http://growinglearningkids.today.com Interactive and Creative Parenting Tips, Tricks and Solutions Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:13:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One of the language developments a toddler or preschooler goes through in getting ready for reading is to hear and recognize rhyming words. This helps them recognize phonetic patterns - for example, if your child knows "Cat" and "Hat" rhyme, they will be able to sound out how to read ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/29/teaching-rhyming-words-to-young-children/ Here are some ideas for activities to do with your kids and beat the summer heat at the same time. With energy costs high it helps to decrease your energy bills when you can keep your air conditioner turned down during the hotest part of the day.  Take Your Kids to ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/23/beating-the-summer-heat-with-kids/ Parents can have a profound effect on their children's education and desire to learn from an early age. One way to have fun with the process of teaching pre-reading and early language skills is to create Language Cards for your child. Supplies you'll need: Magazines or Newspaper Clippings 3x5 size index cards.   You'll want to ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/20/create-a-set-of-language-cards-for-toddlers/ Sometimes the postpartum period is one of such intense adjustment that parents can forget the joy of just playing with their newborn babies. Here are some excellent resources for baby developement and what games infants enjoy at various stages of their life, as well as ideas for activities to help ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/18/baby-games-how-do-i-play-with-my-new-infant/ Similar to the Seashore Footprint Mural, this Ocean Creatures Collage can be a large wall mural or a mosaic collection of smaller paper depending on the background paper you use. If you have access to large bulletin board paper get a long strip in the color blue - as long ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/17/ocean-creatures-collage-sea-animals-wall-mural-craft-idea/ Another fun, summer-themed activity to do, either with a group of preschoolers, or as a whole family, is the "Footprints in the Sand" seashore inspired craft. Take a large piece of butcher paper, or unroll a section a few feet long if you have a roll of butcher type paper, and ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/16/beach-themed-activity-footprints-in-the-sand/ Summer is a time when young children play in the sun, swim for hours and generally enjoy being away from school. However, being out of school doesn't mean learning has to end. In fact, there are many ways to use the summer break to increase a child's learning with hands-on ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/15/educational-summer-activity-for-kids-nature-hiking-art-collage/ Easy, quick and inexpensive gifts don't have to be cheesy or meaningless. Here are some ideas for last minute presents that kids can make for their Mother's Day, Father's Day or other Holiday gift giving occasions. Recycled and Inexpensive Office Decor - make a personalized and creative set of book ends ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/14/holiday-gifts-kids-can-make/ Geocaching is like a world wide hide-and-seek game. And what child doesn't love a good treasure hunt? This rapidly growing sport is becoming more and more popular as a family outing - no longer something just for nerds with GPS units. The price of basic GPS units has gone down tremendously, ... http://growinglearningkids.today.com/2008/06/13/family-geocaching-adventures-getting-outdoors-with-your-kids/