It’s never too early to teach your kids the importance of protecting the environment. You probably cover the basics like telling them to turn the water off while brushing their teeth, to pick up trash they see on the ground, and to put juice containers and milk jugs in the recycling bin. 

With Earth Day fast approaching, we wanted to share some neat activities you can do with your kids to start a dialogue about why they should protect the environment and what they can do. Plus, they’re tons of fun!
This Earth Day, turn off the TV and take some time to: 

• Make recycled paper to conserve our trees
• Create a family garden, or visit your local farmers market
• Reuse old cans to make a new pencil holder for the house or a gift for a teacher

Have your own crafty tips to reduce, reuse or recycle? Do share!

It’s Black History Month and next month is Women’s History Month, which means it’s the perfect time to take your kids on a museum adventure. While the concept of a big quiet building filled with expensive things scares many moms, there’s no need to worry; there are tons of activities and tips to keep your kids entertained and interested. 

Here a few of our favorite ideas:

• Create a scavenger hunt or play I spy; some museums have premade print-outs on their Web sites. 
• Purchase postcards from the museum gift shop and turn your kids into detectives to find the pictured items. 
• Give your little ones control of the camera and then print out the pictures and have them write their own descriptions. 
• Have your kids write a story or draw a picture book relating to their favorite part of the museum.

Don’t forget you can always call your local museums or visit their Web sites for visiting exhibit options and special events focusing on Black History Month and Women’s History Month. You can also find free tickets to museums at your local library or by checking museum Web sites for free admission days. 

Share your own clever ideas or tips in our comment section below!

olli and Julius the Monkey. A perfect match.

Available late this month, limited-edition clek booster seats and clekjackets will feature the trendy designs of Paul Frank Industries. Lovable, wide-mouthed monkey Julius will be the first character to make a splash, appearing on clek’s backless booster olli in two fun designs: Classic Julius and Multiple Choice.

You might think that it can’t possibly get better than that, but it can–clek’s adorable Paul Frank designs are created especially for families-on-the-go and feature Crypton Super Fabrics, with an integrated moisture barrier that protects the seat from bacteria, stains, static and odors. Stylish and convenient. Enough said.

To find a retailer near you, visit www.magnaclek.com.

Children prematurely moved to seat belts are 4 times more likely to suffer serious head injuries during a collision than children in child safety or booster seats. Safety belts are designed for adults, and children under 4’9″ tall should ride with a booster seat. The booster seat message is a crucial one, NHTSA estimates that up to 90% of children in the U.S. who should be using a booster seat are not.

To keep things simple, we are posting just one graphic here today. From a 2005 report analyzing motor vehicle fatalities from 1998 to 2002, we have extracted the statistics on injuries among 8 to 15 year olds. This particular report does not distinguish between different types of restraints, and we will cover these in a future post. The chart below shows the relative risk of death for a number of different vehicles:

Conclusions: children tend to be safest in trucks as long as they are restrained. Unrestrained, passenger cars are the most likely to result in fatalities. Across all four categories of vehicles, children aged 8-15 are 50% less likely to die in an accident if restrained. Taking responsible steps to reduce the likelihood of fatalities is not being over-protective.

They found that adult seatbelts were better than no seatbelt at all. But nonetheless children in adult seatbelts are on average about 2.7 times more likely to suffer an injury in a car accident than adults wearing the same type of seatbelt.

Read full article here.