Now more and more families own tablets. It is almost a must while families travel. If you are taking a tablet with you, more than likely your kids will get on it too. However, taking a tablet with you when you are traveling doesn’t mean you should let kids play games on it whenever they can. One, they should not stare at the screen for too long. Two, there are ways for hands on educational activities using tablets. Yes, you… Read more

We introduced an app helping kids learn about airplane trips, today we share an app about car road trips: Sago Mini Road Trip. It is designed for toddlers and preschoolers. Like all Sago Mini apps, it is a free play app, with no time limits, no levels. Via playing with the app, kids will get the ideas on what are involved in a road trip by car. When kids open the app, they will see 3 options. Each option is… Read more

Every year kids bring home a lot art works from school. We had a closet just to store child’s art. Yet quickly we ran out of space. A couple years ago I found this app called ArtKive, and was so glad that I can just keep all the art works digitally to save all the space. Plus I can pick some of the art to make them into art books, for keepsake or for gifts. ArtKive is an app that… Read more

Have you tried to vacation without kids? How old was your child when you first did it? How did your child do while you were away? Parents vacation without kids, if plan well, could be beneficial for both parents and kids. Depends on child’s age and maturity level, there are different ways to help kids to get ready for the time away from parents. Usually it is suggested that parents can start leaving kids with trusted caregivers for an extended… Read more

I have always liked Kidaptive Leo’s Pad series. I like how the kids are addressed as holistic persons and how the app is designed to help kids to develop multi-dimensional skills, such as social emotional skills besides knowledge. Now Kidaptive took the part I like the most of the series and expanded it into a separate app Learner Mosaic. It is like a personalized parenting advice handbook. Like Leo’s Pad, it is a free app, but the content it carries… Read more

I’m always on the hunt for the best literacy ideas to use with my own children and those that I work with on my blog, Growing Book by Book. I’ve come across some wonderful digital resources for building literacy skills. Here are some of my favorite apps, eBooks and websites to help young children grow as readers and writers. Digital Literacy Ideas Apps Short Vowel Word Study and Spelling is a wonderful app for children who are learning to spell… Read more

Teaching kids social skills is not an easy job. Today we share some good resources and activity ideas for teaching kids social skills. These include books, games, apps, printables, and activity ideas. We also included tips and resources for teaching social skills for kids with special needs, such as autism. Resources and Activities Teaching Kids Social Skills How to help an unhappy child and raise a happy child How to building teenagers’ accountability How to teach social skills while playing… Read more

Middle School Confidential is a series of books that help middle school age kids deal with sticky social issues, such as friends, families, and self confidence. They are available as books as well as apps. We reviewed the first two apps and the third book What’s Up with My Family was released recently. I like the series very much. It is so practical that all the situations in the story are from real life. Kids can easily relate to the… Read more

Social and Emotional Well Being is important in Children’s development. It is a soft skill that is hard to teach. I am glad to see more and more educators start looking into this area and over the time, I have found some good apps helping kids develop social and emotional skills. 10 Apps Helping Kids Develop Social and Emotional Skills Since kids of different age have different developmental needs in social emotional skills, we listed the apps by age groups… Read more

Does your child enjoy imaginative play? I think all kids have great imagination, as long as we let them and encourage them. How to encourage imaginative play? First, give kids free time. They need time to think of stories and activities on their own. Second, provide background knowledge. Read books, watch movies, visit places, meet people, do different activities. Kids can’t imagine anything out of nothing. They need experience to fuel their imagination. Third, accept chaos and be ready to… Read more

How often do you let your kids see a movie or TV show? What movies and shows do you like to watch together? There are many educational movies for kids. We particularly like to watch documentaries. Kids can learn so much from them. One great source of documentary movies and TV shows is Netflix. You can find many great movies for kids of all ages. At the bottom of this post, I listed some of the titles I like. What is good about… Read more

Many people think tablets or smartphones are not appropriate for young children. What they don’t realize is how many valuable educational materials are available on tablets and smart phones for kids of all ages, including kids of very young age, like 2-3 year olds. Today we share 10 apps that teach young children essential life skills, such as dressing themselves, brushing teeth correctly, remembering parents’ phone numbers. 10 Apps Teaching Young Children Essential Life Skills We like these apps because they… Read more

A while ago, we posted an article about cyber safety for kids. Internet and social media are becoming part of our life, teaching children how to avoid negative influence is important, however, it is more important to help kids build a positive digital environment for themselves, and leverage the power of positive digital profiles to gain advantage to colleges and employments. Today we have a guest sharing tips on helping kids build positive digital profiles. Tiffany Sunday is a strategist, entrepreneur… Read more

Do you children get on the internet a lot? What do they do online? I feel it is a lot easier to monitor kids’ online behavior when they are on computers. It is a bigger screen. If you put it in a family room that everyone is around, you can sort of still see what they are doing on the computer. Once kids moved onto tablets and cell phones, it becomes more challenging to know what they are doing on… Read more