Nico & Lola Kindness Shared Between a Boy and a Dog

Nico & Lola Kindness Shared Between a Boy and a Dog by Meggan Hill and photography by Susan M. Graunke is a wonderful children’s book.  It is a story about a little boy named Nico and his Aunt’s little pug, Lola.  Aunt Sue has asked if Nico could watch Lola for a few days and be so kind to her.  Nico learns a lot about kindness, both giving and receiving, during Lola’s stay.

When we asked author Meggan Hill to us what inspired this book she told us… “I’m a mom.  I love to read to my kids.  It’s especially exciting to see my kids’ faces light up when I read something they love.  I wanted to do that, write to that excitement level while at the same time writing about a character trait.  The trait I chose was kindness.”

Meggan also shared with us a bit about herself and photographer Susan M. Graunke … They both “grew up surrounded by animals.  Meggan remembers daily rides on her pony Popsicle, with her dear dog Woofer following.  Susan will never forget sharing picnic lunches with her horse Lady Noney and Bumper, her pet cow.  Caring for creatures shaped who Meggan and Susan became.  This is their first book. “

I immediately feel in love with the beautiful photography.   The pictures are bright and fit perfectly with the story.  I loved that the story allowed for me to explain how to be kind in more detail after each page.  Example; “Nico would think of ways to be so kind. “   I then asked the boys how are some ways to be kind to a puppy?   I love the message within the story, of kindness and the very last line in the book is “PASS IT ON!”  What a great message to teach our children!!!

So those are the things that I enjoyed about the book, now here is what Brayden (my 6 year old) had to say about Nico & Lola:

My favorite part of the book was when Nico got the stone out of Lola’s paw.  Because that was being really nice and Nico was being helpful and kind.  I liked the nice pictures too.

To find out more about this great book, including how to buy a copy for you and your children, check out the website, http://www.nicoandlola.com/

Disclosure: All of our reviews are honest and forthright.  I received a sample of the product in order to ensure that I was writing about something I have tried first hand and have experience with (thus the honest review part).  You can read our full disclosure policy here

Nan’s Corner DVD

One of the best things about summer is taking a break from the fixed schedule – and sometimes hectic pace – of the school year. As my family relaxes, so do the routines. Bedtimes creep later and later as the days grow longer. Habits we worked so hard to develop start to fade and become forgotten.

If your child’s bedtime, mealtime or any other “in-between” time have turned into a struggle, the Nan’s Corner DVD offers helpful solutions in an enjoyable and fun format. Through songs, stories and role-playing parents and children work together to solve common problems found in everyday life such as getting up and ready in the morning, homework, mealtime and bedtime. It encourages communication and cooperation between parents and children.

The DVD is geared to children between the ages of 4 – 10. My 7 year-old enjoyed the singing and dancing while my 9 year-old appreciated hearing the children tell their side of the story. I was glad for the opportunity to reinforce to both the need to be courteous and respectful – parents included!

We are offering one reader the opportunity to receive the new Nan’s Corner DVD. Just visit their website, check out their fun children’s songs, then come back here and leave a comment telling us why you’d like to win (not “choose me,” “I want to win,” “great prize,” etc. Those comments will be deleted as spam.)

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All of this gives you a grand total of six chances for entries! This giveaway ends on July 21, 2009 and is open only to US addresses and is void where prohibited.

Unstructured Play Ideas

As parents, you know how important unstructured play is to the development of your child’s imagination. You know that, if given the chance, children can have wonderful imaginations. Give a child a large box and get out of their way, and before long they’ll be sailing in a boat, riding a stage coach, or defending a castle. Children who are read to, or who can read for themselves, can use the stories to fuel their imagination.

Since you know the importance of unstructured play, you’ll want to do everything you can to encourage it. Unlike watching television or playing console or computer games, unstructured play allows the child to use their imagination without rules or boundaries. They can imagine they can fly thus defying the laws of gravity, but in the same way learn that in reality they can’t.

The best place for children to play in an unstructured way is to send them outside. Since daily exercise will help combat childhood obesity and possibly help prevent diseases such as diabetes and heart disease later in life, encouraging time outside each day is important. Here are more reasons why unstructured play can be beneficial for your child:

* Playing incorporates every aspect of the child at least until they reach nine years of age.

* It allows the child to relax because they aren’t expected to follow the rules set forth by adults.

* Unstructured play can also help children express themselves emotionally or learn to handle conflict resolution.

* If allowed to play with other children, it can also teach them to empathize by learning to cooperate, solve problems, and understand things from another’s perspective.

* By allowing children to play in an unstructured way, particularly outdoors, it helps them become more independent and gain confidence that will serve them well as they grow.

While our inclination, as parents, may be to allow children to be involved in many activities outside of school – scouting, sports, band, etc. – these activities could be causing them more harm than good. By packing their days full of things to keep them occupied, we’re not allowing them the freedom to play in an unstructured manner.

Unstructured play can actually help your child’s brain development. It allows them, when play is child-driven, to take their time, discover their own abilities, and give play their all. On the contrary, when play is structured and controlled by adults, they may be more concerned with competing and winning rather than doing what they truly enjoy.

Of course, you’ll want to find a balance between structured and unstructured play. Let the children run and play outside so they can use their imagination but let them do so under your supervision. While you may not be able to let your children run around the neighborhood or to a nearby park like you were able to as a child, that doesn’t mean they have to be sequestered in the house until they’re an adult.

To encourage unstructured play, you may want to limit your child’s television viewing. Not only will television thwart your child’s imagination because everything is already planned out for them, it may also cause your child to learn to expect everything to be done for them.

If you buy your children board games and they don’t play them according to the rules, don’t despair. They are using their imagination and playing in an unstructured way. It has often been said that a child’s job is to play. If that is so, playing in an unstructured manner will give them their greatest reward.

Gardening With Children – Developing a Love of Nature

Gardening is an activity that isn’t limited by age. This means you can try gardening with children and possibly develop within them a live-long love of nature. What could be better than gardening for a gift that can last a lifetime?

One of the benefits of encouraging your child to join you when you’re in the garden is that you can talk about anything without feeling pressured. It could be something as simple as valuing the earth and protecting the environment, to more serious subjects such as life and love. Whatever you talk about, because you’re in a non-threatening atmosphere, you may find you’re talking about things that your children are concerned about most.

You’ll definitely want to encourage your children to give gardening a try if they show any interest in it at all. Don’t expect them to actually ask you if they can help; you may have to invite them to come join you while you’re in the midst of planting.

Let children use their imagination when planting or helping in the garden. They may imagine a tiny village behind the plants or in the rocks; maybe they’ll even try to create the village they imagine out of natural materials found in the garden. Since children often have vivid imaginations, let them run wild while you share time among the dirt and plants.

Children have short attention spans, so don’t become upset if they work a little while and then run away to do something else. You may want to find them work they can do in short periods of time. You may also want to buy them some child-sized gardening tools so they can accomplish more while they spend time with you in your work.

Teach them how to dig in the dirt so they can place plants into it. You may want to explain to them how the dirt provides the nutrients the plants need to grow and show them how to make the dirt healthier for the plants by using peat moss, sand, and compost. Explain the reason for adding these components and help them understand why they shouldn’t handle commercial fertilizers.

Perhaps after you’ve spent some time in the garden and are comfortable with your child’s knowledge, you might think about creating a small garden that is entirely the child’s. Remember that you want their experience to be a positive one and passing off too much responsibility too soon could squash their interest in the activity.

Your goal in inviting your child to join you in the garden is multi-faceted. You want to teach them about loving nature and natural things, to make light of the work needed in the garden, and to spend quality time with your child. Be sure to give your little helper a hug and hearty thank you for their help and let them know you enjoyed your time together.

Creating A Sensory Garden for Children

Children love to go outside and explore. They love to hear the sounds of birds tweeting and crickets chirruping. They love to pick dandelions and blow the fluff into the wind as it whips across their face. If you create a sensory garden, your children will be thrilled as they explore everything.

What exactly is a sensory garden? It’s an area set aside in your yard or garden that is created to be accessible for visitors to touch, listen, smell, taste, and see. It’s a multi-sensory area for children and adults to enjoy together.

Design your sensory garden so that you can have each sense in its own area. Make weatherproof signs to show which areas are which; you could make an ear for hearing, an eye for seeing, a nose for smelling, a mouth for tasting, and a hand sign for touching. These will be easy for even young children to understand.

Hearing Section – You might want to plant some rattle snake grass, sweet corn, or Canterbury bell. These plants all make noise as the wind breezes across them or they attract bees which make a buzzing sound. You may also want to include a moving water feature like a fountain or wind chimes. A bird bath and bird feeders will encourage birds to visit the garden which will add to the sounds. These will enhance the overall aural experience.

Seeing Section – Of course, the easiest way to encourage sight pleasures is to have many colorful flowers. These would include giant sunflowers, poppies, zinnias, pumpkins, and marigolds. Include several sun catchers or an eye-catching mobile. Weather vanes would also be a sight treat for children. You may also want to create a wall where children can apply their artistic skills. Multi-colored pebbles or slate chips could add another dimension to the seeing area of the garden.

Smelling Section – There are so many flowers and plants that could be added to create an olfactory sensation that anyone visiting will remember. You could include flowers such as honeysuckle, lavender, roses, as well as herbs like peppermint, chamomile, and lemon balm. Be sure to warn children about the thorns on roses, but allow them to smell the flowers. You’ll also want to let them break the leaves on the herbs to let the smells out.

Tasting Section – Berries of all kinds are an obvious choice for the tasting section of your sensory garden. You could also include organic vegetables, several varieties of mint, and other herbs such as chives, parsley, and Stevia. While children are in the tasting area of the garden, be sure an adult is present to keep them from tasting something that shouldn’t be eaten.

Touching Section – Several plants would add to the sense of touch your children can enjoy. Lambs ear is a great plant that actually feels like a lamb’s ear. Gum trees have spiky seed pods that children may find interesting. You may want to have a protected touching table that has soft moss pieces, tree bark, smooth pebbles, and rough stepping stones.

If you’re unsure about which plants to include when you create a sensory garden, check with local nurseries for suggestions. Then design a garden to incorporate each of the five senses. You, your children, and any guests will enjoy the things you can learn from what you can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch.