Cool Camping Activities for Kids (Pictures & Videos)

Is it time to get your kids off their laptops or their tablets and get their tents out of the garage? There is no reason why we have to say, “Remember when we used to..?”

Our kids can still enjoy the good old days. There are some great backyard camping activities for kids, which will replace any action networking video game in a second.

Bonding Opportunities

There is not much bonding you can do by sitting next to your friend in a movie. However, lying under the stars or toasting marshmallows together is something you will never forget. This is something friends can do together, or you can do together as a family. Skip Disney for a year because there is plenty of time for that.

Rainy Days?

You are probably asking, what if it rains? Your kids will probably have a spare game in their kit. Make sure you check on this. However, this is where you have to be prepared for a couple of rainy day activities. Sometimes this is even more fun. This is where the creativity has to come out and you will see your inner gifts go to work.

Be Prepared

Make some great snacks because when kids come back from a summer camp, the first thing that they complain about is the food, so make sure you get this right. Don’t just go to the store and buy a couple of those dehydrated snacks.

Instead, make something tasty and homemade like you used to get. Toasted marshmallows between two graham crackers is a good start. Make your own trail mix as well. Your kids can help you with this.

Bring different accessories along that kids can get involved in when the time allows for them to get creative with crafts. Camping craft activities for kids should definitely be allowed.

Things like a String God’s Eye (see instruction video above), Window Nature Art or Stick Vases are all very popular forms of creation.

When kids are not drawing or getting clever with natural things, then you may want to send them out to pick up wood for the fire. You could take them fishing if you are in an appropriate area. In the evening, sing fun songs around the campfire (see video for song ideas).

Think of activities beforehand  such as hiking according to the area. Plan your trip according to the activity. You may not have space for a bike in the car, but there may be a place to hire one and do some mountain biking. Teaching your kids something new like hunting can definitely be an adventure. This may be a big step so you should take this one slow, but it is something they will remember for a long time to come. 

At the end of the day, this is just about getting your kids out of the house. They may not be amused about skipping out on Disney World and they may not be too happy to be away from the television set, but it is really amazing how quickly they forget about all of those things once they learn something new. There is nothing like catching your own fish for the very first time when you are eight years old.

Author Byline

Lisa Williams is a freelance writer and children's book author.


Tent image by Arminti under royalty free license via SXC
Toasting marshmallow image by julaif under royalty free license via SXC
Smores image by NoShoes under royalty free license via SXC

Play Dough Recipes for Kids

There are loads of things you can do with play dough if you think about it. I remember making a giraffe on one occasion back in the day, and it kept me busy for ages. It was fascinating!

Kids can spend hours on end making animals they saw on their last trip to the country, or they can get busy with something they imagine comes from out of space. You can get creative with colors and textures so kids can really go wild and take it to the next level. This is when the little sculptor really comes to life.

Tips About Home Made Modeling Dough

Making play dough recipes for kids is really not difficult. In fact, it couldn't be easier, and I've also included an uncooked play dough recipe you could get your own child busy with so they can brag they actually did everything themselves.

Some people prefer to make a lot at once and this is not a bad idea, but make sure you keep it in a sealed container. Eventually the flour inside the mix will take its toll so you can't keep it forever, but if you find your kids are really enjoying themselves, and this is one of their favorite pass times, then it would just be logical to make a little extra and save yourself some extra work. If you are looking for more texture then opt for the cooked variety.

Recipe for Homemade Play Dough

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups flour
2. 2 cups tepid water
3. 1 cup salt
4. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5. 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
6. Food coloring of your choice (this can be bright, neon or neutral)
7. Add in scented oil for something extra special

This is an easy play dough recipe for kids because you just cook this up all together over heat until you can feel that the dough has some elasticity to it.

Cool this in a bag or a sealed container. Many people have said their mix can last up to six months. Personally,  I would say it can last between four to six months, which is really not bad if you think about it.

So it may be a good idea to make a selection of colors all at one time to save you from working every time your kids want play in dough. This recipe will make an ample amount for up to four kids so if you think you may have more kids (in case your kids invite some friends over), then you may want to double the recipe.

No-cook Play Dough Recipe for Kids

Often the kids just want to help with everything. This may be helpful at times, but sometimes you have to have a little more patience than usual. A recipe for modeling dough, which has been designed for kids to make, solves the problem and allows kids to come up with something they can really be proud about. In saying that, it's always nice to get kids involved.

The only problem with this variety is that it doesn't last too long. In fact, compared to a shelf life of a couple of months with the other recipe, this one will only last a week.
Make this in small batches; otherwise it will be a waste. You also have to keep it in the refrigerator. Kids will like the fact that the dough doesn't take a long time to make.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup flour
2. 1/2 cup water (hot)
3. 1/2 cup salt
4. Food coloring of your choice

Mix the flour, salt and water with the coloring and knead it around until it forms a dough that you can pull apart like elastic.

Watch the video below to find out how to make modeling clay with flavored dry drink mixes.

Playing with dough or modeling clay exercises the hands and fingers and develops fine motor skills. Try one or both of these recipes whenever you need a way to keep kids busy for a little while - like rainy days!

Author Byline

Lisa Williams is the author of two children's books, Big Cats and Penguins.

Giraffe image by Alex Bruda under royalty free license via SXC

Children's Book Review: Big Cats by Lisa Williams

Are you looking for ways to get your kids more excited about reading and learning about jungle/zoo animals? Big Cats by Lisa Williams will get your kids turned about learning in a big way!

Synopsis of Big Cats

You probably remember the famous line from the hit movie "The Wizard of Oz" about "Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my!" While you won't find any bears in Big Cats, you'll find out lots of things you probably never knew about  cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, lynx, mountain lions, and tigers.

For instance, do you know what a panther is? You'll find the answer to that question in the first few pages of the book, and frankly, we think you will be shocked - we were! (No spoiler alerts needed here.)

The first part of the book contains a variety of interesting facts for kids about big cats in general followed by a section entitled "How big are they?" The how big are they chart contrasts the size of an average person with the sizes of the different big cat species, and we loved this chart! It's an excellent visual that helps kids picture how big or little each cat is. Turns out the lynx is the smallest and the tiger the largest when compared with someone weighing 140 pounds.

The rest of the book examines specific data about each species as well as a map of their native range or the types of big cats and illustrations of the animals.

What You'll Like

This is an excellent stand-alone kid's book, but if you are homeschooling or like to do your own hands-on education in conjunction with public or private schooling, this is a great resource tool. You could study each of the seven big cats in as much or as little detail as you choose. Here's some ideas of how to use this book as a teaching tool:

1. Unit study: Do a unit study on each of the types of big cats. For instance, for a tiger unit, you could do research to find out which tiger species are endangered and ways to help the tigers. You could make graphs of the tiger's prey or their enemies. When working with younger children, you could lead the children in imitating the sounds or the movements of tigers.

2. Go on safari! Round up the stuffed animals in your household and plan a safari. For younger kids, parents and educators will do most of the prep work, but older kids could make a checklist of things they would need for a safari, and then search for them at home.

Hats, binoculars, notebooks and so forth make good props for a safari, and so does a digital camera for "shooting" the animals you find on your hunt. Print out the photos and make posters or wall murals telling about your safari.

3. Pretend Play: Make a big cat mask. Use a paper plate to make a mask of whatever big cat your child chooses. Provide art supplies like markers and crayons and craft media such as yarn or construction paper.

Cut out eye holes, punch holes in each side and use yarn or ribbon to tie on the mask. You can also use these masks with the safari idea and let some of the children be the big cat hunters and some the big cats.

Reader Recommendation

I'd recommend this book for ages 6 and up, but preschoolers and toddlers would probably be interested in some of the pictures of the big cats. This is the perfect book for independent readers but you could also use it as a read-aloud book by reading a few pages each day.

If I were still teaching, I'd definitely want this for my classroom, and I would give it as a gift to several children who come to mind. Lisa Williams is a talented children's book writer with a gift for telling factual information in an engaging manner kids are sure to love.

Book Details

Title: Big Cats
Author: Lis Williams
Publisher: Lis Williams
ASIN: B00BHHXDOA

Image courtesy of Amazon

Fun Songs for Kids

The one thing kids lack a lot of the time is attention. This is normal because very often we expect kids to think along the same lines as us, and that is just going a little far.

Fun songs for kids are an easy way to entertain little ones

You just have to put it into perspective and realize you are dealing with a three year old or a five year old. You may be in your thirties or forties. Now, that is a big gap. The brain is taking in a lot of information at this stage.

Music Hath Charms

One way to keep the happy balance in the home is to implement fun songs for kids, which can be found all over the place. School teachers know exactly what to do when they need to take control of the class. Music is the answer.

Those eyes will immediately start to widen up with curiosity and excitement as the songs start to play. You don’t need to do anything, simply put the disc in, and watch your son or daughter’s mood change in an instant.

You have probably seen busy moms with their kids out and about and as soon as one of the little ones start to perform, it is usually a song that calms them down. Often you kids find comfort through their tears by hearing the words of their favorite song, and suddenly they start singing as if they are in another place.

Everyone remembers at least one song from when they were a little tot. Sing-a-long-songs are probably one of the best that you could think of because they are so catchy. This is where the actions come in and things can become even more upbeat.

At this age kids are not self-conscious about their voice or what they sound like, like many adults are. If they are enjoying themselves, they will shout the words out with a lot of joy. Sometimes it can even be a competition between a couple of youngsters to see who has the loudest voice.

It’s a good idea to encourage this because it builds confidence. As a teacher, teaching kids English in a foreign country, you might think where, in fact, you start. However, by jumping around, teaching the kids to do the actions, whilst you have music playing in the background, you will be on course. This music is hopefully catchy and a lot of kids start to learn the language in this way.

Top Songs for Kids

Here are a couple of songs to get you started:

Soon you will have some of these stuck in your head and a song or two will suddenly come out unexpectedly whilst you are making the dinner.

• "Down by the Bay"
• "The Duck Song"
• "Five Little Monkeys"
• "I’m a Little Teapot"
• "The Bus Goes Round and Round"
• "The Pirate Song"

There are a lot more of fun songs for kids on YouTube. But if you are one of those panicky people, then just stop – because you will have music all around you. This is one thing that you won’t have to do any research for.

Author Byline

Lisa is a Children’s author and a freelance writer. For more of her insightful parenting advice, you may want to read "How to Teach Kids Responsibility the Right Way."

Image credit Hortongrou under royalty free license via SXC

Non Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI): Helping Kids Who Cut Themselves

Helping Kids Who Cut: What's the Problem?

Teenage cutting is an emergency situation that calls for immediate intervention. Self-medicating—no matter how it is demonstrated—is an escape mechanism for numbing out-of-control emotions and ending the pain of feelings that cannot be explained or understood.

(Warning: this article contains a graphic image regarding the dangers of self injury.)

Kids who cut themselves want to stop but lack the proper skills to help themselves. The good news is most self-injurers can quit if they receive the proper intervention because self-harm is a disorder similar to overeating or abusing drugs.

As parents, our task is helping kids who cut to break this cycle:

• Emotions burgeoning to the breaking point
• Self-injury
• Temporary relief
• Back to the breaking point

Help your child stop running on this destructive treadmill of pain, and supply them with coping techniques by employing these parenting tips for a child who self-injures to end the emergency of self cutting.

911 Help for Self-injurers

If your child was drowning, would you investigate methods to save him or her or throw a life preserver? If your child is self-cutting, throw the life preserver – quick. (See below for a toll-free information hotline number.) Once a child is safe, you have time to research available help and support for stopping deliberate self harming actions.

Some red flags to watch for are children who begin wearing inappropriate clothing (for example, long sleeved garments in summer time) or act as if they are hiding something. Self-injuring behavior can become addictive and may cause other problems like scarring, infections or excessive blood loss. 

Get professional help to identify and treat the root issues of the self injurious behaviors. Most health care professionals label self-injury as Non Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI), but most parents call it "help me, Jesus” time.

Self-injurer Triage

Health care professionals use triage in emergencies to classify, prioritize, and treat patients. Follow this same concept with kids who cut themselves. The three stages of NSSI are:

• Superficial: pinching or scratching skin
• Moderate: cutting or burning skin
• Major: cutting off body parts.

Three triage steps for helping self-injurers:

1. Signs kids are crying for help: self-hitting, head-banging, or self-injury. Get professional help quick.
2. Active listening to determine what the self-injuring child is communicating by cutting. Evaluate the severity of self harm inflicted. Is there time for behavior modification techniques, counseling, or other preventive measures, or is immediate intervention and emergency care needed?
3. Deal with core problems rather than bandaging wounds. External symptoms like self-mutilation and self-injury signal internal issues like inability to express emotions appropriately, anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem.

What's the Answer?

Some self-injuring children have found help from techniques like these:

• Joining support groups and getting help from others with the same problems.
• Journaling - because moving feelings from inside the body to an external source acts as a safety valve to release the build-up of toxic emotions. Many feel they can stab the paper with words and save the skin.
• Choosing safe alternatives like markers or pens for decorating rather than cutting skin.

The most important step is for these children to be able to admit they have a problem and ask for help. Once the root cause - or trigger - for the self-injuring behavior is identified, they can work with a mental health professional to learn appropriate coping techniques and ways to stop cutting.

Keep in mind that any coping techniques treat the symptoms but do not cure. The best answer is to seek professional help from a mental help professional and to develop a plan of long-term strategies for helping a self-injuring child stop cutting. The best parenting tips for a child who self-injures is to stop the behavior, diagnosis the symptoms, and treat the causes so you can end the emergency of cutting behaviors and self-injury.

Disclaimer

This article is for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice.  Consult with your health care professional if you suspect your child is cutting or performing other self-injury behaviors.

Fortunately, most parenting problems are not as serious as self-injuring. Combating childhood fears like being afraid of going to the dentist or helping kids learn to stop wetting the bed are challenging enough for most of us. What is the most pressing issue you are facing with your kids? How are you coping?

Resource material: "What Is Cutting?," article reviewed by D'Arcy Lyness, Ph.D, 06/2012, KidsHealth

S.A.F.E. Alternatives: Self-injury Information Hotline: 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8288)

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Do not cut image by jblahblahblah under CC-BY-20 via Flickr
Self harm image by 30 d a g a r m e d a n a l h u s under CC-BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr

No More Wet Beds! What To Do For Bed Wetting In Boys

What to do for bed wetting in boys? Nocturnal enuresis, or bedwetting as it is more commonly called, is a traumatic experience, especially for the little boy who is dreaming of graduating to "big boy" status. He may feel anxious, ashamed or embarrassed by his inability to stay dry all night.

Bedwetting can be caused by a failure to wake up before urinating

You may feel overwhelmed or frustrated because having to do extra loads of laundry adds to your household task load, or you feel guilty because you are tired of getting up in the night to wake your son and take him to the bathroom. The good news is there are techniques to help boys stop wetting the bed, and you may not even need to go to the extent of purchasing bedwetting alarms or resorting to medications.

Bedwetting in Children

Here are some important facts about bedwetting in children that you may or may not know: 

• It's harder for boys to stop bedwetting than it is for girls.
• Bedwetting typically ends by the time children are between 5 to 16 years old according to WebMD. Their report goes on to say that in the United States, twenty percent of five-year olds wet the bed, with the number dropping to one percent of 16-year olds who still experience nocturnal enuresis.
• Medical disorders - autism, for example - can exacerbate the problem and make it harder for boys to stop wetting the bed.
• One-fourth of all preschoolers who are bed wetters stop as their bodies mature.
• No one - not the child or the parents - is to blame if a child is wetting the bed

What to Do About Bed Wetting

The first step to helping your son stop bedwetting is to confirm there are no contributory issues such as medical conditions, stress issues or hormonal problems.

Next, you need to understand what causes bedwetting. Typically, it is a failure to wake up rather than a full bladder. Once you've eliminated these potential problem areas and understand the trigger, you can focus on techniques for stopping the bedwetting.

How to Prevent Bed Wetting

Behavior modification is the most effective method of preventing bedwetting.

Establishing consistent routines such as bedtime rituals that include urinating before going to bed and limiting (but not restricting or denying) the consumption of liquids in the evening are time-tested ways to stop bed wetting issues.

These routines combined with incentives like a dry nights chart or journal for the child to fill in before bedtime and rewards such as stickers for having dry nights usually provide the necessary incentive for most boys.

Be Prepared

Plan ahead so if a bedwetting episode does happen, you can get your son clean, dry and back to bed quickly and easily. Many parents find it helpful to have a change of clothes, underwear and some towels staged by the bed.

That way, if your son does accidentally wet the bed, help him change clothes. Take the wet bedclothes off the bed, and use the towels to cover the bed so you can get him back to sleep quickly. Don't take time in the middle of the night to remake the bed; instead, focus on getting him back into the bed and asleep.

In the morning, your son should make the bed (with your help where necessary) to help him learn responsibility for staying dry. With many children, the inconvenience of making the bed in the morning encourages them to stop wetting the bed.

Reinforce the Positive

If your child wakes up before urinating, take him to the bathroom as quickly as possible to reinforce the idea of getting up and going to the bathroom to stay dry. Praise him for his success. Many parents find that waking their child, taking him to the bathroom, and then returning him to bed works well for helping their sons to stop bedwetting.

What to Do if He Can't Stop Wetting the Bed

If these simple methods don't help, it may be time to consider other options such as counseling, purchasing aids like bedwetting alarms, or having your healthcare professional to another evaluation to determine what other methods might help. However, keep in mind, most boys eventually stop wetting the bed as they grow older. If your son does have an occasional accident, simply revert to the methods listed above for a few nights until he is consistently dry for a week at a time, then stop.

Patience and persistence from their parents, guardians or caregivers combined with reliable bedtime routines, positive reinforcement for successes, and regular health check-ups help most boys stop wetting the bed.  

Knowing what to do for bed wetting is just one of the ways we parents deal with sensitive issues like kids' health problems or childhood fears. Fear of the dentist or the dark can be just as anxiety producing as wetting the bed. What childhood fears are you currently handling in your family?

http://visual.ly/bedwetting-vs-potty-training-infographic

Resource Material: Parker, Hilary, "A Parent's Guide to Bedwetting," WebMD, accessed 02/19/2013
Image by Anissat under royalty free license via SXC