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Category archive: learning
Let young readers choose their own books
07 May 08 | Comments: 7
Cris's tip for helping encourage a lifelong love of books: I was given a tip that kids need the opportunity to choose their own books, rather than always reading what we think they would like. For some reason, my daughter...
Perfect gift for new moms: The Rookie Mom's Handbook
06 May 08 | Comments: 61
Heather and Whitney (aka the Rookie Moms) are true blog friends. I think these are two of the warmest, smartest women around. We've bonded over the business of blogging and parenting and life. They've sent in bunches of great hacks....
Game tokens help teach saving skills
30 Apr 08 | Comments: 8
Mike's hack may make that trip to Chuck E. Cheese slightly more bearable: After my 4.5 year-old son's friend's Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, I went home with a pocket full of tokens. Later that week, when my son was...
Teach colors with food coloring on your tongue!
30 Apr 08 | Comments: 4
Eleni's creative hack could dovetail nicely with the colored milk trick... My niece is two years old and while she is learning to count (so far she can go from one to mawebban [11]) she has had trouble learning her...
"Colorful" milk rewards kids for pre-mealtime cleanup
28 Apr 08 | Comments: 11
Mari's colorful solution for getting the kids to the table: My daughter's preschool teacher came up with a fun way to encourage the children to clean up promptly for lunch. It made such an impression on our 3-year-old that we...
Ultra-sensitive preschooler who fears change? Talk amongst yourselves.
25 Apr 08 | Comments: 21
Christy, contributor of many hacks, needs our help. Read on: I have an ultra-sensitive type-A 3 year old who's about to be 4 and a 1 going on 2 year old. We live in a semi-rural community, with a Walmart...
PC.com: When your kids know more about your computer than you do
23 Apr 08 | Comments: 12
Before kids, I was a writer of computer books of the how-to variety . How does a relatively non-tech person qualify as technical book author? By sending a proposal for a "teach yourself HTML" book to publishers in 1996, back...
Recycle Tyvek envelopes into sails for homemade boats
19 Apr 08 | Comments: 3
Beth's got a tip for floaty-boat building: It's spring here in New England and my 2.5yo is into making boats for all the muddy puddles. Usually our spur-of-the-moment boats are made out of something like packing peanuts or foam packing...
Savvy Source: A great place to start your preschool research
17 Apr 08 | Comments: 7
When I started researching preschools, I was amazed by the lack of a centralized resource to find out what was available in our neighborhood. Through conversations with other parents and a dose of dumb luck, we found an ideal preschool...
A keepsake journal "triples" as travel entertainment, art preservation, and a grandparent gift
15 Apr 08 | Comments: 9
Jennifer's smart, simple idea for capturing some of her daughter's spontaneous art: My four year-old loves to draw and color. I found one way to preserve her art -- by giving her a journal book full of blank pages. We...
Word choices can take the sting out of a disagreement
14 Apr 08 | Comments: 18
Sara is teaching tact and open-mindedness early: Can a word be a hack? If it can, I propose "mistaken." We've introduced this one to our 2 year old, and it just feels right. We use it to admit we are...
When the table's set for a dinner party, serve your kids a fancy meal before the guests arrive
14 Apr 08 | Comments: 5
I'm so impressed with Suzy and her husband's ability to model calm in the face of a dinner party! What fun, and what lovely learning opportunities and memories for their kids: My husband and I were having a dinner party...
Teach your phone number by setting it to song
13 Apr 08 | Comments: 22
Mark's wife applied "jingle" logic when teaching the kids their phone number -- it's easier to remember when set to a catchy tune: My wife came up with a clever song to teacher two of our little ones our phone...
Family Fluxx: The best Friday game night we've had in a long time
05 Apr 08 | Comments: 21
We're a family of board- and card-game players, and Friday evening usually finds us huddled on the floor playing something-or-other. Our kids are 8.5 and 4.5 (one reads, one doesn't) so it's not always easy to find games that are...
"Simon Says" keep your hands out of the sanitary napkin dispenser!
04 Apr 08 | Comments: 16
BWAH! BWAHHH! (can't...write...intro..laughing...too...hard...bwah!) After reading the "Marco Polo" hack the other day, I was reminded of something that I've been doing over the past year to keep my sanity in public washrooms with my four-year old daughter. We play "Simon...
Best of Parent Hacks: Garden fever
03 Apr 08 | Comments: 3
Sun! Warmth! Flowers! It's all happening around here, and I'm dancing a little jig in my back yard. Last year, the kids and I scattered a single packet of mixed seeds (encouragingly named "Children's Garden") and got a whole patch...
Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake: DVD for ballet-loving preschoolers
02 Apr 08 | Comments: 93
The possession of double X chromosomes often correlates with two other genetic conditions: Princess Mania and Ballet Obsession. Such has always been the case with my daughter, despite my lack of girliness. She saw her first real live ballerina at...
New online educational game/learning service from PBS
18 Mar 08 | Comments: 2
There's plenty of good (and free) play to be had on the Web, with the first stop for preschoolers often being the companion site for a favorite television network (PBS Kids, NickJr., or Playhouse Disney). PBS has just upped the...
Simple toddler game teaches letters, numbers, turn-taking, fine motor skills and ... it's fun
10 Mar 08 | Comments: 7
Maya's come up with a lovely, simple game with her daughter: I’ve been playing this game with my daughter for a while – she’s 27 months old now. You could play this a variety of ways and it teaches many...
Bubble play motivates kids to clean up
06 Mar 08 | Comments: 6
From Jane: Okay, maybe this is just barely a hack, but I have a 2.5 yo and a 4 yo, and getting them to pick up their toys is always a struggle. However, I have discovered a good way to...
Nonverbal "cues" and routines help adopted children settle into home life
05 Mar 08 | Comments: 6
Deborah demonstrates how consistency can be comforting when words aren't an option (yet): When my husband and I brought our 3- and 4-year-olds home from Moscow, we had only rudimentary Russian and a very early trust relationship with the kids....
Lower the highchair so your toddler can play the electronic keyboard
27 Feb 08 | Comments: 3
Raven's going to have a two year-old maestro in the family: My 16 month-old loves to play around on our electronic keyboard . With all of the different instrument and style options available, who doesn't? Up until now, I've always...
Parent Hacks: The Zen Habits Collection
26 Feb 08 | Comments: 0
As part of our guest post swap, Leo Babauta asked me to choose twenty of my favorite tips and write them up as a post for Zen Habits. "Favorite" is impossible to capture because there's more wisdom and good will...
Tie video game time "currency" to chores
25 Feb 08 | Comments: 11
Rich is a man after my own heart: My kids were addicted to their video games and would give us attitudes when we asked them to do chores. So we fixed that right away: we put the kids on a...
Pets as social skills "teachers"
22 Feb 08 | Comments: 6
I've got so much to say about this hack (sent in anonymously), but I'll save my comments till after you've read it: I'm a single (widowed) mom to one daughter. We live in a very rural area so my daughter's...
Use the coffeemaker to heat water for quick oats
19 Feb 08 | Comments: 3
Stephanie's found a safer way for her son to cook his own breakfast: My 9 1/2 year-old son loves oatmeal for breakfast every morning. He's old enough to want to do things on his own but not old enough to...
Do you improvise upon lullabies? Talk amongst yourselves.
19 Feb 08 | Comments: 45
Tim's "hack" is really more of a sweet example of how our kids can inspire us: Part of my toddler's bedtime routine is a song. Somewhere along the line, I forgot the actual lyrics to "Hush, Little Baby". This led...
For a toddler, catching a ball is easier with a hat
17 Feb 08 | Comments: 4
Kelly sent this hack in while watching her father play catch with her daughter: It can be frustrating to play catch with the little ones. They really want to but it's hard for them to catch a ball. Next time...
A simple rule for getting toddlers to hold hands crossing the street
15 Feb 08 | Comments: 25
Kim's idea is so simple and smart: Here's my tip for keeping toddlers from walking out onto the street or parking lot unsupervised. It relies on the good old "neutral third party" idea. Just tell them it's a universal rule...
Valentine hack: Homemade chocolate roses are easier than you might think
08 Feb 08 | Comments: 6
What a lovely idea -- great for older kids who get a kick out of using the stove. From Leah: My students do a fundraiser every year for Valentine's Day by making candy roses and selling them. It's actually a...
Summer camp fairs help kids AND parents make smart choices
04 Feb 08 | Comments: 3
Suzy (friend of Sara!) is getting an informed jump on summer camp: I have a five year-old who's not very clear on what he DOES like to do (as opposed to what he DOESN'T like to do). This weekend was...
Put a rubber band around push toy wheels to slow them down
01 Feb 08 | Comments: 5
Regina's got a smart hack for early walkers: When kids are first learning to walk, their push toys generally go too fast. To slow my daughter down I put rubber bands around the front two wheels and now she is...
"The Mr. Men Show" to premiere on Cartoon Network 2/4/08
31 Jan 08 | Comments: 9
Got a promo email today from the folks at Cartoon Network. But before I tell you what it's about, let me give you a little backstory. I basically can't stand the Cartoon Network. Now I like Looney Toons and Scooby...
Fashion a fake dolly poo to encourage toddler's potty use
31 Jan 08 | Comments: 12
Simon's story is so, so...well, so PARENT HACKS, it makes me smile every time I read it. My Father-in-Law (FIL) came up with a stonking [American translation: fantastic or brilliant. -- Ed.] solution to encourage use of the potty in...
Organize kids' clothes into color-coordinated "capsules" so they can pick their own outfits
28 Jan 08 | Comments: 16
Sara needs to dress my daughter, or at least help me pick out her clothes. I love clothes, and Miss J has so many clothes it's a tad embarrassing. Even worse, the daily question of what to wear was turning...
A trick for getting mittens onto toddlers
23 Jan 08 | Comments: 6
David, a former preschool teacher, has had plenty of practice getting mittens onto little hands: Hold the mitten up with it open toward your child so they can put their hand in. Then you tell them to touch your nose...
Kitchen timer: Multi-purpose tool of the gods!
22 Jan 08 | Comments: 21
We've talked before about how helpful a timer can be in all sorts of parenting situations. I really liked the way Katy (author of Adventures in Parenting) expanded on the examples, so I thought it would be a great time...
Teaching kids to declutter their own toys
22 Jan 08 | Comments: 5
Sara's hack would work as well now, while most of us are in declutter mode anyway: I want Miss J (2 1/2) to learn how to "declutter" things herself, so before Christmas I told her that since she'd be getting...
How to tell if a clementine section is seedless or not
18 Jan 08 | Comments: 6
Thank you for this, Elana -- I've mangled hundreds of clementine sections looking for seeds! With mandarins and clementines (the perfect sized citrus fruit for kids) in season, we're going through tons of them in our house. I want our...
Pack preschoolers' lunches in waxed paper bags
17 Jan 08 | Comments: 16
While we're on the topic of school lunches...a little story for you. My daughter goes to the most wonderful preschool in the world. It's the same preschool my son went to, Waldorf-inspired, totally magical, very simple. The teachers there often...
Discount calendars make good art supplies
15 Jan 08 | Comments: 0
Joe and Cathy say: grab up those clearance-priced calendars! My wife discovered a great parenting hack: By this time of January, novelty desk calendars are deeply discounted - like, $2 each. Some of these are a great source of inexpensive...
Movie-inspired dinners: Ratatouille
19 Dec 07 | Comments: 4
Rosemary's story gives us eggplant-lovers hope: With all this talk about sneaking healthy food into our children's meals, the Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille provides us a wonderful opportunity to get our kids eating healthy without all the trickery. I started making...
Alternative trading card games: Xeko and Bella Sara
19 Dec 07 | Comments: 57
It's easy to forget that trading card games are actually games, not just collections of tradable pieces of paper. And while Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic the Gathering and the rest dominate the field, two trading card games attempt to go in...
Professor Pocket: Discount and free shipping for Parenthackers
11 Dec 07 | Comments: 0
I just got a note from Nathalie Simmons Jorge, Co-founder of Professor Pocket. Apparently, hedra's review caused such a sensation that the CD sold out at Amazon! So (Nathalie says): I'd like to extend a $2 off/CD and free shipping...
"Cookie of the Month Club" makes a great holiday gift
10 Dec 07 | Comments: 7
I love Heather's idea for simplifying holiday gift-giving: This year, we are trying to find the perfect gift to give those who have everything. It can't be too expensive, too hard to travel with, and we want it to somehow...
How to encourage family conversation around the table
06 Dec 07 | Comments: 4
Suzy's got a great hack for holiday mealtimes and beyond: During the holiday season there are many occasions to gather around the table. Consider this game that encourages children and adults alike to share about their day as well as...
Softies: A craft book for the (relatively) non-crafty
05 Dec 07 | Comments: 117
Ok, so this book called to me from the front table at Powell's City of Books. I happen to have a little thing for items made of felt. I don't sew, I don't craft (really), but something about the bold...
Toddler Spanish practice with Professor Pocket
04 Dec 07 | Comments: 55
hedra here, helping out with a review. [Hooray! The more hedra in the world the better. -- Ed.] Because I tend to write huge long content, I'm putting the 'bottom line' stuff up front - you can read on for...
Boost your kid's vocabulary by "narrating" drive time
21 Nov 07 | Comments: 10
Keep talking to those babies! From Sara: One of those inadvertent hacks is how we've taught Miss J. her over/under/though prepositions. Our daily and weekly drives include a number of highway flyovers that just fascinated her, so we started saying...
Use wallet-sized photos as gift tags
20 Nov 07 | Comments: 6
Gwen's hack is one of those gems that solves a problem AND reduces clutter at the same time. Think about this for holiday gifts as well: When my children bring a party gift to a child who can't read yet,...
Tricks for kick-starting after-school conversations
19 Nov 07 | Comments: 29
Kelly shares a tip for getting kids to talk about their school days: Instead of asking a young, school age child "How was school today?" try asking "What did you do in school today?" The former gives the child the...
MotherTalk review: The Daring Book for Girls
16 Nov 07 | Comments: 39
By now you've certainly seen the turquoise cover of The Daring Book for Girls sparkling on the bookstore feature tables and the bestseller lists and the morning shows and YouTube and the blogs. Whereas The Dangerous Book for Boys was...
Use movie soundtracks to steer kids away from the tube
14 Nov 07 | Comments: 22
Kirsten's brilliant hack brings to mind all the great movie soundtracks I used to listen to as a kid. Star Wars is the big one, but pretty much any John Williams score would do. Remember Close Encounters of the Third...
Use a hula hoop to simplify ball-catching games with young kids
14 Nov 07 | Comments: 3
Kirsten's ball-playing hack would work well indoors, too. (I'm thinking rainy day basement play.) You know when you're playing catch, soccer, baseball or such games with preschoolers or toddlers? They always move really close to you in between turns, and...
Playing the cloud game with props
05 Nov 07 | Comments: 1
Cloud-watching season may be over where you live, but we're having an unusual spate of sunny weather here in Portland. Duane recently shared this cloud-watching experience with his daughter: Everybody knows the cloud game, where you try to spot animals...
The Daring Book for Girls is out!
03 Nov 07 | Comments: 6
If you'll recall, we had a fascinating discussion after my review of The Dangerous Book for Boys...touched off by the question: what about girls? Ladies and gentleman, I give you... I have a review copy of The Daring Book for...
Creative ways to present unfamiliar foods
29 Oct 07 | Comments: 6
Dren of DrenNotes offers her take on the creative presentation of food: I've been reading a lot of buzz on the interweb about Deceptively Delicious, mostly dealing with the ethics of "sneaking" in fruits and veggies into a child's diet....
Household chores meet online gaming: Chore Wars
26 Oct 07 | Comments: 2
This takes the advice to "turn work into game!" to new heights. From Sarah: I wanted to let you know of a cool website I found that helps my husband and I get work done around the house without arguing...
DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge: Help Parent Hacks support special education students in need
17 Oct 07 | Comments: 4
DonorsChoose.org is a fantastic organization that brings together teachers whose school projects need funding and potential donors (that's us). Through October 31, they're hosting a Blogger Challenge -- encouraging bloggers to choose a project (one or many) to support. Federated...
Underwear over a diaper helps kids feel "big" during night training
05 Oct 07 | Comments: 3
Gordon's 3 year-old son came up with this potty training hack all on his own: Since my son associated wearing underwear with being a big boy (and had made the daytime transition pretty smoothly), he didn't want to wear a...
FM Fall Shopping Guide: Little Hands Help Around the House
28 Sep 07 | Comments: 0
My next post is up at the FM Fall Shopping Guide: Little Hands Help Around the House. Inspired by a recent thumb-through a Montessori catalog, the post follows a theme we've discussed at length: giving kids the tools and opportunity...
Bungee cord "leash" helps pull novice bike riders over bumps
26 Sep 07 | Comments: 9
I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood where there's a mix of single folks, families with kids ages 0-17, empty nesters, and retirees. As such, I get a parenting education each time I walk out the door. Someone's always around...
IKEA: Real furniture kids can build
24 Sep 07 | Comments: 4
From the Obvious department: IKEA recently came to Portland. Cause for city-wide celebration! Free child care! Swedish meatballs for less than a buck! And (oh yeah) cool, cheap furniture! But there's more. My almost eight year-old son is always looking...
Do rewards kill motivation? Talk amongst yourselves.
18 Sep 07 | Comments: 14
Thanks to a recent Lifehack.org post, I just read an Alfie Kohn article (written in 1993) about how rewards get in the way of intrinsic motivation. Some of you have mentioned Kohn's name in the comments before, but I've never...
How to keep your kids happy while you watch football
17 Sep 07 | Comments: 7
Bill figured out how to keep his daughter entertained (but engaged) while he watched the game: My son Griffin (2) is crazy about football - almost every shirt he owns has a football on it - but my daughter Erin...
Joe's Goals doubles as an online behavior reward chart
15 Sep 07 | Comments: 2
I wrote about the goal-tracking app Joe's Goals last year, but Kathryn suggests its as useful for older kids as an online star chart/sticker chart: I ran across a tool called Joe's Goals, and the minute I hit the site...
Simplify toddler's food choices with magnetized pictures
12 Sep 07 | Comments: 5
I so admire Fautina's willingness to adjust her communication with her son (a post in and of itself!): My two year old son is a little behind in his speech. Someone suggested I take photos of his favorite foods and...
Set up a homework station to make afterschool assignments easier
01 Sep 07 | Comments: 4
Melanie's tips for setting off on the right foot with homework: I’m a teacher as well as a mom. A good homework hack is to have a place or station set up where your child can do homework. Have pencils,...
Homework tips? Talk amongst yourselves.
31 Aug 07 | Comments: 22
Jill from Atlanta had a wonderful idea: while I get back on my feet posting-wise, how about a little open discussion about homework tips? Most of us are likely in the grace period before the big-time assignments, so let's talk...
DIY Learning Tower to encourage pint-sized kitchen help? Talk amongst yourselves.
26 Aug 07 | Comments: 32
In the comments of the kid-friendly kitchens post, Marta asked: Anyone have a hack for improvising one of those Learning Tower things? They cost a lot. I agree -- a lovely product, but the price is prohibitive. When I was...
Color code hot and cold water taps with nail polish
21 Aug 07 | Comments: 14
Amazing how a little change can help kids get what they need on their own. Here's kittenpie's great idea: My girl understand that red=stop and green=go, so in the bathroom, I have painted (in nail polish for durability) a large...
Working with a one year-old's light switch obsession
20 Aug 07 | Comments: 7
Kris's light switch hack keeps her son happy (for a while at least!): My one year old son is enthralled with being helpful by turning on and off the lights in every room when we enter or exit. The only...
Kid-friendly kitchens help even the youngest pitch in
19 Aug 07 | Comments: 17
Heather wrote up a fantastic post on her blog, Oh My Stinkin Heck, about encouraging kids to help in the kitchen by making it more accessible to them. Really, the topic is much bigger than that -- it's about honoring...
Encouraging the next generation of hackers
14 Aug 07 | Comments: 10
From Sara: I suspect that many Parenthackers, like me, have their antenna constantly up for "how can I teach my kids to love computers like I did when I was a kid" (for me, that mostly means programming). Since Josie's...
Alarm clocks work for early-waking babies, too
10 Aug 07 | Comments: 11
Lisa's hack is fascinating -- an incredible reminder that babies are capable of a lot more learning than we think: I read a hack not too long ago about a toddler (about 3 yrs., I think) that used to wake...
wallOVERs: Web-based kaleidescope fun for preschoolers
09 Aug 07 | Comments: 4
Thanks a lot, Vincent. I just spent 20 minutes distracted by your hack. We recently spent an afternoon at a local children's museum. My three year old spent a good portion of that time enthralled by a Mac running an...
Martha Stewart (and staff): Parenthackers?
04 Aug 07 | Comments: 7
There's a fine line between the hacker-ish DIYers and the stylish crafters. Case in point: the Martha Stewart Omnimedia folks got in touch to tell me about Good Things For Kids, a new special issue of on newsstands now. It's...
Develop a Shutterbug: Time with Kids with Cameras
01 Aug 07 | Comments: 2
When I heard about the "A Little Perspective" kids' photo contest, it struck me as golden Parent Hacker opportunity for some late summer family fun. Get out the camera, but this time you may get to be the subject or...
How to keep kids in bed till wakeup time
01 Aug 07 | Comments: 15
Father-to-be Keith has already started filing away parent hacks for future use! This one is sure to come in handy for these crazily early summer sunrises: To keep their little ones in bed until an appropriate time, some friends of...
Easy cooking project: Homemade tortillas
27 Jul 07 | Comments: 8
My kids both have an attraction to anything squishy. They love all of those stretchy, gel-like trinkets flooding the market, and all manner of playdough. When I can muster the patience, I pull out the flour, water, salt, baking soda,...
Geography lessons no one can resist
20 Jul 07 | Comments: 3
Michelle (author of the wonderful blog Scribbit) came up with a brilliant way to teach her kids about geography. This would be a wonderful way to build excitement for summer travel. To help teach my kids about the world around...
"No tattling zone" helps parents relax during park playdates
17 Jul 07 | Comments: 15
From Sara: Kara and her local playground moms sit at a picnic table while the kids play. Around this table they've drawn a circle in the dirt. Why? Well, the circle is the "no tattling zone". Brilliant, isn't it? It...
GeekDad: Watch live bugs under a blister microscope
16 Jul 07 | Comments: 0
I've got a new post up at GeekDad about the fantastic blister microscope -- our new gadget for spying on live bugs.
Kids learn, work, and have fun at "Camp Mom"
14 Jul 07 | Comments: 6
Look what veteran Parenthacker Jill and her kids are up to this summer: We've implemented "Camp Mom" here and I'm putting them thru the paces every morning. After breakfast they both do a work paper at the table (if I...
Free entertainment: the pet store
02 Jul 07 | Comments: 21
Sherry's easy toddler outing: Perhaps others might not think this idea rocks quite as much as I do, but I have 19 month-old twins and finding fun and reasonably-priced things to do with two curious toddlers is tough. Some places,...
Telephone books as scribble material
02 Jul 07 | Comments: 9
Irene's found a great use for all those unused copies of the Yellow Pages: I'm always amazed at the number of phone books that get delivered to my door. I have a nice place in my kitchen to store them...
Crayola Bath Tub Tints teach color theory
27 Jun 07 | Comments: 6
Sara's back with bath hacks! Inspired by this really neat set of photos I ran across on flickr, I got my daughter some of the Crayola Bath Tub Tints -- just drop a pellet into your bath and you get...
Fun toilet cleaning? Use baking soda and vinegar!
18 Jun 07 | Comments: 7
Proving once again that a Parenthacker can make anything interesting, Beth came up with some toilet-cleaning entertainment: Not quite a super trendy hack, but something I thought was pretty fun even for adults! I was researching some more earth friendly...
"Show" your child poetry with the Flower Child DVD
16 Jun 07 | Comments: 1
Flower Child: Beautiful Poetry for Beautiful Children (by Wonderworld Film & Video) immediately piqued our interest. In college, Jim and I got involved in a number of poetry projects focusing on contemporary poetry and teaching great poetry to young children....
Let toddlers pour beverages over the open dishwasher door
12 Jun 07 | Comments: 10
Rebecca prefaced this hack with, "I swear someone must have already sent this in, but just in case..." Yet again, a tip one parent figures everyone else knows and I find myself slapping my forehead at her brilliance! When kidlets...
Teaching rules to stuffed animals makes them easier (and more fun) for kids
12 Jun 07 | Comments: 8
Ah, the power of creative thinking. Here's how Alma made "the rules" fun for her toddler: While transitioning my 2 year old from her beloved crib to a "big girl" bed. I wanted to emphasize that she needed to stay...
Essential "dangerous" skills for boys and girls? Talk amongst yourselves.
11 Jun 07 | Comments: 69
Silly me! I've got a perfectly lovely copy of The Dangerous Book For Boys sitting here waiting to fly into the hands of one lucky Parenthacker! My intention was to give it away in conjunction with my interview with author...
Interview with "Dangerous Boys" author Conn Iggulden
06 Jun 07 | Comments: 7
By all accounts, The Dangerous Book for Boys is a hit. The book has been all over the Internet (there's even a YouTube "preview"!), and made a showing on The Colbert Report. I reviewed the book last month, and, from...
Blog book tour: The Kids' Book Club Book
30 May 07 | Comments: 52
Parent Hacks is part of the MotherTalk book tour for The Kids' Book Club Book (email mess be damned!). This book is a great resource for kids and parents alike, especially with long summer days ahead. Here's a complete how-to...
GeekDad: Play instant messaging games with your kids
21 May 07 | Comments: 0
I've been meaning to write up our little iChat game for a while! Here it is, as a guest post on GeekDad.
Kid-friendly chilled water dispenser
19 May 07 | Comments: 7
Loraine's helping her daughter help herself to a drink of water: Our fridge doesn't have a water dispenser built in. As our baby grew into a preschooler, I soon realized our folly when I saw how easy it was for...
Gardening hack: Pay kids a penny per weed
14 May 07 | Comments: 15
Future Parenthacker Adam (that's how he signed the email!) brought back childhood memories of hot afternoons spent weeding: We don't have kids yet, but my wife and I both experienced this hack as children and intend to use it ourselves...
Ticket system helps kids track their own TV and game time
10 May 07 | Comments: 12
Mel came up with a brilliant way to put her kids in charge of monitoring their own screen time: I got tired of being the boss of when my kids (three and five) could watch videos and DVDs. I also...
Happy to Be Nappy DVD models tolerance and empathy
10 May 07 | Comments: 5
From my good friend Jonathan: What a wonderful opportunity to entertain and educate your children all at the same time in this diverse and engaging HBO production. Happy to Be Nappy is a show that my family stumbled upon one...
Blog Book tour: The Dangerous Book for Boys
07 May 07 | Comments: 28
I'm pleased to help kick off the MotherTalk blog book tour for The Dangerous Book For Boys. To say that this book is lovely, or interesting, or useful, really understates what's going on when you open the crimson canvas cover....
Helping a toddler who's afraid of dogs
07 May 07 | Comments: 10
Sara's daughter is afraid of dogs -- as many kids are. Here's how Sara and her husband are helping her get over it: Miss J. is just shy of 2 years, and she's become deathly afraid of puppies. The first...
Fuzzibuns cloth diapers help teach colors
06 May 07 | Comments: 3
Sean says: Our daughter, two years old, has recently mastered her colors with no real effort from us. We use fuzzibuns cloth diapers that we bought used. Just by chance we ended up with a full range of brightly colored...
Let your kid "drive" the shopping cart
05 May 07 | Comments: 10
Ed's novel grocery store entertainment hack: Do you go grocery shopping with your child? My son Joshua enjoyed going to the grocery store and seldom created an issue. Sitting in the cart in front of me was good for me,...
Tips for helping kids play Internet games
05 May 07 | Comments: 4
Here's how Toni made it easier for her kids to play games on the Web: My children (ages 2 1/2 & 5) have started using the computer more since Grandma gave us an extra but sometimes they have a little...
"Active resting" clears your parent brain
30 Apr 07 | Comments: 4
Clearing your mind doesn't necessarily require retreating from the world. Here's how hedra reboots her parent brain: Dancing along with the kids to some Motown on the CD player is one of my favorite ways to 'sweep' my brain. Dance...
'Toy library' promotes cleanup AND creativity
20 Apr 07 | Comments: 8
Hedra's amazing system of toy organization is so...so...amazing, it's a wonder we don't all do this. To contend with the overflow of toys, without violating the principle of ownership (that is, the toys belong to them, not us), we instituted...
GeekDad: Build construction toys out of hardware parts
19 Apr 07 | Comments: 1
In my first guest post for GeekDad, I highlighted one of my favorite GeekMoms: Dana at Mombian. Her PVC pipe construction set is brilliant, and I knew GeekDad readers would enjoy it as much as I did.
Homeschooling: How to start
11 Apr 07 | Comments: 31
I admit: I've had my biases and prejudices against homeschooling, but I've come to see that my attitude has more to do with my lack of knowledge than any real, rational data. Just about every homeschooler I've met, locally or...
Swiffer Carpet Flick puts your toddler to work
10 Apr 07 | Comments: 5
All this talk about how toddlers love to clean! It just so happens that Craig's hack on this very topic just popped up in my queue (and he's the third Parenthacker to mention the Swiffer Carpet Flick): My two year...
Tips for dyeing Easter eggs with toddlers
07 Apr 07 | Comments: 12
We've come to rely on Sara for sharing her best hacks on just about anything -- today, it's dyeing Easter eggs: I just got finished dyeing Easter eggs with my almost-two-year-old, and we both had a blast! Here are some...
Teach babies to drink out of a Dixie cup
31 Mar 07 | Comments: 8
SourPatch's cup-learning hack: I’ve been teaching my 14 month-old to drink with a cup all by himself (crazy me, didn’t think to introduce him to a cup until he was past one year old). He’s adept at drinking without spilling...
How to keep your kids entertained during airport delays
30 Mar 07 | Comments: 3
Vacation season's here. Here's how Margaret dealt with a canceled flight: After a weather cancellation, a rebooking, a canceled rebooking, and eventually going standby, we made it home from a recent trip three days late. So, my daughter and I...
Use a dry erase board for the family grocery list
29 Mar 07 | Comments: 14
Stu (who's now one of the editors of GNM Parents -- did you know that?), took some of the guesswork out of grocery shopping for older kids: I was having trouble getting my kids to go to the market with...
Can rewards for good behavior backfire? Talk amongst yourselves.
28 Mar 07 | Comments: 0
There's a good discussion going on in the comments of "How to use a star chart to encourage good behavior," interestingly enough, kicked off by an editorial tussle. We're now talking about how rewards can backfire; how kids' natural feelings...
Making up new rules for card- and board games
26 Mar 07 | Comments: 14
Here's how Cathy (Mayberry Mom) and her daughter hacked Uno: My daughter (age 4) and I figured out a new way to use Uno cards. She loves Uno, but wanted to try something different, so we played War. We decided...
GeekDad launches as part of Wired Blogs
22 Mar 07 | Comments: 0
GeekDad -- Wired Editor in Chief Chris Anderson's group blog devoted to "nerdy stuff you can do with your kids" -- is the newest addition to Wired Blogs. A year ago today I posted about Chris's plans for GeekDad, so...
Add a homemade "alarm" to your bedroom door
20 Mar 07 | Comments: 5
An interesting twist on babyproofing (kid-proofing, really), from Leah: I am a parent of a five year-old who is blind and nonverbal, but much sneakier than you might think. As we live in an apartment, we needed a cheap and...
Photocopy favorite book illustrations to create coloring pages
16 Mar 07 | Comments: 5
Printable coloring book pages -- we've talked about them here before. They're popular because kids prefer coloring pictures of characters and scenes they already know and love. For better or worse, my kids love the Captain Underpants series by Dav...
Alphabet cookie cutters create delicious learning opportunities
14 Mar 07 | Comments: 5
It's all about the alphabet this week. Here's Rosemary's twist on literacy fun: In a recent attempt to get my son interested in reading (he is a super busy rough & tumble boy) I have found a great tool. Alphabet...
Encourage good behavior with a homemade puzzle
13 Mar 07 | Comments: 4
Another hack-tastic reward system! The beauty of this system is that the reward itself acts as a reminder about the desired behavior. From Sarah: My 7 year-old son can be particularly stubborn and no matter how much we beg, plead,...
Use fridge magnets to boost your kid's vocabulary
13 Mar 07 | Comments: 4
Michelle at Scribbit uses fridge magnets for a higher purpose: When my oldest was five I used our refrigerator magnets to showcase a Word of the Week. With the definition nearby on an index card the idea was to reward...
Chore systems for kids who can't yet read? Talk amongst yourselves.
12 Mar 07 | Comments: 11
Leanne of Momcast wonders: My son is four and he's getting very helpful. I want to formalize some chores for him with a reward system to introduce concepts like family responsibility, work for remuneration, money and savings. But, he's pre-literate,...
Favorite books about kids and money? Talk amongst yourselves.
09 Mar 07 | Comments: 11
J. D. at Get Rich Slowly just posted 25 of the books he'd choose to build a personal finance library. He included three books that deal with teaching kids about money and entrepreneurship: What Color is Your Piggy Bank?, You...
For older kids struggling with catching a ball, try a Frisbee
08 Mar 07 | Comments: 11
Phil of A Family Runs Through It stumbled upon a new way to help his son learn to catch: My 8-year-old son has always had trouble catching a ball. He knows how to throw, but the catching skills have eluded...
Apple Youth Workshops: Mac-centric multimedia education
07 Mar 07 | Comments: 1
Apple's offering free hands-on "Youth Workshops" across the country in March and April. Kids get to play around with Garage Band, iMovie and iPhoto to create their own songs, movies, and photo projects. Isn't Apple sweet? Be sure to register...
Color 'n Kids: cards that turn writing thank you notes into a fun activity
06 Mar 07 | Comments: 28
Portland mama Kate Rosenthal is the creator of Color 'n Kids notecards -- simple, bold designs that give kids a boost in the homemade card department. I love them because, for less than the price of a pre-fab piece of...
Massive collection of free software for kids
05 Mar 07 | Comments: 12
KidsDomain has compiled an incredible list of PC and Mac freeware for kids of all ages, including the "keyboard bangers." [Via Lifehacker]
Get kids excited about travel
04 Mar 07 | Comments: 1
As you get ready for Spring Break, think about building some travel anticipation into the planning. Many kids enjoy trips more when they know what to expect at their destination. With that in mind, I was happy to get Carolyn's...
Lunar eclipse tonight!
03 Mar 07 | Comments: 5
This just in from Margaret: Here's something parents and kids might find fun. Tonight there will be a lunar eclipse, in which the moon passes between the earth and the sun. The refraction of the sun's light will make the...
The two Dr. Seuss books that changed my life
02 Mar 07 | Comments: 26
Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday, and kids all over the country will be donning their red-and-white striped construction paper hats to celebrate (at least that's part of the festivity at my son's school). I'm not exaggerating when I say that...
Art for the non-crafty
01 Mar 07 | Comments: 3
Over at In the Trenches of Motherhood, Chris is talking about the difference between "arts" and "crafts," and why both have a place in her family. Her post reminded me that my non-crafty gene need not discourage artistic exploration in...
Birthday party keepsake: an autographed photo mat
26 Feb 07 | Comments: 5
Liz, of Mom-101 and Cool Mom Picks fame, made this simple keepsake for her daughter's first birthday party: Buy a cheap photo mat, put photo of the birthday girl or boy inside, and leave a felt pen or marker for...
Reusable reward systems
22 Feb 07 | Comments: 2
AJ of Thingamababy reminds us that toddler rewards (for potty sitting, toothbrushing, etc.) can be as simple as drawing an "X" on a calendar. The trick is finding out what motivates your kid, and then letting the reward do its...
Win a YoonKid from Cool Mom Picks
21 Feb 07 | Comments: 3
Discovered today at the lovely and talented Cool Mom Picks: YoonKids -- adorable, customized wall art depicting girls in all sorts of cool roles such as astronomer, reader, and and guitarist. Get over there today for a chance to win...
Trying new foods often begins at the grocery store
19 Feb 07 | Comments: 8
Andrea's daughters are more open to trying foods they get to choose at the grocery store: I'm sure the majority of parents out there have trouble getting their kids to try new foods. I've discovered that "trying" often begins at...
Getting kids cooking
17 Feb 07 | Comments: 2
We've got the kids' cookbooks covered...what next? Dori Young of Kids Cooking offers this advice if you're not sure where to begin: I feel that your kitchen is the ideal setting to teach and learn. Kids respond to learning through...
A walk through history: The "Through Time" book series
16 Feb 07 | Comments: 4
These days, my seven year-old son is grappling with the concept of relative measurements. Whether a building is 100 feet tall or 1000 feet tall. Whether the visible growth of a tree takes 10 days or 10 years. Etcetera. We...
Ze Frank can babysit my kids any day
16 Feb 07 | Comments: 3
I'm perhaps one of the last people to find out about Web star Ze Frank, host of the daily video blog the show. Lifehacker turned me onto his wonderful riff on procrastination. Funny, smart, and all that. I'm hooked. Of...
Gardening with kids: getting started
15 Feb 07 | Comments: 1
The crocuses are just starting to peek out of the soil, and suddenly my kids are dying to get their hands in the dirt. The timing couldn't be better for the great post at Z Recommends about how to cultivate...
If your kid's learning, who cares if you look like a dork?
14 Feb 07 | Comments: 7
A must-read post at Thingamababy about a new series of PSAs reminding us about those everyday "teachable moments." Who among us hasn't done something like this? Tags: bornlearning.org, Learning, Parenting
Your picks for the best cookbooks for kids
14 Feb 07 | Comments: 1
I never knew there was such an array of kids' cookbooks out there! Thank you for sharing your favorites, along with some great stories and memories of your own childhood cooking experiences. I also appreciated that several of you forgo...
Favorite kids' cookbook? Talk amongst yourselves.
13 Feb 07 | Comments: 44
My daughter is expressing a keen interest in cooking, and I'm finding myself rifling though my cookbooks looking for simple recipes she and I can follow together. I'm a big fan of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks for kids: Pretend Soup, Salad...
Make a geometric sculpture out of marshmallows and toothpicks
11 Feb 07 | Comments: 2
This was my son's first-grade activity last week -- to build something out of marshmallows and toothpicks, and then to see if it was strong enough to support the weight of a book. Simple, fun, educational...and tasty. By the way,...
Soft rope "lowers" stairway banister for toddlers
10 Feb 07 | Comments: 11
My friends are getting used to me prowling around their houses with my camera phone exclaiming, "Hey! That's a parent hack!" This time, it was some low-tech babyproofing in the form of a length of soft rope tied to the...
A twist on "I'll count to three!"
09 Feb 07 | Comments: 14
Kaylen challenges the classic "I'll count to three!" parental threat: When my son was little and I was teaching him to count, he realized that there are numbers after three. One day I told my son I would give him...
Quintura's search engine for kids
08 Feb 07 | Comments: 3
Yakov Sadchikov, co-founder and CEO of Quintura, got in touch to tell me about his company's new search engine for kids called (duh) Quintura for Kids. There are other kid-friendly search engines out there (summed up in 2005 by Danny...
Educate your kids with Google Video
05 Feb 07 | Comments: 11
Kim's husband introduced their toddler to the wonders of Google Video: I took a nap on Sunday - a VERY RARE happening, but my husband agreed since he was going to be going four-wheeling later in the afternoon. When I...
How much time with your kid is enough?
03 Feb 07 | Comments: 12
There's a fascinating discussion going on at the Wall Street Journal blog The Juggle about how much time working parents can and/or should spend with their kids. Is one hour per day enough? Two? I've been reading the comments, many...
Recording your kid's promises with a digital camera
01 Feb 07 | Comments: 6
CMM came up with this hack to deal with High Candy season (Halloween), but Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so this hack may get some use yet. We don't want our daughter eating candy all day, but sometimes...
Those little voices in our heads start with our parents
26 Jan 07 | Comments: 2
My friend Morgan gathered a few people last night to help him brainstorm ideas he's been developing for his life coaching practice, and I was among the lucky participants. One of the questions that came up: Exactly whose are those...
How to make crayon scratch art
25 Jan 07 | Comments: 3
Crayon scratch art! I used to love doing this myself as a kid -- scratching through the black layer of wax to reveal neon-like colors. Mehhhhhh-mreeeeees.... Skip To My Lou's scratch art how-to suggests using tempera paint as the top...
Free printable folded paper toys
25 Jan 07 | Comments: 5
Print, fold and play! That's the idea behind the beautifully designed paper figures at Readymech. [Via Babygadget] Tags: Parenting, Printables, Readymech, Toys
Introducing kids to poetry
21 Jan 07 | Comments: 12
In the Fall, I was lucky enough to get a visit from a cousin I rarely see but dearly love. She's a photographer and free spirit with grown children, always sharing her amazing insights and observations. She brought along a...
How to teach your kid to use a sewing machine
08 Jan 07 | Comments: 4
Andi passed along this link at One Hour Craft on how to teach a child to use a sewing machine. Perfect motivation for sewing those holiday gift bags! Are Australians just extra-crafty, or what? Tags: Parenting, Sewing
DIY Easy-Bake Oven cake
05 Jan 07 | Comments: 5
I'm sure my household is not the only that acquired an Easy-Bake Oven over the holidays. For those of you who have fond memories of the oven, it now comes with an actual heating element inside instead of the famous...
Getting back into the school groove post-vacation
04 Jan 07 | Comments: 2
My son's in first grade, and he approached his first day back at school after the holiday break with a mixture of dread and relief. He loved the lazy days and late mornings as much as we all did, but...
For when kids don't wanna do their chores: the List
02 Jan 07 | Comments: 2
It's all Stu all the time! Stu 24/7! 100% Stu! Seriously folks, the contributor of the #1 Parent Hack of 2006 continues to share his encouraging advice...this time about older children who protest the having to do household chores. The...
3-D snowflake templates
22 Dec 06 | Comments: 3
I recently saw elaborate versions of these 3-D snowflakes hanging at our local science museum. WikiHow explains how to make them. [Via Blogging Baby] Tags: Crafts, Holidays, Paper snowflakes
Nifty gifty: Leapfrog FLY Pentop Computer
21 Dec 06 | Comments: 6
Those of you who've been hanging around here for a while know I'm a fan of Leapfrog toys. My kids have enjoyed them starting when they were babies (LeapStart Learning Table) and the love affair has continued (LeapPad, Leapster, and...
Brickfactory: for those of us who lose the Lego instructions
18 Dec 06 | Comments: 1
Via Blogging Baby comes an excellent pointer to Brickfactory, an archive of scanned Lego kit instructions dating all the way back to 1958. Nostalgia, baby! Tags: Lego, Toys
Cut wrapping paper scraps and seasonal catalogs into paper snowflakes
18 Dec 06 | Comments: 1
Sunny offers a new twist on a classic holiday hack: the paper snowflake. Great way to pass the blustery vacation days: I've been cutting out snowflakes for the last week and a half. This has been a learning process in...
Tips for raising bilingual children
12 Dec 06 | Comments: 3
I come from a multicultural family, but, sadly, never learned my father's native language (the Indian language Marathi). Granted, I don't have much use for Marathi in my daily life, but I sorely missed it when I visited my family...
Homemade instant oatmeal packets
08 Dec 06 | Comments: 4
Instructables illustrates how to make your own instant oatmeal packets. Less expensive, better for you, and tastier than the prepackaged stuff. With a little tutoring on hot water safety, this is a wonderful way to encourage older kids to make...
Bug Vacuum helps kids safely catch insects without involving their squeamish parents
08 Dec 06 | Comments: 1
Sunny's hack for budding entomologists: This is a great Parent Hack, as it combines a fun activity for kids, as well as a much needed task around the house. The Bug Vacuum is the best thing since sliced bread. Kids...
Decorate an outdoor tree with birdseed pinecones
08 Dec 06 | Comments: 7
Jeff reminded me of an easy backyard winter project...a welcome diversion once the kids are home from school: An inventive and inexpensive way to attract birds to your yard and feed them in the process is to make a birdseed...
Five gifts that will make your kids rich
05 Dec 06 | Comments: 0
Thanks to J. D. at Get Rich Slowly for pointing to this CNN article. Among the suggestions is the game Payday, which I have fond memories of playing. Great, fun way to learn the value of a buck. Tags: Money...
Homemade robot "draws" as it moves
01 Dec 06 | Comments: 2
Kip always manages to find fascinating stuff. He recently passed along the link to this Kid's Draw Bot -- a homemade robot that draws as it skitters across the page. Grab those electronics kits and go! Tags: Electronics, Robots
Homemade 'calendar' helps preschoolers understand their weekly routines
17 Nov 06 | Comments: 6
Along with the foamy soap hack, Kirsten sent me this winner: a homemade calendar that helps her preschooler know what to expect during the week. Knowing what I do about preschoolers, this is a fantastic idea. Preschoolers are only just...
Kids and money
15 Nov 06 | Comments: 0
More Get Rich Slowly goodness on the topic of kids and money. (Aside: J. D. and I have chatted a bit via email. He's as nice and down-to-earth one-on-one as he comes across in his blog.) [Thanks for the pointer,...
Kid-safe search at Zoo.com
15 Nov 06 | Comments: 2
Zoo.com hopes to make Internet searching -- now an integral part of homework research -- safer for kids by filtering out as much of the sexually-explicit content as possible. It's not perfect (when I searched for "elephant," result #9 was...
Illustrator Bob Staake takes on Big Cereal with Freebies
15 Nov 06 | Comments: 2
Jaime pointed me to an interesting underdog project: the creation of an independent breakfast cereal. Bob Staake, illustrator of The Red Lemon, Hello, Robots! among other things, wants his new cereal, Freebies, to "harken back to the glory days of...
Mad Libs make learning grammar fun
12 Nov 06 | Comments: 6
Remember Mad Libs? The word game where you choose random nouns, verbs, adjectives and other parts of speech, and then read them back as part of a funny story? I used to while away the hours on family road trips...
GRS on teaching kids to save
08 Nov 06 | Comments: 0
Jay pointed me to a wonderful post on Get Rich Slowly about teaching kids to save. I love GRS, and came across the post later that day in my own feed reader! Tags: Parenting, Saving money
Teach toddlers their colors using M&Ms
06 Nov 06 | Comments: 15
Sechy's hack teaches toddlers their colors AND gets rid of Halloween candy! I was trying to figure out a way to get my son to learn his colors. I know that kids love being rewarded for things they do and...
Go, Diego, Goes
27 Oct 06 | Comments: 4
Parent Hacks is now on the radar of PR folks and others with Stuff Parents Might Like To Buy. Which is fine, because the people getting in touch have generally done their homework and get the Parenthacker vibe. I turn...
Social networking site for parents: Maya's Mom launches today
25 Oct 06 | Comments: 6
Social networking sites for parents are hot, hot, hot! New entrant Maya's Mom launched today, and it looks great. It shares some features with MothersClick, namely, that you can create private discussion spaces for your offline groups, and you can...
More on chores, allowance, and independence
22 Oct 06 | Comments: 0
Leslie Morgan Steiner, author of the Washington Post blog On Balance, has kicked off a great discussion on teaching kids independence -- a topic close to our heart. Tags: Parenting
Wading pool keeps "scissor practice" paper scraps contained
21 Oct 06 | Comments: 3
So simple, so smart, from Jill: The toddler (2's) teacher at my son's PMO (Parent's morning out) has a wading pool in the classroom filled with old magazines and catalogs. What's it for? Scissors practice! Sit and Chop is one...
A trick for figuring out which plate and glass are yours at a crowded table
20 Oct 06 | Comments: 4
From Sara: Politeness and good manners are highly valued in our house; I've been known to dance across the kitchen when my 15 month old uses both "please" and "thank you" in a transaction without a prompt. [15 months and...
More than you ever wanted to know about how to tie shoes
19 Oct 06 | Comments: 2
From Kip: Here's the most interesting shoelace site I've found: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm (I don't really know how much competition there is, but he seems to have given the matter a good deal of thought, anyway, and has some novel methods that...
How do you prepare a toddler for his first Halloween? Talk amongst yourselves.
19 Oct 06 | Comments: 9
Kim asks: How do you get a 2 year-old prepared for Halloween? In other words, how do you get them to understand the concept of trick or treating and wearing a costume? Our son is going to be an oompa...
Hacking your favorite games so they're easier for young kids to play
19 Oct 06 | Comments: 0
Jill hacks the game of 'Go Fish'! It's potty training boot camp here today, and my son and I are playing all sorts of games while we're home. He pulled out a card memory game (actually a game of Go...
Starfall.com teaches beginning reading
17 Oct 06 | Comments: 5
Jay Allen (The Zero Boss) pinged me about Starfall.com, "where children have fun learning to read." The next day, I got a note home from my son's first grade teacher recommending the site as a good weekend activity or homework...
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
17 Oct 06 | Comments: 4
Maria Bailey, host of Mom Talk Radio, passed along the details about a fantastic program, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, which I am happy to pass along to you: For most parents Halloween is all about finding the best costume for their...
MothersClick: new networking site for parents
17 Oct 06 | Comments: 5
Launched today: MothersClick, a new site for sharing ideas, creating private discussion groups, and generally hanging out together online. Cool Mom Picks has already done such a good job describing MothersClick I'll send you there for the lowdown. Founder Andra...
Bellybutton match game gets underpants on straight
17 Oct 06 | Comments: 5
SJ's self-dressing hack: When we started potty training there was a lot of backwards underwear-wearing, because it's hard to tell which way girls' panties go of there is no tag or bow. Sometimes my daughter would get it wrong even...
"Homemade" digital ecards at Yuva Studio
16 Oct 06 | Comments: 0
Yuva Studio as a beautiful "creative playground" where kids can produce digital art, share it as ecards or printed posters with friends and family, and save it in an electronic sketchbook. The resulting art is lovely, and I like the...
How to Photoshop the background clutter out of your photos
15 Oct 06 | Comments: 5
Amy at Shooting the Kids passed along this super-helpful tutorial, especially as family photo season is upon us: Here's my "how to" on removing unwanted clutter from the background of your photos. What I find is that, with kids, we...
Games to play with the alphabet floor mat
12 Oct 06 | Comments: 7
Kristen, much-admired author of Motherhood Uncensored and The Mom Trap and co-founder of Cool Mom Picks, finally found a use for the alphabet floor mat: So, you know those foam letter puzzle floor covering things that you buy to keep...
Cyberchase is calling all kid inventors
10 Oct 06 | Comments: 0
The PBS series Cyberchase is inviting kid inventors ages 6 -12 years old to send videos of themselves and their inventions as part of My Big Idea: Cyberchase Inventions Initiative. Selected videos will be shown on the Cyberchase website and...
Squibbles features Halloween links
10 Oct 06 | Comments: 2
Parent Hacks reader Mike Botsko recently launched Squibbles, a place for parents and teachers to share their favorite kid-related sites. Submit a link, vote on your favorites, the "cream" rises to the top. Right now, Squibbles is featuring Halloween-related links....
How are you handling giving your teens more independence? Talk amongst yourselves.
04 Oct 06 | Comments: 1
We've shared many wonderful ideas for encouraging independence in kids. Anne wonders how it's going for the parents of teens: I'm the mom of an almost 14 year-old daughter. Wow. What a trip it is. I am wondering if there...
Ask Moxie: On helping to create a happy childhood
02 Oct 06 | Comments: 0
It's the $64K question, isn't it? How to give our kids a happy childhood? The answer's different for each child, or course, but Moxie and her readers are engaging in a wonderful discussion about their own thoughts on the topic....
How to find a good nanny or babysitter? Talk amongst yourselves.
02 Oct 06 | Comments: 12
Any advice for Patrick on finding a trustworthy babysitter? We are just starting to look for a babysitter or part-time nanny for our 2 kids (4YO and 2YO) - up to now it's just been family helping us out. I...
Tomorrow is Museum Day!
29 Sep 06 | Comments: 1
On September 30, 2006, museums across the country will be offering free admission as part of an event organized by the Smithsonian. More details on Mombian, and the event site. Thanks for the heads-up, Dana! Tags: Family travel, Museums, Smithsonian
Create video playlists using YouTube
28 Sep 06 | Comments: 6
Moe Berg may just be the coolest dad ever: after two years or so of listening to the wiggles, sesame street, et al in the car, i couldn't take it anymore and started making mixed cds of real songs i...
Another (smart) mom's take on how to deal with picky eaters
27 Sep 06 | Comments: 8
I love Chris's practical parenting blog In the Trenches of Motherhood. One of her commenters described her as "the big sister who knows all the answers." Now she's talking about what to do with the picky eater (which I can't...
How do your kids address adults? Talk amongst yourselves.
27 Sep 06 | Comments: 32
David's quandary got me thinking about how children should address adults. My kids address the parents of their friends by their first names (because that's how the parents introduce themselves), but I insist that they use "Mr." and "Mrs." with...
Kids calling you by your first name? Talk amongst yourselves.
26 Sep 06 | Comments: 21
David's in an interesting quandary: I have 2 girls. 5 and 1, and their birthdays are both in November... so they'll be 6 and 2 this year. My 5 year-old is actually my step-daughter. She has always called me "Dave."...
Digital cameras for kids
26 Sep 06 | Comments: 1
My kids are always begging to use our digital camera, and, for the most part, we let them. We recently replaced our camera for something smaller and faster, so the first, rather beat-up model has been designated the kid camera....
Closed captioning helps TV-watchers learn to read
25 Sep 06 | Comments: 18
From Bret: My wife got an unsolicited tip from a random grandma in a store: When your kid is watching TV (no comment on that), you should turn on closed captioning. Random Grandma said her grandchild showed up for kindergarten...
Non-slip shelf liner helps keep toddlers in their chairs
22 Sep 06 | Comments: 5
From Sara: A clever hack I picked up from our child care center: Toddlers just learning to sit, unstrapped, in chairs (especially small molded plastic chairs) benefit from a piece of non-slip shelf liner to keep them from sliding off...
More on babies + keyboards: BabySplat
21 Sep 06 | Comments: 6
Sounds like some of your kids are happy to pound on unplugged keyboards (for a while at least), while others insist on the real, working McCoy. For those kids, an option (thanks for passing this on, Fernando): I just came...
Coverpop: 333 great books for kids
19 Sep 06 | Comments: 4
This has got to be the most beautiful Amazon Associates jackpot ever. 333 great books for kids, a Coverpop, via flagrantdisregard Tags: Children's literature, Coverpop, Parenting
Favorite pirate paraphernalia for kids
19 Sep 06 | Comments: 6
By now I'm sure you've heard (and heard, and heard) that today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Rather than bore you with my pathetic attempts at pirate-speak, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pirate-y stuff for kids....
Helping kids gain a sense of direction
18 Sep 06 | Comments: 4
Here's how Amberlynn enlivens the routine drives home: I'd like to share a game my mother and I used to play when I was young. It also turns an otherwise boring commute into a fun adventure: When driving home with...
Tips for light-hearted parenting
15 Sep 06 | Comments: 1
Gretchen Rubin is the woman behind The Happiness Project, in which she spends a year testing every theory she can find on how to be happy. Here's her take on how to become a more light-hearted parent. All of her...
Set the timer to help antsy homeworkers stay in their seats
13 Sep 06 | Comments: 6
Sara shares yet another great use for the ubiquitous timer: Now that we're back at school, I was reminded of this hack my mother used on me to teach me time management skills. I was the type of kid that...
Let your kid create a Pollock-like masterpiece
13 Sep 06 | Comments: 8
Stacey stumbled upon an artful diversion for her toddler: my 2 year-old has been mr. water colors lately--so much so that we are running out of paper and paint. i directed him to www.jacksonpollock.org today and he loved it. (as...
Five playthings my children have made out of materials available at Peet's Coffee
11 Sep 06 | Comments: 2
A tribute to Merlin Mann's 5ives. 1. a blinking eye out of a dome-shaped iced drink top folded in half 2. the letters I, T, M, W, L, K, H, F, Z, X, and N out of wooden stir sticks...
Leapfrog Little Leaps Grow-With-Me Learning System
10 Sep 06 | Comments: 0
Lisa of L'il Duck Duck reviewed a new Leapfrog toy aimed at the infant-to-toddler set: Little Leaps Grow-With-Me Learning System. Looks to be a wireless button-and-joystick device kids can use to play DVD-based learning games on the TV. Babies get...
Moxie on teaching self-confidence
08 Sep 06 | Comments: 0
There's a wonderful conversation underway at Ask Moxie about teaching self-confidence. You've shared many of your wise tips with respect to teaching kids independence, but I thought you might like to see what Moxie and her readers have to say...
Longer lasting glow sticks
06 Sep 06 | Comments: 4
Elana found a way to extend the life of a glow stick: We recently broke out a pack of glow sticks as evening entertainment for the kids. Our friend, a chemistry professor, suggested we put a few in a Ziploc...
Curious George's PBS debut
05 Sep 06 | Comments: 8
PBS Kids has been kind enough to advertise on Parent Hacks, most recently to spread the word about the Labor Day debut of the new Curious George series. I've always loved the books, the movie was charming, and the music...well,...
Create an art gallery in your garage
05 Sep 06 | Comments: 3
If digitizing your kid's artwork is too much trouble, how about creating an indoor art gallery? Sara found one in an unlikely place: Out running in my neighborhood, I nosily noticed a neighbor's garage open with the lights on. When...
Favorite strong princess character? Talk amongst yourselves.
04 Sep 06 | Comments: 18
In the comments of my post on Mommytrack'd.com, in which I highlighted the Anti-Princess Reading List, Autumn pointed out that there are plenty of strong, admirable princesses to be found: If you're like me, and part of you will always...
The Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood
01 Sep 06 | Comments: 31
An embarrassingly long time ago, the publisher of The Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood sent me a review copy, asking if it might be of interest to Parent Hacks readers. "Absolutely," I said with good intention, and then proceeded to...
Keeping homework organized
31 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
On Blogging Baby the other day, Jenifer Scharpen suggested (or rather, was suggested to by her daughter's kindergarten teacher) that all homework papers and supplies be kept in a covered plastic bin on top of the refrigerator. That way, when...
Potty training: a personalized photo tutorial
31 Aug 06 | Comments: 12
We've all got our potty training tricks. Kirsten made an illustrated potty-training guide for her son: here's a potty-training hack that i'm using for my son. i took pictures of him in all the steps of going potty and then...
Even babies can hand-paint terra cotta planters as gifts
29 Aug 06 | Comments: 1
Here's Emily's great idea for a teacher gift, or possibly, for Grandparents' Day (Hallmark holiday that it is, but grandparents deserve every bit of appreciation they can get): A few months ago we decided to get creative with the birthday...
Back-to-school prep: have kids read the newspaper out loud
28 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
Here's how Stu helps his kids get into school mode: In order to prep for the first day of school, I have my kids read stories from the newspaper out loud. Then I ask questions about certain details from the...
Real moms on TV: 'Surviving Motherhood'
26 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
Here's what Stephanie (Crazy MomCat) has to say about the new-ish TLC show, Surviving Motherhood: While setting up my DVR to record my latest t.v. obsession (What Not To Wear), I stumbled across a little show that looked interesting. So,...
What are the best parenting and baby-care books? Ask Moxie.
25 Aug 06 | Comments: 10
As you know, I'm wary of most "expert" parenting books for the same reason I'm wary of most get-rich-quick or lose-weight-fast schemes: they promise a lot, they provide black-and-white answers, and they require you to subscribe to a certain dogma...
Digitize your kid's artwork and school papers to reduce clutter
25 Aug 06 | Comments: 7
School's almost back in session (for us at least -- I bet for some of you school has already begun), which means the avalanche of paper is about to begin. Here's how Louise, a former kindergarten teacher, deals with it:...
How do you teach your kids to love learning?
21 Aug 06 | Comments: 11
Prompted by this post at A Blue Flavored Blog, Lifehacker asked its readers about how they motivate themselves to continue learning once they finish school. Plenty of interesting responses, but it got me thinking less about myself, and more about...
Kids can blog, too
17 Aug 06 | Comments: 10
Chris Brogan recently wrote up an interesting post on lifehack.org about blogging for kids. He talks about his friend's six year-old son who recently started a blog. My son, too, wants to start a blog and we're working on setting...
Take pictures of a favorite toy while travelling
16 Aug 06 | Comments: 4
Kirsten has a great suggestion for making vacation photos more interesting for kids: Send one of your kids' small toys with people you know who are travelling. Kinda like the 'flat stanley' idea. The travelers take pictures of the toy...
Helping preschoolers get their shoes on the correct feet
15 Aug 06 | Comments: 8
Duane came up with a way to teach his daughter to put her shoes on the proper feet: My daughter (who just turned 4) seems to get her left and right shoes confused more than half the time. Any explanation...
"Helicopter parents" article quotes Parent Hackers
14 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
A while back I passed along a question from my friend Lainie who was doing research for an article about teaching kids independence, and many of you graciously shared your tips. The article has just appeared in the Sunday Oregonian,...
MotherTalk Blog Book Tour: The Ghost in the House
10 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
Parent Hacks is the fourth stop on the MotherTalk Blog Book tour for The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children, and Struggling with Depression by journalist Tracy Thompson. My own transition to stay-at-home motherhood was rocky, and at one...
Sesame Street is turning 37, and Mrs. Davis is hosting a linky party
09 Aug 06 | Comments: 0
On August 14, the Lovely Mrs. Davis is hosting a celebration in honor of Sesame Street's 37th season. She's calling upon parents to answer the following question on their blogs: What television, music, movie or book from your childhood are...
How to make chopsticks kid-friendly, revisited
08 Aug 06 | Comments: 2
Simone mentioned this Lifehacker pointer to a video tutorial on kidifying chopsticks. A waiter taught her this technique a while ago, and she swears by it. (We've discussed chopsticks here before: Teaching kids to use chopsticks.) Tags: Chopsticks, Feeding kids,...
Berry box mini-greenhouse
07 Aug 06 | Comments: 3
Supermarket strawberries often come packed in clear plastic box with a ventilated top -- the perfect basis for a seed-starting greenhouse. Poke a few holes in the bottom, line with paper towels, fill with potting soil, and plant a few...
Video iPod serves up family pictures on TV
03 Aug 06 | Comments: 4
Tami found out that her video iPod + TV = custom programming that's perfect for her kid: Recently I felt like we were watching too much T.V. during the day and I was just kid-showed-out. I tried going cold turkey...
Talk amongst yourselves: Introducing your kid to the books you loved as a child...which books?
28 Jul 06 | Comments: 24
From Margaret: There are a lot of great books written for kids now, especially fiction series, but what are the books you loved as a child that you are looking forward to introducing your child to? Since my daughter is...
Playing with dry ice
28 Jul 06 | Comments: 1
Dad, of raising4boys, has posted some fun ideas on his blog for playing with dry ice. (Just remember not to touch the stuff.)
BookBound: Charming, self-published children's books
24 Jul 06 | Comments: 3
My cousin Hayley put me in touch with her friend, Charysse Levine, author and publisher of BookBound Books. "You have to talk to Charysse," she said. "She decided she wanted to publish her own childrens' books, and she just went...
The Zero Boss is back
23 Jul 06 | Comments: 0
Jay Allen, daddy blogger extraordinaire, has relaunched his blog, The Zero Boss, and is posting an online version of his unpublished book on fatherhood. Many wonderful parenting bloggers credit Jay's original posts as the inspiration behind their own blogs, and...
Parenting bag o' tricks essential: Origami
22 Jul 06 | Comments: 1
Luke is a prepared dad! Read on: Whilst I haven't had a chance to use this yet I'm sharing it anyway. Our daughter is 3 months old and when we discovered we were going to have a child I decided...
Nerd baby ABCs
20 Jul 06 | Comments: 1
Alphabet flash cards for geek babies, or, perhaps, the babies of geeks. [Via Blogging Baby] Tags: Baby
It Works For Me: Post your own practical tips
19 Jul 06 | Comments: 1
Rocks In My Dryer is hosting "It Works For Me," in which she invites everyone to share the tips that make their lives easier. A woman after my own heart! Write up your tip, post it on your blog (you...
Family Film Guide helps you figure out which movies to see with your kids
19 Jul 06 | Comments: 1
Mike from AOL Moviefone tipped me off to the Family Film Guide -- great for sorting the wheat from the chaff during the summer movie blockbuster season. Another option I wrote about a while back: Common Sense Media, which also...
Museum hack: "I Spy" passes the time
15 Jul 06 | Comments: 6
Scott's wife discovered a way to keep her their toddler happy in a big art museum, at least for a while: My wife and I recently took our 2.5 year old daughter to the National Gallery in Washington, DC. As...
MetroDad on teaching manners
14 Jul 06 | Comments: 4
This, from one of the most well-spoken dads I know ("know" in a blogging sense, that is). Read the comments on MetroDad's post for good advice. Tags: Manners, Parenting, Toddler
How do you gradually give your older child independence?
13 Jul 06 | Comments: 15
My friend Lainie Ettinger is writing a newspaper article (which I can't wait to read) about how and when to teach kids and teens independence. It occurred to me that you'd have so much more to say on the topic...
Talk amongst yourselves: How to teach a kid to ride a bike
06 Jul 06 | Comments: 15
Summer is bike-riding season! In our house, the training wheels are about to come off. Any tips on how to teach a kid to ride a bicycle? Tags: Bicycle, Bike, Parenting
How fireworks work
04 Jul 06 | Comments: 0
How do fireworks work? I've always wanted to know, and my son, who loves all things explosive, probably does too. The answer, at howstuffworks. [Via Lifehacker] Tags: Fireworks
Turn to YouTube for toddler entertainment
29 Jun 06 | Comments: 2
Dutch of Sweet Juniper has put together a tour de force roundup of kid-pleasing YouTube videos. (Try this one if you need a little cheering up.) Tags: Parenting, YouTube, Toddler
"Beefing up" reading aloud to your kids
27 Jun 06 | Comments: 5
Duane passed along some smart, simple twists on reading aloud: Maybe this is what everybody's doing anyway, maybe not. But when reading (or singing) to your kids, especially the younger ones, pause periodically on the meaningful words and see what...
Teach kids their ABCs while they wash their hands
26 Jun 06 | Comments: 2
Jennifer shows how easily one can slip bits of learning into everyday routines: When I toilet trained my kids, I started singing the ABC's with them while they washed their hands. By the time toilet training was done, so was...
Parenting's printable health and safety guides
25 Jun 06 | Comments: 0
Christy passed this along: As commercial and preachy as Parenting magazine can be sometimes, their website has a section with some handy, cool printables. Tags: Health, Parenting
Check your local library for summer reading activites
25 Jun 06 | Comments: 4
Does your local library have a summer reading program? Ours does, and my son (a new reader just out of kindergarten) can't get enough of it. For every 30 minutes he reads, he gets to color in a spot on...
How to quickly dress a newborn
24 Jun 06 | Comments: 0
Serrina provides