There are numerous ways to teach your children about peer pressure and how to not be fooled by it. Confidence in children directly comes from their parents and how they are raised. Self esteem for kids can be greatly hindered by pressure that comes from peers and others around them. Children can be easily swayed in a direction they shouldn’t be if they are not aware of what types of pressure are out in the world.

A good tip is run your child through a pretend scenario and let them practice what they will say if they feel they are being pressured. This has been proven to help with child development. Throw a scenario at your kid – tell them how important it is to make eye contact with a person and tell them “no.” There is nothing wrong with telling someone “no” when your child knows better. Laughing your way out of a situation is always an option and may be the easiest way for some child to cope. If someone asks your child to smoke, tell your kid it’s okay to say “hey, chimneys are for houses!”

Growing up, it is very rare to find children hanging out by themselves. If you give your child a strong sense of right and wrong, they are more than likely to become natural leaders and probably keep their friends out of trouble as well. If your child is not easily swayed – they will say “no,” or know how to avoid a situation properly – that in turn pressures their own friends to follow suit.

Confidence in kids directly links to how they feel about themselves as a person. Being a great parent, appreciating your children as well as listening to them will in turn better prepare them for this brutal world. It is not hard to keep children on the correct path in life. Builing a safe and sound home helps children develop in so many different areas.

Teach your child about the importance of picking and choosing their battles. You cannot win every fight, but win the ones that are most important. There is never a reason to do something to be cool or fit in with others.” When children start to make irrational decisions or start trying to fit in, it is time to take a look at what’s lacking in the family situation. A child will always feel they are good enough if they have strong family values. You might want to remember this!

The merits of arts and crafts such as drawing and coloring  for kids are regularly argued by child development experts, educators and parents alike… especially so for the impact they have on child development. However, it is difficult to argue with the top three reasons why we should all encourage the children in our care to  take part in arts and crafts.

Creativity – If you were to ask a cross section of individuals what is the first personality characteristic that arts and crafts will develop in a young child – most would answer ‘creativity’. And they are certainly correct.  Everyone has natural talents and skills and it is possible to improve and boost them… even if you only have a little natural talent. Creativity enables your child to try out and profit from new ideas, options and alternatives in any future career. Kids learn to do things in new ways and literally profiting from thinking “out of the box”.

Perseverance – Perseverance is perhaps the single most important quality for any successful individual – be they a a business person, sportsman or other professional.In fact, most well-known accomplishments in life have been attributed to perseverance alone. Arts and crafts improve everyone’s level of perseverance.  For instance, children learn to keep trying until they complete the task, be it a sculpture or a coloring in sheet. If something goes wrong… they are encouraged to perservere by trying different ways and means and the outcome is a wonderful piece of art that they have created.

Concentration – Akin to having perseverance, developing concentration is another quality well-worth having as an individual. Drawing, coloring, sculpting, painting and even doodling will definitely teach your child to focus on one  specific task at hand… ignoring other distractions. In short they overall concentration will definitely improve.

Even from a young age kids can draw and color – therefore give them blank pieces of paper or coloring in sheets so that they can scribble away to their hearts content whilst also improving their fine motor skills.

For example at sites like Spiderman Coloring you’ll find Spiderman coloring pages as well as coloring pages, funny pics and more.

Little girls on the other hand tend to prefer images of fairies and princesses – however, favorite characters such as those from Disney movies  are also hits.

Give your child several opportunities to experience being creative, concentrating and perservering through the fun medium of arts and crafts. Provide them with materials and resources and the occasional special canvas so that they can be creative and feel pride in what they create. 

Grandparents can play a key role in encouraging creativity in their grandkids by providing them with the time, resources and the space for simply making art.When your grandchildren come to visit you, set aside some interruption-free quiet time for drawing, in a mess-proof zone – so that their creativity can run wild. Ensure you cover all surfaces to catch any splashes of paint or scribbles of crayon - because nothing squishes creativity more so than a Nanna or Pop saying "Don't make a mess" every 2 minutes!

Ensure you select the right drawing materials too as this is very important. Many craft materials can be improvised, think of decorated kitchen roll tubes and potatoes as stamps, but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Ensure that you check safety information and always follow instructions. Young children should always be surpervised during ‘art time’ because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.

Surroundings: As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. A child-size table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book for a footrest. A coffee table and an inexpensive plastic chair work well. A small kitchen storage trolley is a perfect solution for containing supplies, or if space does not allow, a portable fishing tackle or tool box is a good option too. Messy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!

Art Materials: Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore a waste of money. Provide many sheets of blank paper to inspire their crativity and occasionally invest in a large canvas so that your child can paint something ‘grand’ and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall!Also provide coloring books or coloring pages – of which you’ll find plenty online. Granted – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills and sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need to simply color in without the ‘pressure’ of thinking about WHAT to draw.

Nothing much has changed since your children (their parents) were small – little boys still  typically enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls may enjoy coloring images of Barbie and at sites like Barbie Coloring Pages you’ll find the best free Barbie coloring.

When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of a child's life provide….

Toddlers

• Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
• Chalk boards and safe chalk
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Juniors

• Sketchbook
• Student colored pencils
• Washable Markers
• Oil pastels
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Middle School

• Sketchbook or scrapbook
• Graphite Pencils
• Watercolor sketch paper
• Watercolor pencils
• Marker pens, marker paper
• Plain paper and coloring pages

High School

• Sketchbook or scrapbook
• Quality drawing papers and boards
• Graphite Pencils
• Artists’ quality colored pencils
• Illustration markers, marker paper
• Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
• Plain paper and canvases to work on

All ages

• Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
• A folder for storing large pieces
• Storage boxes for smaller pieces
• Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.

To the casual observer a child who is drawing or coloring in,  is merely scribbling. The marks seem to be decidedly random, almost meaningless. But there is much more happening in your young child’s mind as s/he engages in the physical act of drawing and coloring.

In fact, examining children’s drawing may give us important insights into how drawing fits into the overall physical, emotional and cognitive development of the young child. From toddlerhood through to primary school, children choose to draw and color, but the process actually starts much earlier – during toddlerhood.

At around the age of a year and a half toddlers become interested in scribbling. It seems to provide sensory enjoyment, but the child is also interested in the marks that are made. The act of scribbling can serve several useful purposes for the young child. Small muscle coordination and control improve with practice, cognitive abilities are exercised, opportunities for social interaction arise, and the physical movements provide emotional release.

Because a toddler’s small muscle control is not fully developed, he or she may approach the coloring sheet by grasping the marker with his or her fist and may have difficulty placing the marks exactly where he or she wants them. Movements are typically large, involving the whole arm and sometimes the upper boyd with very little finger or wrist control. This is because the pattern of physical development in children begins from the center of the trunk outward.

While full control will happen much later – in the short term the toddler will naturally improve his or her control. A few toddlers rest the forearm on the drawing surface to give them additional control. A rhythmic, repetitive, scrubbing motion is common among two-year-olds, providing sensory enjoyment and making drawing a very physical act.

By providing children with the materials and opportunities to scribble a parent can promote physical skills. Just as babbling is a natural way to gain language, scribbling is the precursor to muscle control and coordination.

Intellectually toddlers are concerned with both the process and results of their art. They really do not intend to represent objects at first. Instead, they are mainly concerned with color and line. However, they may look at the marks and scribbles they have made and, in surprise, recognize a shape and name it. While they may not have intended to draw a dog or tree, the scribbles suggest the shapes. Children interpret, rather than intend. In child development circles this is referred to as fortuitous realism and becomes common as a child approaches three years of age.

As a parent you can encourage your little one to draw and to color by offering him or her opportunities to do so.  Let them loose on blank sheets of paper or provide them with a coloring book or coloring sheets, many of which  are available online. Little boys may enjoy coloring images of  cars and trucks or of favorite characters such as Spiderman and at sites like Spiderman Coloring you’ll find Spiderman Party as well as coloring pages, funny pics and more. For little girls search for coloring pages of princesses or fairies or anything else she may be interested in such as Disney characters or even trucks!

Remember to always supervise toddlers while they draw and color – due to the choking hazard that crayons pose.

It has been estimated that as many as 4.4% of adults actually have some degree of Attention Deficit Disorder. Statistics show that people with this disorder are less likely to achieve academically and can have difficulty holding down long-term, full-time employment.

Attention deficit disorder, or ADD, is caused by problems in the brain’s dopamine neurotransmitter systems. Some have suggested that it can be caused by poor diet but this theory has been disproven. Neither is it the result of bad parenting. The truth is that most cases of ADD are actually inherited. If a close family member or a parent has ADD then there is a 30% chance that a child will exhibit the same condition.

During childhood the symptoms of ADD can be very clear. Children develop through three distinct stages. The first takes place when they are babies and they start to focus on an object such as a rattle or a mobile. The object will hold their attention for a period of time.

The second stage takes place during toddlerhood when they are continuously shifting their interest from one thing to another. A child that continues to exhibit this type of behavior may be diagnosed as having ADD.

It is the third stage of development when children exhibit the ability to focus for longer periods of time and to control their focus. This ability is recognised as mature and is exactly what is required in the classroom.

A key aspect of ADD is not only the inability to concentrate on a topic or task for a very long period of time. ADD sufferers don’t have the ability to choose what they are focusing upon and can therefore be distracted by anything. This can become very apparent when undertaking a routine task like crossing the road. If they need to wait then their attention can easily be drawn elsewhere.

In the ADD sufferers brain there is inadequate stimulus to release neuro chemicals and this forces them to look for something else. For ADD sufferers this a spontaneous, reflex reaction that is outside of their control.

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Hopefully these notes will have provided some insight into what underpins Attention Deficit Disorder. Many forms of treatment exist, including drugs, but outdoor activity has been found to be therapeutic. Bushcraft courses can be a great way to learn about the outdoors at any time of year. Just make sure you are wrapped up in some warm outdoor clothing and you take along a good sleeping bag.

Most parents must have encountered this situatioin at one time or another. Your child is doing something that is potentially dangerous, or annoying, and when you try to stop them they throw a tantrum.

How parents deal with these situations is one of the big questions of parenting. Positive parenting involving tolerance and lots of praise is well known to contribute toward the development of social competence and self confidence. But parents always need to remain in charge.

A typical toddler can be told to stop doing what they are doing up to as much as 20 times in every hour. Nione of us would like to be told what to do or not to do every three minutes?

Parents often need to assert control when a child is doing what comes naturally but can be risky to them or to others around them. Playing with knives, bashing brothers or sisters with toys and fighting are all examples of how children will test their boundaries to investigate the world in which they live.

Providing a child with interesting alternatives can be a great way to defuse a potentially explosive situation and teach them that there are other things they can do or play with. You may, for example, sway the metal knife for a safe spoon or maybe a plastic knife. Or demonstrating how much it can hurt to be poked in the eye.

Alternatives don’t always work but they can provide an effective way to defuse a potentially explosive situation. Its important to first acknowledge what the child is trying to do before suggesting and introducing an alternative. Its then important to encourage the child to engage with the alternative by using it yourself and convincing the child that it is more interesting than whatever they were doing before.

There are goind to be many occasions when it isn’t possible or convenient to provide alternatives but these can provide a valuable lesson that the world has its limits. But providing safe alternatives to potentially risky or harmful behavior can help to reinforce a positive relationship with your children and teach them that other options are often available.

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I recommend camping as a great way to bond with children, to provide them with freedom to investigate the world around them and engage with their parents or carers. But always remember to ensure safety by using the right camping equipment. You may like to take part in a bushcraft course where children will learn a variety of skills including how to handle a bushcraft knife, start a fire without matches and tracking skills.

Letters are the building blocks towards a lifetime of reading, writing and learning and should not be taught solely with paper pencil worksheets. Instead, parents can plan entertaining yet educational activities their child will enjoy taking part in. There is no better way to help kids learn the letters of the alphabet than by making the learning fun.

Any alphabet learning activity you begin with your child should last only five to ten minutes per day depending on your child. As a parent, you already know the length of your child’s attention span and can time each activity accordingly. Also, plan only one activity per session introducing five letters at a time. Learning the alphabet in no particular order is difficult for children, but is an essential skill needed for their success as readers. Keeping activities short and engaging will make an enormous difference to children as they begin to learn the basics of reading.

Here are some ideas you might like to try at home.

Letter of the day

Nominate a letter of the day – for example the letter S – and plan a couple of activities around that. For example, print and color coloring sheets of a favourite character such as Spongebob Squarepants whose initials are SS and at sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Spongebob colouring pictures. Also, eat food beginning with S such as sausages or sweetcorn and do some of the other activities mentioned in this article involving the letter S.

Bath time foam letters

Parents can purchase a bucket of foam letters from any dollar store. These letters are fantastic fun for your young learner in the bathtub. Parents can place letters on the side of the bathtub, spell our words and review letters.

Shaving cream letters

Parents take a cookie sheet or spray shaving cream directly on your kitchen table. Ask your child to smooth out the cream to form a square. Hold your child’s index finger and assist him with forming a letter. Then ask your child to wipe the letter away and start again.

Letter art

Using bingo dabbers or finger paints have your child create one large uppercase letter filling the entire space of an A4 piece of paper. Create each letter in alphabetical order and decorate the child’s bedroom or playroom with these letters. The art your child creates will mean so much more to him than any store bought alphabet poster.

Magnetic letters

Place five magnet letters on a cookie sheet and tell your child the letter you would like for her to find. Be sure to take turns in guessing when your child has mastered all letters.

Rice printing

Spread out a thin layer of uncooked rice on a cookie sheet. Choose a letter with your child and ask him to draw it in the rice. Repeat this with other letters. This will give a child who enjoys sensory learning another way to internalize letters.