Blogs

Awesome treasure hunts do not have to be difficult to organise or especially time consuming… but they can be if you want them to be!

Continue reading »

Welcome to the school holidays! Whether you dread the thought of filling those long school-less days or you love the chance to hang with your crew, we’ve got some great holiday ideas for you. Each day, we’ll have a new post with some ideas about how to fill the day. We’d also love to hear what you are up to with your kids these holidays so feel free to add your own ideas! Continue reading »

Fussy eating in preschool age children is very common, and a source of great frustration to many parents and caregivers. Picky eating is one of the most discussed behaviours in my work as an early childhood teacher with Footsteps so here are some of my top tips to overcome the problem and make mealtimes a breeze.

Continue reading »

It’s easy for us to forget that events in our (fairly recent) past – things that we were involved in or might be able to remember – count as “history” for our children. The 1960s, 70s and 80s – the Springbok tour, the Erebus disaster, the Rainbow Warrior – all history.

It’s also easy to take our own knowledge for granted and forget that our children might not know these things. In fact it’s often by talking to us that they start to gain a knowledge of our world, our country and our history.

Continue reading »

In New Zealand, most children are fully immunised by the time they are five. This means it is very unusual to see children with illnesses like measles, polio, or tetanus.

But you don’t have to look back very far in history to find a time when it was a different story. In our grandparents’ time, before universal immunisation, it was common to have children in hospital with diseases that caused terrible suffering, permanent disability and sometimes death.

Continue reading »

Monitoring software is available for mobile devices, just like it’s been available for laptops and desktops for some time.

The software is simple. Parents create an online account and set filtering restrictions, and then download a small piece of software onto the phone.

Once the parent enters the logon information on the phone, the software synchronises with the online account and applies the filtering restrictions. At the same time, it records sites visited.

Continue reading »

Supporting your child to develop a healthy relationship with their food

From the first day our child is born, we parents can feel consumed by our role to care for our child, and feeding is a big part of that responsibility.  When we feel confident that our child is well fed, we can relax.  When we’re not so confident that they’re getting all the nutrients they need, it can be very stressful!

Continue reading »

We all know that eating healthy food and getting regular exercise helps us maintain good health, prolonged life expectancy, gives us more energy, and makes us feel happier.  Let’s face it, healthy eating and exercising can make a significant difference to the way we look and feel.

Continue reading »

I keep hearing how it’s difficult to get everyone from a family in one spot at mealtime.  But we all know it’s important to connect together as a family and chat – and it’s sometimes easier to do this over a meal than spur of the moment.

With this in mind, I thought I’d throw together some ideas for brunch and supper – some little utilised meal options but two that can be especially fun and also easy ones to involve others in. Continue reading »

Cupcakes: what better way to get all the kids involved in not only creating a masterpiece using their imaginations but also learning about baking, measuring, decorating and so on?

Shortbread: can you think of a more classic, well enjoyed treat? Continue reading »