Cool terrarium themes to add some untamed fun to your kid’s natural habitat
A terrarium is a sweet way to add some living charm to your kid’s space, and they can personalize it however they want. Keeping a little eco-system alive can also be pretty empowering for a kid. Get ready for Earth day with these five recipes for magical mini gardens.
You’ll need:
A wide, clear lidded glass container (a cookie jar, apothecary jar, pickle jar, round vase, or a glass or plastic cake dome)
Cover the bottom of the container with an inch of pebbles for drainage.
Top pebbles with a layer of activated carbon to absorb any earthy odors. Now, add 7-8 cm of potting soil. Create hill and valleys to accommodate plant roots.
1. Another win for the breastfeeding crew: some new research shows that kids who are fed breastmilk are less likely to have behavioural problems. Via The Guardian
2. The kids these days are growing up with yoga rather than coming to it in young adulthood (We’re betting that unless you’re an adult child of hippies, you probably didn’t try yoga until university or after) Benefits of kid yoga vs. the grownup kind? They move from Mountain pose into Volcano. Via Washington Post
3. Air Canada refused to allow a Cape Breton teen onto their plane because he has a peanut allergy. Air Canada says they need more notice to make a peanut-free zone. (The teen’s mom had informed the rewards program she booked through of her son’s allergies but the rewards program then didn’t pass that news on to Air Canada. His mom is pissed. The teen and his five epi-pens made their way to Fiji to volunteer via American Airlines instead. Via MommyishRead more...
1. Crystal Smith at the Achilles Effect transcribed a bunch of toy commercials and created word clouds for “girl” toys and “boy” toys. The above word clouds were the results. So yeah, basically G.I. Joes for boys and Barbies for girls, just like it’s been for the last generations. Via BoingBoing
2. A recent study found that new moms are missing out on their vegetables. Also, exercise. New dads had no change to their diets. Via Jezebel.
3. The Hospital for Sick Children says it’s a bad idea to let your toddler eat in front of the TV. Dr. Catherine Birkin who led the study said, “Research has shown that greater amounts of screen time are linked to delayed language development and aggressive behaviour, as well as cigarette smoking and obesity later in life.” Via Parentcentral.caRead more...
This is probably a really excellent use of academic funds, but we’re not sure what sort of research would go on and what this research is meant to accomplish; ice cave excavations? Footprint analysis? And should researchers find the Yeti, then what? Affixing stars to the tops of Christmas trees takes but a minute. (Kidding, obviously we’re waiting for the Gorillas in the Mist-esque Yeti movie)
How cold is too cold? Parentcentral.ca looks at schools and school boards that are holding recess indoors when the temperature dips below -25 C. At what point do you say no to outdoor activities?
Sydney Loney at the Globe and Mail says that more Canadians are choosing to live in multi-generational homes. Have you moved in with your parents or in-laws?
Continuing with our kale obsession, we’re itching to try out these kale chips from Stay-at-Stove-Dad. Kale leaves + lime juice + parmesan? Who knew.
Raising both a boy and a girl? (or boys and girls) Check out the wise words on raising boys that Good Men Project co-founder Tom Matlack shared with Babble. It *is* pretty magical when an super-active kid with seemingly endless amounts of energy will cuddle up to you at bedtime to read a story. Read more...
What we’re reading on the blogs today — science edition!
Curious as to what sort of effect the constant texting and steady stream of facebook updates has on your kids’ brains? Miles O’Brien tells PBS that the tech-savvy millennials might have better brains than we do. Via BoingBoing
Want your kids to get a start on that brain-boosting technology? Check out this interactive Cookie Monster science lesson video. Cookie and his pal Emma prompt the viewer to choose an object and then come up with a hypothesis as to what the object will do in a tank in water. Who knew Cookie could say “hypothesis”? Via BoingBoing
Scientists in South America have uncovered a previously unknown ancestor to the T. rex and other ancient predators. Its name is Eodromaeus (pronounced eyo-DRO-may-us) and it was only four feet long. Lightweight and quick-moving, the name means “Dawn Runner.” Excellent news if you have any budding paleontologists in your brood. Via Huffington Post. Read more...
School is officially back in session, and we’ve got the best way to get your brains back in shape: make slime! Using science!
Connor, the 16-year-old entrepreneur behind Connor’s Kits for Kids, mailed us his Polymer Power kit, and we’re pretty stoked to try it. It’s just one of four kits you can buy from Connor’s website. You can see Polymer Power in action in the video up there, shot when Connor did one of his many visits to schools to get kids interested in science (and starting their own business they way he did).
A new study, released by the University of Colorado in Boulder, is aiming to redefine our expectations of children’s memories. Researchers were surprised to find that, unlike adults, toddlers and preschoolers store, rather than process, new information. Instead of planning for the future, or even living entirely in the present, small children deal with situations retroactively.
What this means to parents, of course, is that contrary to appearances, kids are hearing those things you tell them over and over again, but they can’t necessarily use this information to build a picture of the future. Instead of giving advice to our small kids based on what might happen in the future, it might be more effective to ask them to recall the past when making their decisions.
source: University of Colorado at Boulder. “New View Of The Way Young Children Think.” ScienceDaily 25 March 2009.
