To make sure that you choose the best possible natural choices for your child’s clothing, consider choosing children’s handmade knitwear over mass produced garments. Children’s handmade knit wear is a great choice for your child and the environment. The materials used to make knitwear by hand include soft naturally sourced fibers such as Merino wool and British Alpaca. These soft sustainable wools can be easily cared for; if your washing machine has a wool wash setting the knitwear can be put in the machine and is much less likely to shrink than acrylic. What’s more, the natural dyes used on Merino wool offer a subtler and muted color palette. If you are looking to buy a young girl’s knitwear range, the natural color palette offers soft blues such as “Bilberry” or “Sky” and pinks and purples such as “Rose” and “Plum” Natural colors in a young boy’s knitwear collection can anything from Chocolate, Denim and Oatmeal colors.

The cutest children’s handmade knitwear of all has to be the Fair Isle patterned jumpers. This modern take on an age old British style is eternally fashionable for traditional children’s clothing. A boy’s Fair Isle jumper usually incorporates dark colors with white patterns around the comfortable crew neck. A girl’s Fair Isle jumper usually incorporates some brighter base color and feminine pinks for the pattern. Fair Isle jumpers are usually made with Merino wool and are seam free to, so are an ultra-comfortable, ultra stylish and eco-friendly addition to any young boy’s or young girl’s wardrobe.

For colder winters, matching children’s handmade knitwear such as gloves, beanie hats, scarves and over coats can be the perfect finish to a Fair Isle jumper, and little tank tops over smart shirts are perfect for day to day wear.

Here are a four ways that parents and caregivers can help children develop fine motor skills.

1. Children should be allowed to feed themselves starting from the introduction of solids. There are plenty of soft spoons and feeders on the market that are designed to let babies practice putting utensils to their mouth without hurting themselves.

Offer older babies small bits of soft foods that they can pick up and chew on their own. Not only will this help them develop fine motor skills and hand eye coordination, many parents have found that their babies are much more eager to eat when allowed to pick up their own food. Always monitor babies and toddlers while eating and consult with your pediatrician about food safety.

2. Give your child plenty of textures to explore. This kind of sensory feedback is crucial for developing minds and will encourage your child to poke, pinch, pull and push. These small movements will help your child develop strength and control in their fingers and wrist that will later help them learn to write and use tools with ease.

You can start by giving young infants blankets or stuffed animals that are constructed out of several different fabrics that they can easily explore with their fingers and mouth. As your child grows, let them play with sand, play dough and clay, beans and rice, water…pretty much anything that is safe for a child to handle!

3. Encourage your children to dress themselves. For some parents, this isn’t a problem. Many children are obsessed with dressing and undressing multiple times a day! If your child is less eager, begin by gently encouraging them to pull their socks off after you’ve loosened them or pull their shirt all the way down after you’ve positioned it on top of their head.

As you choose clothes and shoes for your toddler, look for styles that will be easy for them to manage on their own. They will gradually learn how to manage snaps, zippers, buttons and clasps on their own, but save the fiddly stuff for special occasions only. Too much frustration will discourage a child from trying just as mom and dad jumping in too soon to take over will.

4. Look for toys that will help build fine motor skills. Big chunky puzzles and building blocks are not only great for fine motor skills, they also help children with spatial awareness. Most kids are engrossed by stringing beads on yarn or puzzle boxes with plenty of latches and bolts to figure out.

Arts and crafts are another good way to encourage fine motor skills development. Drawing, coloring, cutting and gluing,  painting and sculpting with dough are always a hit. Stickers might drive you a bit batty, but with guidance, children will learn to only use them where appropriate and the peeling and sticking motions are a great exercise for little fingers.

Do keep your child’s current age and ability in mind when choosing playthings and art supplies. Look for things that will challenge them a bit but won’t be impossible for them to accomplish. And always keep safety at the front of your mind.

By Jacob and Carol Maslow

Jacob and Carol Maslow are parents of five school age children. Carol is a therapist specializing in helping pre-school children with disabilities participate fully in school. Jacob is the marketing manager for Todays Concept, an eCommerce site that sells toys including the Melissa and Doug line of classic toys.

Image Credit: swansea-edunet.gov.uk

The amount of information that people divulge on the internet can be a real problem, as a single piece of data could lead on to another person tracking that recipient down to their home address or current GPS location. This ‘bread crumb’ data trail can open doors to cyberbullying and much worse case scenarios such as online grooming. Thankfully there are measures that we can take to help enforce online safety so that our children are free to surf the web in a reduced risk environment.

Maintaining open, honest communication with your child about the types of websites they visit and what they actually spend their time doing online is a crucial part of the process. This method assists parents with knowing more about the types of content your son or daughter are exposed to whilst surfing the internet. There are some handy software tools which allow you to keep logs of online activity within the home. This can be achieved by setting up parental controls and enabling safe search on the family computer.

An informative parent’s guide has recently been launched by Vodafone which outlines the various technologies used by most teenagers and young children and the ways in which they use these technologies in their everyday life. It is advisable to familiarise yourself with as many of these topics as possible so that you are aware of the dangers, from a parents perspective.

Internet filtering is a method to grant and refuse access on certain websites and there are numerous types of this software currently available that will allow you to do this. If you select a program that displays the Child Safety Online Kitemark this signifies that the software has been tested (independently) in order to provide a simple method that supports parents to enforce internet safety for kids. Other areas that you may wish to investigate and learn about includes chat rooms, blogging, social networks, gaming, instant messaging and mobile features in addition to cyberbullying  and online grooming. The more of these topics you can cover, the more prepared you will be against protecting your family.

Feeding your toddler can be a battle which you may never feel you are prepared for. I know when my daughter became a toddler, getting her to eat anything substantial was almost impossible. I would fix her food and coax her to eat and I was lucky if she even ate one bite.  I used to wonder where she got all of her energy from for a child who was not eating. Little did I know that toddlers can run off of their own internal battery for days before they may experience the need to wind down and recuperate with or without food.  They also like to recharge with sugar which is a big no-no.

There are a couple things you can do to encourage your toddler to eat, and they can be implemented without much preparation. Keep all snacks and treats out of view or you will not succeed. First you have to understand that your toddler does not think of meal time as fun unless they are playing in their food.  So what needs to happen is you have to garner their interest in food first.  Start with colorful foods first such as carrots, apples, and peas. These are small enough to be considered finger foods and they are very healthy for your toddler as well.  One mistake I was constantly making in the beginning was fixing my daughter a small size plate of adult food. After I forced her to take a bite she would refuse to the point of us both being upset at each other with her crying; she wanted to be left alone and I would be crying from sheer frustration. I learned to start with small colorful foods and let her ask for more.  I had to start thinking from a toddler’s mind frame.

Your toddler wants to be a big kid meaning they want to eat what you eat; you have to lead by example. I started by using whatever meal I had put on my plate, my daughter had a drastically smaller portion.  Say for chicken rice and peas she would have on her plate a small piece of chicken, a spoonful of rice and a handful of peas. I would put her meals on these zoo pals plates which are plates made to look like animal faces.  I acted interested in what was on her plate and I would often pretend to want more food but try to take it from her plate. If your toddler is like mine then of course you know they will not share, so she would eat her food to keep me from getting it.  I carried little baggies full of baby carrots and apple slices when we were out to curb her need to have chips.

Keep in mind that when your child becomes a toddler you will be caught off guard by the amount of resistance they put up to any type of authority you show them. Relax it is normal and apart of them growing up. While this is not pleasing behavior, it does pass eventually. When it comes to getting your child to eat all you have to remember is you are encouraging your toddler to eat which is in a sense manipulating them to think that they are in control of eating.

Joyce Brister is a loving parent and blogger for the My Baby Blog.  Joyce loves writing about situations that parents are often faced with.  She would like for you to take a look at her Baby Bedding or her Florida Gators Bar Stools.

Fun is Fundamental

One frequent complaint about online educational games for preschool-aged children is that they are too dry and strictly instructive to hold the attention of small children for long. The best online children’s games offer progressively more difficult challenges with a strong emphasis on learning; these games incorporate elements found in more traditional games while providing valuable information and allowing children to practice skills they will use in their later educational careers. Engaging characters, bright colors and a lively, upbeat soundtrack are also important in attracting and retaining the attention and interest of preschool children. Most important, however, is a compelling and rewarding journey through the various levels of achievement.

Don’t Leave Out the Learning

It’s possible to go too far in the other direction and omit the educational element in preschool games. Not all online games are appropriate or instructive for younger players, so it’s essential that parents monitor their children’s interactions and experiences on the Internet in order to ensure they visit only wholesome and educational sites. One way to protect children from undesirable sites is to enroll in an online preschool site. The best online preschool programs offer a comprehensive, integrated curriculum that incorporates games, activities and read-along stories to create a complete educational experience for children. These sites typically offer progressive challenges to keep children interested and invested in their own educational advancement.

The Benefits

Most online learning sites provide educational preschool games geared toward a wide array of preferred learning styles and levels of expertise. Children can learn at their own pace, allowing them to experience success even if they’ve never used a computer or played an educational game before. This can help children gain confidence in an academic setting while they learn valuable computing skills that will give them an edge in the competitive technological environment of today. A small investment in the right online preschool program can reap large rewards in better grades, increased intellectual curiosity and improved performance in the elementary, middle and high school environments and can give your child the tools he or she needs to succeed academically and in life.

Jessica writes about a wide variety of topics.  She especially enjoys writing about education. You can learn more about preschool educational games at abcmouse.com.

The original meaning of Christmas concerns the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. This religious holiday observed by Christians worldwide has become an important commercial holiday. Retailers and other businesses have created so many products that the Christmas market defies the imagination. One byproduct of the Christmas business involves the celebration of the holiday by many who don’t even believe in its Christian meaning.

People engage in decorating homes, businesses, and organizations with Christmas decorations. They even exchange gifts in Secret Santa schemes. The holy side of Christmas occupies a lesser role than the commercial side.

The following tidbits can be found in George Schaun’s “American Holidays and Special Days”:

1. It is interesting to consider where the traditions of Christmas began. From the angel on top of the tree to the Christmas lights on the exterior of private homes, there are many traditions practiced prior to December 25 each year. One possible source of the Christmas tree tradition is the ancient civilization of Egypt.

2. There is a different explanation for the beginnings of the customs of mistletoe, holly, and evergreen trimmings, now common symbols of Christmas. According to Schaun, these plants were associated with the festivities celebrated by the Druids in early Britain and Gaul. As forest-loving peoples, Druids used these plants in the celebration of the winter solstice, which occurs four days before Christmas on today’s calendar.

3. Americans didn’t begin to associate the holiday with Saint Nicholas until after the famous poem penned by Clement Moore, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” This body of verse begins with the well-known line of “‘Twas the night before Christmas.” Moore’s work dates back to 1844. Many Americans can recall hearing this poem during their childhood or reading it to their little ones.

4. Christmas cards have not existed for even two centuries. The first card celebrating Christmas was printed in Great Britain in the year 1843. The first American card celebrating the same holiday was sent in the year 1853. According to Schaun, Americans didn’t start the greeting card business until 1875. It is interesting how many years passed before this tradition caught on as a commercial enterprise in the U.S.

5. Americans didn’t always go to shopping malls and purchase their gifts from retailers. During the World War I period, people tended to craft their own gifts in the home. At that time, it wasn’t frowned upon to give homemade gifts. If more people embraced that perspective now, retailers would suffer tremendous financial losses.

Appreciate other intriguing bits of trivia about the history and traditions of Christmas. For more research on Christmas history, visit your local library or do a virtual search. These facts make great conversation at Christmas parties.

Some items used for a baby, can serve a little one as well, unless of course, they have a younger brother or sister who needs it!  This would include dressers, or even bassinets, that little girls love to use for doll beds.

But since little ones grow out of clothes so fast, you can hardly keep up, they are going to need lots of storage space for clothing. Than can mean adding a larger dresser, or perhaps an armoire to their room.  As they get older, and are into schoolwork and computers, you can even get very stylish armoires that open up into a computer desk/hutch. Childrens furniture can be just as functional as their parents’!

Toddler’s beds are an ideal bridge between being a baby, and a big kid. They’re made low to the floor, and the upper half of the bed is railed on both sides to prevent them from rolling out.

The biggest item you’ll buy in children’s furniture, is the bed they’re going to spend their “growing up” years in.  You can go for classic simplicity in a twin-size bed with a bookshelf headboard, to hand-painted headboards from Daisy Patch, Picket Fences, and Attic View. Feminine frills can be had with traditional canopy beds, or an elegant brass head and footboard.  Strike a happy medium for boys or girls, with Corsican wrought iron beds, that incorporate a theme into the pattern of the headboard.

As children grow, their needs in many things change, including furniture.  If your little one is ready to leave the crib, it’s time to start shopping for that new room!

Bedding for cribs needs to be made just for that size of infant beds.  Sheets and mattress covers that are too large can come loose and slip around or bunch with an active baby.  Blankets and quilts that are oversized, can make the baby too hot, because they get folded back, creating an extra layer.  Crib sheets and blankets are also manufactured with babies in mind, so you can lay your little one down to sleep, with complete peace of mind.

Baby bedding doesn’t need to be just plain sheets and blankets by any means!  Just look at what’s being produced by such design companies as Maddie Boo, Glenna Jean, Bebe Chic, Baby Lulu and Sleeping Partners.

Do you like the fun and funky?  Then put your little man to bed on a Banana Fish set that includes a crib sheet, dust ruffle, bumper pad, and quilt in a frog print with a gingham border. Or choose California Kids Zulu bedding component with matching accessories in a rich green background, populated by African animals, and trimmed or highlighted with a contrasting leopard print.  California Kids bedding is designed to grow with your child! They can take their crib quilt right over to their toddler bed.

Did you select an elegant canopied wrought iron crib, or one with hand-painted panels? Then you may want baby bedding that makes the crib itself stand out, instead of the pattern on its sheets.  Sleeping Partners makes a 100% cotton set with two fitted sheets, quilt, bumper and skirt, in natural cable knit, with sherpa reverse.  Or if you want bedding that is color-themed to a boy or girl, try Brandee Danielle’s Prince Blue, or Princess Pink sets.

Your sweetheart will have sweet dreams, on baby bedding that says “I’m special”!

Boys baptismal wear can be just as stylish, elegant and fun as girl’s wear.  Just look at the wonderful array of outfits available from such designers as Amacello, Sarah Louise,  Sophie Dess, Imp Originals, and Frances Johnson.

For classic long boys christening gowns, you might consider the delightful styles of Sarah Louise, including their matched hat and gown in cotton batiste, with front pintucks, and delicate hand embroidery.  The embroidered skirt has cutwork along the hem.  Or from Amacello., a gown of pure silk with a long skirt that is removable after the ceremony, leaving the young man with a romper set for the rest of the day.  The shirt has Eton-style collar and front pleats, as well as fabric covered buttons front, back, and between the legs of the romper.

Moving away from the traditional gown, but staying with the white theme, Sophie Dess offers a delightful white, pintucked, button on knicker set that is both simple and sweet.  Frances Johnston outfits the “little man” in true style with a miniature white suit combining a linen longall, tucked bodice, attached tie, and a separate vest with a matching hat.

If you prefer a dressy, but un-traditional outfit, instead of a boys christening gown, Amacello makes a silk, sailor-style romper, complete with hat, in baby blue and ivory. The pure dupioni silk, and silk covered buttons, will guarantee it becomes a family heirloom.  They also have a very snappy little set that combines an ivory, Irish linen shirt, tan linen dress pants, and an adorable cable knit vest.

Don’t forget the accessories to complete their ensemble.  There are shoes to match boys christening gowns in quilted satin or linen, satin bibs, receiving blankets trimmed with satin and lace, or sweater and hat sets to keep them warm on the way to the church.
A little something to make your little someone, look even more special than they are.

When you’re buying outfits for a favorite little one in your family, remember that investing in quality clothing means you are getting a product that is well-made, durable, and designed to appeal to doting parents and other adoring fans.

Childrens clothes cover a wide range of categories and occasions for both boys and girls, starting with infant sleepers and rompers, and graduating through toddler shirts and pants for play, to party dresses and formal wear.

Nothing is more charming on that special holiday, than to see little ones in outfits with holiday colors and patterns, looking pretty as a picture.  Dressing up is no longer the sole right of little girls.  The boys can be just as spiffy in Eton suits, and velvet bubbles.

You can even get children’s clothes for twins, brothers and sisters, cousins, and mother-daughter!  Mix and match them!  Gifts of clothing may be practical, but they can also be great fun for both the giver and the recipient.  Thrill the new mother with sleepers for the baby, and a sweater for her.  Give the older brother or sister an outfit that matches one for the new arrival.

Choices in styles, color, and fabric, are limited only by your imagination.  Dress them up, or dress them down.  Have fun choosing clothes for the young ones in your life, and be sure to take a camera along so you can enjoy their smiles even after the gift-wrap is undone.