I had so much fun putting together this gift guide with lots of items my kids love! We do some practical items for Christmas like clothes and shoes and some fun items like crafts and toys. My kids are 3, 5 and 8 for this this gift guide. **Keep reading to enter the giveaway for pediped shoes, bento box, sandals, and a sensory play box.
Oliver is 5!! I haven't done a kid update in awhile but I know some of you have followed me for forever- my blog is 12 years old now and like the kiddo updates. Plus, I get to look back on these sweet memories for years to come. This is everything going on with Oliver at age 5!
This post has been sponsored by Betty Crocker. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Tips for Baking with Kids including how to make baking fun and less stressful so you can make more memories with your kids! My kids are ages 6, 4, and 2 and I love to get in the kitchen with them and cook and bake. You may remember that when I wrote my cookbook 30 Minute Family Cookbook, my 6 year old Adalyn helped with a bunch of the recipes! I think it is important to teach kids basic cooking and baking skills at a young age so that they are comfortable cooking when they are adults. Plus, it is a lot of fun! I'm going to show you how my kids and I love making the Betty Crocker™ Birthday Cake Cookie Cups together.
This post was sponsored by Noggin as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. How to Make Learning to Read Fun including high fives for reading words, making up songs and dances for hard words, and using Noggin with books and games featuring your favorite Nick Jr. characters! We are now at the time where I am teaching my son how to read! I taught my daughter how to read two years ago and now, she is an amazing reader. Learning to read can be frustrating (for the parent AND the child) and today, I want to share some of my tips for making reading fun, including how we use Noggin for learning how to read. My son is 4 years old and knows all of his letter sounds, plus letter recognition and how to write. He will be in preschool in the fall and in kindergarten the following year as a reference.
Oliver just turned 4 and I wanted to share an update about everything going on with him! Life is fun and crazy with Oliver all of the time and I wanted to remember some of these little moments.
Tips for encouraging independent play with kids so their imaginations grow, and simple ideas of things kids can do to entertain themselves. This post was sponsored by Spin Master as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. We are doing online school at home for my 1st grader Adalyn (which requires a lot of parental involvement), I work from home, I am homeschooling Oliver for preschool and Lily is dumping out every bowl of dog water she can find. Life is busy so encouraging my kids to play independently is more important than ever. Oliver is obsessed with his new PAW Patrol toy and plays independently with it for a long time which I am going to share more about.
How to Get Kids to Love Running including tips for making it fun and special for kids so that they enjoy it including signing them up for a race such as the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5k! Running is such a great form of exercise so it is important to me to teach my kids to love running. Most of my family runs including my siblings, husband, dad, my kids and I. It is totally natural in our family to go for a run so I wanted to teach my kids how fun running can be. Adalyn has been running since she was maybe 3 and Oliver has been running since about 2 1/2. The kids recently participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K with me and I am so excited to share more about it with you in case you want to sign up also. I am going to share my best tips on how to get kids to love running.
8 healthy after-school snack ideas for kids that are easy, nutritious, tasty and that kids love! My kids have never, ever missed snack time. During the last several months with the kids at home, we have put snack times into place and it has helped immensely from the kids asking for a snack every 2 seconds. Snack times are 10 AM, 3 PM and after dinner in our house. With kids going back to school whether that be at home for virtual learning, homeschooling or returning to school, kids are going to be hungry after school. These are some of our favorite healthy after-school snacks.
Oliver Blippi Tractor Man Hernandez is 3 years old. My always silly cuddly boy who I love so much just loves his life, his sisters and most of all doughnuts and candy. Oliver is passionate about the things that he likes and I am happy to share some of the fun things that he is doing right now.
Sample homeschool schedule for work from home parents for a kindergartner, preschooler and baby. Lots of time for free play, outdoor time, some screen time and art time along with reading, writing and math. Playing dress-up can definitely be part of homeschool! I have struggled with putting together a schedule that works for my family to use during this time of homeschooling. Here is my list of activities to do with your kids from home that I shared last week. We have already adjusted our schedule quite a bit for what works from our family and I'm sure, we will continue to adjust as needed. Troy is a teacher that is teaching online from home. I blog full-time and am trying to fit it in with 3 young kids at home (ages 5 1/2, almost 3 and 8 months old). We are doing this schedule Monday-Friday. On the weekend, we are definitely going to need a much deserved break!! This schedule is what is working for us at this time. Feel free to copy and adjust as needed.
Tons of activities to do with your kids from home including outside ideas, learning activities, writing ideas, ideas for play, chores, crafts, learning shows, indoor exercise and tips for parents so you don't go crazy! I know that most of us are stuck at home with our kids for possible quite an extended period of time. Kids need structure and activity and today, I wanted to share some of the activities that we will be doing during this time at home. My kids are currently ages 5, almost 3 and 8 months for a reference. The days can be long but we can make the most of this time and actually really enjoy this simpler time of life with our kids. Maybe you were someone who had their kids in a bunch of activities and never had time for family dinners. Maybe your kids got used to going out the movies, restaurants, etc. a lot. Now is a time to try to enjoy the simpler things in life like playing at home and spending time with family. Now trust me, I get it. It is hard. There is worry. T...
The best swim school: Goldfish Swim School and how we are teaching our kids to swim with Goldfish swim lessons! In January, we re-enrolled in Goldfish Swim School. We took about a 6 month break due to having baby Lily and it being about a 40 minute drive each way. Just a little bit too much of a commitment with a newborn. When Lily turned 6 months old, I re-enrolled Adalyn and Oliver at Goldfish Swim School Macomb and I couldn't be happier.
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlaymobilxScoobyDoo #PLAYMOBIL #CollectiveBias Imaginative play is such an important part of childhood. My kids, like any others, can fall into the trap of "mom, I don't know what to do" or "I want to watch a show". I know that they love to play though, so I make sure to encourage their imaginations with play. From a young age on, I have encouraged my kids to play independently where they aren't just relying on mom and dad to entertain them. Today, I want to share my tips for encouraging your kids’ imaginations.
2019 has been a crazy year for my family. Lots of medical worries with Lily but everything has turned out okay so far, thank god! The year started with me being pregnant and now Lily is 5 months old. Time flies! Here is a summary of 2019 for our family.
I'm actually taking some time off of work and enjoying the next week and a half with family and could not be more grateful! Merry Christmas, from the Hernandez family!
Favorite healthy, easy snacks for toddlers that are totally kid and mom approved! The post is sponsored by Beech-Nut®. My kids have always loved snacking! As a mom and dietitian, I prefer for them to typically have nutritious snacks that have some kind of benefit like protein, fiber, vitamins or minerals. Though we do have treats on occasion as well. I want to share some of my toddler's favorite snacks and what we pack for days out and about.
I almost missed this due to the busyness of life but I wanted to share a little update on Oliver at 2 1/2 years old because he is doing the cutest things that I want to remember forever.
Tips for water safety for kids includes taking swim lessons, supervising kids, wearing a life jacket and more so that kids are safe in the water and can have fun! Water safety for kids is so important. Especially where I live and all of the places that we visit all summer long that have water. We go to my parent's farm with a large pond, we go to lots of Michigan lakes, our city has a huge pool, etc. Pretty much 4-5 days a week, we are at the water in the summer and it is so much fun. Therefore, we are super cautious with water safety for the kids as drowning is a huge concern.
Tips for hosting a picnic party, including how to make hosting easier, what foods to have, what supplies to have on hand, etc. to make entertaining simple and fun! Thank you Brawny® Tear-A-Square® for sponsoring this post. Think of all the ways you can Put a Square There! With the weather being so much nicer finally, we are trying to get outside as much as possible because summer sure goes fast! The kids really enjoy eating outside and since we can't do it about 7-8 months out of year due to it being too cold, we aim to eat a meal outside as frequently as possible. I put together this fun picnic party for the kids to enjoy a meal outside, and also to have some of my family over for a BBQ.
10 Kid-Friendly Tech-Free Outdoor Play Ideas to get kids outside for fresh air, exercise and to help give them fun ideas of what to do outside! The weather has been so much nicer and we have been outside every single day. It feels amazing to get fresh air, exercise and have more space to play after such a long winter. It can be tough to be stuck inside with little kids who have lots of energy and we are loving our time spent outside. I wanted to share some fun kid-friendly tech-free outdoor play ideas that we have been enjoying doing.
