Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in greater los angeles, CA

Preschoolers Like to "Work" Too: Jobs Around the House for the Little One

May 12, 2009

Five jobs you can give your preschooler for imagination exercise:

1.  "Office."  What could be easier or more fun than to pretend he is "working" on a "project" or he has to "check his email just for a sec" before he can play with you?  I can't imagine where a child would hear such a line...  If you don't have old keyboards and phones and computers laying around the house, they are easy enough to obtain for free through Craigslist or Freecycle.  Wipe everything down with disinfectant, then let them play and pretend with pencils and paper and you can even dress them up in little office attire.

2.  Chef.  Even if they don't make something edible, children love to pretend they are cooking.  We have set up a makeshift stove on a plant stand using a plastic strainer and some small toys and a wooden spoon.  For the older children, have them help you roll out pizza dough and spread sauce and cheese on it, then point out what you are doing when you put the pizza in the oven and set the timer.  They will love to see the finished product and maybe they will even eat it.  Bonus if you use whole wheat dough and organic toppings.

3.  Astronaut.  Settle a child down inside a box that is bigger than her body and she can draw dials and monitors and cut a hole out for the window.  Dress her up in a costume and tell her to fly off and explore faraway planets and galaxies and report back to you what she has found and even draw pictures of what she saw.

4.  Gardener:  Whether you have a yard or not, helping plants grow is a job preschoolers are made for.  Their little hands are small and love to get dirty.  Have them water the plants or the garden, give them things to carry to and from your work area, and get them started early on weeding.  Not only do you have his imagination engaged when you talk about what the growing plant will look like with love and care, but you also have a helper!

5.  Professional organizer:  It's a growing population of professionals with a national association and a big job:  Americans are clutter hoarders.  People who are good at purging and keeping the level of stuff in their homes are few and far between and teach us all lessons.  Show your child how to sort his toys into bins, give him a clipboard and a list and a pencil to make check marks, and set him to it.  This will help instill good habits in him, and someday he can come back to dig you out of the warrens of clutter you are living in with your cats.  Read more...

Cooking Classes For Kids

April 28, 2009

Mealtimes are hard enough to handle with a busy family.  Then there are those meals that I plan and create lovingly and find that nobody likes them, so I end up heating up leftover noodles for the kids.  One good trick to ensure that your child gets into his dinner is to have him help make it.  (This is not a fool-proof plan, however;  yesterday my 4-year-old helped me mix pancakes and then refused to eat them just because.)

Math Time in the Valley

February 10, 2009

Last night while driving home from a playdate, my preschooler starting spouting off this wisdom:

"One plus one is two.  One plus one plus one is three.  One plus one plus one plus one is four.  One plus..."  and so on until he got to ten.  I was amazed, because frankly, I can't even add that high one at a time.  Also, I haven't done any work with him in the math department.  His father is an engineer, that's one of HIS jobs, besides showing him how to put the toilet seat down and someday tying his own tie.

Now that I see that the kid has an interest in learning about numbers, I am happy to report that I already have some tricks and go-to places that will help me urge him along.

Christmas cookie hack

by Kim Tracy Prince

December 24, 2008

I love a Christmas cookie as much as the next guy. I like to bake them too. I even like to make complicated recipes like Bohemian Kolacky or Raspberry Lemon Tarts. It's just that...how can I say this? I HAVE TWO BOYS UNDER 4. There is never an opportunity to make these complicated recipes while they are awake and it's the last thing I want to do when they are asleep - the first being  Read more...

Who's Teaching in the Kitchen With Mommy?

by Kim Tracy Prince

December 01, 2008

The kitchen isn't this mommy's favorite place, I'll admit it. Usually when I am making a meal, I have one child hanging off me and another trying to bring the house down in another room. But when I give up trying to make a gourmet meal and actually include the children. That's why cookbooks and classes meant especially for kids come in handy. Handstand Kids is a group that  Read more...

Family Movie Night

by Kim Tracy Prince

September 29, 2008

A lot of preschoolers have two speeds: off (sleeping) and warp speed ahead. Mine is no exception. Add to that a little brother who has similar settings (but he has a third: Tasmanian Devil) and we are one weary family at the end of the week. Our newest way to wind down while enjoying each other's company is Family Movie Night. We do it on Friday or Saturday as the schedule  Read more...

What's for lunch?

by Kim Tracy Prince

September 18, 2008

Getting your child involved in his food choices, to a certain degree, can help him eat things that he would not otherwise eat. Vegetables? Ewww, gross! Unless of course, he picked them from the vegetable pile and put them in the cart himself... It can actually be fun to take a preschooler to the grocery store. Help them choose tasty-looking healthy lunch box items so they will know what they  Read more...

Little Gourmets: Grill Up a Great Father's Day

by Kim Tracy Prince

June 13, 2008

My three-year-old loves to help cook. Even when he was 18 months old, he would reach his little arms up while we were standing at the stove and say See so we would pick him up and show him what we were working on. On Mother's Day he helped Daddy make breakfast in bed for me. It was cute, but I don't think my husband would appreciate the same thing in return. He bounds  Read more...