We hope you’ve been enjoying using Zoodles Kid Mode, and thank you for all your support!

As a company, we pride ourselves on offering kids a high-quality educational experience, and it’s important to us that we continue offering this essential experience for free.  Over time we’ve also introduced several new features that help families stay connected, including Video Mail and Storybooks.

We’re writing today to let you know about some important new changes we’ll be making to our Zoodles Storybooks feature:

On Tuesday, May 10, we will be transitioning storybooks out of our free offering and into our Premium offering.

Don’t worry, if you’ve already recorded a story for a child, that book is yours to keep! After the transition, every family will still have one FREE storybook that kids can read or have recorded for them.

For the families that would like more books, we’ll be offering two new options: users can either purchase one book at a time, or they can gain access to ALL the books as a Premium Member.

Whatever books you purchase will come with a default recording available across all our devices and can also be replaced by as many family recordings as you’d like!

With several days left until we make this change, we encourage all of our families to record the books they love while they are still freely available. Again, any recordings you make prior to the transition will be yours to keep. We’re looking forward to this transition, and we hope you’ll find our classic Zoodles storybooks compelling enough to buy!

Your support and feedback is invaluable to us.  If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email us at feedback@zoodles.com.

Today we’re excited to share that two of our most popular features — the Zoodles Art Studio and Zoodles Storybooks — are now available on phones!  Now all of our budding artists and eager readers can do more with their phones (oops, we mean your phones)  no matter where they are.  Whether they’re riding in the backseat, fidgeting at dinner, or lying out in the grass, Zoodles is there in full force with Art and Storybooks!

Since phones do have smaller screens, we’ve adapted both features to work a little differently than usual.  Let’s take a look.

Zoodles Art Studio

Here are some pictures of the experience on your phone.  The first thing you’ll notice is that there are now more “tabs” at the top of the screen, and the tabs don’t have labels anymore!  Your child can use these tabs to navigate to the different areas of our experience, just like with our computer and tablet apps.  They might need a little guidance at first, but let us know how it goes!

To get into the Art experience, all your child needs to do is tap on the Art tab at the top and then select the first thumbnail.

The Art Studio has changed a bit, but not by much.  There are fewer colors and we’ve removed the ability to toggle brush strokes, but it is all in the name of giving your child the most drawing space possible!

Every new drawing your child creates will automatically be saved to their Gallery and synced to your account.  All your child’s drawings — whether they’re done on the computer, tablet, or phone — are visible at http://www.zoodles.com/parent.   Be sure to star your favorites!

Zoodles Storybooks

Our Storybooks feature is just as exciting.  For the first time ever, we’ve made it incredibly easy for little ones to “bring their relatives along” on the next vacation or car ride.  Family will never be forgotten again!

All you need to do is have relatives record a reading for your child and the reading will appear in your child’s Books tab.  As usual, the recordings that your relatives make are shared across all our devices, so you and your child can watch them no matter you are.  Now Grandma can be a lifesaver without even being there!

Our Books interface on the phone is very similar to what it looks like on other devices.  We give every child an example recording of Mark and his kids reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the rest of the books available are displayed alongside it.

Once a reading has been recorded, your child can tap on its book cover to have the story read to them.  Again, with such limited screen space, you’ll notice that the illustrations are slightly smaller and that in lieu of text, we decided to include the relative’s video instead.

All in all, we couldn’t be more proud of our team’s efforts to bring these features down to phones and make the Zoodles experience better and better across all devices.

We’d love to hear your feedback, so please do leave us a comment or shoot us an email at feedback@zoodles.com!

Contributed by Debbie Heimowitz

Learn how the Zoodles Education team screens their video content. Then, create videos of your own for a chance to be featured in Zoodles!

Behind the Scenes

When we started our quest to find the best YouTube videos for kids, our first results were…well… questionable. Finding great content is our team’s central mission, and it is also one of our biggest challenges. For every hundred videos we evaluate, it can be tough to find even one that’s worth adding. So why does this happen? And what do we look for?

The first reason it’s a challenge to find high-quality video content is that the content itself is scarce, and it’s also hidden amongst a ton of other content that’s not always appropriate. We run across an unbelievable number of videos that are supposedly for kids, but are inappropriately named, have foul language dubbed over them, feature bizarre characters, or are even so misleading that they connect to shady spam or porn sites.

The high-quality content we look for is harder to find, because less of it exists to begin with.  Educational kids content can be expensive to produce and design. When companies do produce children’s content, it tends to be in formats that are unusable to Zoodles, like thirty-minute television shows. So, when we do find great content in short formats, we definitely try to promote it and find other content from the same filmmakers.

Here’s what we look for:

Entertainment: First, the videos must entertain us. We know that if it’s not fun, your kids won’t want to watch it. Specifically, we look for bright colors, high concepts, and ideally a strong production value. In our team discussions, questions like “Was this only funny to me?” get tossed around as part of our evaluation process.

Educational Value: Secondly, we want to know what your children will learn from watching the videos. Will the video help reinforce concepts about the alphabet? Will the video bring your kids to another planet? Does it tie into the national standards for education?

We love when videos focus on specific learning standards, but we also value concepts that aren’t as obviously educational.  We place just as much importance, for instance, on videos that encourage physical and emotional wellness like this yoga video for kids or this video about cyberbullying.

If a video is able to meet our educational and entertainment standards, we know we’ve found something for our Zoodles families!

Now create your own!

Are you interested in creating your own educational videos and being featured in Zoodles? Here are some ideas to think about as you start your process:

1. Pre-design the show. What is the “learning problem or learning need” you are solving? For example, do you notice your child struggling with spelling concepts that you’d like to teach in the video?
2. Set learning objectives. What do you hope the audience will gain from watching your video? How will you measure these results?
3. Think about what techniques you would like to add. Filmmakers use several tools to help reinforce educational concepts including: relatable fictional characters, the use of repetition and rhyme, music, dance etc.
4. How long do you want the video to be? We will accept any videos less than 3 minutes in length.
5. Have fun!

If you’ve created a video that you believe meets our standards, send us the link at feedback@zoodles.com!

Mark Williamson CEO & Co-Founder

One of the challenges that parents face is ensuring their kids build meaningful relationships with their aunts, uncles, grandparents and other family members.  This can be especially hard for families that are spread across the country like mine is.  While we live in California my daughters have aunts & uncles in Denver, Columbus OH, and Bethlehem PA while their grandparents are in Seattle and Columbus OH.  This means that they only get to see some of these family members once a year and with time zone differences it is close to impossible to Skype with them.

Since we build software that puts computers into Kid Mode, we thought we could improve the lives of families by enabling kids to connect with distant relatives.  Today we are announcing two new features that do exactly this:

Video Mail:

Finally, the most common activity online for adults – communications, is available to kids of all ages.  Zoodles Video Mail enables kids and family members to easily record and exchange video messages.  After a parent invites a family member to connect with their kids, that family member can record a message using a webcam, and that message is delivered directly to the child inside of the Zoodles computer app.  When a child clicks on their Mail tab, their new messages will immediately start to play as the picture below shows.

A child can easily reply to any video message and it is so easy that my soon-to-be 3 year old daughter can do it too.

Storybooks:

This feature was inspired by a conversation with a grandma in Texas who recorded herself reading books on mini-cassettes and mailed them to her grandchildren in California.  She was looking for a way for her grandchildren to hear her voice before bed so they could stay connected.  With Zoodles Storybooks she can now select one of the Zoodles classic storybooks to record for her grandchildren and they will automatically receive the recording in the Books tab inside the Zoodles computer app.  As the picture below shows, the experience is really compelling for kids:

We hope that Zoodles can play a meaningful role in connecting families across the country, and we can’t wait to see how families use these new features.

Image Courtesy of Teaching Resource Center

When I was in about third grade, I was surprised to discover that my teacher did not, in fact, live in the classroom – she actually had a house and family, and she went home every day.

A teacher is your partner in the education of your child. It’s also important to remember that your child’s teacher is a person first, and would appreciate a consistent connection with you throughout the school year!

Get Some Face Time

I have a friend who takes her kids to school each morning so that she can connect with her kids’ teachers. While I think this is great, I can barely drag myself from my bed to watch my kids at the bus stop, so this plan wouldn’t work for me.

This is fine, because I know teachers are busy people and there are other ways to get face time with your child’s teacher. Before the school year starts, take a field trip to the school with your kids and arrange to meet. This will help everyone involved feel more comfortable on the first day of school. Also, if dropping your kids off at school doesn’t work for you, what about popping in a couple of times a week to pick them up, checking in with the teacher while you’re there?

Although they don’t involve face to face interaction, here are more ways to connect with your child’s teacher on a regular basis:

• Exchange email addresses – email is easier and faster than a phone call.
• If you call, leave a detailed message.
• Volunteer in the classroom on a regular basis.
• Schedule an appointment if there’s an important issue you’d like to discuss.

Give the Best Information

Teaching is a highly demanding and stressful job, and teachers can use all the help they can get.

Sometimes the best help you can give a teacher is information. Be up front about behavioral or medical conditions, like asthma, allergies, ADHD, OCD, and Autism Spectrum disorder to name a few, along with any pertinent medications that your child must take while at school. Keep the teacher informed of family changes, like adoption, divorce or remarriage – this helps teachers watch out for any behavior changes.

Giving this information to your child’s teacher may feel uncomfortable, but it helps him/her give your child the attention he/she needs from the beginning of the school year. Teachers are also required to keep this information confidential.

Stay Involved

As a former elementary school teacher, I would give one piece of advice to parents – simply, do what you say you’re going to do. This doesn’t mean that you have to do a lot, or that you have to actually be inside the classroom to volunteer.

Here are a few ways to stay involved:

• Complete volunteer tasks at home, like correcting spelling tests or cutting out shapes for a lesson.

• Go to all-school or family-centered events, like Back to School night, conferences, Open House, harvest parties or carnivals.

• Chaperone class fieldtrips.

• Donate classroom supplies or prizes.

Show Appreciation

To teachers working on the front line, a thank you goes a long way, and there are several easy ways to show your appreciation!

• Write a quick email once a week to share a joke, a funny story about your child, or to say thank you.
• Give teachers and students a smile in the hallway.
• Bring coffee – most teachers drink it and love free coffee drinks.
• Acknowledge his/her birthday with a card from your family.
• Observe Christmas and Teacher Appreciation Week with cards small gifts, or gift certificates to a restaurant or a book store. Have your child fill out the card.

Consistent connections with your child’s teachers will benefit them, you and your child!

Author Byline

Kelly Wilson

Kelly Wilson is an editor with Teaching Resource Center, a Teacher Store providing teachers and classrooms with low-cost, high-quality Teacher Supplies.

Guest blog by Kelly Wilson

It’s time to head Back to School, which means new friends and play date opportunities for kids at any age.

New Buddies = Requests for Play Dates

Setting up play dates is part of the natural progression of your kids growing up, allowing them to practice social skills and have some fun doing it. Your kids will likely find children to play with from their new classrooms, along with kids from your neighborhood or other community groups.

Setting Them Up

The easiest way to begin setting up play dates is to talk with your own circle of friends or friendly neighbors. Decide if you’d rather have play dates with a larger group of kids. The advantage to this is that parents usually hang out while their kids play and you get some conversational time with other adults. This also builds community for all of the families involved.

Fun Play Date

If larger groups don’t appeal to you, choose one or two of your child’s friends to start with, decide on a day, and invite them over. Your child will probably be able to help you out by securing the necessary phone numbers during the school day. Don’t be surprised if parents hang out for a bit during the first play date – this helps their child feel more comfortable. Once families start reciprocating play dates, you may want to do the same!

The Ground Rules

Once kids come over, I like to review the house rules, where the bathroom is located, and when snack will be available. I go over with the kids where they’re allowed to play and if there are any spaces or things off limits, like my husband’s very expensive musical instruments downstairs (he’s a professional musician).

We also talk about making good choices, sharing, and talking nicely with one another. I warn all of the kids that if there are problems, there will be time outs issued and the sad final conclusion could be a friend going home. Although I’ve never had problems, it’s a good reminder to everyone involved to make good choices during the play date.

Snack is always served, and I check with the parents to make sure there are no food allergies. Try to keep snack foods healthy and fun, like grapes and Goldfish crackers or peanut butter and bananas. The kids always appreciate being fed!

Suggested Activities

If you prefer to provide structure during play dates, an easy way to think of activities is to go with the seasons. In winter months, provide a Christmas ornament or snowman craft. In the spring, paint small birdhouses or make an Easter craft. In the summer, water toys are fun in the backyard. Finding something seasonal to do can be very easy and require almost no preparation if kids use materials lying around your house.

However, there’s no hard and fast rule that says you need to provide any structured activities. One of the advantages to inviting your child’s friends over to play is that they get to play. Together, children develop social and cognitive skills through pretending, compromising and having the time and space to be creative.

Keeping Them Routine

Once you establish that you’re interested in play dates and host a few of your own, they’ll become part of your routine. Our neighborhood has had a play group once a week for a few years now, and it’s become an event that all of the neighborhood kids look forward to.

Important factors to consider when making play dates a fun family habit include:

* specific days and times that would work for play dates
* gathering email addresses of other parents interested in play dates
* putting play dates on the calendar
* scheduling play dates a week in advance

A couple of days before the scheduled play date, email or call the parents of the children invited as a reminder, and get ready to play!

Author byline

Kelly Wilson, Editor, Teaching Resource Center

Kelly Wilson is an editor for Teaching Resource Center, a Teacher Store providing high-quality, low-cost Teaching Materials for over twenty-five years.

Guest blog by Kathryn Jones

Summer is almost over, and with it, those last lazy days of book reading. I don’t know about you, but the idea of sitting in the children’s book department inside any store and reading a good book is almost as fantastic as going on vacation. Just today I went on a journey through the children’s section of my local bookstore.  The experience was glorious. I almost forgot I was a grown-up. The words, the colors, the rhyming text and thoughtful stories transported me to another place—where I was five again.
Allow me to share with you a few of the books I stumbled upon and fell in love with.  In the process of sharing, I hope you’ll fall in love, too, and maybe go on a mini trip of your own.  Take your little ones with you for added fun.

The first picture book, “But I wanted a Baby Brother,” is written by Kate Feiffer and Diane Goode. Oliver Keaton doesn’t want a baby sister, he is a boy after all, and boys want brothers. Oliver has the support of his dog, Chaplin, who agrees that a boy brother would be best. Oliver tries and fails to convince his parents that a boy would be the better sibling. He tries and fails to find a “used” baby brother from amongst his friends to make a trade, but all the boys seem to have more problems than his sister does. Does Oliver decide to keep his sister after all? “But I Wanted a Baby Brother,” published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers is $16.00; $21.99 in Canada and is written for ages 4-8.

Book two is entitled, “Chalk” and is illustrated by Bill Thomson. The story is about 3 children who discover a bag of chalk in an inanimate dinosaur’s open jaws, decide to draw on the sidewalk with the chalk, and are enlisted on a nature adventure throughout the park. Told in pictures only, the story of “Chalk” begins on a rainy day that quickly turns sunny because of the magic of the chalk. But what happens when the dinosaur is drawn out of his frozen stupor? You won’t believe your eyes!

“Chalk” is published by Marshall Cavendish Children and is $15.99; $20.95 in Canada. Perhaps a bit too frightening for the youngest of children, older children will enjoy the suspense and happy resolution of this beautifully illustrated book.

What if you hate books and some librarian is trying to get you to love them? In this story, “Miss Brooks Loves Books,” by Barbara Bottner, the main character is determined not to love books, even if Miss Brooks keeps trying to change her mind. The problem only gets worse when the main character gets an assignment to pick out a book for school to read during Book Week. Now what will she do? (Especially since she has to wear a costume too?) What book does the girl who hates books, pick? “Miss Brooks Loves Books,” is published by Alfred A. Knopf and is $17.99; $22.99 in Canada.

“Roly Poly Pangolin” by Anna Dewdney, is book four on my list. Roly Poly Pangolin is afraid of all the new adventures life brings—that is, until he meets a new friend and discovers he’s not alone. “Roly Poly Pangolin” is a simple rhyming story for ages 2 and up and is $16.99; $21.00 in Canada. The book is published by Viking. Pangolins are furry animals that live in Africa, India, China and Southeast Asia. They have no teeth and protect themselves by rolling into a ball. For more information on Pangolin’s visit the author’s website at: www.annadwedney.com .

Book five is “A Mother’s Song,” by Janet Lawler. A mother takes her daughter on a journey throughout the neighborhood. What do they see? What do they feel? What do they touch? Come and take a walk through the seasons with this delightful rhyming text. “A Mother’s Song” is $14.95; $19.50 in Canada and is published by Sterling.

Reading with your children is one of those things you can’t replace even with the most expensive trip. There is something about the cuddle time, something about reading and laughing together that transports you in only the way reading can.

Author Byline

Kathryn Jones is a freelance writer. She is currently a resident writer for Online Schools, which researches areas of higher learning, how to pick an online school, and education. In her spare time, Kathryn enjoys reading books to her four grandchildren. Learn more about Kathryn at her website: www.ariverofstones.com.

Organized Kids Playroom

Guest Blog by Victoria Crowdell

A happy and harmonious home isn’t something that is just going to fall out of the sky and into your lap: it’s something you have to strive for and accomplish through hard work and clever planning.  While learning how to handle inter-family relationships is an ongoing process and a rather abstract one at that, there are specific things that you and your family can do to improve the home and make living in it that much more enjoyable.  Various DIY home improvement jobs can be concocted and executed that will provide the various members of a family new ways to interact with each other and new things to do at home.  Let’s take a look at a handful of such ideas and see how they can contribute to making your home the place everyone would like it to be:

• The playroom: This project is a major winner and is guaranteed to be a smashing hit with the kids.  Many homes have certain spaces that just don’t get used much or don’t get used properly, and converting such areas into play spaces is going to make a big difference.  The extent of the project will depend on the condition of the room at present and how much of a budget you want to put into, though even a bit of money can go a long way here.  Most basements and cellars can be converted without hiring any labor, as it’s not that difficult to prep the room on your own; however, if there are serious water filtration problems then a DIY project here may be a bit more risky.

• The garden: Landscaping is a DIY home improvement project par excellence, and it is an activity where the whole family can come together and participate.  If you’re lucky enough to have a home with a yard/garden area then you should make the best of it, always mindful of the psychological benefits of being surrounded by greenness.  It’s not necessarily about having the most beautiful flower bed or the most sculpted hedges on the block; it could just be a project of increasing the grassy (usable) area for the kids to play, putting in a jungle-gym, building a dog house, or creating a vegetable garden.

• Shared spaces: Any home with many people in it and with a decent bit of space (specifically shared space) is likely to have a lot of clutter, and that clutter can begin to have negative effects.  For communal spaces like the kitchen, the living room and the TV room it is important to have efficient storage solutions to make sure this clutter doesn’t get out of hand.  You can overcome this problem by installing more cabinets or shelves, by rearranging the furniture, or even through donating unused/unwanted possessions to charity!

• The green route: Finally, it’s worth thinking about implementing some green solutions in your home.  Teaching your children (and yourself for that matter) about environmental issues and fostering a sustainable lifestyle among all members of the family will offer more rewards than you can imagine.  DIY projects that can get you going in this direction include setting up your own solar panels or parabolic solar oven, or putting in a tank to gather rain water for gardening purposes.  The options are many, and your imagination is really the only limit.

Author byline

Victoria Crowdell works for Construction Chemicals UK Ltd, who are experts in their field – from basement conversions for the serious renovator to DIY timber treatment products for protecting your home from insects and mold. With depots around the UK and an in-house chemistry specialist, they are the ideal partners for anyone wishing to undertake a renovation project, amateur or professional. When Victoria isn’t working full-time helping people to transform their homes, she uses her experience to create articles which can be found around the Internet and also teaches little scamps to sing like angels – quite a transformation!

Guest blog by Louise Tillotson

If you haven’t already started, the time will soon come when you’ll want to teach your child the value of money. It’s an unavoidable part of life, and instilling good sound values in your child now will ensure they have a secure financial future.

Teaching your child how to save money

Child Money Savngs Tips

For most children, their first experience of money and saving is a piggy bank. Take your child with you and let them choose one for themselves, then make a game of putting coins in and taking them out. As the child grows older, encourage them to put any money given to them by relatives in their piggy, regularly take it out and count it with them, and keep a written record of the total each month or so. They’ll be able to see their money mounting up and this will help them to understand the concept of saving.

You may also want to open up an account for your child which they can use as they get older. Children’s savings accounts are offered by most banks, and offer similar benefits and options to adult savings accounts; competitive interest rates, withdrawal notice periods, and fixed terms of 1, 2 or 3 years. Explain to your child how their savings account works, and encourage them to deposit the money from their piggy bank into their account periodically. Older children might be interested in using an online tool called a savings calculator, which will help them to see how their money will increase over a set period with a given interest rate.

Teaching them the value of money

An allowance, or pocket money as it’s known in the UK, is perhaps the best tool available to parents who want to teach their offspring about the value of money. There are many factors to consider when deciding how much allowance you will give to your child. A general rule of thumb is to allow $1  for each year, so a 5 year old would receive $5, while a 10 year old would receive double that. But this is just a guide, and other things can be taken into account:

Their friends – ask the parents of your child’s friends how much they give their offspring, and try to keep to the same range. Children can feel left out if they know their friends get more money than they do.

What it’s used for – If your child will only buy sweets and magazines out of their allowance, then they shouldn’t need much (especially if you want to discourage them from eating too many sweets). But if you’d like them to occasionally buy their own clothes, books or CDs, then a slightly increased amount could be given to reflect this.

Saving – You could stipulate that your child put part of their allowance in their savings account or piggy bank. If this is the case, then consider giving them extra based on how much you expect them to save. You could even offer to pay ‘interest’ if you can afford it – put an extra $1 in their account for every $5 they do, for example.

Your income – How much can you afford to give to your child, consistently, each week? Examine your income and expenditure and see how much you can realistically and comfortably spare, without sacrificing household bills or other essentials.

Games you can play with your child about money

Children learn through play, so it’s a good idea to play some money-related games with your son or daughter.

The obvious one, and a firm favorite with most children, is Shops. Save some empty food packets from around the home, set up a table and let your child arrange the packets as they wish. Collect some spare change together and you can begin teaching them how to buy, sell and make change. Not only will this help them to learn what the denomination of each coin or bill is, but it can also teach them simple math.

Snap! is a familiar card game, and can be altered to teach your child more about denominations. You and your child/ren should have a handful of coins each, a mixture of high and low values. Choose a coin or coins at random, place them in the center of the playing area, and your child then has to choose different coins from their own pile which match the total value of the ones you’ve selected. If several children are playing, the winner is the first child to put out the correct total and yell “Snap!”.

Along a similar idea, Higher or Lower can be played with coins too. Select a coin, say ‘higher’ or ‘lower’, and your child has to put out a coin from their heap which is higher or lower in value than the one you selected. If they guess correctly, they can then say ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ and you then put a coin out, and so on. All of these games can be played with bills (make toy money if you’re worried about rips!) as well as coins for a greater scope of learning.

Bingo is a fun game which can be enjoyed time and time again by the whole family. First of all, get your child/ren involved in helping you create bingo cards – draw up a 6 by 6 grid on thin paper and show them how to do a different coin rubbing in each square (mix the pattern up so all the grids are different). Then, laminate each grid or cover in clear sticky plastic, and give one to each player along with small stickers or washable stamping pens. Fill a small tub with coins and choose one player to be the bingo caller. They choose a coin at random, call out the value and each player has to mark one occurrence of that coin off on their grid if it appears. The first one to get a line from side to side, or a full grid, shouts ‘Bingo!’ and wins the game.

Set a good example

Children copy their parents and older siblings, so try to exhibit responsible financial behavior around your impressionable young ones. Get into the habit of talking to them each time you’re in a shop and trying to decide on a purchase. Say things like, “If we buy this [item on a whim], then we wouldn’t be able to get this [something you need]“. Let them see grocery receipts and point out any money you may have saved on your shopping trips. You can even enlist their help in a coupon-cutting session if it’s something you do regularly.

Author Byline

Louise Tillotson is a mother based in the UK, and a regular contributor to parenting sites in the UK and the US. She also writes for personal finance sites and the price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com.

Guest blog by Logan Lindabury.

5:00 AM

I’m a 20 year old entrepreneur and also a full time college student. I have no children. I have no wife. At least, not yet. And now you wonder, “What could he possibly know about what I’m dealing with? How can he possibly think he can help me when he can’t even relate to me?”

Well let us let the judging end here. Because here are your answers: Just because I’m young does not mean I have no knowledge. Just because I don’t have kids does not erase the fact that I myself was once a kid (and at many times, still act like one.) And although I may not have been in your shoes, chances are I have been in the shoes of the other person you are “dealing with.”

So give me a chance. Give me a try. What’s the worst that could happen? I’m offering ways to find happiness in your life and you want to pass that up? Really? Have you thought about what’s really important to you?

And now we begin, with the topic of this article:

Finding some happiness in your everyday life; Morning Routine Version.

You wake up each morning with a slight feeling of discontent because you know your child will stall, yet again. You have the everlasting feeling that the coffee will not be to your liking. That you’ll have forgotten to prepare lunch for the second time this week.

Your child stalls getting ready, who hasn’t? I do it myself some days. But get this, when I incentivize the situation I tend to move a LOT quicker. “Hey, if I get done and out of the house in the next 10 minutes I can take the scenic route today!”

Get it? Offer your child something that he/she wants in turn for him/her getting ready on time. Do yourself a favor and come up with a few things that are both fun and free – like extra Zoodles playing time! You do that enough times, and you won’t have to give them the rewards anymore; though you still should.

But then there’s you, on your third cup of coffee before 9am. And boy are you tired! But guess what? Natural energy works so much better and has NO tired feeling afterward.

“But I’m too busy to do a workout or join a gym.” Good. Well, not good. But, OKAY. That’s fine. Here’s YOUR answer:  Sing and dance.

Sing and Dance

Literally everywhere you go, sing and dance. No music? Who needs music. You’ve got the lyrics and the beats in your head. Come on, you remember Mr. Roger’s Happy Feeling Song, don’t you?!?! And when you can’t think of the lyrics, you can just mumble words together. I do it all the time.

So now you’re thinking, “Great, I’m taking advice from a crazy man who sings and dances no matter where he is. And this is supposed to help me?” Well first off, making my own fun does not make me crazy. And second, this will help you.

When you’re singing and dancing to music that you like you find happiness at a much more rapid pace than when you’re thinking about where the sugar is for your next cup of joe. So, give it a try. If it doesn’t work you at least know that you gave it your all.

But to be honest, I can’t tell you a single person that sings and dances at any given time and is NOT happy during and afterward.

That should tell you something. So, finish reading this and go give it a try. You don’t even have to thank me; just come back and keep reading.

Stay tuned for my next article about letting the kids join in the fun. Thank you.

Author Byline

Logan Lindabury

This article was written by Logan Lindabury, the Happiness Coach from HappinessCanHelp.com. Do you want to enjoy your life? Do you want to find happiness no matter what happens? Then go to HappinessCanHelp.com and get started today.

Guest blog by Rachel Akers

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout of a super villain.

Steve Carell stars in Despicable Me as Gru, a villain whose main goal is to go down as history’s number one bad guy. Past evil plans have not worked out so well for him so Gru decides he needs to reach for the moon.

With his army of faithful yellow minions, underground lair and even his trusty car-plane, Gru sets out to steal the moon, literally. To get the moon the size of a grapefruit he needs a special shrink ray. Enter the villainous rival, Vector (Jason Segel).  Gru plans to steal Vector’s shrink ray and use it to steal the moon.

Along  the way Gru adopts a trio of lovable orphan moppets from a girl’s home to use in his evil scheme. But slowly the girls start to see something in Gru that he never knew was there. The ability to be a dad.  By the end of the film, Gru has warmed up to the girls and learns that as long as you have love, you really don’t need anything else.

There is no arguing that Despicable Me is a kids adventure movie complete with rocket ships, shrink rays, tea parties and dolls. But while catering to children it is entertaining to adults alike.  Showing that even the bad guys have redeeming qualities. Despicable Me does contain a little bit of toilet humor.

Despicable Me stars Steve Carell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews. It is rated PG with a running time of 95 minutes.

Author Byline

Rachel Akers

Rachel Akers is a full time stay at home mom and the owner of the blog Yellow Tennessee. She blogs about life, deals and saving money.

Guest post by Chris Brantner

This week, July 18 – 24,  is National Parenting Gifted Children Week. In an effort to raise awareness, The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) has outlined a number of opportunities for spreading the word in your community about gifted children and the importance of high quality education.

Gifted and talented children often show signs that go unnoticed for years. Everyone likes to believe their children are gifted. But how do you know if a child is truly gifted and talented? Here are a few signs that a gifted child might show.

1. They find beauty where others don’t Often visually gifted kids will see the world differently than the average child their age. Where a normal child sees a tree, the gifted child might take note of the way the leaves dance in the wind. They might even grow emotional over the beauty they find.
2. They love to argue Don’t confuse this with being spoiled or rebellious. Gifted children often have impressive control over spoken word. They’re able to manipulate language and persuade. And they certainly want you to know when and why they believe they’re right.
3. They search for the meaning of life You might find your child asking questions that seem above their level. They might ask what this all means or why they’re here. Such existentialist leanings could even make them prone to depression later on in life if they aren’t taught how to direct their thoughts.
4. Impatient and disrespectful Some gifted kids just know things and have a hard time understanding why others don’t. As a result, they have little patience for those who don’t understand what they consider simple logic. These gifted children might be seen as disrespectful, as they have a hard time not challenging authority when punishments are deemed illogical.
5. Bored in school Gifted kids often find school too easy. They coast through their activities just to sit and stare. Or worse, they refuse to do their assignments because they seem pointless. Often these students end up acting out and getting themselves in trouble. They’re labeled “trouble makers” but really all they need is a good challenge.
6. They disassemble things and put them back together Some gifted students share two qualities. They’re curious and gifted with their hands. As a result, you might find them taking your cell phone apart, studying it, and attempting to put it back together. Meanwhile, their friends are playing with stuffed animals. Don’t get mad. Try to find ways to satisfy their curiosity and mechanical prowess. Try out this Design a Cell Phone game instead!

Keep in mind that the above signs don’t guarantee a gifted child. They also may occur independently in children. Or your child could show all of them. Whatever the case, if you think you have a gifted child on your hands, talk to a gifted specialist at your child’s school. They can perform the necessary tests and give you advice on how to handle your potentially gifted and talented child.

Author Byline

Chris Brantner

Chris Brantner is a father and a teacher. He also heads up his own agency that offers copywriting services.

Guest blog post by Andrew Salmon from LifeInsuranceCanada.org.

Sure kids will tire us out but hey, what a way to go! We must remember that it’s vital for kids to run, jump and play in order to build up their bones and muscles. But the same applies to us adults. Being active with your kids is the best workout around – because it’s fun! Here are five ways to stay active with your kids.

1. The Park

Consider the park an outdoor gymnasium. There are places for you and your kids to run. There are monkey bars to swing and climb, building upper body strength. See-saws to work those legs, merry go rounds to spin. And, most parks have basketball courts, baseball diamonds or soccer fields. You want it, the park has got it. Heck there’s even free water to keep yourself hydrated as you run acres at breakneck speed all over the place.

2. Rollerblades

Here’s a great way for kids to learn muscle control and balance while you all get a great aerobic workout. Rollerblading is a great exercise for the legs but the whole body gets into the act as you need to swing your arms for balance and every muscle gets into the balancing act.

3. Swimming

Another total body workout, swimming is another way to get fit while playing with your children. Kids naturally take to the water and so did you when you were their age. Remember? Also swimming is a great way to start getting back into shape if you’ve been inactive too long. After all, you at least want to be around until your kids become adults, don’t you? So hop in the pool and stretch and work every muscle in your body. You’ll be doing it with ease, courtesy of the water’s buoyancy, which makes you lighter so those muscles don’t have to overdo it.

4. Badminton

Eye-hand coordination is vital if your kids are going to be active throughout their lives. Badminton is an easy and fun way to work on this. The rackets are lightweight so everyone can play and the shuttlecock is safe to have flying around the young ones. Tennis is also good but the clunky rackets and heavy tennis ball (by comparison) are potential hazards. So if you’re kids are too young for tennis, then badminton is the game of choice. You’ll have a blast!

5. Scavenger Hunt

This one you can file under ‘having too much fun to know I’m exercising’ which is, of course, the absolute best exercise program anyone can have. Organizing a scavenger hunt and taking part yourself will create a lot of excitement amongst the group and you will all be dashing this way and that, trying to beat the clock. And while you’re getting winded from all that running, you and your kids will also be using the ol’ noggin as you play Sherlock Holmes in search of clues.

There you have it… some easy, fun, wonderfully exhausting activities you and your kids can enjoy together. Have fun!

Author Byline

Andrew Salmon

Andrew Salmon works as a freelance writer. He contributes to a number of websites with articles about fitness and financial topics such as life insurance. He has published or appeared in nine books and this is his Amazon profile.

Guest blog by Kelly Wilson of Teaching Resource Center.

Long summer afternoons offer our kids time to complete activities that are more educational in nature. Kids, however, may balk at anything that resembles schoolwork. I came up with these simple science experiments that are disguised as summer fun, with no need for special teaching supplies.

Nuts and Bolts

The basic parts of a solid science experiment include the following:

• Question: What question do you have that you want to test?
• Hypothesis: This is your “best guess” about you think will happen, or how you think your question would be answered.
• Procedure: What are the steps to completing the experiment?
• Observations: Sentences and sketches that describe what happens during the experiment.
• Result: What is the outcome of the experiment?
• Conclusion: How was your question answered? Was your hypothesis right?

Discuss each of these elements casually with your child while completing the following experiments.

A Salt Field

Make your own salt field using a shallow glass pan, regular table salt and water.

1. The ratio to begin with is 1 tablespoon of salt to one cup of water. Adjust the amount of each depending on the size of your pan.
2. Mix the salt and water thoroughly, then pour carefully into the pan.
3. Set the pan with the salt water out in the sun, allowing the water to evaporate throughout the day.

When the water is gone, the salt left behind makes a cool design on the bottom of the glass pan. A variation of this experiment involves a control pan of water without salt – what is left behind on the bottom of that pan once the water has evaporated?

I’m Melting!

The trouble with ice cream treats in the summer time is that they melt. This activity determines which ice cream lasts the longest in the sun.

1. Choose two or three different ice cream treats and put each one into a separate (but identical) container.
2. Set them out in the sun and watch over them, keeping track of how long each one melts into liquid.

For a wider variety, choose up to five different ice cream products to test, using a small amount of each one for your experiments. Another variation is to put out two kinds of the same ice cream treat, putting salt on top of only one of them – which one melts the fastest?

Shadow Sun Dial

This is a fun experiment that requires attention throughout the day.

1. Choose a spot on your driveway or patio and mark a large “X.”
2. At the same time each hour, have your child stand on the “X” and trace his/her shadow with sidewalk chalk, writing the time down next to it.

At the end of the day, take a look at your unusual artwork and talk with your child about when you’re his/her shadow was the longest and when it was the shortest.

How Much Water?

Water balloons are wonderful for hot summer afternoons, and kids like to fill them to capacity. But does more water actually make the balloons weaker?

1. Fill water balloons with water – some with a little, some halfway, and some all the way.
2. Conduct this experiment by doing a water balloon toss – a pair of kids stand about two feet apart and throw a balloon back and forth, taking a step back with each toss. Which ones break the easiest?

After testing a variety of water balloons with different water levels, talk with your kids about which ones they would want in a water balloon fight and why.

Fry Up An Egg

There are always days during the summer where it feels like it’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but can we, in fact, actually do it?

This experiment requires an extremely hot day, the kind where meteorologists warn us about the heat wave and reporters interview people keeping cool at the local community water park.

Stake out an area of sidewalk in the sun and wait until mid-afternoon, then crack open the egg and see what happens!

Author byline

Kelly Wilson Editor, Teaching Resource Center

Kelly is an editor with Teaching Resource Center, a trusted source for high-quality, low-cost teaching supplies.

With help from your parents, decorate the “Z” with markers, crayons, sequins, glitter or anything else you can find! It would look great on a super-hero cape or a crazy cool hat. Have fun and be creative. Then take the “Z” to your favorite place and take a few pictures at the location with the super cool decorated “Z” clearly visible. It could be your grandparents house or the Grand Canyon! The “Z” is easy to carry and can go anywhere. When you send your picture in, write a few words about why you chose that spot and email it to ginny@zoodles.com. Be sure to submit your entries by August 1, 2010