Interested in getting your kids involved in something that benefits themselves and the community? Volunteering is the perfect way to do both.

Listed below are a couple of creative ideas to for your kids to lend a helping hand.

• Bedtime Snack Sacks: Decorate lunch bags and fill them with snacks and a toy for children living in homeless shelters
• Cleanup Coalition: Have your kids gather their friends monthly to help beautify the community by picking up trash, planting flowers, etc. Contact your local parks and recreation office and they can help find projects.
• Charity Birthday Party: Have guests bring old or new toys to be donated to a charity instead of given to the birthday boy or girl

If you’d like more volunteering options, check out www.volunteermatch.com or www.volunteer.gov.

Sure, getting kids of any age involved with the household chores can be a challenge, but it’s important and provides them with the perfect opportunity to learn what responsibility and hard work means. The trick in getting kids to do their chores without all the hassle, is to make the chores fun, even if it means you have to relax your rules a bit. 

Here are a couple tricks to make your kids wish it was chore time all the time:

• Let your kids pick their favorite CD and sing together
• Give cash rewards by developing play money, designating values to tasks and letting your kids cash in for prizes
• Race to beat the clock or each other
• Make it a game, like “Red Light, Green Light”  where you call out “Green Light” to get the kids to put their toys away as fast as they can and then “Red Light” and they will have to freeze and do something silly
• Create a “Wacky Wheel of Chores”  by dividing tasks into a wheel and letting your kids spin to choose their chore of the week

Organize it all using these free chore chart sites. Your kids are bound to have some fun and learn valuable lessons along the way.

Have your own tips on making chores fun? Share in the comments—we’d love to hear!

If it’s true that necessity is the mother of invention then invention is the necessity of parents. How would we get by without gadgets? With increasingly busy work and kids’ schedules, you’re looking for the right tools to make your life a little less hectic. Here are a few that help us stay organized, entertain the kids, get food on the table, capture the precious moments and enjoy a little downtime. (Whew!)

The company that revolutionized search is out to change the way we organize with. iGoogle enables parents to integrate email, calendars, photos, documents and gather news from all their favorite outlets in one place. Google calendar can coordinate schedules and share with family members online.

From recipes to shopping guides, there are more than 15,000 “apps” for Apple’s iPhone. At your wits end to keep the kids busy? Try Kidtivities, an app loaded with more than 40 fun, educational activities, including reading, vocabulary-building exercises and crafts.

With cameras small enough to slip in your pocket, like Canon PowerShot A590 IS or Nikon’s Coolpix L18, you’ll never miss the first step. Google Picasa makes it easy to edit photos, share or process photos on sites like Snapfish, Shutterfly and Flickr. The Flip Mino mini camcorder is a practical alternative to the conspicuous standard-sized camcorder, allows for two hours of recorded time and comes in fun colors, too.
 
When you finally have a few minutes of quiet time, pick up where you left off in your novel with the Amazon’s Kindle 2 or Sony Reader. Both devices allow you to store your favorite books and take along your library wherever you go.

Since March is reading month, it’s the perfect time to curl up with your kids and a good book. There are really neat ideas out there on how to get kids excited about reading, as well as how to instill the love of reading into your children’s lives. 

Some of the information you can find, include:

• Lists of popular books for each age
• Downloadable monthly calendars with various reading activities 
• Resources to create a literacy-rich home
• Tips and tricks
• Games, videos, downloadables and other activities on Scholastic’s Family Playground site

There are tons of resources on the web, at your local library and at your children’s school to help you make the most of reading month and open doors to a new, unexplored world for your kids.

Let us know how you get your kids reading.

Valentine’s Day for school-aged kids can be a day to look forward to or a day to dread, especially when young hearts are involved. Before they hit the bus stop with Valentine’s Day cards, candy or treats, be sure to affirm your unconditional love. You can spark the love bug by trying one or more of the following heartfelt activities:

• Make heart-shaped pancakes for a special breakfast
• Put a love note in their lunch box telling your child what you love about them
• Make Valentine’s Day crafts together
• Set a fancy table and cook a Valentine’s Day dinner and/or dessert together
• Write a family love poem and frame it with a family photo

Valentine’s Day trivia
Did you know that Valentine’s Day is the second most popular holiday to give greeting cards? According to Hallmark, more than 188 million cards are exchanged annually on Valentine’s Day.

At clek, we’re big fans of sleek design. That was the idea behind oobr’s clean lines and bold color palette. When creating new products, we strive to exist in the space where style overlaps with function—where comfort meets convenience and everything just plain looks good.

When it comes to children’s products, it seems as if a lot of people are catching on to the idea that cool design is important. We’ve rounded up some consumer products that we wouldn’t mind getting our hands on here.

Interlocking Plate and Bowl Set: Keep food in its proper place with this interlocking dining set from Boon. BpA-free, it includes a toddler-size plate with two separate compartments and two small bowls that easily attach for smaller portions.

Svan Scooter: Scandinavian Child created this piece of art that doubles as a scooter for your on-the-go tots. Sturdy, safe and so chic.

SPLASH Bottle Drying Rack: A fun component to any kitchen counter, this space saving drying rack conveniently holds up to nine baby bottles and a handy bottle brush. By SkipHop.

There’s no better way to beat the snowy weather than by heating things up in the kitchen. This year, pull out the ingredients and include the entire family in your holiday baking efforts.

Below, we’ve collected some tips and included a few of our favorite, mouth-watering recipes guaranteed to lure little hands to batter.

• Interaction in the kitchen does more for your child than just teach them how to cook. According to this Epicurious article, it can boost reading, math and science skills – and teach about culture too.
• Want to really stimulate the senses? Kick things off by watching kid cooks share their own secrets at www.Spatulatta.com.
• Keep baking fun with these clever, but creative, tips from Food Network.
• Create edible art with these simple Painted Sugar Cookies; serve up a slice of delightful and delicious Cookie PIzza; or use a breakfast favorite for these Apple and Spice Cookies.