Make Healthier Food Choices        

            In June the federal government unveiled a new food icon, MyPlate, to serve as a reminder to help consumers make healthier food choices. MyPlate is a new generation icon with the intent to prompt consumers to think about building a healthy plate at meal times and to seek more information to help them do that by going to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov.

        Here are 5 tips from the Nutrition Education Series – Cut Back on Your Kid’s Sweet Treats:

1. Serve Small Portions – It’s not necessary to get rid of all sweets and desserts. Show kids that a small amount of treats can go a long way. Use smaller bowls and plates for these foods. Have them share a candy bar or split a large cupcake.
2. Sip Smart – Soda and other sweet drinks contain a lot of sugar and are high in calories. Offer water, 100 percent juice, or fat-free milk when kids are thirsty.
    
3. Choose Not to Offer Sweets as Rewards – By offering food as a reward for good behavior, children learn to think that some foods are better than other foods. Reward your child with kind words and comforting hugs, or give them non-food items, like stickers, to make them feel special.
4. Play Detective in the Cereal Aisle – Show kids how to find the amount of total   sugars in various cereals. Challenge them to compare cereals they like and select the one with the lowest amount of sugar.
    
5. Make Treats Treats, Not Everyday Foods – Treats are great once in a while. Just don’t make treat foods an everyday thing. Limit sweet treats to special occasions.

World Music for Kids

        Children’s music label Putumayo Kids shares a new CD, Kids World Party, a global medley of fun tunes from Trinidad to South Africa. The CD launches a new Kids Party music series for the label, whose Playground and Dreamland series have received honors from Parents’ Choice and other esteemed organizations.

        Kids World Party also marks the start of a special partnership with Amnesty International. Fifty cents from the sale of each CD will go to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization in commemoration of its 50^th anniversary and in support of its work to promote and protect human rights worldwide.

Saving with Coupons

        Six Ways to Save Like an Extreme Couponer – tips provided by Andrea Woroch, andreaworoch.com.

Start Small – Don’t try to go extreme all at once. Take it step by step, rather than show up at the checkout with 50 coupons and little idea what you are doing.

Never Pay for Coupons – Paying someone to clip or organize your coupons defeats the purpose of living frugally. Surf Sunday newspaper ad supplements for coupon savings, or ask your neighbors for their unwanted papers. Free online coupon sites like couponsherpa.com give consumers access to a multitude of coupon codes and printable coupons for thousands of merchants.

Get Organized – Always create a shopping list and have your coupons and shopping strategy organized before you even enter the store.

Location, Location, Location – Where you shop is a key factor in making the best use of your time and coupons. Only shop at locations that allow coupon stacking and combining coupons with in-store offers.

Loyalty Rewards – Always take advantage of club membership rewards. These programs are usually free and have many savings perks.

Don’t Be Greedy – Only shop for items you actually need, products you can stock up on that aren’t perishable, and those you can donate. Remember, a bargain is only a bargain if you can actually use the purchase.

Talking to Kids and Teens about Social Media

            Today’s teens, tweens, and kids are connected to one another, and to the world, via digital technology more than any previous generation. While they may be more digitally savvy than their parents, their lack of maturity and life experience can quickly get them into trouble with the popular social venues such as Facebook and MySpace. For this reason, it is imperative that parents talk with their children of all ages about social media and monitor their online use. How parents talk with their kids and teens will vary slightly by age depending on the topic being discussed. These tips provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics (aap.org) will help you start the conversation.

• Learn about these technologies firsthand. There is simply no better way than to have a profile yourself. It will also enable you to “friend” your kids and monitor them online.
• Let them know that their use of technology is something you want and need to know about.
• Keep the computer in a public part of your home, such as the family room or kitchen, so that you can check out what your kids are doing online and how much time they are spending there.
• For all ages, emphasize that everything sent over the internet or a cellphone can be shared with the entire world, so it is important they use good judgment in sending messages and pictures and set privacy settings on social media sites appropriately.
• Show your kids you know how to use what they are using, and are willing to learn what you may not know how to use.
• Create a strategy for monitoring your kids’ online social media use, and be sure you follow through.

For more tips on how to talk with your children about social media, visit www.aap.org.

Starter Cookbook 

        The First Real Kitchen Cookbook: 100 Recipes & Tips for New Cooks by Megan & Jill Carle is your new go-to guide, explaining in a friendly, encouraging voice everything that can be done to create a delicious meal.

        The authors walk you through the basics of stocking a kitchen and how to shop for all manner of ingredients (both on a budget), making it easy to dive in to the fun part: cooking. In tasty yet easy-to-execute recipes, you’ll learn how to prepare vegetables, homey main dishes, can’t-resist desserts, and everything in between.

Art Activities for Kids  

            Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities (Chicago Review Press) by Carol Sabbeth celebrates the venerable painter, Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Following the path of van Gogh and four of his friends and fellow post-impressionists—Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, and Emile Bernard—Sabbeth tells the story of this vibrant art movement and its major architects.

                The activities in Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists for Kids teach aspiring artist and art historians about the culture and context of van Gogh’s life as well as about the various techniques of the post-impressionists. Young artists will draw a dreamscape, create a self-portrait in swirling words, make a Starry Night peep box, learn about shades of gray, and much more.

Optimistic Parenting Book  

            Happier lives. Less stress. Family harmony. That’s what all parents of children with challenging behavior want. Learn how to get there with Optimistic Parenting: Hope and Help for You and Your Challenging Child, a groundbreaking guide to confident, skillful, and positive parenting.

                Optimistic Parenting helps moms, dads, and other caregivers develop more positive thoughts and perceptions, a key ingredient of successful parenting and effective behavior management. A highly regarded expert on challenging behavior (and a parent himself), Dr. V. Mark Durand delivers both philosophical hope and practical help to parents of children with a wide range of challenges.