Get origami projects or crafts ideas online

Origami can be used for skill development for educational, developmental, and therapeutic aspects. Origami is good for any age as it provide an entertaining and creative feeling when you are busy doing it.

For kids at preschool or kindergarten stage you need to teach them easy origami which they can learn themselves. Your instructions should be clear and easy to follow. You can find lot of sites and links online where you can get ideas, projects details and even step by step tutorial helping you learn origami projects or crafts ideas yourself or for your kids. This post is helpful for teachers, parents who are interested to start teaching this creative activity for kids.

* 'How to origami' is full of easy projects for children. You can get an idea from the pictures I have loaded here. These easy instruction are enough to start learning with basic folds. As you can see that the 3rd picture shows a table chair made with origami folds which seems difficult to make, but as first two pictures show easy steps to follow, you can easily learn it. Even your kids can follow these instructions by watching these pictures or online videos.

* 'Free Homemade bookmarks, crafts and gifts' 

* 'Origami Resources' Helps you make Origami crafts, Origami Crafts for children, free videos on Origami, Origami Aeroplane, Origami Flowers, Origami Animals etc.

* 'Simple Kids Crafts': Daily, Easy, Educational, Functional Children Arts and Crafts projects for children of all ages using easy to find materials such as recyclables, egg cartons, cardboard, paper, boxes, string, crayons, paint, glue, fabric and pompoms, pipe cleaners, beads, ribbons, construction paper and more. They offer toys, games, school crafts, experiments, FREE printable coloring pages/templates and craft recipes.

* 'Easy origami forkids'

* Paper the World offers simple origami of models that focus on endangered animal species.
It educates and teaches some charming origami animal figures to children so that they can enjoy the art and creativity of folding paper and making beautiful things from such common material.

Why you need to help your child build self esteem?

Self esteem or self confidence is one of basic skills which play an important role in the life of a person. This basic skill is nourished and developed from the early childhood and parents plus teachers can help build self esteem among children. As a parent or a teacher, you have a great influence over the self-esteem of your child.

What is self esteem?

Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself. It includes such things as your self-confidence, self-respect, pride in yourself, your independence and your self-reliance. All the ways you feel about yourself and your abilities are wrapped up in the term "self-esteem".

In general, the more positive your self-esteem, the more successful you will be at dealing with life. The same holds for your children. The more positive their self-esteem, the more confident and proud they will be. They will try harder, be happier and have greater self-respect. They will make friends easier and will be more giving. Children with positive self-esteem are more secure and loving than children with negative self-esteem.

Negative self-esteem is related to low self-confidence, insecurity, underachievement, anxiety, depression, acting-out behavior, sleep problems and being a loner.

Self-esteem is your child's passport to lifetime mental health and social happiness. It's the foundation of a child's well-being and the key to success as an adult. At all ages, how you feel about yourself affects how you act. Think about a time when you were feeling really good about yourself. You probably found it much easier to get along with others and feel good about them.

Factors affecting child self esteem:

* How much the child feels wanted, appreciated and loved
* How your child sees himself, often built from what parents and those close say
* His or her sense of achievement
* How the child relates to others

Self-image is how one perceives oneself:

The child looks in the mirror and likes the person he sees. He looks inside himself and is comfortable with the person he sees. He must think of this self as being someone who can make things happen and who is worthy of love. Parents are the main source of a child's sense of self-worth.
Lack of a good self-image very often leads to behavior problems:

Most of the behavioral problems that I see for counseling come from poor self-worth in parents as well as children. Why is one person a delight to be with, while another always seems to drag you down? How people value themselves, get along with others, perform at school, achieve at work, and relate in marriage, all stem from strength of their self-image.

Healthy self-worth doesn't mean being narcissistic or arrogant; it means having a realistic understanding of one's strengths and weaknesses, enjoying the strengths and working on the problem areas. Because there is such a strong parallel between how a person feels about himself and how a person acts, helping your child build self-confidence is vital to discipline.

Throughout life your child will be exposed to positive influences builders and negative influences breakers. Parents can expose their child to more builders and help him work through the breakers.

Useful links:

* Building Your Child's Self Esteem

* 12 ways to help your child build self confidence

* 16 Techniques For Parents And Teachers

Why you should choose alternative therapy for your kid with asthma?

There are various reasons to choose alternative healing or therapy for you or your kid. I am a mother of asthmatic child who is suffering from asthma from the age of 3 and now he is 11. With my experience with alternative therapies, I can assure you that whatever therapy you select, it can help you in healing process. I am practicing acupressure therapy for common ailment myself and it is really effective, easy to apply and without any side effects.

The best side of these alternative therapies is that you don't have to worry about side effects. These alternative therapies may include acupressure, acupuncture, aromatherapy, homeopathy etc. Remember whatever therapy you use for the prevention or healing of asthma, don't discontinue the use of medicines prescribed by your health practioner.

Now I want to explain the side effects of medication which are commonly used for the treatment and healing of asthmatic patients.

The mainstay of conventional treatment is medication, primarily with oral or inhaled bronchodilators like albuterol (Proventil, Ventolin), isoetharine (Bronkometer, Bronkosol),isoproterenol (isuprel), metaproterenol (Alupent), and terbutaline (Brethaire, Brethine, Bricanyl).These medications work to open up the airway, easing breathing. They can cause a variety of side effects, including nervousness, increased heart rate, tremors, increased blood pressure, and dizziness.

In more advanced or chronic case of asthma, corticosteroids may be prescribed, in either oral or inhaled form. Inhaler forms include beclomethasone (Beclovent, Vanceril, Vancenase, Beconase), fluticasone (Flovent), and triamcinolone(Azmacort, Nasacort), Prednisone is the most commonly prescribed oral form. These medicines work by decreasing the swelling and inflammation of the airways, but they do have several disadvantages. First, they have an adverse affect on the functioning of the immune system and the adrenal glands. Oral yeast infection can be a problem with inhaler forms. All steroids have the potential to cause significant side effects, especially when taken over the long term, that need to be understood. Talk this over with your doctor or pharmacist.

Theophylline and related drugs, once commonly prescribed for asthma, are less often used today because they are more likely to cause side effects such as restlessness, insomnia, headache, loss of appetite, increased heart rate, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Long-term use of theophylline may also be associated with behavioral problems and learning disabilities, although the evidence for this is not conclusive.

Source: 'Mother nature'

Useful links:

A useful post about the acupressure therapy: 'Healing and cure from asthma with the help of acupressure therapy'

* 'acupressure for asthma'

Are there any natural remedies for ADD and ADHD ?

I have experience of facing kids at school who display poor sustained attention to tasks or were impulsive or were excessively active and restless. We know that they all suffer from ADHD, which is characterized by destructibility, impulsiveness and hyperactivity.

Although, these symptoms are found in varying degrees in most, this condition becomes a medical disorder, if they’re excessive, long-term and pervasive. About one-half to two-thirds of children suffering from ADHD will continue with this disorder as adults.

It is thought that diet with refined sugar and food additives can causes children to become hyperactive and inattentive. Though there’s some truth in it, scientists at the National Institutes of Health conclude this may apply to only about 5% of either very young children or children with food allergies.

Treatment of ADD or ADHD

Most of the medications have a lot of side effects.
However, there are some excellent natural remedies that are perfectly safe and effective, without any side effects. These remedies can be adopted for the treatment of ADD and ADHD for the relief of these neurological disorders.

List of natural natural remedies:

• Ginkgo biloba: It’s effective in restoring the functioning of the circulatory system and improving blood flow to the brain. Its active ingredients include flavone glycosides, bioflavins, sitosterol, lactones and anthocyanin.
• Skullcap (Scuttellaria laterifolia): This is a relaxing nerve tonic and anti-spasmodic, which reduces excitability and relieves depression. Its active ingredients are flavonoids, tannins, bitter, volatile oil and minerals.
• German chamomile (Matricaria recutita): This has traditionally been used tocalm and soothe nervous tension. Its active ingredients include volatile oil, flavonoids, valerianic acid, coumarins, tannins, salicylates and cyanogenic glycosides.
• Gotu cola (Centella asiatica): It is used to revitalize the brain and nervous system, increase attention span and concentration, and combat ageing.
• Green Oats (Avina sativa): Also called Hawer, it’s used to treat nervous exhaustion and as a general nerve tonic. It’s active ingredients are saponins, flavonoids, minerals, alkaloids, steroidal compounds, Vitamins B1, B2, D, E, carotene and wheat protein.
• Umbabazane (Urtica Urens): This circulatory stimulant is effective in lowering blood sugar levels. Its active ingredients are histamine, formic acid, acetylcholine, glucoquinones, minerals, Vitamins A, B and C and tannins.
• Massage therapy: According to a study published in 1998, massage therapy has proven especially effective for children. A daily massage makes them happier, less fidgety and hyperactive, and more focused on their tasks.

Natural remedies have proven quite effective in treating ADD or ADHD. But it is important to consult your physician before adopting any of them.

Source: www.natural-remedies-for.com

Easy and simple exercises to improve your vision and prevent from Computer Vision Syndrome

Eye relaxation exercises are really important for improving vision naturally. They reduce eye strain which in turn increases the flexibility of your eye muscles - a function which enables you to see clearly.

Scientists have stated that near-point stress is a major cause of vision problems like nearsightedness (myopia). We can reverse the damaging effects of eye strain using simple eye exercises. All you have to do is consciously relax your eyes during times of near-point stress - such as working on the computer, reading, or doing any other close-up work.

If you feel any symptoms of CVS, stop working at the computer and practice eye exercises. Exercises should be done daily to reduce strain, headaches and dry eye as a result of using the computer too many hours in a day.

The first exercise you can do is to hold out a pencil, an arm's length away from your body. Focus your vision on the tip and slowly bring it towards your eyes, while keeping your vision locked on the pencil tip. As soon as you bring it close to your nose, you will begin to see double. Repeat the exercise five to 10 times, throughout the day or as soon as you feel CVS symptoms.

A simple exercise to do in order to exercise the eye is to look up from the computer when you begin to feel symptoms, focus on an object that is across the room and stare at it for approximately 20 seconds. After the time is up, lock your vision on an object that is close to you for the same amount of time. Alternate between far and close objects about 10 times, continuing that exercise throughout the day as needed.

When at any point in the day you feel symptoms of CVS, look outside if you have a window or focus on an object across the room until your eyes feel relaxed. Staring at a computer monitor strains the muscles in the eye that deal with focusing, so looking away will relax those muscles.

Few tips to keep your prevent your child from vision problems:

The adequate distance from the screen holds the key to the reduction of eyestrain.

• For television, a distance of 96 inches is a must. It could also be calculated as 6 times the diagonal of the television screen. Television should not be watched in a dark room.
• For computer, a distance of 18 -25 inches should be maintained with open space behind the computer (not against a wall).
• For reading material, always use good light. Hold the material no closer than the distance between your knuckles and the elbow (13 inches). The closer one holds the things, the more likely one is causing eye strain.
• Sit straight. Don’t read leaning over a table or lying down. This causes your eyes to adapt and may cause eye strain.

Useful links and resources:

* Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS):Stop Computer Eye Strain Now!

* Exercises to Strengthen Eye Muscles

Ideas to teach good manners to your kids with the help of toys

Toys are meant to play or have fun but toys can play a role of a teacher when you use them as a learning tool. Toys can keep the kids busy for hours while calming them down at some annoying moments. Toys can also help children teach good manners. This article offers tips and ideas to learn how you can use toys as a tool to manage your child's behavior.

Toys make amazing rewards that can encourage kids to behave. Toys can be used to encourage general good behavior or you can use them to teach manners, stop phone interruptions and more.

The power of kid’s toys is utterly amazing when you start using them as leverage for positive behavior.

How Kid’s Toys can Encourage Overall Good Behavior?

Get three of anything. It can be three pennies, three rocks, three trivial toys etc… Put the three items in a drawer. Put your child’s name on a plastic cup. When you see your child doing something good like using manners, treating his sibling nice or more then place one of the three items in your child’s cup.

Tell your child that he earned 1 point for his good behavior and compliment him on a job well done! Let him know that if he earns 3 points that day that you will play with him and his favorite toy at the end of the day. Now if you find that it’s too easy for your child to earn 3 points consider bumping it up to 5 or more. When play time arrives, count up the points and if he’s earned the right quantity let him go and get his favorite toy of the day and play with him for at least 30 minutes. You’ll find that doing this will improve your child’s behavior very quickly and once he learns that you’ll play “his way” for 30 minutes he’ll be very determined to earn those points every day!

Using Kid’s Toys to Teach Manners

If your child has a favorite stuffed animal or doll then you’re in luck! You can use his furry friends to help teach him good manners. You’ll first need to write down a list of manners that you want your child to learn. Do you want to teach him table manners and help him learn to say please and thank you often? Do you want him to know how to address adults like Mrs. Smith instead of using first names? Do you want to teach him how to say hello and goodbye on the phone and in person? What you teach your child is up to you, but it’s a good idea to write a list and practice often till it sinks in.

To teach table manners, have your child bring is favorite stuffed animal or doll to dinner. Ask him how his doll should be sitting and have him place his doll in the appropriate sitting position. Then ask your child to do as doll does. Then ask him to tell you what his doll should do if he wants to talk, but has a mouth full of food. Use his doll as an example for every table manner you want to teach your child. You can even have him place a napkin on dolly’s lap. You could have your child roll play his “inside” voice talking through his doll and even talk about how dolly could use his manners at a restaurant.

Later, go to the family room and have your child and doll sit on the couch. Have your child tell you how dolly can use the words please and thank you throughout the day. Roll play with the doll. Encourage your child to have fun with the roll plays to really “show off” his knowledge of good manners. Let him add lib and make things up and ask him to have dolly show you all the good manners that he has. This can be very fun, as well as, quite educational and effective at teaching manners.

Using Kid’s Toys to Stop Phone Interruptions

Everyone has been on the phone and had their child run up making tons of non-stop noise! This is annoying for mom and annoying to the caller, but it can be prevented by simply creating a phone call kid’s toy box. First step is to get a box. You can choose a pretty basket or plastic bin depending on where you want to keep the container. Get a box that’s big enough to fit 2 or 3 kid’s toys. Then you’ll want to choose some toys to put in it. I’d advocate choosing toys that encourage long-time play such as: blocks, pretend play toys, puzzles or anything else that will keep your child’s attention.

Talk with your child about the importance of not interrupting you while you’re on the phone. Let him know that he now has a special “phone toy box” that can only be opened when you’re on a phone call. Show him the box and the special toys inside. Tell him that every time you’re on the phone he can play with those toys. Let him know that if he’s really good you’ll let him choose some new toys every 2, 4 or 6 months (depending on what you decide and your budget) that he can put in his phone toy box.

If he’s quiet while you’re on the phone then he can keep playing with his special toys until the call is over. If he interrupts, then the toys go back up on the shelf straightaway. If he needs to tell you something “important” you can practice teaching him how to interrupt the nice way. Have him walk over to you and place his hand on your arm or knee and wait till you excuse yourself from the call. Teach him not make noise as he approaches.

As you start using toys as rewards you’ll ascertain how much fun it can be to teach your child good behavior without having to use negative consequences. These techniques are a win/win for you and your child because each of you will get what you want in the end!

Author: Kim Proulx, a Certified Parent Coach.

Importance of breakfast for children

I have noticed at my nursery class that few children come to school without eating breakfast and parents don't know that breakfast is important for young learners. 

National studies consistently confirm that breakfast provides fuel for school and boosts brain power. Eating breakfast:

• Improves classroom performance, including better test scores and grades
• Increases children's ability to focus and concentrate on school work
• Decreases behavior problems, tardiness and visits to the school nurse
• Increases attendance rate 

When students routinely start their day with breakfast, chances are good that it will become a habit that carries into their teenage and adult years. 

Tiffin or break time can be an alternate to breakfast if kids skip their morning breakfast or snacks.

There is a lot of evidence that breakfast, either at home or at school, is an important way to start the day. Many studies suggest that regular breakfast skippers don't optimize their nutrition during the day. And, going without breakfast can lead to poor behavior. Breakfast eaters are more likely to be calmer, less anxious, more focused and learn better. Breakfast also tends to organize children's day, particularly if they eat breakfast at school.

A regular pattern of missing breakfast is likely to lead to not eating all the important nutrients. Breakfast offers an opportunity for children to make up whatever they might not get in the rest of the day, especially if they snack on foods that provide few nutrients and little fiber.

Plan the breakfast or tiffin in ahead keeping in mind:

• Let the Food Groups Be the Guide. As a rule-of-thumb, make sure lunches include at least three of the MyPyramid Five Food Groups. Pack whole, fresh foods instead of processed foods. For example, fresh fruit instead of fruit snacks.
• Have Children Buy Milk. Send money to school for children to purchase milk with their lunch instead packing a fruit juice, fruit-drink or soft drink. Research shows that children who drink milk with lunch are more likely to meet their daily calcium needs. Fruit flavored beverages and soft drinks provide calories and few, if any, nutrients. If children bring juice with lunch, make sure it is 100 percent juice. Make sure you pack low-fat cheese or a yogurt in their lunch for a Milk Group serving.
• Let Children Choose Flavored Milk. Flavored milk has the same nutrients as white milk. Research shows that children who drink flavored milk don't consume more fat or sugar than children who drink only white milk.
• Serve the Same Foods with a New Twist. Cut cheese into cubes instead of slices or cut apples into circles instead of wedges.
• Consider Likes and Dislikes. Have your children help you create a list of foods they like for lunch. Take them to the grocery store and ask for lunch box suggestions.

Tips to help reduce screen time for your kids

Screentime is the time spent in front of a screen. Anything that has a screen counts towards screentime, like televisions, computers, video games, and even cell phones. The more time that is spent in front of a screen, the less time is spent moving. Time spent watching TV takes time away from reading, playing and being active. Watching a lot fo TV can be bad for children's health and can effect the children's weight.

 The researchers found that children who spent the least amount of time watching television, using the computer, and playing video games had much lower blood pressure levels than those who spent the most time in front of a screen. There are more bad effects of spending more time in front of screen.

Preschoolers with TVs in their bedroom watch an additional 4.8 hours of TV or videos every week.
1 in 4 children under the age of 2 years has a TV in their bedroom.

According to 'The Kaiser Family Foundation':

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."

Tips to Reduce Screen Time

• Talk to Your Family: Explain to your kids that it's important to sit less and move more in order to stay at a healthy weight. Tell them they’ll also have more energy, and it will help them develop and/or perfect new skills, such as riding a bike or shooting hoops, that could lead to more fun with friends. Tell them you’ll do the same.
• Set a Good Example: You need to be a good role model and limit your screen time to no more than two hours per day, too. If your kids see you following your own rules, then they’ll be more likely to do the same.
• Log Screen Time vs. Active Time: Start tracking how much time your family spends in front of a screen, including things like TV- and DVD-watching, playing video games, and using the computer for something other than school or work. Then take a look at how much physical activity they get. That way you’ll get a sense of what changes need to be made. Use the Children's Screen Time Log (230 KB) to do it.
• Make Screen Time = Active Time: When you do spend time in front of the screen, do something active. Stretch, do yoga and/or lift weights. Or, challenge the family to see who can do the most push-ups, jumping jacks, or leg lifts during TV commercial breaks.  
• Set Screen Time Limits: Create a house rule that limits screen time to two hours every day. More importantly, enforce the rule.  
• Create Screen-free Bedrooms: Don’t put a TV or computer in your child's bedroom. Kids who have TVs in their room tend to watch about 1.5 hours more TV a day than those that don’t. Plus, it keeps them in their room instead of spending time with the rest of the family.  
• Make Meal Time = Family Time: Turn off the TV during meals. Better yet, remove the TV from the eating area if you have one there. Family meals are a good time to talk to each other. Research shows that families who eat together tend to eat more nutritious meals. Make eating together a priority and schedule family meals at least two to three times a week.  
• Provide Other Options: Watching TV can become a habit, making it easy to forget what else is out there. Give your kids ideas and/or alternatives, such as playing outside, getting a new hobby, or learning a sport. See more tips for getting physically active.
• Don't Use TV Time as Reward or Punishment: Practices like this make TV seem even more important to children.
• Understand TV Ads Placements: Seeing snack foods, candy, soda, and fast food on television affects all of us, especially kids. Help your child understand that because it’s on TV—or your favorite TV characters/actors eat or drink it—doesn’t mean a food or drink is good for you. Get your kids to think about why their favorite cartoon character is trying to get them to eat a certain brand of breakfast cereal.

Tips provided by: 'National Heart Lung and Blood Institute'

According to a survey statistics: Children ages 8–18 spend the following amount of time in front of the screen, daily:

• Approximately 7.5 hours using entertainment media
• Approximately 4.5 hours watching TV
• Approximately 1.5 hours on the computer
• Over an hour playing video games  

These data lie in stark contrast to the 25 minutes per day that children spend reading books.

Today's youth also have the following media in their bedrooms:

More than one–third have a computer, and Internet access
Half have video game players
More than two–thirds have TVs
Those with bedroom TVs spend an hour more in front of the screen than those without TVs

Health experts say screen time at home should be limited to two hours or less a day, unless it’s work- or homework-related. The time we spend in front of the screen could be better spent being more physically active (increasing our ENERGY OUT), and setting a good example for our families.

- Both scary and reassuring. Scary because it makes clear just how little we know about potentially harmful effects of 'tubes' on our brains, but reassuring that someone is finally asking the questions which so desperately need to be answered!"—Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., Educational Psychologist, Author of Endangered Minds and Failure to Connect

- "Well done.... An outstanding investigative movie that begins to present interesting questions about the true nature of television. It presents many compelling facts and questions about an activity that most people take for granted."—www.turnoffyourtv.com

Useful links and resoruces:

* Reviews of :The Tube: A Film by Peter Entell

* Web MD: “Screen Time Boosts Kids’ Blood Pressure”