Author: Julie Meyers Pron

Earth Day offers a great opportunity for a play date party. And while Earth Day has become Earth Week has become Earth Month (yes, month!), playdate parties are a laid-back way to celebrate no matter when you plan to host your party. So if you’re planning to celebrate Earth Day, plan an Earth Day Party, because 4 kids are usually much more fun than 2. And the word “party” gets kids excited. Earth Day celebrates the Earth and all things natural. Depending on the ages of the children, party planners and goers can go deep with messages or stick to…

Last November, inspired by a school activity, I asked blogging friends to offer advice to parents of elementary school children. Here are some tips from them (and me!) Your child Every year is a year of tremendous growth for our children. They’re also years with a lot of academic changes and challenges. Ease your child into each change and be prepared for tough times–celebrate the happy ones.Hug your child. Laugh with your child. Listen to your child.Remember that the stories your child brings home are only 1/2 of the real story. There’s always another side. Keep your mind open until…

Children need relationships. They need a variety of types of friendships to learn, succeed and feel strongly about themselves. Actually, we all do. While some kids are naturally talented at taking up a conversation and suddenly having a new best friend, others struggle. Here are 5 tips to help your child make new friends: Ask your child’s teacher or guidance counselor for suggestions You’d be astounded at the number of similar calls teachers receive each year. It’s easy to ask, “I’d really like to help Sammy make new friends in his class/that he meshes with/who are on his level/who share…

Thanksgiving and the thankful season is full of activities children and families can do to celebrate, learn and express themselves. Here are a few favorites for kids: Tonya created these adorable Turkey Cookies that you can make with your kids. The icing and candies will also work for cupcakes. Barb of a Life in Balance works with her kids to help them create and display a list of things they are thankful for during the Thanksgiving season. Alternatively, an acts of service tree shares how families share their appreciation by helping others. Handprint and Footprint Turkeys are an easy thankful activity that kids can do while getting…

The Makers of Children’s Motrin is asking moms across the country what makes them unstoppable. Especially at the holiday season, a time when it’s all too easy to want to lay down and give up due to stress, or go a little crazy waiting in long lines, or sit in traffic so long you get out and start running to your destination (sound like someone you know?), we can all use a few suggestions to make our seasons easier. This month, Children’s Motrin asked me what makes me unstoppable at the holiday season. Here are 29 of my unstoppable tricks…

Unable to attend the screening of Captain America – The Winter Soldier, I asked my friend, Tony Mauro, to take his buddies and offer Julieverse readers a review from a Dad’s perspective. Captain America – The Winter Soldier, was an action-packed adventure from start to finish. As a movie go-er, I was impressed by the story, cinematography & special effects. As a businessman, I am marveled by Marvel. They have really developed the magic formula from the timing of their releases to the interconnection of their entire franchise. As a fitness proponent, it is fantastic to see the characters running, performing…

A free printable to help your child write summaries. This is useful in elementary through high school to help your child write summaries. Summarizing is one of the hardest parts of writing and reading for kids. Teachers expect details, but not too many. They want to know about a specific event or book, but rewriting the summary on the back of the book isn’t acceptable and telling the play-by-play is just way too much information. Here’s a free printable to help your child write summaries. This is useful in elementary through high school summarizing activities. (Learn more: 3 Ways To Get…

We’re in the thick of it! Summertime! Summer of fresh fruit, splashes in the sun, water pistols, and sunscreen. Summer of mud baths, unstructured play, camping, and canoeing. Summer of ice cream, watermelon, lemonade, and fireflies. Whew! With all that busy-ness, who has time for reading, right? Adults know the value of summer reading: an opportunity to slow down, relax and improve our skills and knowledge. But for many kids, summer reading is a slow down they don’t want to take when they could be outside having fun in the sun. So, how can parents ensure kids keep reading this…

When my oldest son was nine, he was gifted a book that began with the mother being strung out on heroin–something my son has never heard of. While the book, I’m sure, focused on helping the child get on in his life towards success, I wasn’t ready for him to learn about living a life with a drug-addict mom. Luckily, I opened the book before he dove in. But it doesn’t always happen that way. One of my favorite post-grad courses was Literature for Children. For 12 weeks, we met to read and discuss trends in children’s literature and curriculum.…

Like many parents, I love everything about storytime. Cuddling with my children and reading books to and with them is a treasured part of parenting. As they grew older, my reading to them became reading with them, and then, in the blink of an eye, my oldest couldn’t wait for me to read the next chapter and began taking the books and reading ahead. As interests have grown, so have discussions about our books. With the older kids, I now look forward to reading books next to each other and sharing our thoughts. My older son is an over-achreader. Yes, we…