’t know about you, but if something simple at night can make my mornings run smoother, I’m all for it.

There are a couple different options you can use with regard to charts. One method would be to list each item that needs to be completed in a separate line on the chart. You could list tasks such as homework completed, lunch made, backpack packed, clothes picked out, showered, teeth brushed. Whereas the morning chart would be dressed, lunch out of refrigerator, teeth brushed, and dog fed. Each task could get a check mark or a sticker – depending on the age of the children.

Another option would be to list all that needs to be accomplished on a separate piece of paper or chart. Leave that on the refrigerator or some accessible location. Then once the children have completed all their assigned tasks, one gold star, sticker or check mark could be placed on the calendar.

It doesn’t really matter what system you use – as long as it works for your family. You may get some resistance when you introduce it. Or you may be pleasantly surprised and the kids will look forward to not only completing their assignments but seeing the acknowledgement for a job well done.

There may be a transition time necessary for both parents and children. That is to be expected anytime a new routine is introduced. Hold each other accountable. Allow them to remind you if you get “too busy” to follow through with the chart.

Make sure you catch them doing something right. You entire family will benefit from well organized bedtime and morning routines!

Additional Resource:

We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!

If you have children, late July, August and early September represents more than summer ending, cooler weather and fall foliage. School begins once again for millions of kids across the country. Getting your child prepared, regardless of whether they are in Kindergarten or a senior in high school, is a must. Here are some tips to make the transition from several weeks of summer fun to school days and homework easier.

Children in Kindergarten – 5th grade

1. About a week before school starts, have your children go to bed at the time they will when school begins. Set their alarm or wake them up early. It’s difficult for some kids to adjust to going to bed and getting up earlier after having an entire summer of sleeping in or staying up late. Many young children need to be on a schedule and preparing a week or so earlier will pay off, especially if you have a night owl or late sleeper.

2. If you have a school supply list (many school districts post them on their website or hand them out the last day of school), buy the supplies early. For the child who is not organized, this is a good way to begin the school year off on the right foot. Label everything and get the backpacks ready the night before school starts. Buy some extra supplies to keep at home if your child is one to lose or forget their pencils or markers at school. They will probably need some basic supplies for homework time. Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down to do homework and discovering the basics are missing.

3. If you have a Kindergartener, walk to school two or three days before school begins (or drive if they take a bus or you will be driving them). This helps acquaint them with what they will actually be doing that first day and can work wonders for alleviating the first-day jitters. If your child is especially anxious, ask if you can let them visit their new classroom for five or ten minutes the day before school starts. Many principals will let the Kindergarteners come to the campus prior to school starting.

Middle School

1. Many sixth graders will be attending a new school for their middle school years. Oftentimes, the campus is much bigger and can be intimidating. Of course pre-teens may not admit they are nervous, but most parents are. Suggest a bike ride over to the school sometime during August just to look around. Many middle schools conduct orientation anyway a couple of days before school actually begins, but an extra trip without all of their peers might be worthwhile.

2. Just as in elementary school, it is important, if not more so in middle school, to have all the school supplies ready, especially an organizer. Some schools make it mandatory for the students to purchase an organizer directly from the school. Get in the habit from day one of checking it and being sure homework assignments are recorded. Visit the school website and see if homework and grades will be posted on the site. This is an excellent way to stay involved with your child’s progress throughout the year.

3. If your student struggles with the basics; math or language arts, consider hiring a tutor for some review sessions before and during the first semester. Also, it is quite common in middle school for students who are excelling to be moved to Honors classes sometime during the year. Being in an accelerated class is a good way to prepare a student for Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school, which count as college credit.

HIGH SCHOOL

1. Find out when the PSAT and SAT exams will take place. If your student is not a good test taker, consider enrolling them in a test prep class. As colleges become more and more competitive, test scores make a difference. One can take the exam more than once if they are not happy with the score, so plan ahead and register early.

2. Stay tuned in to your student’s school and social schedule. There is a tremendous amount of freedom in high school and even the most academically gifted students can be distracted by all of the things that are associated with the teenage years. Establish a curfew for school nights and limit the amount of time that is spent at a part-time job or involved in sports, especially if time management and study skills are not your child’s forte.

3. If your son or daughter is college-bound, start doing your research and be sure to attend the college nights that many high schools sponsor. Know what is expected on college applications. It is no longer a simple process like it was for the baby boomer generation. Test scores, a formal essay, volunteer hours, and class selection in high school are all important factors in getting into college. Take advantage of the many companies that exist today solely for the purpose of assisting you and your student select the right college for them.

Regardless of the age and grade of your children, stay involved. Volunteering on any level, whether it be reading stories to your elementary aged child’s second grade class, helping in the computer lab in middle school, or being on a committee for peer counseling in high school, it is important to know what is happening at the place your children spend a large part of their week. With so many parents working, many Parent Teacher Associations have their meetings in the evening, so more parents can attend. There are activities that need volunteers that do not involve daytime hours such as calling parents in the evening for a fundraiser or helping with a weekend car wash at high school.

These tips can help your children get back to school the right way and prepare them for a year of learning and fun. For additional articles on raising kids, starting a business, or educational issues go to http://www.hometutoringbusiness.com.

Laurie Hurley is an educational consultant and mentor to small business owners. Hurley was recently featured in Woman’s World and Entrepreneur Magazine as well as Family Circle and others. She can be reached at http://www.hometutoringbusiness.com or 1.888.847.0033. Article is free to be reprinted as long as author’s bio remains intact.

Additional Resource:

We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!

My son is only days away from his first day of kindergarten. He is excited but a little nervous. I am confidant that he will be able to start off his public school career with a bang and not a whimper because I have done a great deal to prepare him for this exciting new event.

Granted my child has a head start over some kindergarten students because he attended preschool, but even so I took five key steps to help him make the transition to a new school, new teacher, and new experience. These five steps can help parents prepare their new kindergarten student for this important life event.

Introduce The Space

I took advantage of every opportunity offered to bring my son into the building where he will attend school. We toured his classroom and school, attended the kindergarten open house, and every time we had to bring paperwork to school I made sure to bring my son as well. Long before the start of school my son knew which school would be his when he started kindergarten. Long before the first day of school my son was familiar with his classroom and the basic layout of the school.

Introduce Key People

Make sure that your child has a chance to meet her teacher before school begins. Simply having one familiar face on the all-important first day will make a big difference. If your child will ride the bus then try to introduce her to the bus driver as well. Attend your school’s open house or visit school before the first day to also introduce other key teachers and staff members such as the school nurse, librarian, principal, etc. The more people who are friendly, smiling and familiar when school starts then the less intimidating school will be to a young child.

Find Some Friends

My son didn’t want to say good-bye to his preschool and move on to kindergarten and elementary school. However when I pointed out the number of his friends who would attend his new school he started to get interested. When he went for kindergarten screening one of the screeners included a friend from church who is also one of his Sunday School teachers. Soon I could point out even more teachers that he would know as well as how many students are familiar and he soon forgot his reluctance to attend the new school. By the time it he attended kindergarten open house he knew that one of his friends had the same kindergarten teacher and that an older friend had the same teacher a few years before. On the night of open house he was soon meeting his future classmates and playing together like old friends.

Go Over The Schedule

While I don’t know a minute-by-minute plan for his kindergarten day, I do know from talking with school officials and his teacher approximately how my son’s day will go. I have gone over the big picture scenario with him several times. I don’t expect him to memorize his schedule even to remember much of the detail. But I know that he likes to have an idea of how his future will unfold. This same child always asks for directions when we are going on a trip even though he is 11 years away from driving.

Introducing your child to the main events of the day will help take some of the fear and uncertainty out of those first days of school when so much is strange and unfamiliar.

Make Up Some Guidelines

Starting school will mean your child is likely inundated with a long list of new rules governing their behavior, their schedule, and their education. It can be rather overwhelming for young children. While my son is learning the specifics, I gave him these three broad guidelines to help him make better decisions about how he should behave in school:

1. Listen to his teachers

2. Be kind to others

3. Try his best
Really, all the other rules he will encounter in school will simply be refinements of these three basic rules.

Use these five simple steps to prepare your child for kindergarten and to ease the transition into school life.

Additional Resources:
Dine Without Whine – Free 7 Day Sneak Peak
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try.

Deanna Mascle shares other early childhood education articles and tips with her blog Teach Phonemic Awareness at http://TeachPhonemicAwareness.info

Change the Bread – Or don’t use bread at all. Kids can get bored with sandwiches so why not try the same fillings but make it a little more exciting by changing the bread. You can try pita bread, bagels, tortilla wraps or even crackers or breadsticks. You can place the fillings on the side and your child can assemble the crackers or sandwiches themselves.

Try a Salad – Not your typical lettuce and tomato salad, what kid would get excited by that? But instead try a pasta salad or potato salad. Cook and drain the pasta or potatoes and mix with a little mayonnaise or olive oil, add some cut up veggies such as corn kernels, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots; add some sliced turkey, chicken or ham and place in a plastic travel container.

Fun, Fun, Fun – On the days where you go for the traditional sandwich try cutting the bread with fun shapes using cookie cutter. You can also cut slices of cheese or ham into fun shapes. Cookie cutters are something every mom should make good use of. You’ll be amazed at how a boring cheese sandwich will get gobbled up when shaped into a flower or dinosaur.

Fingers Foods – Sometimes kids, especially younger ones, don’t like to eat a whole sandwich or bowl of food. Instead you can try preparing cut up cubes of cheese, grapes, carrot sticks, pretzels, mini crackers, and ham cubes. Place in a container with individual compartments or just a standard one for a fun lunch. You can also try cutting sandwiches into small rectangles or triangles for easier eating.

Pinwheels Anyone? – Instead of sandwiches try pinwheels. Cut the crust from two slices of bread, flatten bread using the back of your hand or rolling pin. Spread thinly with cream cheese. Place one slice of ham and roll each slice into a log shape. Wrap in cling film and place in freezer for about 30 minutes. Unwrap and cut into pinwheel rounds.

Dip It – Kids love dipping stuff. For an easy and nutritious lunch snack you can cut apple wedges and serve with a strawberry or peanut butter dip or cut up veggies served with a hummus dip or try a cream cheese dip. For a more substantial lunch add pieces of pita bread, breadsticks or crackers.

Lunch Notes – Write cute little notes once in a while to put a smile on your little one’s face. A simple note with a smiley face saying I love you or miss you can instantly make a child feel better. For older children (who will no doubt be embarrassed by smiley faces and cutsie notes) try a riddle or brain teaser instead.

Be a Creative Mama – Think outside the box, the lunch box that is. Pack mini pizza slices, mini hamburgers, meatballs or chicken drumsticks. Add some potato wedges on the side. Or try tortilla chips with strips of cheese, turkey and sliced tomatoes on the side. Add a sour cream and/or guacamole dip for instant lunch time nachos, perfect for older children or teens.

Or how about some bake savory mini muffins using chopped, cooked bacon and chives or grated cheese and ham. Sweet fruit mini muffins will be a big hit too.
We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!