• Decide together home much time they can watch TV a day.
• Practice selective television viewing by going over the television guide in your Sunday paper and deciding in advance what you’re watching and when.
• Watch your child’s television programs with them. This will allow you to make suggestions and to have discussions about what is being shown, making the activity more interactive and less passive.
• Help your child to understand the difference between the world on television and his real world.
• Use television viewing as a springboard to reading. For instance, a TV show about wild animals could prompt a visit to the library to find books on these subjects.
• Help your child to avoid watching TV while eating a meal by having family meals away from the TV. A 2002 study from The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center showed that children who eat meals in front of the TV spend more time watching TV—more time than it takes to eat their meals. They believe this promotes overeating and minimal activity and thus increases the risk of childhood obesity. The children in the study who watched more than 2 hours of TV a day weighed more than the children of the same age who watched less than 2 hours of TV a day.

So while TV may be an unavoidable part of most children’s lives, these simple ideas can maximize the positives and minimize the negatives.

If you go to that link, you’ll see dozens of excerpted chapters and activities from throughout the book, all for free. Pretty neat, huh!

Maybe there is a family decision that can be made through a vote. Do it by ballot and make a production of it, making sure to explain the concepts behind it.

For instance, you might choose to have an “election” about the dinner menu for election night. Give your child a chance to “nominate” food choices and even debate the pros and cons of each. Create fun ballots and allow each child to vote for their preferred meal. It’s a great way to reinforce the concepts you are teaching as well as get them excited to have some “power” at the polls—not to mention “winning” and having their favorite food for dinner.

annnna.

As election day approaches (November 4th at least here in the United States), a great way to teach your kids some basics of representative government, is to not only talk about the election, but also take them with you when you vote.

Most U.S. states allow children under 16 to go with their parent or guardian into the voting booth—what an exciting way for them to observe democracy first-hand!

Explain what you are doing and why it is so important and how they will one day be responsible and lucky enough to vote for themselves. My kids love to get the “I voted!” sticker when they join me at the polls, and they proudly wear them all day.

Voting is one of the greatest privileges citizens can enjoy, so check your state for the exact rules and take your children with you to vote this November.

What you’ll need:

• 2- to 3-inch lollipop sticks (toothpicks are too little, popsicle sticks are too big)
• A melon baller
• Granny Smith apples (1 apple makes about 8 mini-caramel apples)
• Butterscotch or peanut butter chips
• Sprinkles, chopped nuts or whatever you like (optional)
• Small paper candy cups or wax paper

What to do:

1. Use your melon baler to extract a ball of apple (with the peel intact).
2. Pat the apple chunk dry and push the stick through the peel into the apple.
3. Melt the chips (follow the package directions) and swirl the mini apple in the melted chips.
4. Have your child roll the mini caramel apple in his or her choice of sprinkles or nuts.
5. Place on wax paper or mini paper cups to set.

Yum, yum!

ninjapoodles

One of my very favorite things about fall is the harvest of many delicious foods, particularly apples in all their varieties. One fun way to celebrate the apple is to hold a family apple tasting contest. This is a tradition my sweet aunt started a number of years ago and I think your preschooler will enjoy it too.

What you’ll need:

• An assortment of different apples—try your local farmer’s market to find varieties beyond Red Delicious or Granny Smith
• Toothpicks
• Caramel dip

What to do:

1. Invite family and friends over for a fun night of apple tasting—you can even ask them to bring their own apples for even greater selection.
2. Cut each apple into small, bite-size wedges—remember, you’ll be sampling a lot of apples so don’t make them too big or you won’t have room to try them all!
3. Provide some caramel or other sweet dip. One thing we’ve noticed is that some apples have a much different taste when paired with the caramel versus eaten alone, so try both and compare.

One thing we do to make it even more fun is to encourage each person to vote on their favorites. Each year we tally up the vote and crown a new reigning champ for the families’ favorite apple. What’s yours?

jpctalbot

Ah, there’s nothing like a crisp autumn day for going on a walk with your preschooler. Next time you go out with your child, collect some pretty autumn leaves and make some very practical placemats.

What you’ll need:

• Clear Contac paper
• Autumn leaves (look for a variety of colors and species)

What to do:

1. Cut two pieces of clear Contac paper 12” x15”.
2. Remove the plastic from one piece and lay it down, sticky side up.
3. Choosing pretty, bright leaves, have the child lay them on the plastic.
4. Strip the backing from the second piece and lay it on top of the leaves.
5. Now have the child rub his hands over the entire surface to seal the two pieces together.
6. You can use a pair of decorative, scrap booking scissors to cut around the edge to make an attract appearance to the leaf mats.

This is a great activity use in conjunction with Chapter 6, Day 2: Fall Leaves of Teach Me Mommy

1. With the bag flat on a table, draw two eyes, a nose and a big smile with funny teeth (like you would on a jack o’lantern) on one side.
2. Opening the bag up, cut the features out of just one side.
3. Gather the bag around a flashlight, using the yarn or string to tightly attach it. (Make sure you can reach the on/off switch).
4. Stand the bag up in a window, and it will shine like a jack o’lantern without the danger of a burn for little ones.

What you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 5 cups corn flakes

What to do:

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup and cocoa powder in a large pot and heat just to boiling.
2. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter.
3. Stir in corn flakes and pour into 9×13 pan.
4. When cool, cut into brownie-sized bars.

Although these are great for sharing, be sure to make enough for yourselves—they are delicious!

Some fun ideas to try with your preschooler on that day or the whole month long is to make cookies with your child to take next door, create a card, or just make a little visit to a neighbor in your neighborhood. Talk with your child first about neighbors. Who they are, what they mean to you and how we can befriend them and be good neighbors.