The Top 10 Things Children Really Want Their Parents To Do With Them

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.

2. Give me hugs and kisses sit and talk with me privately.

3. Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.

4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.

5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.

6. At night talk to me about anything; love, school, family etc.

7. Let me play outside a lot.

8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favourite TV show together.

9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.

10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

How to Develop Child Creativity

1. Allow your child to make simple choices, such as what to eat for dinner or where to go on a weekend. This encourages him to think independently.

2. Encourage independence from caregivers and media. A child that is constantly entertained by others or the television will struggle to find things to do on their own without access to media.


3. Provide items in your child's environment to stimulate their imagination. Drawing supplies, blocks, books, and random craft supplies can all contribute to elaborate dramatic play schemes.


4. Brainstorm different uses for items with your child. For example, a cardboard tube can be a telescope, tower, or person. Validate all of your child's ideas, praising him or her for such an impressive imagination.


5. Ask your child open-ended questions to stretch their understanding and help them to postulate ideas.

Ask your child "what if" questions. "What if people could fly?" "What if people lived in space?" "What if dolphins walked on land?"

Involve your child in figuring out ways to make an improvement upon something. "How can we clean up the living room faster?" "How could we get water to the flowers without spilling any?" "What could we do to make the ball bounce higher?"

6. Play with your child. Work together to establish dramatic play scenarios, using substitute items for props when needed. Pretend play allows for children to imagine life from a different perspective, an important building block of creativity.

7. Be prepared for "messy play." While it may seem that your child is playing in the mud simply to make more work for you, in fact there is a great deal that is learned by playing with such things. When they are finished playing, make it a rule that they have to help clean up. If faced with the choice of getting messy then cleaning it up and not getting messy at all, almost all children will choose the former option.

How to lead a healthy lifestyle

There are five simple ways for your family to lead a healthy lifestyle and get back on track:

1. Get active each day

• Regular physical activity is important for the healthy growth, development and well-being of children and young people.

• They should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, including vigorous activities that make them ‘huff and puff’.

• Parents should be good role models and have a positive attitude to being active.

2. Choose water as a drink

• Water is the best way to quench your thirst – and it doesn’t come with the added sugar found in fruit juices, soft drinks and other sweetened drinks.

• Reduced fat milk for children over two is a nutritious drink and a great source of calcium.

• Give kids whole fruit to eat, rather than offering fruit juices that have a lot of sugar.

3. Eat more fruit and vegetables

•  Eating fruit and vegetables every day helps children grow and develop, boosts their vitality and can reduce the risk of many chronic diseases.
•  Aim to eat two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables every day.

• Have fresh fruit available as a convenient snack and try to include fruit and vegies in every meal.

4. Switch off the screen and get active

• Sedentary or ‘still’ time spent watching TV, surfing online or playing computer games is linked to kids becoming overweight or obese.
• Children and young people should spend no more than two hours a day on ‘small screen’ entertainment.
•  Plan a range of active indoor and outdoor games or activities for your children, as alternatives to watching TV or playing on the computer.

5. Eat fewer snacks and select healthier alternatives

• Healthy snacks help children and young people meet their daily nutritional needs.
•  Snacks based on fruit and vegetables, reduced fat dairy products and whole grains are the healthiest choices.
•  Avoid snacks that are high in sugar or saturated fats – such as chips, cakes and chocolate – which can cause children to put on excess weight.

Facts or Myth??

Myth: Infants need to be bathed every day.
The truth Babies don't get stinky from sweat the way adults do, so they only need a bath every two or three days (except some a major situation). If it's part of your wind-down routine, a daily bath is perfectly okay too--just moisturize afterwards.

Myth: Babies sleep best in a room that's silent and dark.
The truth while some children really are light sleepers, most do fine with background noise and a little light. Plus, if your little one gets used to some activity around him when he's sleeping, he'll be more willing to snooze in a variety of situations.

Myth: When infants are running a high temperature, rub them down with alcohol to lower their fever.
The truth rubbing your baby with alcohol won't actually bring down her/his fever plus it's unsafe, since alcohol can be absorbed through her/his skin.

Myth: Let your baby cry it out; if you pick her up whenever she's wailing, you'll spoil her.
The truth Babies under 4 months of age have few self-soothing strategies. Picking infants up when they cry helps them learn that parents will always be there to take care of them.

Myth: The safest way to put an infant to sleep is on her stomach.
The truth: the safest sleep position for a baby is on its back. In the past, doctors worried that babies might choke on any spit-up if they weren't lying on their tummy or side, but studies ultimately linked these positions to the Myth.