Last week, we shared some ways that both your child and you can clear up your "monkey minds," and cultivate calm. Here are a few more resources to help in the battle for a calmer mind.

For more information on practicing mindfulness with children, check out Mindful Kids and Inner Kids (FYI - Inner Kids requires registration).


The following books are also good resources.
The Mindful Child by Susan Kaiser Greenland
Teaching Mediation to Children by David Fontana and Ingrid Slack
Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything by Deborah Schoeberlein with Suki Sheth, PhD
Take the Time: Mindfulness for Kids by Maude Roegiers

And, of course, please check out Monkey Mind Pirates!

Springtime -- when the world wakes up from her winter slumber and becomes fresh and new again!  Spring is also a great time to set new family goals.  You might want to focus on:

Healthy Food

• Eat your homegrown veggies this summer!  Now's the time to plant vegetables -- depending on the weather, either seeds in small containers in the house, or small plants outside in containers or in the yard.  It's a fun learning adventure to nurture seeds and watch them grow! 
• Cook up a storm!  Plan the menu, shop for the ingredients (or pick them from your garden), cook the meal and eat together as a family.  Children often eat better when they help create the meal and then share it with their family. 

Outdoor Exercise

• Go for frequent family walks.  Count the number of flowers poking their heads out of the dirt.  How many different colors do you see? 
• Turn off the TV, go outside, and kick around a soccer ball.  Studies show that obesity in children increases the more hours they watch TV (Crespo, 2001). 
• Spring winds help warm the Earth and make great kite-flying adventures.  Pack a picnic lunch, grab your kite and head to the park for an afternoon of family fun!

• The best way to wind down after a fun day (or even a not-so-fun day) is to climb into bed and read books before falling asleep.  This routine calms everyone down and creates a positive, loving way to end each day.

• Recommended Books
• Spring Has Sprung -- Bear in the Big Blue House by Kiki Thorpe
• Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble by Cynthia Rylant
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What kinds of things are you working on in your family this spring? Do you have more great spring reads to suggest?

Judy Schumacher
Director of Education, Minnesota Children's Museum

If you can get past the somewhat crusty tone with which Dr. Jane Brody accuses “mothers and nannies” of being too tuned in to their cell phones instead of their young children, this recent New York Times article explains why talking to children and introducing books from birth is so important. It also offers great practical advice for nurturing young children’s language development.

To be fair, it was kind of Dr. Brody to congratulate the communicative young mother who she refers to at the beginning of the article. Any parent knows a word of encouragement can go a long way!

The long weekend ahead brings daydreams of sitting on the dock with a good book in hand and your feet in the water. Stop by your local library first to pick up a few books to enjoy together. And don't forget your sunscreen!

This week’s booklist is about the joys of playing together as a family.

Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Flectcher
Rain Song by Lezlie Evans
Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes
We’ll Paint the Octopus Red by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen

At Minnesota Children's Museum, we believe that early learning is the foundation for lifelong learning. No matter how young your child is, you can participate in activities that can help form skills in language and reading.

Newborn to 3 Months: Listen and talk to your baby throughout the day. While feeding, diapering and bathing your baby, sing songs, nursery rhymes, and smile and coo in response to your baby’s smiles and coos.

4 to 8 Months: Talk and play with your baby. Use words and actions when talking. Play games, such as peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake, which teach your baby about taking turns when communicating.

9 to 12 Months: Read and tell stories with your baby. Make reading a shared experience. Point to pictures and name the objects. Use puppets, dolls and other toys as props. When reading, hold your baby on your lap and the book so your baby can see the pictures.

1 to 1 1/2 Years: Provide play materials that match your child’s skill level and interest. Let your child play with pots, pans, wooden spoons, plastic containers and other safe household items. Talk about what they’re doing. This will help your child learn new words. The more words your child knows, the easier it will be when he or she starts reading.

1 1/2 to 2 Years: To build your toddler’s vocabulary, say what you or your child is doing. If you are shopping with your child, say, “Let’s buy some apples. What color apples should we buy? Green or red?” Use as many words as you can when you talk with your child. If your child is building with blocks, say, “Look at how big your tower is! It’s almost as tall as you are! Wow, now you’re adding even more blocks to your tower. It’s going to be huge.”

2 to 3 Years: Read books and do activities that let toddlers join in. Arrange a special time for reading and read some of the same books again and again. Encourage your toddler to help you read the book by joining in with the words or repeated phrases he or she knows. Begin pointing out letters in your child’s name wherever there is print.