Skip to main content

Parents

All Parents Content

A young female child with red hair running outside alongside a puppy.

Running Around Like Crazy! It’s Ok!

Who remembers hearing their dad say, “You kids should go outside and run around and let off some steam?" This statement couldn’t be truer today than it was 20-40 years ago. Even if you live in town and don’t have direct access to nature, go visit a playground or park and spend time outdoors in a natural environment.

Parents playing with their children in a living room.

All Kids and Adults Need To Play and Let Loose!

Movement and unstructured activity help increase memory, perception, attention, emotion and basic decision making. Incorporate play into your daily routine to improve your health while making memories with your kids!

Young girl pretending to cook in a children's play kitchen.

Ages and Stages of Youth Development

Fact sheet on the ages and stages of youth development.

Child exploring a variety of textures in a sensory play box.

Importance of Sensory Play for Kids

What is sensory play and what does it do? Let’s explore some easy and affordable ways to incorporate sensory activities into your child’s day.

Stacks of children's clothing ready for donation.

Cleaning Out Your Closets: Donate to kids to help build creativity

If you have things you are unsure what to do with and don’t want to just throw them away, think about contacting daycares, preschools, or churches to see if they could use some of the items for their play areas or to make toys/projects for their kids.

A father reading a book with his young daughter.

Make Reading Aloud Fun And Routine

Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children.

two children resting in bed

Getting Kids Into Healthy Sleep Habits

It is important for children to get their recommended hours of sleep each night, but good sleep quality is also essential.

young boy washing hands at a sink in a classroom.

Helping Children Learn Responsibility

Teaching children responsibility should start at a young age but is something that you have to keep working on throughout childhood. I am working with my 10-and-5-year-old girls to become more responsible for their school work and daily tasks throughout the day so I don’t need to be a broken record each day.

Two young girls in winter clothing riding on a sled.

Let Them Play During Christmas Break

As we are quickly approaching Christmas break and kids will have time off and will be acquiring new toys and activities during this Christmas season, I want to encourage parents and providers to let children play.

A young girl playing with colored wooden blocks.

Playing With Blocks

Who remembers building glorious structures and towers with wooden blocks? And then having a sibling knock them down and having to rebuild it over again? There are so many learning experiences with building and making mistakes in block play.