If Not You, Who?

If Not You Who

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:58:21 -0800

If Not You Who:

New Blog! When To Teach Kids & When To Let Them Explore!

If Not You Who

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:36:49 -0700

If Not You Who:

Building Scientists: Kids Egg Activity

If Not You Who

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:05:27 -0700

If Not You Who:

Can Your Preschooler be Over Scheduled?

If Not You Who

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:25:15 -0800

If Not You Who:

Technology Hindering Children’s Fine Motor Development?

If Not You Who

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:25:31 -0800

If Not You Who:

Developmental Milestones Ages 3-5

If Not You Who

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:12:07 -0800

If Not You Who:

Helping Preschoolers Understand Empathy

If Not You Who

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:39:57 -0800

If Not You Who:

Last Minute Homemade Gift Idea Your Kids Can Make!

If Not You Who

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:59:08 -0800

If Not You Who:

Give Your Child Some Responsibility Around the House- it’s good for them (and you!).

10 Tips to a Healthier Household

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:34:02 -0800

10 Tips to a Healthier Household

Education Makes a Fun & Great Gift!

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:34:10 -0800

I’m finding it hard to believe, but it’s that time of year again – gift giving with our family and loved ones. I know I always struggle with determining meaningful gift ideas. What I have realized over the years is that my most treasured gifts were always experiences. One year I was gifted a cooking class to take with my husband, sister, and brother-in-law. That day remains one of our favorite memories and we happily relive the experience often. If you like the idea of giving an experience, consider gifting a INYW? subscription. Becoming a member would give you access to hundreds of learning experiences that can be shared throughout the year with a young child. If you feel that you need some more information before purchasing a subscription, try out our sample month. The sample month includes many activities that can inspire learning gifts. For example, each month has a targeted book to read and song to sing, with a link directly to Amazon to order books and songs. There are ways to give free experiences as gifts too. Homemade gift certificates are one way to do this. You could make a gift certificate for a trip to the library to get a library card and check out music and books; INYW? offers many suggestions to get you started. You could also make a gift certificate for a cooking date and make one of the foods listed on INYW? Another idea is to make an entire INYW? gift basket. Have your little one open a basket that contains new crayons, construction paper, a calendar, or some ingredients for a cooking activity. This can help spark the excitement for the INYW? program. Gift giving can be incredibly rewarding when the end result is a meaningful experience shared with a loved one. Visit us at www.ifnotyouwho.org

Making An Educational Impact Now

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:37:00 -0800

What motivates people to be involved in education? Every adult and child has some type of schooling experience. While each experience is varied and personal, it is hard to ignore a current fact that should motivate each of us to become involved in education. FACT: The United States is rapidly falling behind other nations in educating our children. We all know this, some of us talk about it, but more of us need to start doing something about it.

A frequently mentioned fix is to hire and prepare “great” classroom teachers. Agreed; teacher quality is imperative and absolutely needs to improve. But while our school districts, teacher education programs and state regulations work on improving teacher quality, we need to do what we can to make an impact now. We can do this by making every adult a “great” preschool teacher. By sharing information with everyone on ways to prepare children for kindergarten, every person who interacts with a 3 to 6 year old can be part of the solution. Every parent, relative, caregiver, nanny, neighbor, teacher or friend of a preschooler has a starring role to play. Every community, business, newspaper, television station, magazine, website, and sports team can take on a supporting role in providing the necessary tools to adults.

Most of us want to help, but we may not know how to contribute. For adults with a starring role - those who interact with young children - we have a few ideas that can help preschoolers with their verbal language:

1) Be consistent in asking and answering questions in full sentences. For example, “What would you like to wear today?” “Yes, you may wear your striped pants with your yellow shirt.”

2) Review the sounds of alphabet letters daily. Try this site for an example of learning sounds with simple songs: http://mrsjonesroom.com/songs/asong.html

3) Practice clapping the number of parts/syllables in a word. Begin with child’s name and try other common words -

Pete (clap once); paper (clap twice); good (clap once); Monday (clap twice); sandwich (clap twice); happy (clap twice); hello (clap twice); love (clap once)

Community, businesses, and other members of the supporting role should be offering guidance, encouragement and tips to follow in preparing adults to know school readiness skills. Every adult does not automatically know how to be a good parent or teacher so let’s make it easy and rewarding for adult and child. Here are a few ideas on how community members can contribute to making education a priority:

1) Newspapers and magazines could start to share weekly ideas for learning activities. For example: Write a child’s name on a paper plate and cut it into 4 or 5 puzzle pieces. Put the plate puzzle together to spell a child’s name.

2) Businesses could hold workshops for their employees. Topics might include: home activities to share; nutrition guidelines for families; family books to read; games and websites that target appropriate learning skills; exercises for the brain and body; and review of the curriculum used in school district.

3) Television could make educational tips part of their news - local and national. For example,http://www.littlebitsoflearning.com offered weekly morning TV suggestions on educational involvement.

4) High profile community/sports organizations could reinforce through public service announcements or involvement the fun and joy of learning.

A guide to getting children ready for kindergarten can be accessed at http://www.ifnotyouwho.org Our motivation is to have every child between the ages of 3 and 6 ready for kindergarten within three years. Contact us for your starring and supporting role suggestions. We are always ready to help.

Use Those Apples!!!

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:43:47 -0800

Use Those Apples!!!:

Here is a fun and educational way to cook with your child and use up a those fall apples- Have Fun!

If Not You Who

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:39:21 -0800

If Not You Who:

Sibling Rivalry…Is It Inevitable?

How Do I Know INYW? Will Actually Teach My Child What He or She Needs To Know? Posted on 24 Oct 2011 by If Not You Who For me it started almost immediately. Is my son smiling at me? When will he start to roll over? Should he be crawling by now? I wanted to be sure I was doing everything I could to keep his development on track. Our pediatrician provided a much-appreciated checklist so I could keep tabs on the various skills my son was mastering. This doesn’t mean that at exactly 6 weeks I saw his first smile, or that I implemented a baby boot camp to ensure progress, but it helped me know what I should be looking out for and to appreciate a new skill as it emerged. As a new mother, I just needed some reassurance and guidance that I was doing my part to help him be successful. We hope to do the same for you as you use the If Not You, Who? program. If Not You, Who? is designed to help you understand what skills your child should know before beginning kindergarten, and give you fun and easily accessible activities that teach those skills. As the creators of the website, we want you to know we’ve done our research. We have studied kindergarten readiness evaluations from all over the country and world. We studied a variety of resources that offered checklists of skills that incoming kindergarteners should know. (For example, http://isyourchildready.com) What we didn’t find was anywhere for parents and other childcare professionals to go to find the skills children needed to master AND correlating activities to help children learn those skills. So that is what we did. Our research results helped us create an incredibly comprehensive program that we are excited to have you use. All of the activities target very specific skills children will need to have in order to be ready to learn on the first day of school. The research has been done. The necessary skills have been targeted. The activities have been created. What’s left is for you to use the program with your child. What we hear so often from parents and caregivers is that they want their children to be prepared for school, but they aren’t sure how to do it. Here’s your answer; here’s how to do it. Because if you don’t take the time to ensure that your child is ready for kindergarten and for life, then who will?

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:00:38 -0800

For me it started almost immediately. Is my son smiling at me? When will he start to roll over? Should he be crawling by now? I wanted to be sure I was doing everything I could to keep his development on track. Our pediatrician provided a much-appreciated checklist so I could keep tabs on the various skills my son was mastering. This doesn’t mean that at exactly 6 weeks I saw his first smile, or that I implemented a baby boot camp to ensure progress, but it helped me know what I should be looking out for and to appreciate a new skill as it emerged. As a new mother, I just needed some reassurance and guidance that I was doing my part to help him be successful. We hope to do the same for you as you use the If Not You, Who? program. If Not You, Who? is designed to help you understand what skills your child should know before beginning kindergarten, and give you fun and easily accessible activities that teach those skills. As the creators of the website, we want you to know we’ve done our research. We have studied kindergarten readiness evaluations from all over the country and world. We studied a variety of resources that offered checklists of skills that incoming kindergarteners should know. (For example, http://isyourchildready.com) What we didn’t find was anywhere for parents and other childcare professionals to go to find the skills children needed to master AND correlating activities to help children learn those skills. So that is what we did. Our research results helped us create an incredibly comprehensive program that we are excited to have you use. All of the activities target very specific skills children will need to have in order to be ready to learn on the first day of school. The research has been done. The necessary skills have been targeted. The activities have been created. What’s left is for you to use the program with your child. What we hear so often from parents and caregivers is that they want their children to be prepared for school, but they aren’t sure how to do it. Here’s your answer; here’s how to do it. Because if you don’t take the time to ensure that your child is ready for kindergarten and for life, then who will?

How Can Your Family Beat the Heat?

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:29:39 -0700

Has your family had enough of the heat? With most of the United States sweltering in excessive heat, it’s important for adults to be knowledgeable of the impact heat can have on children. It’s also important to be educated and prepared on how to deal with possible problems that may occur due to intense heat.

When heat and humidity reach abnormally high numbers for an area, often heat advisories will be put in effect by local meteorologists. Usually you’ll hear them ask everyone to pay extra attention to the elderly, young children and people who have pre-existing health conditions. So why are young, healthy children at greater risk during very hot weather?

One reason is that children have a difficult time regulating their body temperature. They also have a hard time recognizing when they are too hot or too cold. Try helping them pay close attention to how their body is feeling. When they are red faced and sweaty, talk to them about ways to cool down, same for when they have goose-bumps. We urge you to take some time to teach them how to make the appropriate changes when their body needs them, such as taking off or putting on a jacket when their body becomes too hot or cold. On average, children’s bodies heat up three to five times faster than healthy adults. So don’t just assume that because you’re not too hot, that your children aren’t over heating. During time of excessive heat, here are a few important things we ask you to keep in mind, to keep your family safe and healthy.

1) Drink lots of Water- children should drink at least 8ounces of water every thirty minutes. Sports drinks are okay, but water is the best. You can try adding just a splash of juice or sports drink to 8 ounces of water. This may encourage children to keep drinking fluids without becoming bored of water. Keep water room temperature or cool as very cold water can cause stomach cramping.

2) Be Careful Cooling Off in Water- swimming, pools or sprinklers can be a great way to cool down. However, be aware of the children’s activity level while playing. Yes, the water helps cool their body down, but if they have a high activity level, they could be overly exerting themselves. Have them stop to take breaks in the shade and drink water!

3) Dress for the Weather- lightweight, light-colored and loose fitting clothing are best. Hats and sunglasses to protect children from the sun are also a good idea and don’t forget to use sunscreen. In high heat and humidity, reapplying sunscreen every hour is recommended.

4) Check the Car- NEVER leave a child in a car unattended. A car can heat up as much as twenty degrees in just ten minutes. Cracking a window does not help!

Using the above tips will help keep children’s body temperatures down. However it is also important to be aware of the signs of heat problems so that you are able to you’re your child down quickly and appropriately so to avoid heat stroke, which can be fatal. Early signs of heat illness include:

1) Headaches

2) Muscle cramps

3) Upset stomach

4) Dizziness

5) Fatigue and Weakness

6) Clammy Skin

7) Decreased activity level

If you notice any of the above symptoms in a child, remove them immediately from heat. Air conditioned areas are best but if you cannot get to air conditioning find a shady spot as soon as possible. Using cool wet sponge or towel on skin will help lower body temperature, and of course drinking cool liquids. Mild symptoms should diminish relatively quickly; however if symptoms persist or you are unable to cool the child down call your doctor or 911 for assistance. We are here at www.ifnotyouwho.org to answer any questions, stay cool and thanks for stopping by!

Is Your Family Moving?

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:43:49 -0700

Whether you’re thinking of moving across town, the country or the world, moving your belongings and family is a major life change that greatly affects children. Depending on your child’s age, their understanding of what moving means as well as how they handle the stress and changes associated with moving, will vary.

The majority of children thrive in familiarity and routine. This helps them feel safe and secure because they know what to expect. Moving to a new house, city or country disconnects the child from routine and familiarity. If your family has a choice as to when to move, we encourage you to seriously consider when to actually have the move take place. If a major life change has just occurred, such as a death or divorce, think about postponing the move, as another large change may negatively disrupt your child’s life. Also, be careful of other transitions your child may be going through. Potty training or moving to a big kids bed, may be best dealt with well before, or after the move takes place. While some moves aren’t necessarily by choice of the adults (finances, job transfer etc…), try to keep a positive attitude while discussing the move with children. Your attitude will reflect the attitude your children will have towards the move. Most likely, if you’re excited, they will be excited. If you’re scared, they will be scared.

Preschoolers may have a difficult time understanding what exactly “moving” means and entails. Most likely they will act excited because of all the hustle and bustle in the house, but be aware that while they may seem excited, they also might not totally understand what is happening, which may cause some stress and fear. At least one month before the move, talk with your child about the move and explain as much as possible. Showing them where they are moving on a map and preparing them to get on an airplane or long car ride. Also letting them know if they will no longer live as close to certain friends or family, if moving a longer distance away. These are all important topics to discuss. The more prepared they are for the move, the better the transition to the new home will be for them. Lastly, be sure to ease their fears and answer all their questions.

Below are some ideas you may want to try with your preschooler to help them adjust to the idea and concept of moving

Visit new location- if a local move, take your child to visit their new home, school, local park, ice cream store or other locations you’re likely to spend time at as a family. This helps children become familiar with the new area before they have to be totally immersed in a new environment.
Teach them about new location- if it is a long distance move, have friends or even your real estate agent take pictures of the new house, school, park etc.. and send them to you. Explain these pictures to your children at least a few weeks before the move, so they can start becoming familiar with the pictures and idea of what moving means.
Act out the move- preschoolers might get scared as they watch you pack up their belongings. They will probably have a hard time understanding that this box, full of their belongings, will be waiting for them at their new house. Try using toy trucks and toys and play out how the move will happen.
Give them responsibility- give them a specific task. Putting all their stuffed animals into a box, and then decorating the outside of the box with crayons or stickers will help them be part of the process and understand they are part of this move with the family- they or their toys, are not being left behind.
Set up their new room as close as possible to their old room. Some familiarity may help the adjustment go as smoothly as possible
Hire a Babysitter- on moving day, hire a babysitter and have them watch your child at a different location. This allows for you as a parent to focus on the move, and your child to receive the attention they need.

If you have any questions, we are here at www.ifnotyouwho.org and thanks for stopping by!

Sibling Rivalry... Is It Inevitable?

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:19:32 -0700

Sibling rivalry… it is one of the oldest forms of conflict; it is universal and it’s incredibly normal. The symptoms begin almost immediately as child number two is born and continues throughout childhood and often into teen years.

For those of you who were an only child or had the rare “perfect relationship with your siblings growing up”, sibling rivalry might be a new issue for you. Sibling rivalry can be defined as the jealousy, competition or fighting that occurs between brothers and sisters. Preschool and elementary school aged children are trying to define themselves while finding their talents, interests and independence. Their search for all of these identities often cause “head-butting” among the siblings who might be doing the same sort of exploring, or could just be in their way. The majority of sibling rivalries often fall into one of three areas.

1) Status- fighting for position in the family

2) Attention- a child may feel they are not getting as much attention as another sibling (new baby, sick child etc.) and then use conflict as a way of catching more of mom or dad’s time and attention.

3) Ownership- possessing toys, friends, clothes, or activities also cause issues. Remember they are trying to understand their own identity and might not like their brother or sister’s taking over these things.

Some other common causes for conflict include: not enough fun family time, stress in a child’s life, and a child age. The older and more mature the child, the more likely they are to have the skills to handle the different issues that might be causing conflict.

As you may have noticed above, many of the issues that may cause conflict, are tightly, if not directly correlated to you and your role as parents. Being aware of how you can encourage a more peaceful home and relationship amongst siblings can make a large and positive impact on your children, lessening the amount of conflict between siblings.

1) Avoid showing favoritism to one child

2) Try not to compare the siblings… “ Tommy has great manners, why don’t you?” Remember, each child is their own person!

3) Embrace each child’s strengths, talents and interests

4) Plan equal amounts of alone time with each child everyday

Using the above suggestions should help ease conflict between siblings, but inevitably there still will be battles! While we encourage you to allow your children to resolve the conflict amongst themselves, there will be times that an adult needs to step in and help. First, help your children develop the skills needed to resolve conflict; compromise, sharing and respect will all be lifelong skills! Secondly, if both siblings are fighting, then both are at fault. Put your focus on resolving the issue, rather than placing the blame on “who started it”.

Finally, we encourage you and your entire family to sit down and have a family meeting. Focus the meeting on setting ground rules for playing and on the behaviors involving their brother and sister. Let each family member talk, and find ways to compromise so that everyone agrees on the final rules. When children feel personally responsible for the rules in place, they are more likely to follow them.

Ground rules could include… No physical contact while having a conflict. If a toy is the source of conflict, put away the toy for a certain amount of time. Set the ground rules with clear consequences. This helps you as an adult follow through on the punishment, children understand receiving consistent punishment.

Though conflict and fighting among siblings is exhausting and frustrating, children benefit from sibling rivalry. Conflict resolutions, compromise, respect for others and learning that not everything in life is fair, are skills they need and will use the rest of their lives. If you have any questions, we are here at www.ifnotyouwho.org. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Helping Children Adjust to a New Baby

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:59:19 -0700

Excited.. nervous.. happy.. scared.. grateful….jealous? These are all emotions that may be going through your child’s head when they hear another baby is on the way.

Children, especially first born, will most likely at some point during the pregnancy or after the birth, have a difficult time adjusting to all the changes that take place within a family when a new addition arrives.

Each child depending on temperament, age and gender will respond differently to the new baby. In general, preschool aged children will understand better what’s happening, compared to a toddler or infant. Most likely preschool aged children have seen other pregnant women, or small babies and have a sense of the pregnancy process. Now this doesn’t mean they won’t have a difficult time with the adjustment, it just means that if you chose, you will be able to talk with your child and involve them more in the pregnancy and birthing process. Once the baby is born, the most common reaction amongst preschoolers is regression. Children may want to start using a bottle or a baby seat again. If potty trained, they may have more accidents and possibly even ask for a diaper. This is normal, just continue to support, love and include them during this adjustment period.

There are two completely different times during this process. First comes the pregnancy. This is the time to prepare your child for the new baby. Second, the birth and after, which completely changes their life as they now know it!. Helping your child adjust to the changes in the home or less time with Mom are just a few of the issues that may arise. As always, these are thoughts and ideas that we have found many families have had success using, but adapting and doing what you feel is best for your family is most important.

Pregnancy and Preparing You Child for New Baby;

Decide on a time to tell your child the news- make sure they hear the news from you, and not someone else. Make this a special time, maybe give them a book (see #5) and give them the time they need to process, by answering their questions.
Allow them to be part of the process- bring them to a doctors appointment, encourage them to talk to the baby or tell a story while in the womb. Make a tee shirt or bib for the baby, or pick out the baby’s first outfit.
Show them their baby book- showing them pictures, outfits or any memories you have saved from their newborn/baby stage will help them understand how “growth” and change takes place. Explain that at first their baby brother or sister won’t be able to do much, but they will grow up quickly just like they did!
Sign them up for a sibling preparation class- most hospitals offer this and many are actually quite fun! Check with your doctor or local hospital for further information.
Read books- there are lots of books out there that will help prepare a preschooler. “I’m a Big Brother” or “I’m a Big Sister” by Joanna Cole is a great place to start. Visit your library for more titles.
Practice- let them pick out a “special doll” from the toy store. Make sure this doll is close to the actual size of a newborn. Practice holding, feeding, and dressing the doll before the actual baby is born. This is their baby to take care of, just like how Mom will have their baby brother or sister to take care of soon.

After the Birth:

Have alone time every day- whether it’s five minutes or thirty minutes, make sure Mom and Dad are setting aside alone time with the older child every day. Reading a book, playing a game, whatever it is you and your child want to do, but give them your undivided attention during this time.
Celebrate the baby’s birthday- have a birthday cake celebration when Mom and baby come home from the hospital. This helps your child relate birthday celebrations to the actual birth of their baby brother or sister.
Have a small stash of gifts- lots of people will probably be visiting Mom and new baby and bringing gifts. The child may start to get jealous of all the gift giving, store little gifts like a box of crayons or toy car to give to them once the visitors leave.
Let them help- as mentioned above, let the child be part of the process. Once the baby has arrived, there are lots of tasks a preschooler is capable of doing. Bringing diapers to Mom and Dad, picking out clothes, washing the baby with Mom or Dad, are all little jobs that will help the older child feel important and part of this exciting time!
Encourage play with their doll- especially during breastfeeding or diaper changing; children might experience a little bit of jealousy. This is a perfect time to encourage them to spend time with their baby, changing their diaper, feeding them with a bottle etc..

As always, we are here at www.ifnotyouwho.org to answer any questions you might have and thanks for stopping by!

Teaching a Child vs. Letting Them Explore?

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:41:58 -0700

There are many times when it is easier and faster for adults to jump in and help a child get something done faster, even during play time. Showing children where a puzzle piece fits, how to dress a doll properly, or how to make noise with a musical instrument, might seem helpful to most, but can showing children how to use toys actually be harmful?

While there are very important and specific times that an adult should direct and educate a child on how to do something, there are also times where it is important for a child to explore and even struggle with something in order to figure things out on their own. Deciding when the right times are to teach versus explore is a controversial topic among parents and educators.

An interesting research project was done recently that takes a look at this question. The research explained that when children are shown how to use a toy, they typically will only use that toy in the way it was shown to them, instead of letting them explore the different possibilities and options that a particular toy allows. To read more about this study go to http://econ.st/jnlewr .

Encouraging growth, exploration and creativity is an important part of a child’s brain development. If you have adequate time and you and the child are in a safe environment, we have listed some examples of where letting a child explore on their own, versus offering instructions might be beneficial.

1. Art Projects- while using play- doh, clay, markers, crayons, pipe cleaners or other materials, try and allow your child to create something that they are capable of and wanting to make. “Mom, draw me a dog please”. You could respond, “ Why don’t you draw what you think a dog looks like first”. Showing them pictures (from a book, computer or other), is appropriate if the child is younger and might still be learning the names of different objects. Place the picture next to them, and still let them try and draw the object on their own. The same techniques can be used for other art materials.

2. Games-yes, at some time they are going to need to learn the “real rules” of Candyland or soccer. However, just because they might be a bit young to follow the rules, you can still pull out the Candyland box, or that soccer ball and allow some creative exploration. You’d be surprised how children will come up with their own ways to play a game using the pieces and equipment provided. Encourage them by playing along and asking questions.

3. Toys- most toys are designed for specific reasons, meaning the adults who created them, envisioned the toy working in only a few ways. Let your child explore their toys on their own. It might seem to you that the toy is meant to do one or two things, but letting your child’s creativity and thought process wander will bring new uses for the toy and increased brain development, creativity and thought processing.

While we encourage you to experiment with the ideas above, it’s important to note that there are also important times when children should be told and shown what to do or how something works. We recommend taking some time, offering specific instructions, modeling, and detailed explanation for the areas listed below.

1. Hygiene-washing hands, using the toilet…

2. Safety- hot stoves, crossing the street…

3. Respect- for people, situations, themselves and toys

We could add many items to both of the above lists, so please don’t think this is a complete list! It is merely our ideas to help get you as an adult thinking about how and when to incorporate times both for exploration and times for teaching a child. We are here at www.ifnotyouwho.org to answer any of your questions. Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:00:06 -0700

Father’s Day 2011 is right around the corner! We have compiled some of our favorite homemade Father’s Day gifts that are easy, fun educational activities and make great gifts that Father’s everywhere will love. Father’s Day can be celebrated with any father who is important to your family… grandparents, godparents, uncles, neighbors, etc.. Summer is upon us and colder climates are finally starting to get the grill going and enjoying BBQ’s with friends and family. Here are two yummy BBQ recipes that both kids and adults will enjoy. As an extra activity and personal touch, have the kids create a personalized label for the sauce and rub. White “sticky” labels or even construction paper works well. Have kids decorate labels with markers, crayons or stickers and attach to jar with tape.

BBQ Sauce with a “Baby Twist”

1- 6 ounce jar of peach baby food

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1tsp. ground ginger

Place all ingredients in a jar and shake. Baste on ribs or chicken. Keep refrigerated. Make personalized label, include basting brush and give as gift for Father’s Day.

Southwestern Rub

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tbsp. onion powder

1tbsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Wash hands and rub or push into meat before grilling. A basting sauce can be used with the rub if desired. Make a personalized label and place in a recycled spice jar as a gift on Father’s Day.

If grilling and BBQ isn’t up your alley, or if your child wants to give the “gift of time” this is a wonderful “Monthly Date Planner” that is a great gift for Father’s Day or any special occasion.

Monthly Date Planner

Select 12 activities, one for each month, that can be enjoyed together with the person or with a group. Select activities that are free or within your budget as you will be the host for each monthly activity. Try and make these activities special to you and the participants. Here are some examples:

January Super Bowl Party

February A night of bowling

March A trip to a bookstore

April A picnic in your favorite park

Write the activities on a sheet of paper listing each month’s get together. Help a younger child if they are to young to write. Let them decorate the page instead. These activities can be listed on one sheet of paper or each month on it’s own sheet.