Pumpkin Pie Cloud Dough
The holidays are right around the corner and the best way to transition from the fall season to the holiday season is with Pumpkin Pie Cloud Dough! Pumpkins are iconic symbols for both fall and the holiday season. With Pumpkin Pie Cloud Dough, kids will be able to engage in sensory-based learning while reveling in the joyous atmosphere that only the holidays can provide. Click here for more.
13 Spooky Stories to Read With Your Kids for Halloween
Halloween season is here! What better way to get in the spirit of things than reading spine-tingling tales and spooky stories with your own little ghosts and goblins?
Sharing scary stories is one of the most fun parts of Halloween. You can make great memories with your children by reading about bats, ghosts, pumpkins and all that this spooky season brings with it. Here are 13 of our favorite books for kids that are perfect for the month of October!
The Ultimate Fall Fun in Indianapolis Bucket List: Kid-Approved Activities for a Fun Fall
There’s something so romantically fall about cardigan sweaters, cooler mornings and curling your fingers around a cup of hot chocolate. When swimsuits are replaced by corduroys, the sun lazily rises in the morning and the smell of fallen leaves fills the air.
Whatever makes fall one of your favorite seasons, we’re highlighting all the special things in the Indianapolis area that are perfect for fall family fun.
Click here for Indianapolis Fun Fall Activities to Try All Fall Long
7 Fun Activities to Celebrate Fall
Fall is the perfect time for a nature walk with your child. Depending on where you live, it’s not too hot nor too cold. A nature walk is a great activity for collecting colorful autumn leaves to use for fun fall crafts and games. While walking, look for leaves of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Collecting different types of fallen leaves will help add variety to the crafts you choose. Try to choose freshly fallen leaves — those that are not dry or torn — so that they last longer.
Before you start crafting, consider preserving your leaves to help them last longer (and keep their color). Simply press leaves by placing them in a folded piece of paper (make sure they’re not overlapping)Then, place the folded paper between the pages of a heavy book — and top with another one! Leave for a couple of days, and then your leaves will be extra ready to go. A little patience will help your crafting go extra smoothly! (While you wait, get inspired by Daniel Tiger’s reminder to take care of each other by volunteering to rake a neighbor’s yard.) Click here!
Happy Halloween! 6 Tips to Prep Kids for Trick-Or-Treating
Have you ever had this Halloween experience? You’re standing on the sidewalk while your child approaches a neighbor’s house to trick or treat, and you cringe when your child simply takes candy and walks away from the door, with no cheerful “Trick or treat!” or “Happy Halloween!” or “Thank you!” uttered? I sure have! Halloween can be overwhelming to a child’s feelings and senses, and normal behaviors are sometimes forgotten.
Halloween is a time when we participate in activities that we don’t regularly do, which can affect children in different ways. We walk children around the neighborhood to speak to adults they may not have ever met, or may not know well or talk to regularly, to collect candy. For shy children or those who struggle to know what to say in new situations, it can be incredibly intimidating. For children who tend to be impulsive, they may want to run from house to house and have a hard time pausing to interact with new people. And If you have a child with a developmental difference such as language delay or autism spectrum disorder, talking to new people (even with a script such as “Happy Halloween!”) can be even harder. Read more here.
How to Help Children Calm Down
Techniques for helping kids regulate their emotions and avoid explosive behavior
Some kids have big emotions that they can’t control, so they have tantrums and outbursts. This is called emotional dysregulation. The good news is that there are lots of calming techniques that parents can teach kids. Read more here.
DMDD: Extreme Tantrums and Irritability
Kids with this disorder act out because they can't manage big emotions
Every kid has tantrums sometimes. But if your child has blowout tantrums several times a week and is angry or irritable most of the time in between, they might have DMDD (disruptive mood dysregulation disorder).
Kids with DMDD have huge feelings that they find hard to control. They often misread faces and think people are mad at them when they’re not. They are still having tantrums at school age, when most kids have outgrown them, and over things that don’t seem important. They might even surprise themselves with their tantrums and think, “Where did that come from?” Read more here.
School Attendance, Truancy & Chronic Absenteeism: What Parents Need to Know
How many days has your child been absent from school over the past 4 weeks? Was it just one sick day or two? What about the day they left early for the dentist? Or the days you took off to extend a vacation? It can be hard to keep track.
Missing a day here or there may not seem like a problem. But school absences add up quickly. Missing two days a month—excused or unexcused—can add up to a child being considered chronically absent. The good news is that showing up at school has powerful, positive effects on children. Click here for more.
Your Questions About Safe Sleep Answered
TRIED-AND-TRUE SAFE SLEEP PRACTICES FOR BABIES
Once you have a new baby at home, you hear lots of opinions about how babies should be sleeping. But doctors and researchers agree on tried-and-true things you can do to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes for infant death — at home and whenever your baby is with trusted caregivers. Read more here.
Fussy Baby Network® Infant Specialists Supporting Struggling Families
Fussy Baby Network serves any family caring for their fussy babies through our free warm line. These free phone consultations are available in English and Spanish. Click here to learn more!
