Taking the bus for the first time is a big step for your child. Help your kids get a gold star in bus safety by following these tips. The Hard Facts School buses are the safest mode of motorized transportation for getting children to and from school, but injuries can occur if kids are not careful and aware when getting on and off the bus. Top Tips ·         Walk with your kids to the bus stop and wait with them until it arrives. Tell kids to stand at least three giant steps back from the curb as the bus approaches and board the bus one at a time. ·      Teach kids to wait for the bus to come to a complete stop before getting off and never to walk behind the bus. ·       If your child needs to cross the street after exiting the bus, he or she should take five giant steps in front of the bus, make eye contact with the bus driver and cross when the driver indicates it’s safe. Teach kids to look left, rig...

Pumpkin ravioli is a fall favorite but because it uses canned pumpkin, you can make it year round. This quick and easy ravioli recipe uses wonton wrappers in place of homemade pasta. Ingredients 1 cup   canned pumpkin 1/3 cup   grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 teaspoon   salt 1/8 teaspoon   black pepper 24   wonton wrappers 1 teaspoon   salt 1/2 cup   chicken broth 1 1/2 tablespoons   unsalted butter Chopped parsley Preparation Combine 1 cup pumpkin, 1/3 cup Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Spoon about 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges of dough with water; bring 2 opposite sides together to form a triangle, pinching edges to seal. Place ravioli into a large saucepan of boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt; cook 7 minutes, and drain in a colander. Place 1/2 cup broth and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in pan; bring to a boil. Add ravioli, tossing to co...

I f you dread packing school lunches—or your child dreads eating them—it's time to team up to pack some healthier, more enticing options. Here are some tips to get you started. Variations on a PBJ theme .    If your child really likes peanut butter and jelly, try some healthier variations. First, start with whole-wheat bread (for white-bread diehards, they sell white whole-wheat sandwich bread). Instead of jelly, add fresh fruit like bananas, apples or grapes.   Tip : To avoid soggy bread, spread a thin coat of peanut butter on each slice of bread and put the fruit in the middle. Snick-snack lunch .    The Urban Dictionary defines snick-snack as a small snack. So on snick-snack days, skip the sandwich and pack a bag full of fun—and healthy— finger foods . Some options: fresh fruit, like apples, berries, pears, grapes, melon balls or cubes, bananas and oranges; low-fat string cheese or other low-fat cheeses cut in cubes or rolled up; nuts (did you ...

It's no surprise that parents might need some help understanding what it means to eat healthy. The good news is that you don't need a degree in nutrition to raise healthy kids. Following some basic guidelines can help you encourage your kids to eat right and maintain a healthy weight. Here are 10 key rules to live by: 1.     Parents control the supply lines.  You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them. Though kids will pester their parents for less nutritious foods, adults should be in charge when deciding which foods are regularly stocked in the house. Kids won't go hungry. They'll eat what's available in the cupboard and fridge at home. If their favorite snack isn't all that nutritious, you can still buy it once in a while so they don't feel deprived. 2.     From the foods you offer, kids get to choose what they will eat or whether to eat at all.  Kids need to have some say in the matter. Schedule regular meal and  snack ...

Exposing children to sensory play helps them develop and refine the use of their senses. Sensory play can be divided into five classifications that, as you may have guessed, correspond to the senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. Here are a few examples of easy, inexpensive and creative ways to spend time with your children while engaging them in sensory play at home. Touch Play games or engage in activities that require the use of muscles: jump on a trampoline or the bed, crab walk, have a three-legged race, make a fort or an obstacle course, play leap frog or hopscotch, try tossing or catching games (use different objects like stuffed animals, water balloons or bean bags) and play tug-of-war. Include your child in chores that encourage the use of muscles: let him push a laundry basket or grocery cart or clean together (wiping the counters, sweeping, mopping … every parent’s dream come true!). Sight Experiment with light around your home: play by candle...