Mom, Get off the Couch!

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

There are some mornings that it is hard to get out of bed. I swear I just put my 2 year old to sleep an hour ago (but really it was like 9 hours ago) and now she is up and roaring to start the day. Milk in her hand, coffee in mine and we sit down so I can slowly wake up while she watches her favorite TV show.

Some days are harder than others to get motivated and move. Many moms can relate to this I am sure. We are tired! Being a mom is a full time job on top of whatever else you may do outside of the home. But for our children’s sake, we need to get off the couch and move! By being a healthy role model for our children, they can learn healthy habits from us that will last a lifetime. But where can a parent find the resources to help children move more and form healthy habits at an early age?

Not since Popeye has there been a health-hero for children. Research has demonstrated that children’s characters are profoundly influential. Choosy Kids can help promote healthy habits in your family that will stick with everyone for years to come. When used consistently, health messages paired with the image of Choosy can become familiar and favored.

Healthy habits can include simple things like teaching our children how to brush their teeth and wash their hands properly. Health also coincides with nutrition and Choosy Kids focuses on reducing the number of obese children in our country. It is an epidemic that needs to change sooner rather than later. To do this, children need to move! Movement is another Choosy theme. Through Choosy Kids’ music and DVDs, children can learn about their bodies, how to move them and how to be healthy all while having fun!

Now mom, I know what you are thinking. “Great, another annoying kid’s song to get stuck in my head.” WRONG! Choosy Kids music is fantastic. I bet you’ll even be bobbing your head while listening and dancing along with the directional movements!

I know that I will do what it takes to teach my children healthy habits while they are at home because once they go to school, they will learn to explore other choices that weren’t available at home (vending machines!!!) So let’s all be Choosy Moms, healthy role models, and active play partners to promote healthy habits in our families.

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master and The Choosy Mommy for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and newborn son Cam. Click here to learn more about Christine.

Guest Post - Baby Pull-Up Bar (DIY)

Guest blogger Desiree from www.mymomsgeeky.com shared with us a great way to get your babies up and moving! We know babies like to pull themselves up and down, so why not make them a pull-up bar to practice on!? This way it can be done safely and when they have perfected it, it can become a bar to practice new dance moves on (imagine the bars ballerina's use!)

My little man is on the move and just dieing to stand and walk. Problem is, we don’t have any furniture for geek baby to practice pulling himself up and side step. So, I put my problem-solving brain to work and designed a baby pull-up bar for my son easily and affordably.

Here is how you can make one for your little one too.

Here is what you need:
 10 ft 1” PVC pipe
 2 corner PVC connectors (1”)
 4 3 split PVC connectors (1”)
 4 PVC caps (1”)

Step 1: You want to cut your 1” PVC pipe into 10 pieces. I just had the staff at Home Depot do it for me. Here are the measurements –
 Two 2 ft 6 inch pieces
 Two 1 ft pieces
 Six 6 inches pieces

Step 2: Then just assemble like so:

Step 3: For extra sturdiness, use some Monkey Glue to keep the pieces fastened together.

Now be warned, this is super light so you will need to weigh the feet down with something. I just slide the feet under the playpen walls and it stays in place.

Have fun playing with your baby as they grow and develop.

Check out her blog on mymomsgeeky.com to see her little man in action using his pull-up bar!!

About the Author: I am Desiree, Disney junkie, crafting nut, puppy rescuer of two, wife of handsome engineer Stephen and Geek Mom to my little squishy, Flynn (yes Flynn from Tangled. No my next kid will not be named Rider, but that would work for either a boy or a girl.) Anyway, I love being super geeky and I wear my cape proudly. Ok, so maybe it isn’t a cape as much as it is yoga pants and boob accessible tank tops, but I really do love it.

When I am not teaching my son the ways of the force, reading him Harry Potter or working on his monthly cosplays, I spend my time talking and listening with my husband about life as we know it, video game ideas and the inevitable end of the world. We plan to have more spawn and love to travel anywhere and everywhere in our super awesome CR-V, Eugene (yes also from Tangled. Yes I am aware we are a little weird.) When adventure isn’t calling I cook, craft and take this mom & wife thing one day at a time. I can’t wait to share these adventures. Follow Desiree on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

At my daughter’s 18 month doctor’s appointment, the physician asked me if she knew where her nose was. At that point, the honest answer was no. I was teaching her the “fun” things, like animals and the sounds they make and what we saw out the window. We were working on our ABC’s and 1, 2, 3’s, but it never occurred to me that I should be teaching her about her body parts.

It was like a duh moment for me. All parents have those but I can honestly say that I felt like I skipped this lesson when it should’ve been one of the first to be taught. Not only are these important but it can really help to tell me what is hurt when she falls or what doesn’t feel good on a bad day! So we started working on where her nose, eyes, ears, hair and toes were as soon as we got home.

Now, I am happy to say that I am running out of body parts to teach her and we are now able to play body part games like head, shoulders, knees and toes. I was playing the Choosy Nation CD in the car while we were traveling one day and it mentions moving her head, shaking her elbows and waving her hands in the air and I could see her in the rear view mirror doing all of those actions, even in her car seat! So when we got home, I played the same song so she could move and dance along with it. She loved it!

Needless to say, I went from, “Oh my gosh, I missed a parenting step” to, “She knows all of her body parts” proud parent moment in no time. It is important to continually educate our children but keep it fun too. My daughter most certainly learns best when it is an active and engaging activity. Sometimes it is a game to her, but in reality, she is just soaking up the knowledge!

What body part games or songs do your children love?

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master and The Choosy Mommy for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy. Click here to learn more about Christine.

Moving and Music: Essential For Child Development

By: Dr. Linda Carson

By age three, most children have acquired around 1,000 words. By the age of six, they have acquired nearly 10,000 words! This highlights the significant role we have during the first five years of life to lay the foundation for expanding vocabulary as well as using language for learning and communicating.

How can busy parents support and enhance this significant stage of child development? Probably the easiest way is to talk to children as much as possible. In the youngest toddlers, describe what they are doing as they explore and experiment. With preschool children, ask questions and have conversations about everything from what they might see in nature to their preferences for activities or foods. And be intentional about introducing new and unusual words so that your child’s vocabulary expands. Another very important but easy way to build vocabulary, and at the same time encourage a love of books, is bedtime reading.

While you are at it, add words to your playtime. Babies think and communicate with their bodies before they actually think with words, so your day to day playful interactions can be very meaningful for learning as well as for building bonds of trust and love. During early childhood, children learn a lot with their bodies and about their bodies. There are rich vocabulary words to be experienced by moving and exploring.

You can download this Healthy Vocabulary Framework chart of vocabulary words from Choosy Kids that can be used to mix and vary active learning experiences for young children. You can also listen to Choosy Kids song, I Am Moving I Am Learning, which incorporates words on the chart.

Combining music with deliberate movement has even greater impact on early learning. When young children hear music, they naturally respond by moving their bodies. Movement and music have been shown to influence and enhance the healthy development of the brains and bodies of young children. Music stimulates both sides of the brain. When childhood songs encourage movements that use both sides of the body and incorporate healthy messages, a powerful double whammy learning experience is taking place inside the child.

“Developmentally appropriate music activities involve the whole child-the child's desire for language, the body's urge to move, the brain's attention to patterns, the ear's lead in initiating communication, the voice's response to sounds, as well as the eye-hand coordination associated with playing musical instruments.” (Harman, M.A. Music and Movement - Instrumental in Language Development, http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=601).

So music and movement can not only build vocabulary and motor skills, they can also lay the very necessary foundation for school readiness and school success.

Choosy Kids is a company devoted to early learning through music and movement. Listen to samples of well-conceived, fun-filled songs that encourage active learning.

You can check out more blogs like this from a team of 51 other bloggers at the #Blogger52Project, brought to you by The Quinntessential Mommy.

About the Author: Linda Carson, Ed. D, is the founder and CEO of Choosy Kids, LLC, and the Ware Distinguished Professor Emerita at West Virginia University. An award winning, nationally recognized expert, Dr. Carson has devoted her career to promoting healthy preferences for young children and the adults who make decisions on their behalf. Click here to learn more about Linda.

Gardening for Good

By: Kerry McKenzie

Research has shown that kids who are involved in growing and making their own food are more likely to try different foods and eat healthier.  And digging in the dirt is only half of the fun when it comes to gardening!  Getting dirty is so good for you!  Recent research has proven that there are health benefits to digging in the dirt.  There is a particular strain of bacterium in the soil that has been found to trigger the release of a chemical in your body called serotonin, which is called the “happy chemical” because it elevates your mood and decreases anxiety.  And on top of that, this little bacterium has been found to keep your brain healthy and possibly even treat cancer and other diseases. Contact with soil, through gardening or other means, is beneficial!  Now there's a great reason to get outside and garden for good and get your kids involved too!

You don’t need to have a green thumb to get started or even any plant knowledge. Kids can learn as they GROW! All you really need is a yard to dig in or a space to put a few containers. You can even reuse an old sandbox (remove the bottom) and turn it into a raised bed garden or keep the container that last night’s rotisserie chicken dinner was in and put some dirt and seeds in there.   

When planting in pots or an old sandbox, purchasing potting soil in bags is a good choice.  Keep in mind that plants need sunlight and water to grow, so plan your garden in a sunny spot that will catch rain or is easy for you to hand water with a watering can or hose.  If you want to plant your garden in the ground, remove all of the grass and rocks before you start. Tilling or breaking up the soil will help when you are putting the plants in the ground.

Involve your children in deciding which fruits or vegetables to plant as this may gain extra attention when gardening. Make sure to try some new fruits and veggies, like Okra!  I like to plant seedlings so the kids can watch them grow from the very beginning. You can buy seedlings at any home and garden store.  Gently place the seedlings in little holes, cover with a thin layer of dirt and drizzle with some water.

It's important to plant your garden at the right time, and the key is knowing when your area will see its last spring frost. You may lose your warm weather crops if you put them in the ground too soon. Search the Old Farmer’s Almanac freeze chart in your area! 

The next part is amazing!  Water, fertilize with old leaves, pick out the weeds and watch your plants grow. Before you know it you will have fruit and vegetables to pick and eat!  It’s that simple! And it’s fun!

What kind of fruits and veggies do your children like to watch grow? Share your growing tips with us in the comment section!

About the Author: Kerry McKenzie, B.A., M.S., has been working in education for more than 13 years. She is a Certified Health Coach, a 500 level (E-RYT500) yoga teacher and specializes in early childhood motor development. She has a passion for working with expecting moms, babies, toddlers and preschool age children and their caregivers at Greenville Health Systems pediatric clinic, child care centers and in the community. Click here to learn more about Kerry.