I love brainstorming new and fun ways to stay active and exercise. One day I thought to myself, “I wish there was some way to combine my favorite reality TV shows with exercising.” Luckily for me, singing and dancing are great ways to gain the same physical and emotional benefits as exercising. Both singing and dancing help you stay healthy and happy. 
Read more →

I recently finished reading Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's book "NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children." The opening chapter reminded me of something that, as educators, we often take for granted: all praise is not created equal. In classes, workshops, staff trainings, and our daily interactions with visitors, our education team strives to give the right kind of praise. 
Read more →

Like dust bunnies under the couch, the evidence in favor of dirt is piling up! This once loathed enemy of the homemaker is now being embraced as a simple preventative for allergies, type 1 diabetes,  and other immune diseases. Check out this article from The New York Times for just one of many arguments for bringing more dirt into our lives.
Read more →

Thumb-sucking is a pasttime that can start in the womb. Babies suck on their thumbs because it soothes them and helps them to relax, especially before bed or when they’re upset. While this behavior is completely acceptable for babies and toddlers, it’s important that parents help wean their child off of their thumbs by the time they reach 4 or 5 years old.

There can be dental issues that arise from thumb-sucking beyond 5 years old, including:

• Development of a lisp
• Improperly aligned teeth
• Teeth pushing forward or buck teeth

All of these dental risks can be prevented with early intervention by parents who can help their child slowly stop depending on their thumbs for comfort. If your child is vigorously still sucking on their thumb by 3 years old, some things you may want to try to encourage them to slow down the habit are:


1. Rewards

I don’t think I’ve met one child yet who doesn’t get excited about the possibility of a reward. Use a calendar to track the amount of days your child doesn’t suck on their thumb, or only limits the habit to bedtime. At the end of a week take them someplace special, like the playground or park (or KidsQuest!). Once they get to two weeks, three weeks and a whole month, increase the rewards. Parents can help their children track their success by letting them put up a sticker at the end of every day they go thumb-free. Just remember, once they start sucking on their thumb again they start fresh and new. Place the rewards at the end of every week so that they know what they’re working toward to help entice them!


2. Introduce Them To A New Comfort

Introduce your child to a new comfort toy, like a stuffed animal or a blanket. Some children may already have such an item that brings comfort to them, so encourage them to concentrate more on hugging their stuffed animal or cuddling with their blanket rather than sucking on their thumbs for bedtime or when they’re sad or anxious.


What Not To Do:

Putting band-aids, mittens or yucky-tasting ingredients on your child’s fingers may seem like the only route to go, but this may upset your child more than help them. You should be encouraging them to stop, not punishing them.

If your child still proceeds to suck on their thumb beyond 5 years old, then you may want to consult your doctor or dentist to see if there is anything they can do to help. Most children will stop the habit on their own by this age. Once they are around children their age and in school a majority of the time, they will have far more things to think of than their thumbs.

---

Guest Post provided by Rory Mycek, a contributor for TopDentists.com, the dental resource site of Everyday Health and partner parenting site, WhatToExpect.com.

We all know that children are constantly soaking up everything around them, and this especially holds true to language learning.  It’s even been shown that exposure to foreign language can improve children’s attention spans and standardized test scores.  What’s even more remarkable about this is the changes that happen to infants’ brains in the first SIX MONTHS of life!  
Read more →

There aren’t a whole lot of things parents and kids can agree on; bedtime, acceptable toys and when it’s time to leave KidsQuest are topics often up for debate. The one thing you don’t want to disagree with your youngster about is the food they eat. 
Read more →

One of the many benefits of being a child is that fitness is fun! For kids exercise can and should be synonymous with play. As a Museum Educator, I find that I get some of my best workouts right here at the museum while leading our visitors in activities. (StoryTime can be great cardio!) So, here are a few of my favorite movement games that you can try at home. There’s nothing like moving and grooving with some pint-size exercise partners to make working up a sweat, less like a chore and more like a party!
Read more →

As a child who grew up running and jumping and playing for hours on end it is great to know as an adult that all this running around was wonderful for my brain and my concentration at school! It sounds crazy but it is true. Motor development (the way we move in our bodies) is directly connected to how we learn.
Read more →

Dental health can affect your overall health. Most of the bacteria in you mouth are beneficial, but without proper care, your mouth’s protection may be compromised and allow harmful bacteria into your bloodstream at a higher rate. It’s important to instill dental health practices in children as early as possible, but properly caring for your child’s teeth can raise a lot of questions. Here’s a bare-bones guideline for milestones to look for in your child:
Read more →

As the luster of the New Year starts to wear off, it can be nice to remind ourselves of the goals or resolutions we set, specifically the ones related to eating well, and eating well means eating our vegetables. Daily suggested serving sizes have changed over the years. The Harvard School of Public Health website has some great information on why, what, and the amount of vegetables you should be consuming daily. For kids, the 5 a day rule is a good guideline: 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.
Read more →

A new year means lots of New Year’s resolutions. While you’re setting goals for you and your family, the education department at KidsQuest Children’s Museum is also busy goal setting for 2013! Check out what you can look forward to in the coming year.
Read more →

KidsQuest's Early Learning Classes nurture the curious nature of your child and help build the early learning foundation vital to success in school and later in life.
Read more →

Here at KidsQuest Children’s Museum, we celebrate the holidays like many families do – with lots of food! It seems that every day, one of our own staff or grateful parents provides the office with some type of yummy snack, from apples and oranges to cookies and cake. So when there are so many tasty temptations, how do you make sure your children continue to eat healthy over the holidays?
Read more →

Technology is all around us. Tablets, smart phones and computers are just some of the tools that are becoming common items in our homes. Items in our homes tend to end up in our children’s hands and the question then becomes, “How much technology is too much for our children?” This topic has continued resonate with parents and educators alike. What does this mean for children’s learning and development?
Read more →

Is cold wet weather keeping you indoors? There’s tons of fun to be had in your home by rediscovering some of the “non-toys” in your home that make great….well….toys!
Read more →

There are so many exciting opportunities for children to explore their creativity these days: painting class, art camp, after school engineering club, and more! With all the fun packed into those hectic schedules, sometimes there is one very important opportunity that gets forgotten, the chance for open-ended and child-directed artistic creation. So, what’s a parent to do?
Read more →

I have a Halloween confession…I’m a sucker for clever and pun-based costumes. Yes, those hordes of Tinkerbelles and Spidermen are cute, but when I see a kid holding an umbrella with stuffed cats and dogs pinned all over them, I can’t stop smiling. “It’s raining cats and dogs!” they say, and I just chuckle, because it’s just so punny! This year, why not step out of the store-bought costume box, and try one of these clever ideas for you or your kids!
Read more →

Children have a natural love for music. They enjoy singing along to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and tweaking it to “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Music also plays a huge role in our culture. We hear music everywhere from restaurants to commercials, with different types of music serving different purposes.
Read more →

Everyone says reading is important. Libraries, schools and teachers stress reading as an important part of your child's education. We know that it’s better for kids to read books than watch television or play video games. But why should you encourage it? Here are some of the benefits of reading, and why it is important to your child.
Read more →

Seeing the summer sun shine always makes me want to get moving! Active summer fun such as kicking a ball around or running on the beach isn’t just great exercise. Activities like these help kids develop gross motor skills. Gross motor skills involve the large muscles of the body that let us do things like walk, sit upright, and throw a ball. Mastery of these skills won’t just make you fit. It will also assist in a lot of surprising ways. Did you know that a child’s ability to maintain upper body support will affect his ability to write? Or that children who are more confident in gross motor skills are more aware of personal space?
Read more →

Traveling with the whole family on summer vacation is a great way to freshen things up and spend some quality time together. However, it is no secret that kids can be difficult to travel with. Every family has their own vacation story of a sickly son on an airplane or disgruntled daughter on a road trip. Don’t become that family! There are easy tips and tricks to use that will make this summer vacation a stress-free fun time!
Read more →

Considering adding a pet to your already full house? Studies show that pets can reduce stress, provide lessons in responsibility, and contribute to self-esteem and self-confidence. Researchers are also now looking into a range of childhood development issues, to see how pets help with childhood obesity, childhood trauma and autism.

A good relationship between a child and his or her pet can also help in developing non-verbal communication skills, compassion and empathy. Pets can:  

• be safe recipients of secrets and private thoughts
• provide lessons about life (reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents and death)
• provide a connection to nature
• teach children how to respect other living things
• increase physical activity
• provide love, loyalty and affection
  

Read more →

A father’s time spent with their child is very important to the child's development and maturation. It helps children become compassionate individuals for the rest of their lives. Fathers also impact life lessons not learned in school. They are teachers without the apple, coaches without the whistle.  
Read more →

A father’s time and presence in their child’s life is very important to their emotional development. All studies agree children need ‘dad time’ which helps children develop healthier friendships and become more compassionate individuals throughout their lives. A good opportunity to spend some quality one on one time with your child is at bedtime, by recounting the day’s events or reading a book together. This is a great way to connect and deepen your relationship.
Read more →

Did you know that when your child is running around they are also learning? All that movement helps both sides of their brain connect. Try these fun and simple ways to encourage your child to get moving. 
Read more →

When do I start flossing? How often should I brush? When should I start looking for a dentist?  

There is so much to think about when it comes to kids. Figuring out the appropriate health routines can be enough to drive you crazy. Below are the basics for making a dental health plan for your child so that you can get them started on the right path to strong, healthy teeth.
Read more →

It’s raining, it’s pouring, and it’s time for some fun! Don’t let the weather get you down. Embrace it for a fun filled day of water exploration!
Read more →

Still got some Christmas shopping to do? Check out these ideas from KidsQuest's Museum Educator and ExploreStore Coordinator (who is of course the authority on this sort of thing)!

Read more →

Most children love to paint. It is a time when they get to control their environment and master new skills. At first it is all about experimenting with the brush. How does the brush move over the paper? What marks does it make? Then the learning moves on to cause and effect. Holding the brush a certain way will create different lines. Mixing two colors will make a new color. What a great discovery! Sometimes children will simply mix all the paint colors together and it will look like nothing to an adult. This is them learning how to interpret art. They are experimenting and trying to figure out if what they do will always have the same effect.   
Read more →

What have you done to prepare yourself for the food/family/present extravaganza that's fast approaching? Here's an even better question: what have you done for someone else this year? 
Read more →

Science education sometimes takes a back seat with the push of reading and math being so strong, but science is a part of our daily life. Everything we do and deal with in life is science: cooking, playing ball, growing a garden, understanding how technologies work, watching a rain storm and more. Understanding science helps kids appreciate and relate to the world around them.
Read more →

It’s never too early or too late to begin sign language with your child. For infants, you can begin anywhere from six to ten months of age. It will take a younger child longer to produce the signs than an older child, but exposing them to sign language early on is great way to help them understand the signs receptively before they do expressively. Recent studies indicate that by using signs in tandem with spoken language, parents can start the process of two-way communication with their babies as early as eight months and enhance the verbal language development of their babies in the process.

Read more →

How do you teach your kids about healthy eating AND make dinner at the same time? Get them involved. You know the phrase “Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime?” It’s like that. EXACTLY like that.  

Read more →

The number one answer we get when we ask patrons why they purchased their membership is: "My children love the museum." We love hearing that. We all want to make our kids happy. But playtime is important in other ways too - it helps foster healthy minds and healthy bodies.

Want to learn more? Below are some highlights from an article by Kim Mulford from USAToday about the importance of play.

Read more →

Learning math is not limited to the one-hour-a-day, five-days-a-week, nine-months-a-year school experience. Math is everywhere around us and we need to take advantage of that with our children. The more they see math in their everyday surroundings, the more comfortable they’ll be with it. Here is a list of things you can do to make math engaging and meaningful for your children. These activities barely scratch the surface of what you can do - you’re limited only by your imagination.
Read more →

Nowadays, kids’ parties are not always simple affairs. For those of you ready to go all out, below are some fabulous ideas to get you started.  
Read more →

Love to paint with your kids but don’t love the mess? Summer provides the perfect opportunity for taking the fun outside. You can paint in your swim suit and hose yourself off when you’re done with your messy masterpiece!
Read more →

No, my Father’s Day wish has nothing to do with geopolitics. The warring parties are our two-year old twins Khalil and Ariadne. Last weekend, my daughter patted me on the knee and said quite seriously, “Khalil hit me with a spoon.” 

“That’s not good, honey,” I said. “Khalil, did you hit your sister with a spoon?”  

“Yes!” he said gleefully.  
Read more →

As a new mom to a 7 month old, I have taken a whole new look at life. Right now, it’s a life of firsts. I love looking back on all that he has accomplished for the first time in his short life.
Read more →

I do not regret having my first child at a later stage in my life. In fact, I am grateful for the experiences and life I have led up until this point, but that independent, somewhat schedule-ized life has been tossed upside down with the birth of my son. Things that I thought would come naturally didn’t, things I thought might be challenging weren’t, things I thought I would get done aren’t, and the realization that I don't always know what’s going on or how to ‘fix’ it has been eye opening. I walked into motherhood confident, thinking ‘piece of cake’ – I’ll be a natural at it! But I have to say I’ve been humbled by the experience.
Read more →