PitterPatterFeet

You can do a lot for your baby by helping them to develop their brain and develop a love for their bodies and prevent obesity in the future by dancing with them. Many people mistakenly think that  you have to be a dance instructor or some other type of specially trained person in order to teach dance to your baby. While this is true there are things that you can do at home that your baby will love.

Babies are so excited by this new world and are anxious to explore it,  especially  their bodies and learning what it can do is very fascinating to them.  Now is a great time to Read more »

Preventing childhood obesity isn’t only about diet, nutrition and exercise. A component of preventing childhood obesity is staying healthy. One way to stay healthy is to teach your child early about good  hygiene and creating good habits early. Things like brushing their teeth daily preferrably after every meal but once in the morning and then again at night before bed, washing their face and body, especially behind their ears which a lot of people forget and think is not necessary, are common.

One area that may surprise you are practices that should be used when Read more »

Providing balance for your child will benefit them greatly health wise. Rushing about can cause a great deal of stress for the parent as well as the child. Today’s children need a persona digital assistant otherwise known as a smart phone to keep up with all of their activities and appointments. They have scoccer practice and dance 3-4 or even 6 days a week depending on their level, and piano, voice, violin lessons, debutante  and pagent rehearsal in addition to studying and maintaining their grades.

When do they have time to just be and not do anything. First and foremost I am not knocking Read more »

In today’s world everyone is stressed even children.  We as adults never think about children being stressed but they are stressed nonetheless. Unfortunately they don’t have a lot of ways of dealing with the stress that they are feeling.  When physical education was a requirement in the school system at least children had exercise to reduce stress.

When after school programs that encouraged children to run and play after school were still in existence and not gone the way of the dinosaurs, children Read more »

As a parent or caregiver you can help in preventing childhood obesity by helping children to deal with their emotions in positive and empowering ways. Helpimg children to deal with their emotions in this way helps in preventing emotional eating before it starts.

You can start helping your child even at a very young age. Children depend on parents and teachers to help them make sense of and understand the world and how to navigate in it. When children are very young they cannot Read more »

Rigorous movement helps to burn energy and calories, an excellent way to insure  you will be assisting your child in preventing obesity. What’s even better is when the child is having so much fun that they don’t even realize they are working out. To them they are just having fun. Which is why I want to tell you about a really fun activity for preschool aged children. Not only is it fun but it helps to develop their peripheral vision.

What you will need is a large piece of material. It helps if this material is light weight and colorful. You will also need open space and their favorite music. It would be great if more than one child is doing this. Explain to the child that they are going to ball up the material in their hands. For some preschoolers they may complain that they are not able to ball it up. Help them by balling it up within their hands. After balling the material up in the air they are going to throw it up as high as they can above them and then catch the material without it hitting the floor.

This is a blast for them and really beautiful to see all of the materials flying up in the air. It is like going to Mardi Gras or Carnival. Everyone is smiling and laughing and the music is adding in to the excitement. Everyone is throwing up their material and are trying  not to run into one another.

Throwing the material up in the air forces their eyes to track it or follow it in order to catch it. Unlike a ball that moves fast. The material opens up as it’s being thrown in the air and comes down sort of like a parachute. Because it takes a little longer to come down, the eyes are tracking and following longer. This is also why we ball the material up tight to help give it velocity in being thrown up. The higher it goes the more it just floats down to the ground.

Try this exercise just to have fun and to do something out of the ordinary.You’ll be glad you did. Also get your free ebook on Healthy Kids Weight Loss  at http://www.healthykidsweightloss.com.

It is important to have a variety of fitness activities for kids. Having variety keeps children’s interest and enagages them. When people think of fitness they think of rigorous movement or some form of movement. In addition to movement we need transitional activities also that help quiet the mind and body. This particular activity is one that quiets the body and  can be used in three ways. It can be used for developing listening skills and helping children to pay attention. It can also be used for learning self control and patience. The activity is called the MAGIC NUMBER .

This is an activity that involves you counting and the children listening. Have the children lie on the floor. Explain that they are taking a rest and that it will be time to get up after you say the magic number. Tell them the magic number. Ask them what is the magic number and have them tell it to you. Have them lie down and then begin to count.  In between your counting ask the children is it time to get up. They will love to scream back at you NO! Once you say the magic number it is time to stand up.

This activity is used to transition from rigorous activity such as playing in the gym, outside,  dancing or any where they have been exerting themselves and need to take a rest. Although children have a lot of energy, their energy is spurts and they need rest periods in between.  In can be used any time you want the children to settle down and be still. Don’t worry about whether or not the children can count up to a certain number because in this exercise they are listening for the magic number. In time they will learn the correct sequence of counting.

I use dance as a media for learning. In addition to learning dance moves from Classical Ballet, or Hip Hop we also do a lot of running, skipping, galloping, jumping and hopping so this exercise works very nicely as a way to give them a rest and still have learning and skill building take place. Focusing and listening are two essential skills that children will need for school and life.

Healthy eating is another component of health. You can get a free report on healthy eating for kids at http://www.healthykidsweightloss.com.   

Excellent teaching skills were demonstrated in the movie ” The Karate Kid” starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chen and Taraji Henson. Teaching and parenting are things that people usually do from a place of love.  Jackie Chen’s character(Mr. Hong) tells Jaden Smith’s character (Dre Parker) that there are no bad students only bad teachers.

I understand where Chen was coming from. As teachers and parents it is our job to find out and figure out what it takes to reach our children. Read more »

You may ask what does Verizon Wireless and being loyal to them have to do with teaching children? What does money have to do with it you ask? Plenty!

I just spoke with a wonderful customer service representative named Juan from Verizon Wireless. I explained to him Read more »

This Halloween was extra special as I ran into one of my old students. At such a young age, she is around 3 years old now, I was very surprised that she remembered me. What a wonderful surprise when I opened the door after hearing Trick or Treat Read more »