Are you wondering the best way to store, organize and display your child’s precious artwork? If you have a budding da Vinci or future Monet, check out these tips from Young Masters on the best way to preserve your child’s art so it can be enjoyed for years to come.

A child’s paintings and drawings are more than just pieces of artwork – they represent a collection of priceless memories. But acquiring these keepsakes over many years leave parents with the dilemma of not knowing how to properly store and organize the collection of art so it remains easily accessible and undamaged. 

 Young Masters, a national franchise that showcases children’s artwork on lasting keepsakes while raising money for schools’ critical needs, offers the following tips to help parents keep their kids’ art in mint condition:

Tip 1: Organize art in chronological order and by child.  The handling of art with your hands should be kept at a minimum as this speeds up the process of deterioration. Oils from your hands are naturally damaging to paper. Storing your child’s art in different containers and labeling them by child’s name and year can help eliminates the likelihood that you will have to rummage through the art.

Check out the Lil Davinci Art Gallery from Dynamicframes.com. Their frames display and store up to 50 works of art.

Tip #2: Store at a comfortable temperature.  While you might have free space in your garage or attic, high heat and moisture accelerate the chemical process that result in fading and discoloration of paper.  Your child’s artwork will last longer if stored in a stable environment with a temperature in the range of 60-70 degrees.

Tip #3: Use appropriate sized enclosures.  A small drawing stored inside a large box translates to dust inside of the box and added clutter inside your home.  To avoid any damage from light or dust, the enclosure itself should not be much larger than the actual masterpiece.  The container itself should be acid-free as well.

Tip #4: Store in an opaque container.  Transparent plastic containers might seem like a good place to store your child’s artwork, but the effects of light exposure are cumulative and irreversible.  Light promotes chemical degradation in the paper and fades ink which will definitely ruin a masterpiece.

Check out the My Art Kids’ Art Storage Case by Alex. These colorful portfolio are a great way to store your child’s artwork!

Tip #5: Check on the art regularly.  Check the contents of stored boxes, at least annually, for signs of damage such as mold or pest activity.

 About Young Masters: The Young Masters program was founded in 2005 and became a franchised business in late 2008. Currently, 23 Young Masters franchise owners across the country work with art educators in their communities to transform students’ artwork into lasting memorabilia and to help raise funds to support fine arts and other school programs endangered by budget cuts. For more information about the Young Masters franchise opportunity or to sign up for the program, please visit youngmastersart.com.

Check out these fun crafts for kids:

• Printable coloring pages
• Painting fun for toddlers
• How to press flowers
• Shape art printouts
   

We all wish to grow healthy, happy relationships with our children. We interact, play and talk with our children to enjoy one another and feel connected. In those moments when we are in conflict with our kids at home, we wonder “What can I do to enhance my relationships with my children?”  One way to improve our relationships is to show that we honor one another.  

By Lynne Kenney, PsyD

In its simplest terms, honor is the degree of value, worth and importance you place on a relationship. It is granting another person a position of value in your life. You likely model honor in your own home naturally. You are caring, loving and trustworthy. If you are ready to delve deeper, here are some steps to spring you forward in the depth and experience of teaching honor in your own home.

3 Reasons Honor Begins at Home

1. You are your children’s finest role model. If you respect your children in your words and behaviors they learn to do the same with others.
2. Honor is about allegiance, when you teach your children to honor their relationships they become friends who stand up for one another, support one another and are true to each other.
3. Honoring honesty, hard work and patience builds children who value hard work and completing tasks to their rightful end.
Reflect for a moment: Do you honor your relationships? Is it important to you that people honor and give value to what you say and feel? How do you show your children that you honor them?

Questions to Ask Yourself

Here are some questions to ponder. You might even wish to write them in a journal and note what you do, when and why? This process will bring honor front of mind, help you monitor your tone and change your behavior as needed.

• Do I talk with my children eye to eye?
• Do I share their exuberance when they show me their schoolwork?
• Do I make their lunches based on what’s quick or do I buy food that will keep them healthy, and that they in turn like?
• Do I take phone calls in my car when I am with my children?
• Do we make an effort to sit down to family breakfast and dinner?
• Do I attend my children’s sporting events and pay attention to them, or do I take calls on my cell phone while my children are doing their best on the playing field?
• Do I involve my children in the tasks of everyday life such as cleaning, cooking and caring for our home? Or do I tell them “I’ll do it” because that is easier than working through the process with them or dealing with pending messes?
• Do I take the time to genuinely learn about my child’s interests?
• Do I schedule my work hours when the children are at school or do I work at home all hours of the night when they are home and need me?
• Do I focus on what my children do right rather than what my children do wrong?

No one is perfect, but when we strive to be mindful about how we honor our family, it builds trust, respect and love.

6 Tips for Communicating with Kids

In relationships where we honor one another, listen to our children’s unique voices and really hear what they need, we improve how we communicate, how we express our love and how we get along across a lifetime. If you are ready to take steps today try this:

1. Be consistent with your children.
2. Be attuned to their individual needs.
3. Respond to your children by getting off the couch, computer or phone and going to them. Proximity matters when you are communicating with your children.
4. Take your child’s concerns seriously. This means acknowledging their feelings. Do not mock or tease your children. Sarcasm is painful and it cuts deeply.
5. Match your child’s exuberance and excitement by sharing whole-heartedly in their joy.
6. Give your children your undivided attention in the moments they need you.

If we wish to raise ethical children in this complicated world, we need to begin with the lessons we teach at home. Being present, modeling respect and showing the meaning of honor is a solid start at any age.

More parenting tips:

• They said what? Teaching kids to be honest, yet tactful
• How to make your child’s self-esteem soar
• 5 Mistakes new parents make
• Ten secrets teens want you to know
  

Lynne Kenney, PsyD is a pediatric psychologist in Scottsdale, Arizona. Find Lynne’s solutions, teleclasses and more at www.lynnekenney.com.

When planning kids’ birthday parties, a single theme that combines decorations and activities can be lots of fun and keep the children entertained (a fun thought for the grownups!). But there’s no need to wear yourself out with complicated arrangements before the party’s even started: here are 5 children’s birthday ideas that will be enjoyable for the kids … and easy for busy grownups to plan!

By Lesley Mattos

Good Sport Kids’ Birthday Party Ideas – Go For the Gold

Think Olympics as a theme for a children’s birthday party. Depending on when the birthday party is taking place, you can do simple variations on summer or winter events such as gymnastics and relay races and set up your party space for indoor or outdoor play. Hang flags from different countries and buy foil-covered chocolate circles in gold and silver to award as “medals” to all the kids participating. You can decorate your kids’ birthday party cake like the Olympic flag or, instead of a birthday cake, serve cupcakes colored and arranged like the Olympics flag circles: blue, yellow, black green and red.

 A Capitol Kids’ Birthday Party Idea – Hail to the Chief

Your child doesn’t have to be old enough to vote for you to elect a presidential theme for a kids’ birthday party. And no one has to choose sides, either: just decorate the birthday cake and party space in all-American red, white and blue. In addition to regular party games, one activity you can do at this kids’ birthday party is have the girls and boys write down one thing they each would do if they were president. Or they can write one question they have for the current commander in chief, and you can send it to the White House on their behalf.

Just Boys Kids’ Birthday Party Idea – It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane …

Boys love playing superhero, and if you’re having a birthday party just for boys, a fun kids’ birthday party idea and activity would be to have them come as their favorite superhero. You can also transform the guests into superheroes at the children’s birthday party with the help of some store bought or homemade masks and capes. The boys can even make their own masks, and one birthday party activity can be for them to use their imaginations and make up a brand new superpower.

Just Girls Kids’ Birthday Party Idea – It’s Tea Time!

If your children’s birthday party is going to be an all-girl affair, how about having the birthday girl host a tea party? It can be simple or fancy, depending on the girls’ ages and what’s easily available to you. If the girls are little, use different-colored napkins to set the table prettily and serve iced tea in plastic cups. For older girls, using china cups and saucers would be an elegant way to celebrate at your child’s birthday party. If you don’t want to risk your own fine china, look around at local thrift stores or garage sales for a mix-and-match variety of dishes.

Unique Kids’ Birthday Party Idea – Picture This … With an Adesso Album Instant Photo Guest Book

With an Adesso Album Instant Photo Guest Book, you can capture the magic moments with instant Fuji, Polaroid or Digital photos at your children’s birthday party as they’re happening. While the party is going on, taking instant photos can be one of the kids’ birthday party activities. If the children are old enough, they can even be the ones taking the pictures! Together with hand-written messages from party guests, friends and family, you’re creating a personal, one-of-a-kind keepsake that you’ll have long after the party’s over. Enter this discount coupon code KIDS09 to get a 10% discount at checkout.

For more birthday party ideas:

• Age appropriate guidelines for birthday party success
• Planning a birthday party: Step by step
• How to plan a birthday party on a budget
• Budget-friendly party favors

 About the Author: Lesley Mattos, Founder of Adesso Albums helps people all over the world capture the Now in life’s most important moments. The Adesso Instant Photo Guest Book is an ideal children’s birthday party idea that provides an instant memory of your child’s birthday event in both pictures and words. Get it now at www.adessoalbums.com/kids-birthday-party.html.

When is enough enough? For instance, kids these days may have karate, ballet, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, tennis lessons, piano lessons, soccer practice and yes, you guessed it — homework. How can you possibly manage your kids’ schedule (as well as your carpool one!) to draw the fine line between having your kids involved in activities versus reaching burnout — both you and them?

By Vicki Salemi

The Signs of Burnout
Here’s a newsflash: having a well-rounded child will serve them well. By incorporating activities into their schedule you’re doing right by them, but you certainly don’t want to overdo it. Too much of a good thing can definitely be bad.

According to Wendy S. Grolic, Ph.D. professor of psychology at Clark University and co-author of Pressured Parents, Stressed-Out Kids, parents should be on alert for signs of burnout. “You should look for the stress such as signs when they don’t want to go to the activity when they say, ‘Do I really have to go to soccer practice?’ It will manifest itself into physical signs as well like stomach aches.” In addition, they may start concocting excuses as to why they can’t or shouldn’t go.

Involved Kids Vs. Overscheduled Kids
As for the magic number of activities per week for each child? (more…)