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Start a Series of Family Movie Nights
Put on a Talent Show
play some audience reactions from YouTube and encourage them to give acceptance speeches for their awards after the big gig. When spring finally arrives, your kids will be the talk of the class with tales of their newfound pop culture knowledge and delicately crafted baked snacks. But, more importantly, you’ll be happy to know you made the choice to feed your children’s creativity and cultivate their love for learning while growing closer to them.
Do you have a favorite movie series you watched growing up? It could be Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or Ghostbusters. Chances are you haven’t revisited your favorite sagas in years. Why not spend these chilly evenings sharing your old cinematic favorites with your kids for the first time? While your little tykes get lost in the stories and let their imaginations run wild, you’ll get some much-needed relaxation and popcorn time. Choose the movies to fit the age of your youngins and mood of the day.
Chances are your kid wants to be something other than a kid someday. Whether it’s a zookeeper, a magician, or an accountant, fuel those ambitions and turn them loose on a homemade stage. You can set up all you need with just a few cardboard boxes and blankets, though you may want to give out prizes or accolades for each performance. Give them some time to practice and old clothes from the attic and let them show their stuff to a panel of their peers. To enhance the theatrical experience,
3 Tips to Prevent Raising a Picky Eater When you’re trying to feed your child, keep themhealthy, and prevent them frombecoming one of thoseweird adults with the stunted palate of a 2-year-old, itmay feel like you’re facedwith an uphill climb. Research shows that fussy eatingmay be as linked to genetics as it is to upbringing, not to mention the tangle of other psychosocial factors that can fuel a child’s inscrutable food preferences.
3. Make a variety of dishes.
That said, there areways to help your child foster a healthy relationshipwith food and encourage themto be adventurous eaters.
The more monotonous your nightly menu is, the fewer new foods your child will be exposed to, and the harder it will become to introduce healthy newcomers to the table. If your kids like green beans, great, but don’t start serving green beans with every meal just because you know those are the only veggies they’ll eat. Keep it varied and fun, and your kid’s palate will follow. You shouldn’t force your kid to eat food they don’t want to eat, but you shouldn’t cater too closely to their fussy habits either. Present them with a wide variety of the healthy options you want them to eat, and let themdiscover the joys of taste and texture as they grow.
a1. Keep your expectations in check.
it out on their own terms. Normalizing those Brussels sprouts is half the battle. 2. Avoid turning vegetables into chores. You might think that offering your child a reward in return for finishing their green beans is a good way to make sure your child gets their nutrients, but it causes more problems than it’s worth. It just reinforces your child’s perception that the green beans are the“bad” food they have to choke down before getting to the good stuff.
When a child first encounters a new food, they’re going to give it the side-eye. That’s natural. In fact, according to a 2003 study, it may take as many as 12“exposures”to a new food for it to become familiar, much less something they want to eat. If you put toomuch pressure on them to eat every last bit of the new food, that particular food won’t fare well in their memories and you’ll have to fight those negative associations from then on. Instead, talk about the new food as you’re preparing it, involve your child in the preparation, and have them check
2 • www.WeHelpImmigrants.com
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