Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Participate in the First Annual Caine’s Arcade Global Cardboard Challenge!

Sep 20th, 12 / 0 Comments
participate-in-the-first-annual-caines-arcade-global-cardboard-challenge

By Ready. Set. Grow!

The following information is adapted from the Imagination Foundation

Have you heard of Caine’s Arcade? If you haven’t yet seen the inspirational short film about a 9-year-old boy from Los Angeles and his cardboard arcade, watch it here:

So, on Saturday, Oct. 6, the Imagination Foundation will launch by hosting the first annual Global Cardboard Challenge. The Challenge will bring together the young and the young at heart from all over the world to build, play and celebrate creativity and community as thousands, together, use cardboard to build whatever they can imagine. Basically, during the first week of October (or on Oct. 6), kids across the globe will use cardboard and other recycled materials to build a cardboard creation — an arcade, a robot, a plane … whatever they want — and share them with each other.

Check out the new “Caine’s Arcade 2″ follow-up video, capturing some of the magic of the global phenomenon, here:

Help us spread the word, organize an event, attend an event in your area or build a cardboard creation yourself! Visit www.cardboardchallenge.com for more information on how to participate and join the thousands of others all over the world in a day of play!

Please share with us photos or stories from your cardboard creations on our Facebook page at ReadySetGrowLA!

Related articles

Share
Just for Fun, Social Media, Uncategorized

Pacifiers: The Great Debate

Aug 29th, 12 / 0 Comments
pacifiers-the-great-debate

By HappyMamaX2

One day when my son Adrian was not yet 1, I took him grocery shopping. As usual, Adrian was using his pacifier to distract him from the discomfort of being strapped into the cart as we did this boring errand. While waiting to purchase our groceries, I noticed the elderly woman in front of us staring at Adrian. I caught her eye and smiled, to which she replied, “Take that thing out of his mouth. He’s never going to start speaking if you plug him up all the time.”

I was startled. How do you respond to someone criticizing your parenting choices? As a new mom, I constantly worried that I was ruining my child. And pacifiers were a particularly sensitive topic for me.

Boy with pacifier.

When I was still pregnant with Adrian, I had heard all the terrible things about pacifiers from veteran moms. I swore I’d never use them. But on the first night home from the hospital, when Adrian wouldn’t stop crying, I caved. As he slipped quietly into sleep sucking blissfully on his new binky, I felt guilty. Was I encouraging a bad habit?

As it turns out, most experts agree that the decision is up to the parents because there are both advantages and disadvantages to pacifier use. The Mayo Clinic’s website lists some of the drawbacks of using a binky: it may interfere with breastfeeding, your baby may not learn to soothe himself and it may increase the risk of ear infections or dental problems. However, the same website also lists the benefits of pacifier use: it may protect against SIDS, it provides a source of comfort or distraction for a fussy baby, it satisfies a baby’s strong suck reflex and it eases discomfort on airplanes. In addition, WebMD suggests it is easier to wean a child off a pacifier than his thumb.

On Parents.com, Marguerite Lamb’s article discusses a few expert-backed options for when and how to wean children off pacifiers. My husband and I decided to wait until Adrian was 2so that he could understand what was happening and communicate his feelings. We chose to follow Lamb’s “Three Day Plan” because it best fit our parenting style. For a few days, we talked to Adrian about giving up his binky. Then, Adrian helped us find all the pacifiers and placed them in a special box. My husband had Adrian say “thank you” and “goodbye” to his beloved friends, and then I quietly disposed of the box while Adrian was distracted. Adrian was tremendously proud of himself and told everyone that he was a “big boy now.” He struggled with sleep for a few nights, but overall it was a smooth process.

The lady in the grocery store had a very valid opinion: there are drawbacks to using pacifiers. But experts also argue that there are tremendous benefits, and that it is a personal decision all parents must make. Adrian’s binky brought him comfort when he needed it, and that is what was important to me in the end.

Share
Behavior Issues, Breastfeeding, Health and Nutrition, Parenting, Safety, Uncategorized

Can the High Costs of Child Care Keep Women From “Having it All”?

Aug 27th, 12 / 0 Comments
can-the-high-costs-of-child-care-keep-women-from-%e2%80%9chaving-it-all

By Double Duty Mama

A supervisor at one of my past jobs is rumored to have announced “no more uteruses” in the workplace upon learning that another of his employees was pregnant. To him, and probably to a lot of employers, an expecting mother causes all kinds of alarms to go off:

WARNING: She’s going to miss work for doctors’ appointments!

WARNING: She’s going to take off time to have and bond with the baby!

WARNING: She’s going to want to leave work at a reasonable hour to spend time with her family!

The guilt and pressure working mothers (and many fathers) feel when it comes to balancing a job and a home life can be overwhelming. But, when you add to that the financial pain of the high costs of quality child care, many women are finding that they have to make some tough choices between their career and finding an affordable, safe, nurturing and educational environment to place their child every day.

Women’s issues have taken center stage in this election year, fueled by remarks from women on all sides of the spectrum. This summer, in a controversial Atlantic article, a female high-ranking State Department official wrote why she thinks women still can’t have it all. When Yahoo! hired a CEO who was six months pregnant, the blogosphere exploded in debate about what women can and can’t have. And tempers are raging over remarks made by wife of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney about the role of women in the home.

Like most working moms out there, I am not a high-ranking federal official, a powerful business leader or a high-profile political wife. I am just a working shlub earning a modest salary trying to get to my kids’ doctors’ appointments and school performances, and be home in time for dinner most nights. I don’t have a choice between being a stay-at-home mom and working outside the house — at least, not if we want to make ends meet.

I do consider myself among the lucky, though, in that we’ve been able to afford pretty decent child care and preschools. My younger son attended a public preschool through our local school district, which was affordable, by comparison to private centers. I know many of his friends received government subsidies to off-set even that low-end tuition.

But, according to a recent report, Parents and the High Cost of Child Care, many families are forced to choose between quality and affordability, as reported in today’s Monday Morning Report. The average cost of infant care in California last year was $11,800, according to the report by Child Care Aware of America.

With budget cuts and slashes to public subsidies, Child Care Aware of America is calling on lawmakers for reforms. Find out more about financial help for child care from the state Department of Social Services’ CalWORKs Child Care Program, the federal Community Services Block Grant or the Child Care Resource Center of Los Angeles.

Share
Budgeting, Parenting, Preschool, Uncategorized

Get Organized for Back to School Success (& Sanity!)

Aug 14th, 12 / 0 Comments
get-organized-for-back-to-school-success-sanity

By Ready. Set. Grow!

Ready. Set. Grow! is pleased to welcome guest blogger and expert organizer, Kristin Borostyan, to share some tips on how to tackle the beginning of the school year … without feeling overwhelmed!

Like it or not, summer is coming to a close and the kids are heading back to school! Be prepared without feeling the stress. Here are some tried and true ways to help you kick off the school year with ease and confidence.

  1. Master the morning routine by preparing the night before and getting your kids up on time! Getting the morning started right will set the tone for the rest of theday. The night before, choose clothing, gather books and assignments and put everything in a designated place. In general, it’s a good idea to decide on how your child will wake up and to keep this pattern consistent. Do not let your kids sleep in! Use an alarm clock or wake them up. Make sure you are leaving enough time to get everyone out the door on time and, if your schedule allows, get your kids on the back to school morning schedule the week before school starts.
  2. Designate and create areas that are specific to each child, and use hooks and shelves that are low to the ground.  This is where your child’s back pack, lunch, paperwork, shoes and coat willgo. Remember that the right organizing items should make your life easier, not more difficult. Organizing your house in a kid-friendly way to avoid clutter will make routines easier.
  3. Get a large memory box where your kids can save art and projects they really love. If it’s full before the school year is up, work with your child to decide what to keep and what to donate or recycle. This is one of the best ways to manage the piles of paper that come home from school with your kids. Have your child pick out and or decorate the box. A large plastic bin is a sturdy and inexpensive option. They’ll learn how to prioritize what’s really meaningful -a skill that will come in handy for the rest of their lives.
  4. Plan your lunches a week ahead of time and have your kids pack weekly snacks. While you plan out your child’s weekly lunch schedule, set your child up with little storage bags and healthy snack items like carrots, fruit, pretzels, etc. and have them fill as many bags as they’ll need for the week. Set them aside in a designated area in the refrigerator or pantry. Then when it’s time to pack snacks, you or your child can just reach in, grab and go!
  5. Keep a back up stash of kid gear in your car. It always helps to have back up items in your car, such as a change of clothes, nonperishable snacks, a kid friendly activity and always a first aid kit with sun block!
  6. Set up on Sunday for the week ahead. Spend some family time on Sunday to prepare for the week with your child. Talk about your week, go over your schedule go through your child’s backpack and get snacks ready to go.
  7. Foster Your Child’s “Sparks!” Kids are bursting with some of the best ideas. Allow your child some decision making for things that help them express individuality. Find ways to have your children help with any and all of the above tasks, and you will encourage self reliance and independence.

The best thing you can do is be prepared! We know that with kids, anything can happen, so be flexible and laugh when you can! Know that, while you are getting organized, you are also modeling and teaching your kids important life skills.

******

Kristin Borostyan is the mother of two teenage daughters and specializes in transitioning kids and families for back to school. A former school counselor, Kristin became a professional organizer and established Straighten Up-Organize to Succeed because she loves to recreate the feeling you have on the first day of school when everything is organized and the possibilities are endless.

Attend her workshop titled “Get Organized for Back to School Success (& Sanity!)” this Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Pamper Play, 2279 Westwood Blvd., just a few blocks from the Westside Pavilion. Child care is available. For more information, see the flier below, visit www.straightenupwithkristin.com or call 310-441-0797.

Share
Parenting, Preschool, Uncategorized

Get Out & Play at the Park Safely!

Jul 18th, 12 / 0 Comments
get-out-play-at-the-park-safely

By Ready. Set. Grow!

When you live in the city, there is really no better place to Get Out & Play with kids than the park. Not only is there open space to run, ride bikes and play ball or tag, but there are the structures for kids to climb, slide, swing and balance.

However, there are some hidden (and some very obvious) dangers that every adult should be aware of when at the park with a young child. A study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that, in one year, more than 200,000 playground equipment-related injuries were treated in emergency rooms. Nearly 76 percent of those injuries were from equipment designed for public use.

Keep these in mind while you Get Out & Play.

SLIDES

There is a common leg fracture that young children get when riding down a slide with an adult. The Wall Street Journal recently reported about a New York hospital’s study that found nearly 14 percent of children’s leg fractures in an 11-month period involved toddlers riding down the slide with a parent.

Here, an orthopaedic surgeon from Maryland discusses in a short video exactly how these fractures happen:

Sliding Board Fracture Prevention

PLAY SURFACE

Under the play equipment should be a soft landing surface that extends out from the equipment in every direction. Look for wood or rubber chips, rubber mats or sand under the structures. Avoid structures with rocks, gravel or pavement underneath. Where a child lands after a fall can mean the difference between serious and minor injuries, as 79 percent of the injuries on public equipment recorded by the Commission involved falls to the ground below the equipment.

AGE-APPROPRIATE STRUCTURES

Just as kids older than 5 should not be playing in areas for toddlers and preschoolers, it is not appropriate for young children to be on structures meant for the older kids. Look for parks that have separate play areas for children younger than 5. The Commission also recommends that young children avoid free-standing arch climbs, free-standing flexible climbers, chain and cable walks, seesaws, log rolls and vertical sliding poles.

The National Playground Safety Institute has compiled a list of common playground hazards, which it calls The Dirty Dozen, in a short, downloadable pamphlet you can get here.

*  *  *

Ready. Set. Grow! and First 5 LA want to help parents and caregivers get kids moving this summer. Besides lots of exercise-related blogs here, be sure to check out the Get Out & Play hub for age-appropriate physical activities for young children — especially kicking, catching, throwing and swimming. Be eligible to win prizes by taking the Get Out & Play Challengeand find free or low-cost activities to get kids outside and moving this summer.

Share
Parenting, Safety, Uncategorized

Get Out & Collect

Jun 27th, 12 / 0 Comments
get-out-collect

By Double Duty Mama

On a camping trip last year, my kids found in the dirt all around our site little colored balls that we assume are pellets from air soft guns. They spent hours scanning, squatting and scooping these tiny “treasures” from the dirt and putting them into sandwich baggies. They’ve done the same on every camping trip since.

My younger son, especially, coveted his newest collection for his treasure box (an old shoe box on the floor of his room). Inside that box are rocks from past hikes, sea shells from beach visits, bottle caps he finds on walks that he’s keeping for a friend who has a collection, a disintegrating pine cone and other odds and ends he finds.

Experts say there are many psychological benefits to children collecting … but there isn’t a lot of mention about the physical benefits. It’s pretty simple when you think about it: You give a young kid a bag, bucket, pail or cup and send him off in a park, at the beach or even in the yard to find treasures. You can give him a theme, like things that are “red” or different kinds of leaves, for motivation if he needs it.

What happens next is lots of moving. Large motor skills are being activated as she walks, squats and bends, and her small motor skills are getting a workout too, as she uses her pincer grasp (the thumb and forefinger) to pick up objects and place them in a container.

With young kids needing at least 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day to keep them healthy, encourage your kids to Get Out & Play by starting their own collections, going on a treasure hunt or even creating a scavenger hunt. Of course, when you join in, your kids will have even more fun.

This summer and always, First 5 LA and Ready. Set. Grow! want families with young children to learn about ways to increase physical activity to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. Visit the Get Out & Play web hub and be sure to enter the Get Out & Play Fitness Challenge for a chance to win prizes.

Share
Health and Nutrition, Just for Fun, Uncategorized

Father’s Day: Who’s In Control?

Jun 14th, 12 / 0 Comments
fathers-day-whos-in-control

By Downtown Dad

Have you ever battled a toddler over the television remote? Some say it’s easier to pull a steak from the jaws of a hungry pit bull than to get a toddler to give up that remote.

Is it the shiny buttons that light up when pressed? Is it the nice sound the remote makes when slammed over and over again on the coffee table? I have a feeling the main attraction is none of the above. Instead, I’m going to guess that my toddler son is motivated to possess the remote primarily because he wants to be like the adults he sees using it.

A year ago, this situation could have easily been resolved by a quick tickle followed by a belly laugh … followed by his inevitable release of the remote. Not so today.

As Louie’s 2nd birthday approaches and he enters the toddler stage, I’m reminded this Father’s Day that being a father is about to get a lot more complicated. Recently, whenever Louie does something that would qualify him as a rascal, he will immediately look to me or his mother to judge our response. And when he doesn’t get what he wants, he engages in mini-tantrums that involve screaming, crying and executing surprisingly graceful left-right swing combos.

These are all natural reactions to his toddler frustrations, which include a lack of spoken communication skills. As a father, my natural reaction seems to be to lay down the law and set limits. The trick is to do this in a patient and gentle way when my toddler has just changed the channel in the middle of my favorite show and refuses to give up the remote.

I remind myself that everything he does is an exploring and learning experience, and his parents are his main teachers. When we have these exchanges, I find myself exploring my own capabilities of patience, communication and self-control, and I realize that it’s not just a one-way street. Both of us can learn something from each other.

Share
Behavior Issues, Parenting, Uncategorized

Just How Much Do Kids Need to Get Out & Play?

Jun 11th, 12 / 0 Comments
just-how-much-do-kids-need-to-get-out-play

By Ready. Set. Grow!

(This article is reprinted from the First 5 LA weekly newsletter, the Monday Morning Report, in conjunction with the Get Out & Play campaign.)

Sure, it’s easy to say that children should get lots of physical activity for good health and development. But how much is the right amount?

National standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say children should have an hour or more of physical activity every day. What kind of activity qualifies depends on the age of the child. For example, children 5 and younger generally don’t need to engage in weight lifting since their bodies should receive an adequate amount of muscle strengthening through regular play, like climbing on the jungle gym or in a tree.

The CDC recommends that moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic exercise make up most of a child’s physical activity. A brisk walk is considered moderate intensity while running is vigorous. During moderate intensity activity, the heart will beat faster than normal and breathing is harder. The heart beats much faster and breathing is much harder than normal during vigorous intensity exercise. Walking to school may be moderate intensity, but a game of tag on the school yard is probably vigorous intensity.

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education focuses specifically on exercise for young children in its Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children from Birth to Age 5, 2nd Edition. “All children from birth to age 5 should engage daily in physical activity that promotes movement skillfulness and foundations of health-related fitness,” according to NASPE’s position statement.

The NASPE guidelines are broken down by age. For example:

Infants (birth to 12 months)

  • Infants should interact with caregivers in daily physical activities that are dedicated to exploring movement and the environment.
  • Caregivers should place infants in settings that encourage and stimulate movement experiences and active play for short periods of time several times a day.

Toddlers (1 to 3 years)

  • Toddlers should engage in a total of at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity each day.
  • Toddlers should engage in at least 60 minutes – and up to several hours – per day of unstructured physical activity and should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.

Preschoolers (3 to 5 years)

  • Preschoolers should accumulate at least 60 minutes of structured physical activity each day.
  • Preschoolers should engage in at least 60 minutes — and up to several hours — of unstructured physical activity each day, and should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time, except when sleeping.

The guidelines for every age mandate that children be given opportunities and placed in environments that allow them to develop motor skills and perform large-muscle activities. It is up to caregivers and parents to understand the importance of physical activity and provide these opportunities, the NASPE guidelines add.

This summer and always, First 5 LA, as well as its parenting component Ready. Set. Grow! and its place-based effort Best Start, want families with young children to learn about ways to increase physical activity and healthy eating to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. Please read more about the campaign in a previous Monday Morning Report article and visit the campaign web hub on Ready. Set. Grow!

Share
Health and Nutrition, Uncategorized

Lemon Zest Fries

Jun 6th, 12 / 0 Comments
lemon-zest-fries

By justJENN

Once a year I get a giant bunch of lemons and come up with recipes just to use them up. The best part of the lemons can be the zest — it brings out a refreshing taste in dishes that you wouldn’t expect.

By baking these in the oven you get a good amount of crispness and they are definitely healthier than frying!

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes
1/8 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons garlic
zest of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with a wire rack. Set aside.

Wash and pat dry the potatoes. I like the skin on, but if you don’t – go ahead and peel them. Slice the potato into stick-like fries.

In a bowl combine the potatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and lemon zest. Toss together and spread on the wire rack prepped baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes and serve!

Share
Health and Nutrition, Recipes and Cooking, Uncategorized

Get Out & Play: Do You Know If Your Child is Fat?

May 21st, 12 / 0 Comments
get-out-play-do-you-know-if-your-child-is-fat

By Ready. Set. Grow!

Turns out, moms who have overweight toddlers don’t know it. That’s according to the results of a study, released earlier this month, which found that seven out of 10 mothers of overweight toddlers incorrectly judged their kids’ weight 87 percent of the time. In addition, most the mothers — nearly 82 percent — believed their kids were at the perfect weight, the study found.

The surveyed moms were all participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. In California, 15 to 20 percent of low-income children ages 2 to 4 were obese in 2009 and one out of every three in the U.S. is overweight or obese by his or her 5th birthday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Physical exercise is key to a child’s healthy weight, along with good eating habits.  A child who is overweight is more at risk for so many health problems, including heart and liver diseases and type 2 diabetes.

Ready. Set. Grow! and First 5 LA want to help parents and caregivers get kids moving this summer. Besides lots of exercise-related blogs here, be sure to check out the Get Out & Play hub for age-appropriate physical activities for young children — especially kicking, catching, throwing and swimming. Be eligible to win prizes by taking the Get Out & Play Challenge and find free or low-cost activities to get kids outside and moving this summer. Be sure to look for us at the Fitness Feria on Saturday, June 16 and the Univision Health Fair on Sunday, July 29.

Share
Health and Nutrition, Uncategorized