Education does not always mean learning something from a text book. It means imbibing knowledge which can help you out in all the spheres of your life. For children whatever is taught in the schools seems to be the only source of education. But the fact is that they need something that can make them think and develop their logic. You need something that not only stimulates their imagination but also keeps them interested. If you also think the same and want your child to develop then educational toys is the answer to all your problems. If you are not aware of the concept of educational toys, let us take this opportunity to inform you about this concept that will fuel your child's imagination and make you a great mother or a father!

Educational toys have been in the market for quite some time now. These toys stimulate different parts of a child's brain and help in developing qualities like logic, intelligence, and memory. There are other toys as well that help in sensory motor coordination in a child. Your toddler might be too young to go to school but he is just the right age to play with these educational toys. They will make him use his brain and develop the muscles of his body. There are different types of educational toys for different age groups you can choose a few for your child as well according to his age and capabilities. Now the next question is where can you get these toys? Well you will be pleased to know that they are available in most of the toy stores and online. All you need to specify to the store manager is that you want to buy educational toys for your child, soon you will be ushered into a section where you will have plenty of choices. Chose games that require your child to build or form things. You can buy a puzzle, building blocks, clay etc according to the age of your child.

If you are ready to spend extra dollars you can order educational toys that are gender specific and are designed to develop a specific part of the brain. All you need to do is to search the net for the best sites and choose something for your child. The company will ship the product to your doorstep and you will have a product that is designed for your kid! So go ahead and give your child a better future with educational toys!

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"Home décor" - this word has so much to offer you when it comes to adapting a great lifestyle! These days there are tons of stylish furniture availed in the market; many of them may fit in your pocket and requirements. Today, kids' furniture has gained all the attention, such furniture vary from contemporary to modern. Normally many parents would love to go for trendy furniture to decorate the rooms of their kids; some would go for all mixed themes blended with traditional touch!

We can't deny the fact that; today's modern parents are more concerned about their child's bedroom; suiting their living standards! Market of furniture is booming like anything, hence you will see most of the parents opt toy furniture for their kids. Choice makes the difference here! Mostly kids' furniture is selected under many aspects: the style, comfort, modern look, flexibility, and of course the cost! For any parent, the most important task is to get the children's room painted with soft colors and furnished with latest furniture.

Majority of parents go for dark colored toy furniture such as play-panel, armchair - one seater or two seater, storage boxes etc. Compact toy furniture is in demand these days, such type of furniture is not much space consuming. Another much in demand is toy storage bench, is made from wood, and serves many purposes. Choosing durable items is every buyer's concern. Happening and cool furniture for kids come in variety of colors, designs and shapes.

Beddings, mattresses, tables, chairs for toddlers also come in a variety of designs like flower garden prints, jungle animal prints! Children get most cozy with light items; hence, getting such light-weight furniture is so very simple these days. You will find a wide array of alternatives for toddlers' room furniture. Kids' furniture with multi-colored prints is much on the go! Best and the most material cozy furniture for kids are made with rust-proof metal, soft materials to keep your kids and home accident free.

With a little more careful about the selection for nursery rugs, then let us make you aware that such rugs come in different shag lengths and colors with bold designs. Keeping your child in the artistic surroundings makes huge difference; moreover, interesting toys, décor and expressive walls reflect your lifestyle! You can pick up any of these kids' furniture. Before picking it up, ensure about your requirements, and the preferences of your kids while making a choice!

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Children as young as 5 years old understand that positive thinking can make a person feel better, according to a new study. The researchers also found that kids' knowledge about the benefits of positive thinking is strongly influenced by their parents.

In the study, 90 mostly white children, ages 5 to 10, were read six illustrated stories in which two characters felt the same emotion after experiencing something positive (such as getting a new puppy), negative (such as spilling milk), or neutral (such as meeting a new teacher).

The children were then told how each character felt on a 7-point scale; the pictures on the scale ranged from a very sad face (0) to a neutral face (3) to a very happy face (6). For negative and positive events, the characters felt "medium bad" and "medium good," respectively, with those in the ambiguous scenario feeling "OK (not good or bad)."Next in the story, one character has a separate optimistic thoughtthat puts the fictional event in a positive light. The other character has a separate pessimistic thought, putting the event in a negative light. At the end of these stories, the researchers asked each child to rate on the 0-7 picture scale how each character felt at that moment and why.

The young participants also completed surveys — modified for young kids — that measured their own individual levels of optimism and hope. Parents also reported on their own and their kids' optimism.

The results showed that children as young as 5 were able to predict that people would feel better after thinking positive thoughts than they would after thinking negative thoughts, showing the strongest understanding of this phenomenon in the ambiguous situations.

Children had the most difficulty understanding how positive thinking could boost someone's spirits in situations that involved negative events, such as falling down and getting hurt. When it came to coping with negative situations, the kids' levels of optimismand hope played a role in their ability to understand the benefits of positive thinking, the researchers observed.

As children grow older, they experience a "significant development" in their ability to understand the link between thoughts and feelings, according to the researchers. The study also showed that the parents' bright or gloomy outlook on life played a major role in their children's comprehension of the power of positive thinking. [5 Ways to Foster Self-Compassion in Your Child]

"The strongest predictor of children's knowledge about the benefits of positive thinking — besides age — was not the child's own level of hope and optimism, but their parents,'" study researcher Christi Bamford of Jacksonville University, who led the study when she was at the University of California, Davis, said in a statement.

The researchers noted that their findings highlight parental influencein helping children learn how to use positive thoughts to feel better during difficult or negative situations. "In short, parents should consider modeling how to look on the bright side," Bamford said.

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The gift that keeps giving – stress! And you can bet you gave a sleighful to your kids this Christmas. Well-intentioned parents are making their children sick, actually damaging their development and altering their DNA, because of crushing worry and anxiety. “Stress is highly contagious,” says David Code, an Episcopal minister and author of Kids Pick Up on Everything: How Parental Stress is Toxic to Kids. “Parental stress can weaken the development of a child’s brain or immune system, increasing the risk of allergies, obesity, or mental disorders.”

So calm down and socialize more. Resolve to start the new year with peace on hearth – it’s not only good for your health but your children’s physical and mental health too. If you really want to make your kids happier, forgo the Xbox or iPad and invite friends over. The greatest gift you can give your children is your own, healthy relationships with other adults, Code says.

“That Xbox or iPad will placate the kids for a while, but soon they’ll demand even more. Far better to take the kids over to your friend’s house - you and your friend can relax with a drink while both sets of kids entertain each other. That means better social skills for your children, and lower stress levels for you as you ‘scratch that primal itch’ to bond, which reduces your stress,” he adds.

According to Code, research shows children can catch their parents’ stress just like they catch a virus. “Children are like little sponges, soaking up the free-floating stress in today’s anxious households until their developing nervous systems hit overload, at which point they act out, or develop symptoms of mental or physical illness.”

The mind-body connection strongly factors into almost every child’s behaviour –the parent’s mind affects their child’s body “through a kind of emotional pipeline,” Code says. The more stress a kid picks up from the parent, the more ill health – even if the parent is unaware of his or her own anxiety.

“In a nutshell: By making our kids the centre of our universe, parents are more stressed out than ever, and more isolated from family and friends than ever,” Code says. Today’s parenting strategies are a dead-end. Increased social contact not only improves parents’ quality of life, it improves their children’s wellbeing too.

“We need to wake up and acknowledge that we’re not enjoying our own stressful lives, and it’s sure not helping our kids either - time to make a change,” says Code. He’s not out to blame – we just didn’t know better, but now we do. So manage the damage. “It’s ironic: parents worry about BPA in plastics and chemicals in food, but when it comes to children’s health the real toxin is their parents’ stress, because kids pick up on everything.”

According to Code, while children’s brain and immune systems are developing, “even small amounts of stress can switch on genes that cause illness, or switch off genes that prevent illness. If we don’t do something, more and more children will grow up with child disorders that could have been reduced or prevented.”

Steps to raise healthier kids, according to author David Code:

• Set up a no-screens-after-5 p.m. night: Turn off all screens, big and small and socialize.

• Socialize more with other parents while your kids play together. “If I could wave my magic wand and reduce the stress of today’s parents, I would give them a glass of wine, a friend, and an Italian village square to go socialize in every evening.”

• Bring on the potluck: Once a week dine with friends. “Since you have to make dinner anyway, a weekly potluck doesn’t suck that much time away from your current schedule.”

• Exercise with your spouse. Build muscle and your marriage too. “It’s easier to discuss tough topics and get emotional when you’re side by side on the treadmill or jogging down the street. It’s easier to be emotional in motion.” Even a short evening stroll together is great marital maintenance.

• Take a vacation every three months for a complete change of pace and a healthier family.

• Practice the daily vacation - lunch hour. “Instead of building stress over eight hours, you’ll start over again after lunch and not get so wound up by quitting time.”

• Establish the one-minute instant intimacy builder with your spouse. “When you both get home from work, while changing or preparing dinner, share your highlight and ‘lowlight’ of the day. Try to focus on one moment in time,” he says, adding that sharing one specific lowlight each day builds bonds because we won’t feel so alone in our suffering.

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A martial arts school in Judsonia that specializes in aiding "at risk" children is seeking to become a non-profit organization.

The goal of The School of Hard Knocks Martial Arts Academy is to teach honor, respect, confidence, control and power to its students through the a blend of traditional and modern martial arts. Students learn aspects of Hapkido, Taekwondo, Kenjukido, Kenpo and Jujitsu, among other styles.

According to Scott Gray, head instructor and owner of Hard Knocks, the academy teaches these concepts to develop strong bodies and minds in its students so they can transcend any need or desire for violence.

"With our younger students, we focus a lot on discipline," Gray said. "With the older ones, we focus on self-defense. Our target demographic, though, is kids who have issues and kids who can't afford classes. I believe the main problem in the world is that no one believes in honor. No one has respect. Our goal is to change that in the kids we teach."

Gray said he knows from personal experience the importance of teaching discipline and anger management to kids. "I grew up bi-polar and ADD," he said. "Luckily, I had a good home. If my parents hadn't put me in martial arts lessons when I was 8, I would probably be in prison now. Martial arts has taught me discipline and focus."

"I'm even on good terms with the police now," he joked. "A few of them have been my students in self-defense classes."Unfortunately, he said, a lot of kids face similar issues — excessive shyness, lack of focus, anger issues — but do not come from stable homes. "Some boys who face issues have single moms," he said. "A mom will do the best she can, but she can't teach her son how to be a man."

According to Gray, the academy has had great success in helping students overcome problems associated with ADD/ADHD, bi-polar disorder, anger issues and even autism. "One boy had extreme anger issues," he said. "His counselor brought him to me, and after six years of me working with him, he now has complete control over himself. He has a bit of the typical teenage angst, but overall he's very polite and courteous. He also has a 3-0 undefeated record in cage fighting."

Ray Warner, a 16-year-old Hard Knocks student, said he has learned key concepts since he began in December 2010. "I've learned discipline, the student oath and the code," he said. "It has helped me with not trying to hurt my younger brother and sister when they get on my nerves. Also, I've learned we are not supposed to use our martial arts skills unless we have no other choice."

Although the academy offers competitively low rates — $65 per month — for classes, Gray said there are still many children who would benefit from taking classes who are unable to because they lack the finances. "I have several kids right now who are wanting to take classes but don't have the money," he said. "I have secured some funding to provide scholarships for kids, but it isn't enough. I'd like to work to get more funding and become a non-profit 501(c)(3) so kids can come do this for free."

Gray said he originally secured some funding for the academy through Child and Adolescents Service System Programs, with whom he volunteers. He said he also works with the White County Children's Safety Center and has helped establish a Searcy chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse.

"I don't have any overhead because my parents own the building," Gray said, "but I do have to make enough money to keep the place running, and it's getting harder and harder the way the economy is. I have to work a day job, too, and scrape by just like everyone else."

Gray said finding grants has not been easy and that becoming a non-profit organization is a long, arduous process. "I'm no business man," he said. "My idea of paperwork is typing out lesson plans. If I were a business man, I'd have the potential to make a lot of money with the academy, but that isn't what I want to do. I just want to provide a service to these kids. What would be helpful would be for someone who is business-savvy to come help us establish the non-profit and work through the grant-searching process. I've had some businesses tell me they would donate if only we had a 501(c)(3) established."

Gray said the academy would like to establish the non-profit fund in memory of their friend Jeremy Vestel, a martial arts instructor who died in a car accident in July.

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Well, if Forbes columnist Gene Marks was hoping for close to half a million page views and thousands of comments – and slams – this was one way to do it. In a post titled “If I was a poor black kid," the self-described “short, balding and mediocre public accountant” (who is also white) opined on how disadvantaged inner-city black kids in his hometown, Philadelphia, might turn their luck around.

In addition to getting the best grades possible and learning to “be able to read sufficiently,” Mr. Marks said he would “use the technology available to me as a student.” He wrote that he knows “a few school teachers and they tell me that many inner city parents usually have or can afford cheap computers and internet service nowadays.”

Then, he said he’d use the free technology available to study: “I’d become expert at Google Scholar. I’d visit study sites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes to help me understand books. I’d watch relevant teachings on Academic Earth, TED and the Khan Academy.”The goal? To nab a spot at an elite magnet school or private school – whose admissions staff have scholarships to hand out – and to eventually learn how to write software, thus acing the world of technology.

But by this point, Mr. Marks had lost most readers. Baratunde Thurston, a comedian and director of digital for The Onion who has written the book “How To Be Black,” couldn’t resist joining a number of other critics in writing back to Mr. Marks. His retort is in the voice of a “poor black kid.”

“Thank you Mr. Marks. You have changed everything about my life. Thanks to your article, I worked to make sure I got the best grades, made reading my number one priority and created better paths for myself. If only someone had suggested this earlier,” he wrote. “I took more of your advice. I got ‘technical.’ I had no idea I could get technical. I learned software!”

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More American teens are smoking pot, and fewer are drinking alcohol, according to a new survey that's at the very least interesting and could be a push for policymakers to start thinking about how we regulate marijuana.

As the father of two kids, I'd like to start off by stipulating: High schoolers are going to try to alter their consciousness. They're also going to try to have sex. I did it, you did it, we all did it (well, we all drank and smoked pot. Some of us got laid and some of us didn't, but speaking personally, I can say that for those who didn't, it wasn't for lack of trying).

My sainted mother used to tell my brother and me that she'd rather have us hang out in the basement with our friends than go out and drive somewhere at night, and she never adhered to the Catholic doctrine of pretending kids shouldn't know about birth control. Her mantra: "As long as nobody gets pregnant or killed in a car accident, whatever you're doing can't be that bad." Which isn't such an awful parenting lesson.

And when it comes to getting pregnant or killed in a car accident, I'd say it's probably better that kids smoke pot than drink. Not saying either one is a great choice for a 16-year-old, just saying that drunk driving, blackouts etc. are a product of alcohol and that the risks of really bad outcomes from smoking pot are a bit lower. But there's a larger point here, coming from the Marijuana Policy Project:

 “This report, once again, clearly demonstrates that our nation’s policymakers have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to addressing teen marijuana use,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.  “Political leaders have for decades refused to regulate marijuana in order to keep it out of the hands of drug dealers who aren’t required to check customer ID and have no qualms about selling marijuana to young people. The continued decline in teen tobacco and alcohol use is proof that sensible regulations, coupled with honest, and science-based public education can be effective in keeping substances away from young people. It’s time we acknowledge that our current marijuana laws have utterly failed to accomplish one of their primary objectives – to keep marijuana away from young people – and do the right thing by regulating marijuana, bringing its sale under the rule of law, and working to reduce the easy access to marijuana that our irrational system gives teenagers."

Yep: Education and intelligent regulation works. When I was in High School, I was one of the very few kids that didn't smoke cigarettes. Today, the number of teen smokers is much, much lower. And the new study says kids aren't drinking as much -- again, no doubt a result of health education and strict regulation.

So if harm reduction is the goal (and it ought to be), why aren't we legalizing and regulating pot?

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Though it might seem obvious that a reward could tempt young children to eat their vegetables, the idea is actually controversial, researchers wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

That's because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked, said Jane Wardle, a researcher at University College London who worked on the study.

Verbal praise, such as "Brilliant! You're a great vegetable taster," did not work as well. "We would recommend that parents consider using small non-food rewards, given daily for tasting tiny pieces of the food -- smaller than half a little finger nail," Wardle said in an email.

The study found that when parents gave their three- and four-year-olds a sticker each time they took a "tiny taste" of a disliked vegetable, it gradually changed the children's attitudes. Over a couple of weeks, children rewarded this way were giving higher ratings to vegetables, with the foods moving up the scale from between 1 and 2 -- somewhere between "yucky" and "just okay" -- to between 2 and 3, or "just okay" and "yummy."

The children were also willing to eat more of the vegetables -- either carrots, celery, cucumber, red pepper, cabbage or sugar snap peas -- in laboratory taste tests, the study said. Researchers randomly assigned 173 families to one of three groups. In one, parents used stickers to reward their child each time they took a tiny sample of a disliked vegetable.

A second group of parents used verbal praise. The third group, where parents used no special veggie-promoting tactics, served as a "control."Parents in the reward groups offered their child a taste of the "target" vegetable every day for 12 days.

Soon after, children in the sticker group were giving higher ratings to the vegetables -- and were willing to eat more in the research lab, going from an average of 5 grams at the start to about 10 grams after the 12-day experience. The turnaround also seemed to last, with preschoolers in the sticker group still willing to eat more of the once-shunned veggie three months later.

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When Doug Ford cut a cheque for $1,000 to help a school nutrition program in his ward, the obvious question was: What about the other 57 programs that could be scrapped?

The councillor’s well-meaning gesture has raised another question: Is it a private or public responsibility to help feed the city’s children?

Advocates for school nutrition programs across the GTA say it’s both. But also that city funds are instrumental in providing a guaranteed and constant source of financial support, especially to fledgling programs that are just getting rolling — and that the public money helps spur private donations. They say cuts would be devastating because every penny is pinched as it is.

“Why would we want to take food right out of the mouths of our children?” says Sara Camilleri, executive director for the Angel Foundation for Learning, the Toronto Catholic school board’s charitable arm. “We cannot be callous about this.”

The city is considering cutting $380,000 from its annual $3.8 million contribution to nutrition programs. It costs $12 million annually to serve over 140,000 children. The province pays $4.1 million and the remaining $3.6 million comes from parents and hard-won donations. Canada is the only G8 country with full-day classes and no national school meal program. Funding from all three levels of government is needed, say program supporters.

Toronto has never before cut its funding. And the province’s investment, considered a pillar in Ontario’s 2008 poverty reduction strategy, has quadrupled since 2003. If the cuts go through, 58 programs serving 14,000 children could be at risk so the rest can still operate at current levels.

Of the 669 programs in the city, some are community-based but most run in local schools from kindergarten up to Grade 12. There’s currently a moratorium on applying because there isn’t enough money, but normally a school would apply to the City of Toronto, outlining expected costs and meal plans. The proposal is then reviewed by a partnership group made up of government, school and community members. While any school can apply, most come from low-income neighbourhoods.

If successful, the program gets funding from the city and the province. Students are invited to sign up universally. Government funding for food costs works out to about 10 cents from the city and 12 cents from the province per child per meal. Every meal served costs about $1.42.

To cover the rest, communities hold fundraisers or appeal to local businesses for money, food and equipment donations. Students at St. Michael’s Catholic school started a letter-writing campaign to local law offices. Foundations, like the Toronto Catholic school board’s Angel Foundation and the public school board’s Foundation for Student Success help fill in the gaps through their own fundraising efforts, grants and corporate sponsorships like that from CDI Computers, which donates money to buy milk.

“Really, it’s a whole community supporting our children, each putting in a piece,” says Catherine Parsonage, executive director of the Foundation for Success, noting: “It’s so hard to raise the other 80 cents on the dollar.”

Every school operates differently, depending on local needs. Some offer breakfast and lunch, others a morning meal around 10 a.m. But all must meet nutritional requirements that include a whole grain, fruit or vegetable and dairy product at each meal. A whole-grain bagel, a piece of cheddar cheese and an apple is a typical morning meal, which works out to about 450 to 500 calories — about a third of a child’s energy needs for a day.

Parents and community volunteers — more than 18,000 across the city — work with teachers and principals to organize and manage the programs. (Their efforts would add up to about $1.8 million in wages if they were paid minimum wage, adds Parsonage.)

Students are involved as well. At Toronto’s Contact Alternative School, students budget, shop for and prepare the food. At Loretto College Catholic high school, the program is now entirely student-led. “Imagine the life skills that are happening incidentally,” Camilleri said. Ford has said that he supports the student nutrition program but wondered if it could be delivered in a more cost-effective way.

Parsonage says it can’t. Already, most food is bought in bulk, at Costco or through contracts with the school board. “This is not eggs Benedict for breakfast. This is toast, fruit and a glass of milk,” she says. The obvious benefit is that children who may come to school hungry get healthy food.

A 2010 Toronto District School Board survey from the Jane and Finch area found 78 per cent of Grade 10 students who ate a morning meal were on track for graduation, compared with just 61 per cent of those who ate breakfast only a few days of the week, or not at all.

Other benefits include creating a sense of pride and community, and helping children learn to make good choices about what they eat — something that can help prevent diabetes and obesity-related disease later on.

Instead of cuts, advocates are calling for more funding. Federal support like that offered in all other western countries would make a “profound” difference. In the U.S., 32 million children participate in the national school lunch program. Brazil and China both have national programs. Recently, Dr. Kirsty Duncan, MP for Etobicoke North, called for a national student nutrition program in the House of Commons.

“We’re not asking the city to do it all, or the province to do it all, or the school boards to do it all or private donations to do it all,” says Parsonage, a passionate advocate. “We’ve all got to rally together and really be the true village.”

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A job for their mom or dad. Money for the heating bill. Food or a place to live. Maybe gloves or boots. More and more, Santas say the children on their laps are asking for less for themselves — and Santa is promising less, as well.

"These children understand the conditions around the home when they ask for stuff," said Richard Holden, a 69-year-old Santa from Gastonia, N.C. "They understand when there are other children in the family, they need to be cautious or thoughtful of them as well and not ask for 10 to 12 items."

Cliff Snider, 64, who's been playing Santa since he was a teenager, agrees. "I think the parents are saying, 'It's an economic thing. Just list two to three things you really want to have,' " he said. "Parents are trying to encourage the children to be thrifty."

And Snider does his best to help out. When he gets a big-ticket request, he typically responds: "There's an awful lot of children asking for that this year. What else do you want?"

At the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School, Santas learn lines like, "Wow, that's a big gift. Is there anything else you might like?"

These days, though, Santas are having to use it less and less. "I think it's becoming more popular not to have that long list," said Tom Valent, dean of the Santa school in Midland, Mich., which gets more than 3,000 letters to Santa a year and just graduated its 75th class. "Families are teaching their children to be as much of a giver as a receiver."

Of course, Santas still see some kids like the 9-year-old who pulled out a BlackBerry and showed Snider photos of all the things he wanted. "It cracked me up," he said. Holden's response to a long list is to say something like, "Why don't you narrow this down just a little bit and choose two or three items you would really like?" Sometimes he'll even mention prices, and say, "With things like they are, Santa Claus will do what he can to help you get what you like. But we can't make you any promises."

Holden has had children ask for things like heat at home. He'll tell the child Santa will do what he can, then try to let the parents know about agencies that might help. One child returned a year later and "said she wanted to thank Santa for getting her some help when they didn't have food or a place to stay." Someone had overheard the conversation with Santa and helped the family.

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