Unfortunately, not all kids are athletic or at least, have an interest in sports. Some show an interest early on while the others develop their love for sports at a later age.

For parents who have a child or children wanting to be in sports, your support and involvement are very important. There are various ways in which you can provide your support to your child.

• Learn about the sport (if you’re not into it)

• Get involved in your child’s activity

• Attend their games and talk about them afterwards

• Don’t expect too much from your child

• Encourage your child to share his experiences with other team members and their coach

• Help your kid handle defeat and disappointments

For parents whose kids don’t show any interest yet, do not force them. Just be patient and in time, they will be the ones to tell you that they’d like to get into a particular sport.

Experts don’t recommend forcing a child to get into a sport he or she doesn’t like. It will only have a negative effect on their emotional state and may lead them to rebel. Also, it can result in injuries particularly if the child is not fit enough for that specific activity.

While it’s not very easy to discipline a child who has been quite hooked to playing computer games, there’s one tool that parents can use to help them with their issue. The answer is a software that keeps track of computer usage. It allows parents to set which day and hours their child can use the PC at home.

There are many types available today at an affordable price. A 2012 review of this parental time control software products rated KidsWatch Time Management as the number one. The others in the Top 6 are iNet Protector, ComputerTime, iProtectYou, EyeTimer and Win Nanny. The ranking was based on the feature set, ease of use, ease of installation, technical support and time control effectiveness.

Common features of these software products include password controls, daily and weekly time limits, time restrictions, internet usage restrictions, warning messages, website specific access and temporary lockout of computer.

Microsoft users, however, can take advantage of the free Parental Controls feature at no additional cost. All that’s needed is to set up Parental Controls which can be done through the control panel. You have to make sure, though, that your PC is not connected to a domain to be able to use it.

Parents looking to use this kind of software should choose one that not only has many features but provides customer support in different ways such as through phone, email and online chat. This way, you can get help fast when you need it.

Photo courtesy of Kids Watch

It cannot be denied that computers and other portable game consoles can be quite addictive as proven by the amount of time spent by young children using them. Millions of households also own PCs and video game consoles and the latest video game industry statistics showed that 190 million households in the U.S. will be using a next-generation video game console in 2012. The figures provided by Grabstats.com also showed that 65 percent of American households play computer or video games.

Other survey findings revealed that of children aged 0-8 years old, one in 10 use an iPad, iPod, smart phone or similar device to play games, watch videos or use other apps. The average time spent in a typical day doing this is 43 minutes.

Parent should be aware that while playing video games can be fun for their kids, spending too much time on computers and game consoles do not provide health and social benefits. As children are confined in their room sitting on a chair or on their bed for several hours, they are lacking in social interaction and exercise.

Keep in mind that children need to have contact with other kids to develop their social skills. In addition, they need physical activities to develop their bones and muscles while they are growing up. Without these activities, they are more likely to become loners and strangers to other children and are at greater risk of becoming obese.

It should be a priority then to limit their time using computers and game consoles to only an hour or two hours at the most. Scheduling it on certain days is also a good idea. Going beyond the recommended time is already considered an addiction which could lead to serious problems later on.

Photo courtesy of Tech Addition

It’s also a good idea to let your kids help out in certain household chores that they are capable of doing and then rewarding them with a little money. According to experts and many parents, this is a better option than just freely giving money or buying them whatever they ask of you. This strategy will make children become more responsible as they help you in the house and it also makes them look forward to earning their reward afterwards.

Teaching your child to focus on a goal is also essential. It teaches them discipline as well. Kids often desire to have a lot of things that they see on TV, from their classmates and friends or at the shopping malls. Instead of buying that item, you can guide them into saving money little by little so they can purchase that particular product with their own money.

Along with this is you have to keep track of how they’re going about in their saving goal. You can then choose to provide an equal amount of money when the child reaches his goal as an incentive to keep him or her going in this aspect.

Many parents are concerned today about the lead hazards in their child’s toys. Health authorities have been warning consumers in the recent years against buying toys that may contain lead. Certain products found to be positive of lead have also been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in a number of instances in the past.

Parents were warned again just this past holiday season that toys including the jewelry types may contain lead. But how can you really determine if a product has this hazardous element?

Lead is not visible to the naked eye and does not have any distinct smell. Take note, however, that toys manufactured in other countries and brought to the U.S. often contain lead. The same is true with antique toys or collectibles handed down from one generation to another. Toys can contain lead through the paint and plastic used in making them.

As a parent, it is vital to be aware of these lead hazards. Only a certified laboratory can perform a test on a toy. The do-it-yourself kits available today are also not that reliable in detecting the lead level.

A blood test, however, may be done to find out if your child has been exposed to lead and what appropriate treatment should be given.

Do understand that simply touching a toy or wearing a toy jewelry will not cause lead to get into your child’s bloodstream. It‘s when the item is put inside the mouth that can cause an adverse effect. Lead exposure can affect a child’s behavior and learning ability.

Photo via Mercola

It seems that party gift bags have become the new normal – at least enough of the time to warrant the internal-discussion whether to join the bandwagon or not. When I was a kid, I don’t remember ever getting a gift bag when leaving a birthday party, or whatever. The party was the gift – if it was a good one you were spent and didn’t need anymore.

But times have changed. If it turns out most of your kid’s friends have parents that make the effort to put together post party gift bags, or even if your friends put together the bags after a Christmas or other party event, you should too.

But don’t despair, there are quick and easy ways to put together a fun bag of gifty tidbits. It doesn’t have to break the bank either. Some of you out there are certainly crafty and industrious enough to whip up something from scratch for the bags. However, if you’re like me, it’s virtually impossible to squeeze one more thing into the schedule.

So, for those of you out there who need some gift ideas that are affordable and quick, we’ve compiled 5 perfect gift bag suggestions. Here they are:

Custom pens – Especially good for the kids. Who doesn’t love a new pen? For a minimal cost you can get a special message printed on the pen to remind the guests of the date.

Stickers – You absolutely cannot go wrong in a child’s mind with stickers. It’s kind of the same with temporary tattoos, but stickers seem to hold a particularly special charm with small children.

Art supplies – Anything goes from crayons to paper pads and water color paints or play doh. Sidewalk chalk is another great creative conduit. I’d include markers, but that’s probably something that should be cleared with other parents first, so maybe not the best idea for a gift bag.

Treats – Small candies or baked goods are fine here. After a birthday party of rich cake and ice cream perhaps a more healthful choice for the gift bag would be appropriate as well. Perhaps a toothbrush could be tossed in as an extra.

Kaleidoscopes – Several companies manufacture really fun small-scale kaleidoscopes that are perfect for party bags. The colorful, rolling shapes of a kaleidoscope have endeared children for generations.

Any of these gift ideas are sure to be appreciated by your children’s friends. And who doesn’t love to send a child away smiling after a good time was had by all?

Most toys are simply garbage. There I said it. Long-ago, most toy companies stopped thinking about what’s best for kids in order to focus on profits, no matter the social and health implications.

This phenomenon explains how cheaply made Chinese products have flooded toy store shelves in recent years, pushing out socially-responsible competitors. A disturbing number of these products were so bad to be recalled due to the presence of lead in the toy.

Lead in children’s toys? I don’t know about you, but that’s inexcusable in my book. Distressed by the potential for harm not only to my own children but to those of friends and strangers as well, I sought out alternative options in the burgeoning market for green gifts.

What I found is a diverse market for high quality gifts – many of which are made in the U.S.A. – that don’t sacrifice function for social responsibility. Generally-speaking, green gifts work directly to protect the environment and public health by eliminating harmful toxins from the manufacturing process.

Either way, the consumer wins. You get well-made, safe toys for your children that do no harm. With Christmas right around the corner, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the benefits of green gift giving.

Here are 5 awesome green gifts your children will love:

Nintendo Wii – Yes, you read that right. It may be a little subjective to call the Nintendo Wii a green gift, but it does have advantages over other game systems. Namely, the Wii is more than 10 times more energy efficient than the Play Station 3 or Xbox 360.

Arbor Collective – This sustainable skateboard and snowboard company produces boards made from farmed aspen, poplar, cork oak and bamboo so that old-growth species can be preserved.

Brookstone Boogie Board – A LCD writing tablet with stylus removes paper from the equation, saving trees while allowing your children to draw or write until their hearts are content. The 8.8” x 5.6” tablet is pressure sensitive to allow lines of varying thickness and use even with the touch of a fingernail.

Plan Toys Eco-Chalet Dollhouse – This modernist dollhouse is made of all-natural recycled rubber wood and includes miniature replica solar system. Two separate units can be arranged and rearranged in numerous variations.

The Lorax – This iconic children’s book by Dr. Seuss tells an enduring environmental tale that should be shared by every parent and child.

Coming face to face with heady academic subject matter years – or decades – since you last wrote a research paper is challenging to say the least. There’s no shame in that; every parent feels it to one degree or another.

It doesn’t help that the Internet is full of millions of pages of questionable content. Many websites claim to be expert produced, and even look the part, but in reality are publishers of completely bogus content. It can be a daunting task to tell fact from fiction.

Even so, helping a child with a research paper doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. In fact, with the advent of the Internet, the task has never been easier. You just have to know where to look for high quality . There are numerous and diverse sources of quality information that is presented with a focus on age-appropriate content.

Here’s an easy reference list of some of the best kid-friendly research sources available on the Internet:

Library of Congress: At www.loc.gov, a wealth of research paper quality information on a slew of topics is available in the “Kids, Families” section. Best part: It’s hard to be the Library of Congress as a respected research source.

CIA: Yes, that CIA. And no, they won’t have to kill you if they tell you. The Central Intelligence Agency maintains a robust website at www.cia.gov that hosts a large variety of useful data. Once on the homepage, click on the “Publications” tab. Here you will find “The World Factbook” and “World Leaders” online directory.

Kids Click!: Kent State University’s School of Library and Information Science runs this extensive collection of resources that span a range of categories. Kids Click! This resource allows students to research using a specialized search engine that is geared to guide them to kid-specific academic material.

Fact Monster: Pearson Education publishes this online resource of encyclopedia-like information through Information Please. Click through pages for citable materials appropriate for elementary-aged research papers.

Awesome Library: This kid-specific search engine is powered by Google and available in about a dozen languages. Awesome Library uses 37,000 organized resources to provide information on just about any topic imaginable.

These five sites have all the information needed to develop a finely-researched term paper that is “A” material. With these sites, the mystery and worry of Internet research is a thing of the past.

Be as Specific as Possible

Know what you’re talking about and try to be as specific as you are comfortable being. Instead of just telling a young lady that she will need to start shaving under her arms, lead into the conversation gently with some facts about what is happening to her body. She probably has some questions that she’s wanted to ask and she needs to know that everything happening to her is completely normal and that her feelings are valid.

Remain Age Appropriate

Make your conversation age-appropriate. An unfortunate fact of life in the modern world is that children are starting puberty at younger ages. The average age for a young woman to start menstruating was 14 in 1900, and now the average age is 12. Many 9 year old’s are experiencing symptoms of puberty. A child starting puberty will need to have information presented to them in a different way than a teenager would.

Ask for Input

Ask them about their feelings on the subject, so that your child can choose the product they want to use. Chances are, there is a favorite body-wash, deodorant, cologne or training bra that is popular at school and peer pressure being what it is, your child will probably want that type.

Use Gentle Reminders

Remind them of what they need to do, but not when other people are around. Just like you had to remind them to brush their teeth and make their bed when they were younger, you might also need to remind them to use deodorant. And when they forget, it’s a good idea to put travel size containers of deodorant and body wipes in purses, backpacks or lockers. After a mile around the track when it’s 95 degrees, they’ll thank you.

Take Some Time Out

And lastly, just as you probably celebrated your child’s first steps and first words, their first day of school and their first sleepover…celebrate puberty. Your son or daughter is taking the first steps towards maturity and that is worthy of celebration. A party isn’t necessary, but a nice dinner and an observance of the change that is occurring could make your child see that they can always come to you. It’s a difficult time for a child, but pointing out the positive aspects of puberty can have a lasting effect on how they see themselves.

Puberty, and the changes that go with it, can be difficult for parents and children alike to deal with.

However; it has been proven that families that have clear communication about challenging topics stand a better chance of making it through the difficult adolescent years unscathed. This may be the first conversation on a subject like this that you share, but it should not be your last.

About the Author: Tamela Longo enjoys helping parents communicate with their children. When she’s not helping her children, she’s often helping others learn to use online fax services and other online programs.

Guidelines For Halloween Safety at Any Age

It’s an oldie, but a goodie….Don’t take candy from strangers. That means that kids and teenagers alike should only go to the homes of people they are familiar with and to homes that are well-lit. An obvious exception to that would be if you are going to be with them the whole time or if it’s a facility of some sort that has been set up to allow trick-or-treating.

• Kids need to remember that no matter how good the popcorn ball or fudge looks, it’s never safe or okay to eat the homemade treat of someone that is not known by the family. Homemade Halloween treats aren’t as common as they once were, but they are still seen often enough that it should be discussed in advance.

• Homemade costumes are really fun to make and it’s neat to see the different ideas that are shown. However, costumes still need to be safe and comfortable. Trash bags may make a great canvas for Halloween art, but they can make it hard to see a kid crossing the street in the dark.

• Kids need to be reminded to not eat candy until mom or dad has the chance to look at it to make sure it’s safe. Some communities offer free x-rays of the candy to make sure that your little one can give themselves a safe stomachache later.

• Kids and teenagers alike should be careful to stay in well-lit environments. That means that even when everyone is in a familiar neighborhood, alleys and dark areas should be avoided. Teenagers in particular may need to be reminded of this fact, since parks that are closed in the evening can look like a great place to hang-out, but being there after dark could be both unsafe and illegal.

Halloween is a holiday that is fun for everyone involved. The kids love to dress up and to get candy, parents love to watch their kids in their costumes, and even people without children at home get to experience the joy through a child’s eyes. Appropriate precautions and the right conversations can make sure that your son or daughter will be able to enjoy many Halloweens to come.

About the Author: Kari Stringer loves Halloween and strives to make it as safe as possible for her 4 children. When she’s not hanging out with her kids, she can be found watching the UFX Markets and studying the economy.