Zoobooks for Kids – Free Poster and Stickers
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Teens
Frugal and Healthy Back-to-School Lunchbox Ideas
It’s that time of year again, and the age-old question of what to feed your children for lunch while they at school is upon you once again. With all of the talk about the poor quality of school lunches, you may decide to start sending a lunch with your children. But if they are like most kids, their first choices may not be the healthiest or the least expensive.
To recharge them after a long morning and get them through the day, avoid sugary foods and provide at least one source of protein. Remember to pack a dairy product, use whole grains, and give them at least two veggie or fruit items.
Here are some simple ideas for keeping them healthy and strong while keeping your budget under control:
* Sandwiches – Peanut butter, deli slices, cheese, or even leftover meat loaf or roast beef all make great sandwich fixings. Pair them with whole grain bread, pitas or tortillas. Add the complimentary condiments in separate containers to keep the bread from getting soggy, and include a plastic knife for preparation.
* Jello – Most children adore a Jello snack in their lunch box, but purchasing these pre-made can get pricey. Instead, buy boxes of Jello powder and mix it up over the weekend to dole out each day. Use fruit juice in place of water or add canned fruit to the mix to take care of one of your daily servings of fruit. Invest in some small plastic containers that are about the size of the pre-made Jello cups to make it easier.
* Fresh fruit – Toss an apple, orange or banana into the lunch box each day. If it isn’t eaten at lunch, chances are it will get eaten after school. Fresh fruit is better than canned fruit and if sent whole it doesn’t require a special container of its own.
* Fresh vegetables – Baby carrots, celery slices, broccoli pieces, cherry tomatoes and even salad are easy to carry in a lunch box and can stand alone or go well paired with dip or dressing in a separate container.
* Soup – Mix up a batch of home-made soup or stew over the weekend or open a can of soup and heat it up to boiling before school. Pour it into a thermos and it should still be safely hot by lunchtime. Pair it with items that do not need to be cold to ensure everything in the lunch box remains at a safe temperature.
* Chips – You can avoid regular potato chips and still have a cheap, healthy addition to your child’s meal. While pricier, whole grain and baked chips will provide a nutritional advantage over the white flour and fried varieties. Purchase large bags of chips and dole them out in baggies or washable plastic containers each day to keep costs down.
* Milk or yogurt – Many schools will allow your child to purchase a container of milk, or you can send along a thermos of ice-cold milk. Send a container of yogurt; if frozen overnight it should be nicely thawed by lunch time and will help keep other items cold during the morning.
With many of these options, refrigeration or heating is required but probably not allowed. Investing in a good quality thermal lunch box, a freezer pack and a thermos to keep items hot or cold is well worth it. Use washable containers for each item instead of disposable baggies to keep your long-term expense down.
Making wise choices for your children’s lunches this school year will keep both them and your bank account healthy and strong.
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Easy Ways to Save Money on Back-to-School Clothes
One of the best things about heading back to school is the shopping spree a few weeks before. Unfortunately, with many families struggling to make ends meet, this may be a pleasure for more prosperous times. What can you do to make sure your child is well dressed while not busting your budget this fall? Here are a few tips.
* Sort through last year’s items – Pull out all of your child’s clothes and go through them. Items that still fit and are free from stains and tears can be repurposed for this year. Basic items are almost always in fashion and go well with newer updated items.
* Use hand-me-downs – If you have an older child of the same sex, pass their clothing along to the younger sibling instead of tossing them out. Just like last-seasons items, keep only those pieces that are timeless, fit well, and are free from stains and tears. Make sure that the younger child doesn’t feel like they only get their siblings cast-offs, though. Take him or her for a special shopping trip to get a couple of extra-special pieces.
* Bargain shop – From outlet stores to seasonal sales, there are always bargains to be had. Watch your local ads and sign up online for newsletters from your favorite stores so you will know when the sales are. You might even get some coupons out of it!
* Plan ahead – Begin planning for your child’s school year clothing the winter before and it will be much less expensive to send them off with a full new wardrobe. Styles really don’t change too much from one season to the next, so if you purchase from end-of-season sales you could get three or four outfits for the price of one.
* Buy used clothing – While your child might act like they are dying of embarrassment if they knew it, you can usually find some great pieces at second-hand stores and clothing trades. You might have to weed through a number of torn, stained or horribly-out-of-fashion items, but you are sure to find things like basic jeans, tank tops, t-shirts, turtlenecks, belts and possibly even barely-worn shoes.
* Learn how to sew – Unlike many years ago, it is rarely cost-effective to purchase new fabric and create items from scratch. However, it is useful to have sewing skills for making alterations to good used clothing. It is even possible to convert a larger item into an entirely different garment if the fabric is good. It’s also fun to add whatever embellishment is the latest trend. From patches to sequins, a needle and thread can go a long way.
* Splurge a little – If you can afford it, allow your child a set dollar amount, even as little as $20, to purchase one or two items that they adore and they consider “must-haves” for this year’s little fashionistas. This small splurge can make the entire back-to-school bargain hunting effort go much smoother and helps your child with their fashion self-esteem.
The bargain-conscious parent can be at peace with fashion-conscious kids with some planning and extra effort. It’s as simple as reusing items, buying bargains, and accessorizing with a few of the latest fashions. Your kids may not be ready for a runway, but they will be ready for the first day of school.
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Are Your Children’s After-School Activities Blowing Your Budget?
Keeping your children involved in after-school activities is a good way to keep them busy and also from getting into trouble. However, sometimes too many activities can put strain on a family’s budget. There are several activities that your children can get involved in that will not put a strain on your finances.
* Many parents like to put their children in activities that cost a monthly fee. Such activities include martial arts, gymnastics or dance class. These monthly fees can eat away at a budget very quickly, so plan accordingly and consider registering your child in only one activity at a time. This may not be feasible if you have more than one child as the cost will increase with each child that participates. Some institutions, however, do offer discounts for family participation.
* Many schools have after-school activities such as sports. Most of the time, these activities are funded by the school with little investment from the parents. There are many different sports available for your children to try. Girls can go out for softball, cheerleading or volleyball while boys have their selection of football, baseball or basketball.
* Boy scouts or girl scouts have clubs virtually everywhere. Look online and find a scout near your home. These clubs are usually low cost and have great benefits. The purpose of the scouts is to teach your children morals and values; they supplement what you teach your children at home. Also taught in the scouts is leadership and teamwork.
* 4-H clubs are a good way to get children involved in crafts and taking care of animals. 4-H is not available everywhere but they do have a lot of science activities that most other organizations do not. Oftentimes they exhibit at the local fairs or craft shows.
* Musical lessons is another option, which children often do when they are inspired artistically. One of the best artistic ways for your children to express themselves is through music. This can be instrumental or vocal in nature. Many times schools will have these programs available or they can be found by searching your local phone book.
Keeping your children occupied after school can get pricey, especially if your children are involved in multiple activities. To ease up on your budget, try to keep children in one primary activity. Schools offer many different sports programs and there are many organizations that cater to children such as 4-H and Boy and Girl Scout clubs. Whichever activity you choose for your children, be sure to make sure they enjoy the activities, otherwise you could be throwing your money away.
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Conduct Disorder – Antisocial in it’s True Sense
One type of behavior disorder that has been constantly increasing prevalence within the past years is Conduct Disorder. Children as young as nine years can be diagnosed with this disorder, which exhibits itself with troublesome or antisocial behavior in the child, that persists for a long period of time.
Being antisocial is often misconstrued by a lot of people as a person who doesn’t like to be in a crowd or those who tend to shy away from people. However, antisocial behavior is actually actions being destructive towards oneself, as well as other people. This type of behavior violates the existing standards and norms set by the society. And antisocial behavior is what Conduct Disorder’s all about.
According to recent studies, an estimated 5% of children show signs of conduct problems, which are characterized by being aggressive, overactive, and violent. Boys are more likely to have Conduct Disorder than girls. In general, young children and adolescents usually go through this stage of truancy, but it lessens over time. If the aggressive and destructive behavior lasts for more than 2 years and has no signs of decreasing, then the child or adolescent is already a candidate for having Conduct Disorder.
The causes of Conduct Disorder are may be environmental or neuropsychological. Children growing up under harsh environment such as having abusive parents/caregivers, disadvantaged neighborhood, low socioeconomic status, or mixing with other delinquent children may result to conduct problems. However, studies also show that children diagnosed with Conduct Disorder seem to have an impairment in the frontal lobe of the brain, the part which we use to avoid harm, learn from negative experiences, and plan ahead. Children with difficult temperament are more likely to develop Conduct Disorder.
The symptoms of Conduct Disorder may be found in people that do not really have it. As was mentioned above, almost everyone goes though an aggressive stage in their lives. But if the behavior happens more often, over a long stretch of time, and affects the social interactions, learning, and school adjustments of the child, then it may already be Conuct Disorder. The four major symptoms are the following: aggressive conduct, deceitfulness, destructive conduct, and rule-breaking. Aggression includes bullying, fights, forcing people, intimidating others, and such. Deceit may refer to thieving, lying, and delinquency. Other mischievous attitude, playing pranks, and truancy are all under the Rule Violation section. Proper diagnosis should be done by a physician or psychiatric people, since these symptoms can also be present in other behavior problems.
Like most behavior issues, Conduct Disorder may be treated via therapy and/or medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy involves creating problem-focused solutions toward the problem itself. Anger Management is one kind of a cognitive-behavioral therapy. Another is peer group and family therapy, which tries to help the child or adolescent in improving social skills and interacting with family and friends. The physician may go for medication, especially if other symptoms such as depression, are present.
As they say, prevention is better than cure, so in order to prevent Conduct Disorder with young people, parents really need to be cooperative and supportive in bringing up their children. Though many factors affect this kind of disorder, a child that has a good foundation built on trust, love, and support from his or her family and friends, may less likely be an antisocial in the future.
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Unique Way of Helping Kids With Behavior Problems
The human body, specifically the human personality and the human mind, are among the most interesting territories anybody can explore. Aside from being a constant topic for research, the human body is also one of the fields that experts continue to delve into because of the unending mysteries and possibilities such as the occurrence of various behavior problems.
But as time goes by, more and more findings are being linked to the human body that can affect its major parts like the brain. These major developments or possibilities continue to be under the observation and study of the leading institutions in the world right now.
Among the age brackets that are prone to developing behavior problems are kids that are in the grade school level. This is because they often lack guidance from their parents and understanding from their teachers and peers.
Today, many experts have realized that there is one effective way to help children veer away from the possible development of behavior problems—this is by giving the child a pet companion.
Experts agree that pets—specifically dogs—are effective companions that can bring physical and emotional benefits especially to young kids. Studies show that dogs are quite effective companions especially in dealing with mood disorders and other behavior problems.
Possessing calm, loyal and intelligent qualities, canine companions are said to be ideal for those people who go through mood swings and disorders because these animals can provide the peace and tranquility the person needs to soothe his or her nerves. When it comes to psychotherapy, canine companions usually serve as clinical bridges and distractions using uncomfortable sessions.
Studies show that a strong psychological and emotional attachment between people and animal companions have resulted to lasting and strengthened human-animal bonds. Reports also show that canine companions help their owners have a positive outlook in life by minimizing the tension amongst people and family members.
Just like any other inquiry or study that has been conducted recently, the reports regarding the supposed benefits of people interacting with companion animals or Animal Assisted Therapies (AAT) are not yet final. These reports, though initial, present studies of efficacy that exude great possibilities. With continuous research, it has been found out that those animals that are involved in AAT increase people’s understanding of the human-companion animal interaction, thus can lead to therapeutic possibilities.
As early as the 18th century, AAT is being administered by people as a medical intervention for improving a person’s structural and postural balance. Aside from the physical benefits AAT gives, it has also been found out that animal companion also helps the person to improve and develop a sense of self-worth, ego strength, self-confidence and social competence.
Today, AAT is known to work well with children who have behavior problems as well to kids that are autistic, nonverbal, schizophrenic, inhibited, withdrawn, obsessive-compulsive and even to those who are culturally challenged. Because of this, AAT/nature education programs were created to be therapeutic for patients in residential treatment especially for those with attention-deficit/hyperactive and conduct disorders.
It has also been observed that canine companions included in the AAT program were effective in decreasing the patient’s agitated and aggressive behavior while improving their cooperation with the instructors, thus leading to engaged learning and behavioral control in a regular classroom setting.
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