Things To Do In the Summer With Kids On Long Island

Hi All,

Its summertime and the livin' is good - as they say.  But wait...you've got kids and you need to keep them occupied - you don't want them on a tablet or a phone or a tv or a computer screen all day!  What's a person to do?

Great question and we've got some answers at least.

This first link is from Click on this link from Mommypoppins for an article titled Summer Fun Guide For Long Island Kids. There are some great ideas lurking in there!

The next link is  also from Mommypoppins - this link is titled 50 Free Things To Do With Long Island Kids This Summer.  Awesome resources and ideas. 

A website called TripSavvy got into 'let's keep kids busy during the summer racket' with a link on their site called 'Top 10 Children's Attractions on Long Island'. 

Mommypoppins seems to be a getting a lot of play on the blog today.  Here's another valuable article titled '25 Things We Can't Wait to Do With LI Kids This Summer' - note that the article is very, very recent - as in from June 2017.

Finally the Long Island Press wrote an article titled '43 Things To Do With Your Kids on Long Island' some time ago.  The article is well worth taking the time to peruse if you want to keep the little ones busy this summer!

So there you have it - a bunch of websites that'll help you keep the kids busy this summer.  Remember there are about 65 or so days left until school starts! :)

Enjoy the resources and if you think that I've missed any good ones send me an email at fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org and I'll include them in an upcoming blog post!

Regards,
Stu

Fun at the Library?

Hi All,

Fun at the library?  You bet!  Read on. (A list of fun things to do in the library...)

1000+ images about Library fun and ideas on Pinterest.

Fun activities @ you library! 

8 awesome ways libraries are making learning fun 

LibraryGames.com - making libraries fun!

Fun websites - Broome County Public Library

Fun and games at the library

Games for kids - Monroe County Public Library

Free to play games in Steam library

Games - NYPL Kids

Library Learning Games - Media Center

Enjoy the links.

Regards,
Stu

The Parenting Entry

Hi All,

Just a few links to possibly help the harried parent....I've found a bunch of them that are useful, easy-to-read, and not too hard to enforce. 

Defiance: Why It Happens and What To Do About It - Babycenter.com

Consider the Consequences For Toddlers - What to Expect.com

Rewards Charts For Kids - KidPointz.com

Is Your Child Spoiled? Who's Ruling the Roost? - WebMD.com

Bedtime Battles - How to Nip them in the Bud - Babycenter.com

How to Stop Yelling At Your Kids - Use These 10 Tips - EmpoweringParents.com


Eight Steps to Anger Management For Kids - Empowering Parents (Child Behavior Help)

Hope these sites are a good starting point for you and your child or children.

Regards,
Stu

Taking Pictures of Your Kids

Hi All,

Now that summer is 'officially' over, school has started and the Fall is right around the corner.  With all that happening, there are sure to be lots of chances to take wonderful pictures of your kids (think soccer games, playgrounds, Halloween, playing in the backyard in a pile of leaves - yep...there are lots of different opportunities to take great photos). 

Click on the following links to take more awesome pictures of the little ones, young ones, toddlers, teens and more!

Cut the Cheese -  5 Tips For Photographing Kids - Digital Photography School
Photographing Children - Composition - Digital Photography School
Ten Way to Take Better Photos of Your Child - Lexar (esp suggestion #1, #5 and #7)
Tips From a Pro: How to Take Better Photos of Your Kids - PopPhoto.com
Three Tips for Taking Photos of Kids - Olympus
8 Tips for Photographing Uncooperative Children - ClickinMoms.com

So there ya have it...anybody can take even better pictures of their kids!  And now you know how to do it - without having to take hundreds of pictures in the hopes of getting 3-4 good pictures in the bunch!

Regards,
Stu

Parenting Books - Titles of books in no particular order...

Hi All,

Here is a list of parenting books that might help you parent your child...or not.  Its worth a look at least...At the time of writing the Farmingdale Public Library owned all the titles listed.

Parenting a Defiant Child: A Sanity-Saving Guide to Finally Stopping the Bad Behavior - Philip S. Hall

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips For Raising Happy and Successful Children  - James R. Delisle

Sh*tty Mom: Parenting Guide For the Rest of Us - Laurie Kilmartin

Parenting Inc.: How We Are Sold on $800 Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture, and Diaper Wipe Warmers and What It Means For Our Children - Pamela Paul

Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures - Amber Dusick

Parenting the Strong Willed Child: The Clinically Proven Five-Week Program For Parents of Two-to-Six Year Olds - Rex Forehand

Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm and Connected - Susan Stiffelman

Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us - Christine Gross-Loh

Many of these books can be found in the Children's Room in the Parents Collection of material.  This collection of material is dedicated to help parents 'parent'.  Topics include discipline, teaching children how to potty train, sleep issues and much, much more. It is a very, very helpful collection of material that new parents would do well to visit.

Enjoy the books and the material in the Parents Collection. 

Regards,
Stu

American Academy of Pediatrics' website: HealthyChildren.org

Hi All,

The umbrella organization for Pediatricians' is called the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Click here for their awesome website.  Click here for the parents version of the website (HealthyChildren.org) - which is the subject of todays' blog entry.

The parents version/edition of the site is HealthyChildren.org - and what a site it is! All parents should visit this current, comprehensive, unbiased, remarkably reputable website.  It is the gold standard for infant, toddler, pre-schooler, school-aged and teen-aged children. 

So, what makes the site worth the visit?

Well, for one, there are multiple ways to get to the same information. For example there are links with headings like Ages & Stages, Healthy Living, Safety & Prevention, Family Life, Health Issues, News, Tips & Tools and the ever-present 'About Us' and 'Contact Us' links'.  And that is just the ribbon at the top of the website. 

An interesting part of the site is the link 'HealthyChildren Bookstore'. Clicking on the link brings the user to a page where they can browse the bookstore by child's age and other ways to search.  There are links for Baby, Toddler, Preschool, School Age, Teen, Illnesses and Conditions, Fitness and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Spanish, Child Care Centers and Schools and more. Users can click on a particular title and you can actually purchase the book on the website using your credit card.

When users scroll down a bit on the homepage, you can enter a phrase or keywords in the searchbox to search the whole website for children related material.  The homepage has a section where a scrolling box changes every 3 seconds or so.  Topics vary daily, and on the day that I wrote this blog entry the topics varied from 'How Pediatrician's Screen For Autism?', Autism Spectrum Disorder, 'Alcohol and Pregnancy: It's Just Not Worth the Risk', 'Breakfast For Learning' and 'Is Your Child a Budding Artist'?

Further down on the page is another with rotating topics.  This section is called 'Ages and Stages' - and rotates between GradeSchool, Teen, Young Adult, Baby and Prenatal.  All titles on the list link to other pages on the website.

On the right side of the page is a box titled 'Hot Topics'.  Users can click a tab to go to 'more hot topics' related to children. 

Toward the bottom of the page is a section called Your Family Health Center where new users can register for the site in order to receive up-to-the-minute pediatric health information and a monthly HealthyChildren.org newsletter.  It is very well worth the time spent signing up for the site!!!!

Last, but certainly not least is a link on the right side of the page that enables users to 'Find a Pediatrician'.  Users enter a zip code to generate a list of pediatricians in their area.

Finally, and this is a not-so-shameless plug for the Farmingdale Public Library!!!!

Did you know that we have an absolutely wonderful collection called the Parents Collection at the library?  If not, you do now.

The collection is housed in the Children's room and material is in print and DVD and book-on-CD format.  Topics include, children's physical and emotional needs and growth, health and wellness, school-related issues, potty training and much, much more.

New parents, experienced parents and parents in-between would do well to take a look at this comprehensive, current and well-organized collection.

Enjoy the links and the site! You'll be happy that you visited the site

Regards,
Stu

Taking Great Pictures of Your Kids

Hi All,

So if you have kids, one of the things you'll want to do is take memorable pictures of them.  By doing this, you'll be able to look back at all the great times that you've spent with your little ones when they are, well, 'big ones'. 

This blog entry will discuss 3 websites that will help you learn to take better pictures of your kids.   I'll also link to the Farmingdale Public Library card catalog so you can find some excellent photography books to help you take even better pictures of your kids - from reading.

Brought to you by Lexar.com comes this site - entitled '10 Ways to Take Better Photos of Your Child'.  Neat stuff - I actually knew about numbers 1, 3 and 4 in the list...(Get Low, Let Them Be Themselves, Show them he Pictures on the Camera).  Had no idea about 7 and 9 (Get Close and Watching the Background).  Go figure...I bet I'll take better pictures already this weekend.

From a website called Digital Photography School comes this entry, entitled, 'How to Get the Best Shots of Your Kids'.  Some of DPS's ideas include 'Immerse yourself in their world and let your camera see what they see',  and 'Use reflections to captures yourself with kids and catch their expressions when they don't realize the camera is trained on them'.   Good stuff - and it is a doable skill for parents who want to take pictures of their kids.

Finally, the third site in today's coverage is an article from Pop Photo.com entitled, 'Tips From a Pro: How to Take Better Photos of Your Kids'.  This article covers concepts like framing the child and using the light to your advantage when you take pictures of the little ones.  The entry also discusses the use of vantage points when the children are playing sports like soccer, baseball and football. 

There are many, many other photography and photography related websites on the web.  Some are good - some are not so good.  Caveat emptor and readers of this blog should know by now that I'm a proponent of being skeptical when viewing and evaluating websites...doing a Google search for 'How to take great photograph's of children' resulted in many, many results.  Click on this link to see the massive results of the search. 

Now, that all said, sometimes it is useful to use a book so you can read and look at pictures that explain a certain technique....click here for a link to the Farmingdale Public Library card catalog for a search query of 'children's photography'. 

Enjoy the results and the great pictures you are about to take of your children.  

Regards,
Stu