Painting activities are always fun to do with toddlers. Unleashing their creative side is a great learning experience not just for the child, but also for the parents who would be able to witness how a child marvels at what they have created.

You don’t necessarily have to have the best painting products. You can pick items available in your kitchen and create artsy project you and your toddler will enjoy. A reader has sent us some of these ideas on how to do it.

Making paint with soap — for this project, prepare detergent soaps of about 3 cups and some food coloring and water. Mix soap and water together, taking note to only add a little water at a time. The paint’s consistency must be cream-like. When it’s about right, add food coloring in different shades.

Making paint with flour — instead of soap, substitute this with flour and salt. The mixture would be a little puffy and it’s best to put this in squeeze containers to be able to handle it better.

Making paint with salt — aside from food coloring and water, you will need liquid starch for this. Mix this all together. This is the kind of paint that must be used immediately since when it dries out, the paint will crystalize beautifully.

There are plenty of things you can do with a set of colors. You can create artwork that can be displayed at home, too. It would be make your home so much more personal.

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Pesticides are a major concern to many families, and while we all want our children to eat healthy figuring out the maze of what to actually get ‘normally’ and what to get that is organic can be considerably tricky.

Eating organic all the time can quickly add up with the wallet, and many experts say that there are foods that don’t have to be bought organic, as long as they are prepared correctly.  The experts tend to say that you can get away with foods with a thicker skin as long as you take the skin off the fruit.

A list has been released of the foods that if at all possible you should buy organic to avoid the contamination from dangerous chemicals finding it’s way into your body.

Here is just a very small excerpt out of the 12 foods (some are pretty shocking):

1. Celery
Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals (64 of them!) that are used on crops. Buy organic celery, or choose alternatives like broccoli, radishes, and onions.

2. Peaches
Multiple pesticides (as many as 62 of them) are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards. Can’t find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit.

(Source)

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We have all heard how bad for us and our children sugars and surgery snacks are.  While sugar isn’t exactly the healthiest food out there, it is facing a new rival.

There have been many different studies on the effects of too much sugar in the diet, but new studies are suggesting that salt may also be playing a large role in issues in children.  There are many different issues associated with salt intake, and new studies seem to suggest that they may post an even larger problem in children.

Salt is an essential mineral for the human body, but too much salt intake is associated with many different types of illness and disease.  Unfortunately, it seems that on average you may be consuming over 50% more than recommended.

There are some things you can do however, and primarily they all revolve around being aware of how much salt (or sodium) is in any foods that you and your children may be eating.  Generally the lower the intake, the better (as salt can add up during the average day).

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While most who may have watched television during what is typically ‘children’s time’ may not be a stranger to marketing towards children, there has been a lot of uproar over the practices in recent times.

While this marketing towards children isn’t anything new by far, what is almost surprising is the so few of the foods marketed towards children being so nutritionally void.  Most of the foods being geared towards children are lacking in even the most rudimentary nutritionally beneficial stuff.

Many doctors want there to be a bit more truth in the advertisements, or- at least maybe a little more healthy nutrients in the foods being marketed towards children.

Many others agree, and while the last push to limit the marketing aimed squarely at children had some success, it seems that there is still a lot to be done, and many are calling for more changes and for the FTC to implement more rules and regulations for children’s daytime television hours. There is a renewed concern primarily due to the health initiative being looked into by the Obama Administration and it’s goals for better health for children.

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Doctors are urging the food industry to develop a ‘choking-proof’ hot-dog. Food related choking is one of leading causes of death for young children, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is a huge supporter of the move.

Choking kills more than 100 U.S. children 14 years or younger each year and thousands more — 15,000 in 2001 — are treated in emergency rooms. Food, including candy and gum, is among the leading culprits, along with items like coins and balloons. Of the 141 choking deaths in kids in 2006, 61 were food-related.

(Source: Fox News)

While many are aware of the dangers of feeding their children foods that are possible to choke on, it still happens far too much.  It is a concern of many parents of young children, and this move can potentially save lives. 

Doctors recommend that any foods that may pose a risk (hot dogs, grapes, candies) be cut up, or avoided altogether. 

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