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20 Activities to do With Your Kids Other Than Watch TV

Jun 26

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Parenting | No Comments

Almost half of kids spend at least two hours a day watching TV. While this may sound harmless enough, numerous studies have come out showing that TV is definitely taking its toll on American children.

For instance, a study in the April 2004 journal Pediatrics found that every added hour of watching TV increased a child’s odds of having attention problems at age 7 by about 10 percent. Those who watched for three hours a day between the ages of 1 and 3 were 30 percent more likely to have attention trouble at age 7 than those viewing no TV.

The notion that kids watch far too much TV is a no-brainer, literally. My strong recommendation is to minimize TV watching to no more than a few hours per WEEK, as a short attention span is only the beginning of the problem with TV. Here are some of the other negatives of kids watching TV:

Although you may be accustomed to turning on the TV to entertain your kids (or yourself), there are many other options out there. Here are 20 to get you started.

  • Take a walk
  • Read a book
  • Cook a meal
  • Do a jigsaw puzzle
  • Play a board game
  • Talk about your day
  • Play some sports
  • Color, draw or paint a picture
  • Play outside
  • Invite a friend over
  • Put on some music and dance
  • Go on a ‘treasure hunt’ around the house or neighborhood
  • Play catch or Frisbee
  • Make a “fort” out of blankets and pillows
  • Ride bikes or roller blade
  • Write a letter to a friend or relative
  • Do a crossword puzzle or word search
  • Write a story
  • Run relay races with friends
  • Play charades

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Exercise for Kids – Tips for Parents

Jun 24

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Health, Parenting | No Comments

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Dr. Mercola’s Comments

Exercise is just as important for kids as it is for adults, but unfortunately many children are emulating their parents and getting far less physical activity than they need to stay healthy.

Less than one-third of kids aged 6 to 17 get at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise a day, and the 2010 Shape of the Nation Report from the American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education actually recommends one hour of exercise a day for Americans of all ages.

Kids are clearly falling way short of this goal. The report states:

“The reality, of course, is that children and adolescents in the United States are primarily sedentary. Most kids under age 18 spend the majority of their day sitting in classrooms, and a big part of their free time outside of school watching television, playing video games or surfing the Internet.”

Why is Physical Activity So Important for Kids?

Too much sedentary time is one of the forces driving the child obesity epidemic. About one-third of U.S. children aged 2-19 years are now overweight or obese, and childhood diabetes has increased 10-fold in the last 20 years. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tip: Responding is Better Than Reacting!

Jun 16

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Parenting | No Comments

One day recently, I was driving in Atlanta traffic when suddenly it came to a stop.  Everywhere I looked, traffic was at a stand-still.  It just so happened that I was sitting on an overpass above the interstate, so I had a birds-eye view of what was happening.  I noticed that one side of Interstate 285 was being closed down.  From where I sat, I could see that it was because of a funeral procession for a police officer.  The first part of the procession included several hundred motorcycle policemen.  They were followed by a long line of police cars.  After that were several fire trucks, ambulances and other medical vehicles.  Finally, five helicopters flew overhead.  With such a large procession, it completely shut down Interstate 285 for a long time.  It was one of the most powerful things I had ever seen!

The last time I remember actually seeing that much authority and power in one place, was several years ago when I was in traffic and the Vice President of the United States came to town.  It really was amazing to watch the respect that was shown to the fallen police officer.  He had been killed in the line of duty.  Everyone who was able to observe what was taking place was very respectful.  People stopped, got out of their cars, took off their hats, stood at attention, and paid their respects.  It was a very moving moment.

Again, because I was stopped on an overpass, I had a front-row seat to everything that was taking place around me, and I noticed that something else was happening.  From my vantage point, I noticed that there were some drivers who were full of rage and anger because someone slowed down their progress.  They were unaware of the reason for the delay, so they were angry.  Someone actually had the audacity to get their spot on a piece of the pavement right in the middle of a funeral!  I thought to myself, “If they only knew what was taking place, they would not react that way.”  Had they known that the traffic jam was because of a funeral for a fallen police office, they would have certainly changed their attitude.  And, that is when it dawned on me that they were not responding to the situation, they were reacting to it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tip: Be Responsive!

Jun 14

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Parenting | No Comments

As a teenager, I had a summer job.  I was a lifeguard at our local Elk’s Club swimming pool.  It was a country-club atmosphere and most of the people of our small town of Griffin, Georgia, were members.  Everyone knew each other and during the summer, we all had a great time at the club pool.

Because I was so young and it was one of my first jobs, I really didn’t know much about what I was supposed to be doing.  I thought my main job was to get a good tan and look good in front of all the girls.  Occasionally I would walk around the pool and pick up a piece of trash, if I happened to see it.

I also had the responsibility of cleaning out the baby pool every morning.  Sometimes that could be a real challenge!  On a few occasions I saw things floating in the baby pool that were questionable.  I always used the pool “scooper” to pick up items I was afraid to touch! Read the rest of this entry »

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People, NOT THINGS, Matter

Apr 23

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Commentary, Modern Renaissance | No Comments

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25 Things You Should Know [video]

Apr 10

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Government, Modern Renaissance, USA | No Comments

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Yahoo Answers Proves Intelligence is Optional

Mar 26

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Commentary | 1 Comment

You have probably seen a few examples of stupid behavior as an adult that make you wonder what the f___ is happening with people today. Well, the Yahoo Answers is a simple service where people ask and answer questions. I have seen some very stupid questions on there that I thought were just pranks, but there certainly seems to be a downhill trend in intelligence. Here are some examples:

Read the rest of this entry »

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New Warning About Everyday Poison Linked to Alzheimer’s, ADHD, and Autism

Mar 25

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Children, Health, Modern Renaissance, Parenting, Vaccines | No Comments

Posted by Dr. Mercola

Dr. David Ayoub is a radiologist and a physician, and has become a specialist on the additives and preservatives used in vaccines. He was a presenter at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) Conference in Washington D.C. last year.

Here he discusses the practice of using aluminum as an adjuvant, and why he believes aluminum may be far more toxic than thimerosal in vaccines.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Dr. Ayoub was, as many of you are, very concerned about mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines for a number of years, and attended a number of autism conferences that featured physicians who were highlighting the dangers of mercury. Read the rest of this entry »

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Concentration

Mar 17

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism | No Comments

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time…
~ Charles Dickens ~

The giants of the race have been men of concentration, who have struck sledge-hammer blows in one place until they have accomplished their purpose. The successful men of today are men of one overmastering idea, one unwavering aim, men of single and intense purpose.
~ Orison Swett Marden ~

When every physical and mental resource is focused, one’s power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously.
~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.
~ Nido Qubein ~

Any individual can be, in time, what he earnestly desires to be, if he but set his face steadfastly in the direction of that one thing and bring all his powers to bear upon its attainment.
~ J. Herman Randall ~

Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.
~ The Evil John D. Rockefeller ~

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Five Ways to Help Beat Depression Without Antidepressants

Mar 9

Posted by Parents Place Admin in Activism, Health | No Comments

Posted by Dr. Mercola | March 09 2010 | 25,355 views

antidepressants, placebo, depressionTwenty-plus years of research on antidepressants, from the old tricyclics to the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) show that their benefit is hardly more than what patients get when they take a placebo.

More and more scientists who study depression and the drugs that treat it are concluding that antidepressants are basically expensive Tic Tacs.

Research has found that patients do improve, often substantially, on SSRIs, tricyclics, and even MAO inhibitors. This improvement is the basis for the ubiquitous claim that antidepressants work.

But when researchers compare the improvement in patients taking the drugs with the improvement in those taking dummy pills, they find that the difference is minuscule. Read the rest of this entry »

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