Dear all,

As parents, we know that many of our readers like to take the opportunity of Christmas to help our children learn about the importance of giving.

So we were excited by the ideas we found on this lovely website where you can create personalized Jigsaw Puzzles from your own photos .

On this site, you and the kids can upload your own pictures and design a photo jigsaw. For creative kids, you can even work with them to design a picture collage and turn that into a jigsaw. This idea makes a fantastic gift idea for grandparents and other relatives. And your children will enjoy putting a special effort in to create a truly unique gift!

Be open to everything and closed to nothing

I made an interesting observation today when I met with my daughter Savannah's singing teacher for the first time. She was a lovely lady and seemed genuinely pleased with how well my daughter was doing with her lessons. She also pointed out to me that Savannah was very talented and could easily become a very good opera singer. To my daughter that was not a compliment and I could see her wrinkle her nose in disgust at the thought. On the other hand I know that opera singers have amazing voices and train like athletes. They can sing without the need of synthesizers or any other kind of gadgets to make them sound like they are really talented. To have her say that my daughter could do well in this genre of music to me was the ultimate compliment. I tried to explain that to my daughter, but being a teenager and very set in her ways and her likes in music, she just didn't get it.

I think it is so important for parents to introduce a wide variety of music and arts to their children. Aquaint your children with Mozart as well as the Beatles, show them all kinds of art from Monet to Picasso, they will learn an appreciation for art for the sake of art and not because it is the in thing at the time.

Happy Parenting,

Monicka

Kids Crafts and Creativity

Making simple kids crafts is a wonderful experience for children to develop their creativity.

You can encourage your child and enrich the experience for him by talking with him about his creations. As a bonus, this will also expand his language skills and his confidence in expressing himself.

Rather than simply reacting with an automatic "That's very good," when your child shows you a drawing or a piece or art, try to engage your child in more meaningful conversation. Artist expression is a form of EMOTIONAL expression, and your child may want to talk about how he feels about his creation. Sometimes art can be an expression of frustration or anger, and this is a good and appropriate way to express difficult emotions, so if you give your child the opportunity to talk about his feelings in relation to his art, you will be cementing his confidence and your own relationship with him.

Happy parenting,

Cassie

Kids Crafts and Self Esteem

Kids Crafts and Self Esteem

Craft activities can be a great way to entertain your kids - cheaply and easily! Even the youngest child can enjoy art and craft activities, and the satisfaction of creating something unique is great for your kids' self-esteem.

When your child shows you something he has made or drawn, resist the temptation to ask "what is it?" - try instead "Tell me about this" - it will enable your child to talk very freely about his creation rather than just giving you a closed answer, and will also remove the pressure of feeling like he "must create something recognizable" - which isn't necessarily the point of art, as many grown up abstract artists will confirm!

Happy Craft making with your kids,

Cassie