Most kids love animals and would like to have a pet.  In fact, kids often beg for pets when they see them ... "Can I have a puppy ... please?"  But parents need to think long and hard before introducing a pet into a household.  And of utmost importance is the type of pet your family will be the happiest with and that the pet will be the happiest with and well-cared for.

While some families can deal with a new puppy, others cannot plus puppies are a lot of work ... sort of like having a new baby.  And that is not a joke.  So, even though Susie is begging for a dog or cat, do a little reasearch first ... maybe a bird or fish will fill the pet need, but even little pets need daily care.

Regardless of what pet your family decides on,  you, as parent, should be making this decision by the way, make sure your child will be involved in the care of the pet if they are the one asking for the pet.  Get some books beforehand rather than rushing out to get some little unsuspecting animal.  Read up, with your child, on how much care will be involved, what type of food the animal eats and any other important information.  There are many book that can be borrowed from the library and this is another fun outing that can be part of the Pet planning process.

Explain to your child that they are expected to help care for the pet and really talk about what exactly they will have to do every day.  Whether it is a cat or a bird, explain that not only does the animal need food and water daily, but they must be given attention.  Obviously, depending on the pet, different pets will require different types of attention.  Cats need petting, dogs need exercising, birds like to be talked to.

One of the prime concepts to get across to kids, however, is that no matter what type of pet they have they should remember to always to KIND to pets and other animals.  This is an important lesson that can carry through to how they also treat other people, always with kindness.

It has just been brought to our attention that some children's face paints contain lead, which is a neurotoxin that can harm the brain at low doses.  So, the face is the last place you would want to be applying this stuff ... and certainly not on our children!  This info comes from a report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of nonprofit health and environmental groups.

In some of the paints tested, the lab identified the heavy metals nickel, cobalt and chromium, which are skin allergens, even in products labeled "non-toxic" and "hypoallergenic."  Since these metals are not listed on product labels, parents shopping for Halloween makeup have no way of knowing which products are safe. The only way to know if a cosmetic product contains lead or other heavy metals is to test the product at a laboratory, which the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics did for their report.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent 10 children's face paints to an independent lab to test for heavy metals.

The lab test results found:

• All 10 of the children's face paints tested contained lead at levels ranging from 0.05 to 0.65 parts per million. 
• Six out of 10 face paints contained nickel, cobalt and/or chromium at levels ranging from 1.6 to 120 ppm - far exceeding industry safety recommendations of one ppm.
• Snazaroo Face Paint, labeled as "non-toxic" and "hypoallergenic," contained some of the highest levels of lead, nickel and cobalt found in the study.

"Lead is dangerous to the developing brains of children at any level. It is now widely accepted in the scientific community that there is no threshold level below which lead is safe," said Phil Landrigan, M.D., director of the Children's Environmental Health Center Mount Sinai School of Medicine. It is recommended that parents avoid using cosmetics on their children, to avoid any possible contamination with lead.

Cereals marketed to kids have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber and 60% more sodium than those aimed at adults.  This comes from a report by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

The content of popular cereals were analyzed using a nutrient profiling system and data was reviewed on how cereals are marketed to kids. Findings released this past weekend revealed that:

•The least nutritious cereals are often the most heavily marketed to children, such as Reese’s Puffs, Corn Pops, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cap’n Crunch.

•Most major cereal companies have products that are nutritionally good for consumption, but not many of those are advertised to children.

•Companies have reduced sugar content of kids’ cereals, on average from 3½ teaspoons to 3 teaspoons of sugar a serving.

•Average preschoolers see about 642 TV cereal ads a year; most for cereals with the worst nutrition ratings. Cereal companies spend over $156 million a year marketing to children.

•Many cereal companies have websites directed towards children, including the millsberry.com site from General Mills.

•Some of the cereals with the poorest nutrition ratings have health claims on the boxes.

So ... what to do?  Buy cereals when your child is not with you.  Cereals that are not loaded with sugar include corn flakes,  rice krispies and cheerios and these are the cereals you should be offering to your children.  Having fruit, such as bananas, raisins or berries available will encourage your child to add these to his cereal for more flavor ... this is a good thing.  And, believe it or not, explaining to your children that foods laden with sugar are bad for them does really get through.  Remember, the messages you deliver today will stay with your child as he grows.

Forty plus years ago a popular song contained these lyrics: “Sing, sing a song. Make it simple, to last a whole life long.” For the preschool teacher or parent who wants to introduce one or more children to a new song, that phrase makes clear the best way to answer that challenge. It also underscores the fact that even a simple song can leave a lasting impression in a still-developing mind.

Whenever a preschool child learns something new, that child experiences a feeling of happiness. When children are happy, they feel positive about themselves. They understand that their newly acquired knowledge allows them to better contribute to society. Hence, the teaching of every new skill holds great importance in either a preschool or a home setting.

Each new song learned by a small child should be viewed as a new skill. If you work as an instructor in a preschool setting, you will want to teach a variety of songs. How should you tackle this task? Be sure to first practice the song at home with a friend or a family member. Concentrate on learning both the rhythm and the melody. Practice until you feel confident that you can reproduce the song without faltering or quavering.

You may want to get hold of a CD or a tape that contains some of the preschool songs that you would like to teach your class. This is an excellent way for a preschool instructor to learn a new song. By listening to a song over and over, you can learn any simple song much faster.

Children also learn a song faster if they have a chance to sing it again and again. Parents, teachers count on you to encourage, and not prohibit, the repeated demonstration of a child’s singing skills. Teachers, you can use pictures to reinforce your students’ desire to sing any new song a countless number of times.

If that new song is about a Biblical story, then look for pictures at your church or temple library. If the song mentions food or eating, you can find good pictures of food in almost any woman’s magazine. If the song is about animals, then you can search the Internet, visit a local pet store or zoo, or seek an age appropriate publication such as these: Children’s Magic Window, Grit, Humptey Dumptey’s Magazine or Sesame Street Magazine.

Often a preschool song will provide the singers with a chance to do some acting. The acting can be done with facial expressions, with movement of the whole body, with hand movement or with finger plays. Parents, if your children start to sing a song in the car, then you have been offered the perfect opportunity for the introduction of a new finger game, one that matches with the words of the song.

Simple instruments can make a wonderful addition to the teaching of a preschool song. Percussion instruments offer the surest route to a fun and pleasant period for introduction of a new tune. Parents and teachers, you can learn how to make or acquire such instruments by clicking here.

Children love to sing. If you are asked to teach a new song to a group of preschoolers, then choose a simple song. Let them sing the song many times. Add to your teaching some pictures; encourage the acting out of parts of the song. You could provide those children with a memory that will “last a whole life long.”

Here is the linked information on making instruments:

For Making a Big Bang Listed here are the most desirable instruments for the preschool classroom. (After each item are suggestions regarding how to obtain or make that instrument.)

1. Clog box: get two wood blocks and cover each one with sand paper.

2. Maraca: use a seed filled gourd.

3. Gong: use a hanging cymbal struck with a mallet

4. Beatkeeper: use hollow cylinders with wooden sticks for hitting them.

5. Drum: use an empty coffee can with a plastic lid.

6. Tambourine: purchase at a toy store or music store.

7. Triangle: purchase at a toy store or music store.

Sue Chehrenegar has spent more than thirty years working with children. Sue served as a guest lecturer at both the elementary and middle school in the town where her family lived. Sue has written articles for Boys Quest and Appleseeds Magazines. You can read more by Sue at her blog:
chehrenegar.blogspot.com

The most important thing you can do to fight againt getting the Swine Flu is to teach your family, and all children you come in contact with,  proper hand washing.  Many kids have already been doing this as a regular part of normal hygiene but there are many who do not, primarily because they haven't been taught or have no good parental example.

I'm sorry to say that I know plenty of adults that don't take the time to do good hand washing, on a regular basis. Yes, they swish a little water onto their hands and that's it.  But with proper instruction, we can do something positive about spreading germs this flu season. It's a proven fact that we all touch our faces all during the day ... rub our eyes, scratch our nose, touch our lip. And hand-to-face contact is one of the ways we contract illnesses.  Germs can enter the body through breaks in the skin or through membranes of the eyes, mouth and nose.

So ... How should we Teach Children to Wash Hands ?

• Wet Hands.  Soap Hands. And wash for 10 seconds.  You can tell them to count to 20 or say the alphabet to figure out if they have washed long enough.
• Rinse Hands well.
• Dry Hands well, using a paper towel if one is available.
• Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Throw paper towel in trash.

Give kids a good demonstration so they truly understand.  Explain that we get colds and coughs from other people, and other kids, when we don't wash our hands thoroughly.  Let them know that this is one way that germs get spread.

This would be a good time to also instruct kids to cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow, to avoid spraying germs into the air that people breathe.  Also let children know that the alcohol-based Sanitizers are effective in killing flu germs and other germs and that they can use this at other times during the day.