Art is amazing for kids in countless ways.  It allows them to be creative, express themselves emotionally, and develop in many other ways.  One of the great benefits of many art projects is that they can also help children in many academic ways - but don't tell them!  

Most kids looooove to swing!  Ever wonder why?  It's because it feels so darn good!  Well, that is so very smart of the little ones to realize.  Because it doesn't just FEEL good, it IS good for them!  Swinging, and other similar movements, actually help the brain develop.  Kids just may be smarter than we think!

You know you want your kids to be smart, and you want your kids to like learning, but you are not sure how to achieve this?  Well, luckily for us, there are people out there studying just this sort of thing!  And they have good answers for us.

Did you know that make believe play and time spent running around a playground actually correlates to academic achievement?  Seriously.  Scientists have done studies on this and have found that not only does play time help the brain develop, but it also makes the brain more ready to learn new material.  That should make you feel good to know that all those hours spent going to the park were actually making your kids smarter!

Children never like it when they hear "no" over and over.  Well, did you ever think of simply trying to turn your "no" into something that sounds more like yes?

Not only will it create a more positive environment overall and teach children more positive language, but it will also gain you more cooperation since the kids will be hearing more of a "yes" than "no."

Here are 7 ways to get you started:

Ask any preschool or kindergarten teacher what you can do to help your child to succeed in school, and you might be surprised what you will hear.  It's not going to be academics or reading.  Any guesses?

Everyone likes a child who is kind to others.  But...how can you be sure to teach your kids these important qualities?

Simple activities like fingerpainting and playing with shaving cream have been popular with many young children for as long as most of us can remember.  Some people may feel like these activities are "just for fun" or to keep little ones busy.  

However, these types of sensory development activities are much more important than just keeping little ones out of trouble.  These tasks actually help little ones' brains develop in ways that can help with future academic success.  So, bring out those messy activities often!

Hi!  This is the third post in my handwriting made easy series.  I hope you have been learning and enjoying from the posts so far!  Little kids have so very many days of school head of them, so I think it is super important to keep the idea of learning as fun as possible while also setting up a great foundation for future success.

Up until now, I have only discussed activities that can help make those little fingers stronger and encourage the correct pincher grasp.  Today I would like to share some of my favorite ways to encourage fun, correct letter formation.

Of course, eventually little ones will need to make letters with a pencil and paper (and I will also share some great techniques for that, too), but let's first start with other letter formation methods to really teach the shapes and get kids thinking about lines.

​One of the most fun ways is...

In my first post about how you can make handwriting easier, I shared with you some simple activities to strengthen up those cute little fingers so a child will be able to successfully approach writing.  Before I move on to explain forming letters with ease, there is one more activity I highly recommend for little hands....