Welcome to the new Discover & Explore linky!  The linky is hosted by Edventures with Kids and Fantastic Fun & Learning.  Each week, we will feature a different theme and ask you to link up your kids activities, crafts, recipes, outings, booklists and family-friendly posts.   This week, we will Discover & Explore Butterflies! …

I love getting kids excited about books!  I’ve also learned that Children’s Book Publishers also love to get kids excited about reading. 

So this week’s edition of our 5 Fun Finds features some of the top Children’s Publishing websites and the amazing games & activities they offer — all linked to great kids books.

As am sure you know, we are big readers at our house.  And as readers, do you know what’s worse than dropping an ice cream cone around here?  Waiting for the next book from a much loved author or illustrator to come out! Seriously, when you find an amazing author or an illustrator that your …

Exploring the world and learning about different cultures is an important way to help your kids to grow.  One fun way to do that this month is to celebrate Chinese New Year:  the Year of the Dragon!

One of the best things about summer is that slowed down schedule — it’s a time when I don’t mind that our projects take more than a day to complete.

Kids can take their time with the creative process and enjoy each step.  Summer is a time to think about creating art that has multiple steps in the project.   You know, those “we need to wait for it to dry before the next step” type of activities.

The weather’s getting warmer, the kids are out of school and the farmer’s markets are open — summer is here!

Now that the kids have been on break for a few weeks, the initial excitement of summer has worn off and we are all looking for some fun things to do.  

The goal parents:  to fight off the dreaded “I’m bored” comment and keep them away from the screen long enough to make a few memories.

And boy do we have a list for you — the Ultimate Kansas City Bucket List for summer fun!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Sprint. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and to thank me for participating.

As a Sprint Ambassador, my family and I are trying out a few different devices this year and sharing all our ‘yea!’ and ‘nay’ moments.  Our goal is to provide you with some of the details on the newest tech gadgets for tweens, teens and parents.

We’re just back from our annual family vacation — and honestly, this one almost did me in!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to travel! 

Exploring new places, seeing some AMAZING sights and being with my family — just us without all the day-to-day craziness that we leave behind — it’s something I look forward to each year.

 “I participated in an Influencer Program on behalf of Mom Central for Revolution Foods. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

There’s something about lunch and summertime that just doesn’t seem to jive in our house. 

During the school year, my husband takes on the lunch duties with some help from the kids (they pack their own fruit & snack each day).  So sandwiches are always prepared the night before (I have a great hubby!).

Then summer hits and the idea of doing something in advance goes out the window for me 🙂 

I mean, it’s summer, right?!  No schedules, live-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of days.

“I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for BGCA. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.”

For our kids, using technology is like brushing their teeth — they do it a few times a day; it’s just part of their daily routine.

They love to play games, watch videos, stay in touch with friends & family and keep up with all the latest internet fads.

But what are they REALLY doing when they’re online?

With a teen and tween at our house, this is a topic that’s constantly discussed in our home.

I consider myself a pretty involved parent but I want to balance how much I monitor my kids’ tech behavior with being able to teach them good online skills so they can ‘police’ themselves.  So I was really happy when I was asked to tour and read the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Cyber Safe Futures website!