Back to Top EASY HEALTHY RECIPES QUICK & EASY BREAKFASTS Easy Feta Eggs by Anya (from her Grandma Maria's Original Recipe) ​ Ingredients 1 slab Australian feta cheese 1 cup self-raising flour (reserve 1 tablespoon for dusting feta) 4 tablespoons milk 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons diced coriander ​ Method 1. Cut feta into approximately 1 cm squares 2. Put flour into a plastic bag, place feta cubes into bag and shake until feta is covered with flour 3. Put 4 eggs in a large bowl and combine with covered feta 4. Add milk and stir all ingredients 5. Heat olive oil in frypan. When oil is hot add mixture 6. Cook over low heat for approximately four minutes (or until the sides begin to go crusty) 7. Add coriander 8. Cut it into four pieces and then flip each individual piece, cooking for a further two minutes Serve immediately with hot buttered toast HINT: You must use a low heat to cook it or the bottom will burn and the middle will remain uncooked Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Breakfast Recipes go to the following links: Home style Corned Meat Home style Corned Meat Best Ever Corn & Corned Meat Fritter Best Ever Corn and Corned Meat Fritters Easy Baked Eggs and Beans Baked Eggs and Beans For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Breakfasts 10 Tips to Make Meals Kid Friendly 10 Tips to Make Meals Kid Friendly Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Yummy Drummies done the healthy way Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to top EASY HEALTHY FAMILY RECIPES QUICK & EASY SOUPS Easy Pumpkin Soup by Jan ​Ingredients 20 grams butter 1 large butternut pumpkin 3 potatoes 1 teaspoon of minced garlic 1 onion diced 2 tablespoons of milk powder 2 litres chicken stock (this can be made using 4 Massel stock cubes and 2 litres water) Optional 1 teaspoon of minced chilli 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard ​ Method Melt butter in in large saucepan Add diced onion and cook in pan until onion begins to become transparent Add minced garlic and stir constantly for around 30 seconds to 1 minute Mix chicken stock cubes with boiling water Peel and dice pumpkin and potatoes. Add to saucepan. Cook until potatoes and pumpkin are tender if you check them with a fork Remove from heat and allow to cool a little for safety reasons Using a stick blender whisk potatoes and pumpkin until no lumps remain Sprinkle milk powder over mixture and whisk in Optional: Add mustard and chili and stir through Serve with crusty bread rolls (or home-made bread maker bread, timed to be completed for dinner.) ​ You can garnish with pumpkin seeds and goats cheese if you wish. ​ ​ Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Breakfasts Best Lunch Box Story Ever More Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS Loving Reading IDEA: Instead of buying a birthday card put a birthday message inside a book's cover, that way the child can reread your message over and over, even in many years time. If you encouraged people to give a book for your child's baby shower and then another as a birth gift instead of a card and you have twenty friends/ family members who would normally write a card for each of the occasions that means your child will have begun their life with forty books. ​ If you include books in every birthday or Christmas present around areas of your child's interest you're supporting their love of reading. ​ ​I've devised my favourites from those suitable, from around the age of 1 year onwards. ​ Go to the link My Favourite Children's Books below: Step by Step 1: Next Introduce reading from around 4-6 months of age beginning with simple board books ​ Building a positive night time ritual of reading daily before bedtime, helps build vocabulary and comprehension Children will look forward to reading if you make it enjoyable ​ Building upon children's interests helps them see books as a source of information and joy ​ Books are a way of building upon real experience and exposing your child to new experiences Every evening as part of my children's night time ritual I read to them. Sometimes I lay in bed with them and I read them book after book. I frequently reread their favourites and usually tried to introduce a new book a night as well. Both my husband and I modeled reading ourselves as part of our everyday lives. We shared things we'd learnt from books both with our children and with each other. ​​​ ​ I'd never thought about how many children' s books were available in my home until a visiting child counted them. She said there were over six hundred. ​ There's a trend to build early learning around children's interests, which is great. However at the age of three and four, children's life experience can be somewhat limited, so books can be a great way of expanding children's knowledge, skills and understanding. ​ And a child can relive a real life experience or extend their real life experience through books. ​ ​ Board books and plastic books are a great way to start. Many of the plastic ones have interesting features such as pages that make crunching or rustling noises and children enjoy exploring them and putting them in their mouths. Although I'm becoming more reluctant to use plastic due to the environmental cost, they have the advantage of being able to be rinsed off and dried, which board books can't be. ​ At around six months, while they were still too young to feed themselves with a spoon, reading kept them occupied between mouthfuls. ​ Click here for a huge assortment of quality books . Share this page with a friend My Favourite Children's Books Incidental Maths Fun Maths Games Why Be Consistent? Consistency, Consistency, Consistency Why Spend Postive Time Together? A father playing chess with his son can help create a positive relationship Choosing Gratitude Not Entitlement A girl kissing her father Back to Things to Do With Kids Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top back to top SELF CARE FOR PARENTS Time & Sanity Savers While I don't think I ever managed to achieve balance across all areas of my life, at exactly the same time, I probably managed to achieve a reasonable amount of it. That way most of our children's, and parent needs, were met most of the time. ​ Why go to any effort to try to save time? ​ You can only spend time once ​ Planning helps create greater life balance ​ You learn to prioritize what is most important (e.g. reading to your children) over what is urgent (e.g. phone call) ​ You can automate many routine activities (e.g. meal preparation, shopping, ) ​ You can free up time to achieve common goals ​ More free time usually reduces stress levels To begin, I worked out what was most important to all of us. Then I built the organization around that to make sure what was important happened. ​ I realized planning self-care activities, for both parents, is the key to ensure that we were both effective and happy. ​ If parents are feeling like they've got low energy or motivation, they're often more reactive, or disengaged. Rather than being relaxed and in control. Which impacts on family relationships. Families that have common goals, have a greater chance of long-term success. So our family worked together for the betterment of us all. ​ ​ Something to consider: If people within the family aren't having their needs met, they may be more likely to start looking outside the family to find what they seek. ​ You see this with teenagers, who seek out those who are exciting and fun, rather than spend time with family who in comparison, are boring. Expecting homework done and chores completed are boring in comparison. And you'll also see it in the partner that has an affair. Home can have become mundane, or stressful, and there's not enough in it for them to keep them loyal. Some even become willing to jeopardize everything for some excitement. I wonder... do you ever feel you're on a treadmill and no matter how hard you work, you can't get it all done. And do you think your partner may sometimes feel the same? ​ It's vital that as a couple, you look at your most important non-negotiable needs. So over the long term, you make achieving them, a priority. ​ We can all cope with postponement for a while, or for the greater good. But when that's all there is, and that's all there will be for the long-term, the seeds of relationship sabotage have been sown. ​ Share this page with a friend For great ideas on how to free up time, go to the following links: Assuming you're a rational being, and not a martyr, how long would you continue remaining loyal to a family, when there's nothing in it for you? I've seen time and time again, if there's nothing in it for them, parents question their life choices. Our divorce statistics are high for a reason. ​ But by planning ahead and prioritizing, you may be able to meet more of your wants and self care needs than you ever thought possible. ​ Some of the tabs below give ideas that worked well for us. You can use them as they are, or as input to help you create your own. Check out Making Family Life Easy below: ​​ Making Family Life Easy 1: Next Planning For Quality Time Planning for quality time. Kids playing with boxes and using creativity Time to Relax time to relax, going surfing with my family Why Save Time? Why save time? Kids playing and running with their mother. Timesavers for Healthy Meals Meals on the Table in Minutes Children's Routines More Meals on the Table in Minutes More meals on the table in minutes Simple Time Saving Tips Simple Time Saving Tips What is Most Important in Life What is Most Important in Life Time Saving: Planning Meals Ahead Pile of Money Setting Up a Repeating Menu Saving Time Things to Do With Kids things to do with kids Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY HEALTHY RECIPES EASY HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES: PORK Thai Sweet Pork with Peanuts by Crellyn Ingredients 500 grams pork mince 1 bag baby spinach 1 tablespoon Peanut Oil 2 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar ½ cup chicken stock ​ Method Heat peanut oil in wok Stir fry 2 teaspoons minced garlic Add peanuts and cook for a few seconds Add 500 grams pork mince and fry Add light soy sauce, brown sugar and chicken stock Cook for about 8-10 minutes on a medium heat until most of the liquid evaporates Add baby spinach and cook until wilted (1-2 minutes) ​ Serve with steamed rice and steamed vegetables ​ Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Easy healthy chicken recipe chicken paprika More Tasty Pork Recipes tasty pork dinner recipe sang choy bow Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Healthy Soups Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Breakfasts Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY TASTY RECIPES Quick & Easy Cakes & Desserts Best Ever Apple Slice by Sue Ingredients Biscuit Base 1 Vanilla cake Mix 1 cup coconut 125 gram melted butter Filling 1 large tin Pie apple Topping 1 300ml container sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 2 eggs 2 tablespoons castor sugar Variation add cinnamon (from Helen) ​ Method 1. Line a rectangular baking dish with baking paper 2. Combine all ingredients for biscuit base in bowl, remove and add mixture to baking dish and press into dish so that it is flat 3. Cook for 10 minutes on 180 degrees 4. Rinse out mixing bowl 5. Combine all topping ingredients in mixing bowl and pour over the top of the apple mixture 6. Cook for 30 minutes on 180 degrees Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: More Easy Tasty Cakes and Desserts easy tasty cakes and desserts lemon slice delicious Easy Healthy Soups East Healthy Fish Recipes easy healthy fish dinner recipe salmon mornay Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes yummy drummy easy healthy chicken dinner recipe Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Easy Healthy Breakfasts Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS Fostering Gratitude Not Entitlement This page contains the following information: Entitlement can begin early How to help develop good self esteem rather than entitlement Explaining the difference between rights & privileges? Linking increasing privilege to responsibility Peer group, entitlement and self esteem Do you feel at times your children aren't always grateful for what they've got. They may even feel entitled to have more... After all doesn't everyone deserve to be a princess. The seeds of discontentment and entitlement can be sown early, in childhood. A child wants something, a caring parent fulfills their want. The parent has good intentions, wanting their child to be happy. But the hidden lesson for a child can be, what I want ... I get. Especially if they're given a lot. Getting things can become an expectation, not a privilege ... And there are so many things to want in our modern society. Do we ever consider that in our desire to give our children everything we can, our kids can feel they deserve even more. There's always someone who has more to compare themselves to. ​ And instead of feeling gratitude to parents for the things they have, some kids become increasingly demanding towards parents when they eventually have to say 'No.' 2. Talk about Privilege, About How Privileged We All Are and Develop a Dialogue about Gratitude. Explain the difference between rights and privileges so your young child sees how many privileges they have to be grateful for. ​ ​Help in charity drives. Show your children examples of people who are worse off . And show them practical ways to help others... And help others. ​ Link increased privileges to increased responsibilities ​ ​ ​ Then children learn the way the world really works. If you are more responsible as an adult you are usually given more trust by others. ​ Discuss the many privileges most people in modern societies have. ​ ​That way, as children become teenagers, instead of feeling entitled for everything they have in life, they feel grateful. ​ Let your children experience not getting all their own way. ​ ​How do children build resilience if they've never gotten to exercise it? If every light in a child's life is green, they begin to expect it. Later when they're rejected by a boyfriend, or girlfriend, they don't have the skills to cope. Children need to be able to dust themselves off, accept disappointments & move on. ​ Educate your child to recognise everyday privileges: e.g.: Watching T.V. is a privilege. Afternoon school activities, toys and games, going to a friend's place to play, a privilege. Fashion clothes, a phone, even providing the foods your child likes best for meals is actually a privilege. Try linking children's privileges to things your child earns like: being helpful, trustworthy, cooperative, responsible, thoughtful, etc. ​ Children aren't armed with the same levels of life experience or critical thinking as adults, so when exposed to advertising, or peer pressure, can find it difficult to understand why they can't have what they want ​ Educating children about the importance of others, as well as ourselves, helps them remain respectful, rather than be entitled ​ Develop a dialogue around privilege so your child recognizes every day privileges in their lives to be grateful for. And link increasing privileges to increasing responsibilities ​ Model respect, gratitude & appreciation in your everyday interactions with others ​ Express gratitude to your children for acting responsibly and thoughtfully ​ Be fair. Give others the benefit of the doubt, rather than be demanding of service or intolerant of failures by being entitled yourself ​ Encourage your children to spend time in nature, particularly where they can be awestruck by things greater than themselves Is it possible by not educating our children that others are equally important, children can feel they're better than others & therefore more entitled than others. This entitlement can be evidenced by behaviours such as being: disrespectful to others. Or at an extreme: prejudicial, racist, ageist, elitist, bullies,etc ​ Some kids have never gone without things for long, or ever experienced real disappointment. So it's easy for kids and teenagers to see the world through the lens of entitlement. But is it likely over the long-term a child will have others be as accommodating as a their own parent. Entitlement doesn't always bode well for mental health, supportive relationships & fulfilling careers. So how do you develop happy children with good self-esteem and worth without making them entitled? ​ 1. Get your children into nature so they learn to appreciate simplicity and natural beauty. Let them be awestruck by things bigger than themselves: Spend positive time together building the relationship and on activities that cost little or are free: going to the beach, or the lake, or a play at the park, etc. Take a picnic. Hang out together and express how wonderful it is just to be together and alive. ​ Go to places that are naturally awe-inspiring: an ocean after storm, a lookout, a walk through an old growth forest. Let your children see they are part of something much bigger than themselves. ​ 3. Notice the Positive Wherever Possible and Express Gratitude... Give your child an unexpected privilege they'll really appreciate and link it to gratitude for what they've done. And be specific. It can often be something you were going to do for them anyway. This can be a book written by their favourite author (for a child who loves to read,) a kick around the back yard with a footy (if that's their thing,) even reading an extra book at bedtime (while they're little) because they were so cooperative. Say something like: 'I've been so impressed with the way you handled the extra load we put on you when your little brother was sick. You stepped up; made sure we ate well. You kept the washing up to date for us & even stacked the dishwasher after you cooked. I really appreciate it. I don't know what we would have done without you.' Anchor 1 Entitlement Can Begin Early Anchor 2 Anchor 3 Anchor 4 Genuinely appreciating someone can transform their world. Often adults, not just children, feel unappreciated, unimportant or even unloved. Sometimes adults will risk everything in their life for someone who shows them some appreciation & gratitude. e.g. Online dating scammers use adoration & appreciation to exploit the vulnerable. ​ Model gratitude in your every day life. Let your child see that you're grateful for what you have, and are willing to verbalize it. 'I love you guys.' I'm so lucky to have you.' If you're out and someone treats you well, acknowledge it. Let them see good manners and positive social interactions modeled by you rather than entitlement. ​ 4. Be gracious & kind to people who can do nothing for you. ​ That way your child learns how to treat all people with dignity. Notice and comment on good service, smile at shop assistants and waiters. Be polite. ​ 5. Get to know people in your community. Be a helpful part of it. Be well-mannered and helpful. E.g: Take in your neighbour's bins if you know they'll be late home, put their newspaper under cover if it's raining, if you know them well you could get their washing in and put it under cover, etc ​ ​ It's not what you say, it's what you do, your children will eventually copy. ​ Anchor 5 ​6. Give your child a positive script to live up to, so they learn they're a good person. Then they value themselves for who they are... not for what they have. Encourage kids to flip entitled thinking onto the things they have to be grateful for. Being grateful, rather than being entitled, is usually much better for mental health. People tend to like grateful, positive people more than entitled, demanding people. Share this page with a friend ​ ​ 7. The quality of friends your child has can make a huge difference to their level of entitlement. If your child spends a lot of time in a peer group that's mostly concerned with the new things they have, rather than what they're achieving with their lives, it's possible your child will become increasingly entitled due to their influence. By encouraging friendships with kids who appreciate things and are grateful, your children's sense of self worth is more likely to be valued and protected. Steps To Relationship Building 3: Next ​For more Best Parenting Advice linked to behaviour go to the following links: Why Natural Consequences? The Value of Natural Consequences Managing Behaviour Well Managing Behaviour Well Boundaries Help Raise Good Kids Setting Boundaries Why Be Consistent? Consistency, Consistency, Consistency Why Spend Postive Time Together? A father playing chess with his son can help create a positive relationship The True Value of Routines The Value of Routines Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top EASY HEALTHY RECIPES QUICK & EASY CHICKEN DINNERS Chicken Peas and Rice Casserole by Lyn Ingredients 8 Chicken fillets 1 large onion diced (or 6 spring onions) 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 tablespoon minced ginger 2 cups Basmati rice 2 Massel chicken stock cubes 4 cups boiling water 1 cup frozen peas ​ ​ Method 1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees 2. Cut chicken fillets into halves 3. Spray large frying pan with olive oil spray 4. Cook chicken in frying pan on medium heat browning all sides 5. Reduce heat in frying pan. Sprinkle curry powder over chicken and continue to cook slowly ensuring that the curry powder doesn’t burn 6. Remove chicken from pan 7. Add diced onion to frying pan and cook until transparent 8. Add ginger and rice and cook for one minute so that rice and ginger take on a slightly yellow appearance from the curry 9. Spray large baking dish with olive oil spray and add rice mixture 10. Mix 2 stock cubes with 2 cups boiling water and pour over rice mixture 11. Place chicken pieces over top of rice ensuring all rice is covered with stock 12. Cover with foil and cook for approximately 40 minutes or until rice is cooked 13. Add frozen peas, stir frozen peas through and cover with foil and cook for another ten minutes Serve with steamed vegies. Or it is delicious on its own. Share this recipe with a friend For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Healthy Soups More Easy Healthy Chicken Recipes Best Ever Lunch Box Story Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Easy Healthy Breakfasts Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top BEST STARTS FOR KIDS 6 Steps to Managing Behaviour Well This page contains information about: Negative Parenting Strategies 6 Simple Strategies That Work Over Time Sensible Parenting Tips GALLERY LINKS to more behaviour strategies Regardless of how easy going your children are, at some point or another you're going to have to deal with behavioural issues. This may be anything from a two-year-old tantrum to the extreme of a seventeen-year-old's first criminal offence. ​ ​​​ It's likely you may have been told a lot about what not to do. Things like: yelling, smacking or bribing your kids. ​ But there are additional negative parenting strategies that are less obvious that can also be damaging to your child. Negative Parenting Strategies Anchor 1 6 Positive Parenting Strategies There's a long list of what not to do in parenting. But what actually works well is: ​ 1. Having clear expectations ​ 2. Routines help kids to know what's expected and support harmonious relationships ​ 3. Spending positive time together so you have credit points to fall back on ​ 4. Noticing the positive and expressing gratitude and appreciation ​ 5. Using natural consequences as a teaching tool if children are flouting the rules ​ 6. Being consistent ​ If in doubt... choose kindness 1. Have Clear Positive Boundaries of Behaviour and Model Respectful Behaviour Yourself. Develop a clear dialogue about your expectations for behaviour (boundaries) emphasizing treating people, property and our earth with respect. ​ Ensure there's no pay off for bad behaviour. ​ If you can foresee a potential problem issue discuss it ahead of time. Then your child knows exactly what's expected of them, rather than deal with it after there's a problem, when emotions are high. ​ ​​​​​ enabling bad behaviours, being inconsistent, not setting boundaries, arguing with your children, engaging in power plays, criticizing them or negatively comparing them to others, micromanaging them so they have no choice (hover parenting or being a take-charge manipulator,) having unrealistic expectations (perfectionism,) saying one thing and doing another (being a hypocrite,) neglecting them, bullying them, threatening them with violence. ​ ​ Explain you may not be able to give your children everything they want, or let them do everything they want to do, but you'll do everything you can to be the best parent you can be for them. And be the best parent you can be. ​ Deal with problem behaviours when you're calm. ​ Give your child the benefit of the doubt where possible. ​ Postpone making a decision if you're angry. Similarly if you're feeling cross, or frustrated, disciplining your child may be more appropriate when you've calmed down. ​​​​​ Anchor 2 2. Implement Routines and Organization that Helps Support Harmonious Relationships. Children love routines. It helps them to feel safe. ​ Have organization in place to provide healthy meals, ideally three times a day. ​ Encourage your child to have just one major interest outside school, put the organization in place for them to attend it regularly. This allows for free family time to build relationships ​ Put a morning routine in place so young children can predict what's expected. This supports them being cooperative & to start each day off well. ​ 3. Spend Positive Time Together Develop daily routines where your child knows they're going to get positive time with you. ​ Find an activity you can share together that you both enjoy. And be fully present. ​ Plan for fun family days, outings, weekends away or holidays together so that everyone has positive experiences together as a family. ​ Stop what you're doing and really listen to your child when they talk to you, whenever possible. ​ Turning off your phone shows your child they're more important than something on Facebook. ​​ 4. Notice the Positive Wherever Possible and Express Gratitude Watch for your children being good and comment on the specific things they're doing right. Explain the difference between rights and privileges so your young child learns to appreciate how many, many privileges they have in their life. ​ Sometimes give your child an unexpected privilege (something they'll really appreciate) and link it to gratitude for what they've done. ​ Model gratitude in your every day life. ​ Give your child a positive script to live up to, even if they occasionally blow it. ​ Be fair. Forgive. Your child is going to make mistakes. Be gracious rather than right. 6. Consistency, Consistency, Consistency. ​ Provide consistency, especially between both parents. But also including defactos, grandparents, parents-in-law and extended family. ​ Consistency with rules and expectations, ensuring you expect similar behaviour with all your children. ​​​ 5. Let Your Child Experience the Natural Consequences of What They've Done if they're: ​ Not valuing things: ​ Lying: Give your child the benefit of the doubt where possible, but not when you know they're lying. ​ Deliberately Rule Breaking: If your child is flouting the rules and being disrespectful they may need to be made more aware of their rights and privileges. ​ ​​Remember by law you have to maintain your teenagers rights, but privileges are a bonus. ​ Sensible Parenting Tips ​ Consider well before you make a decision ​ Say 'yes' to all you feel comfortable saying yes to ​ Distract if you need to ​ But once you say 'No,' it's no. Regardless of how much your child complains. Because if you've considered your decision, and you change it because they're being difficult about it, they learn whining, yelling or having tantrums works. Remember: Behaviours you reward are more likely to continue ​ For learning practical tips to overcome tantrums go to: ​​ Tool Kit 1: Handling Disrespect Anchor 3 Share this page with a friend ​ For more Best Parenting Advice to help with positive behaviour development, check the links below: ​​ Anchor 4 The True Value of Routines Routines help with afternoon engagements Blog: Raising Teenagers to Succeed Blog: Scared of Your Teenager? Boundaries Help Raise Good Kids Setting Boundaries Sleep Routines How to Get your child to sleep. Why Be Consistent? Consistency, Consistency, Consistency Why Spend Postive Time Together? A father playing chess with his son can help create a positive relationship Choosing Gratitude Not Entitlement A girl kissing her father Why Natural Consequences? The Value of Natural Consequences Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website. ​ This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to top FUN LEARNING MATHS GAMES ​When playing learning games children often don't realize they're learning maths at all. I've listed some fun learning games below which children enjoy playing. ​Prep or Kindy (3-5 Year Olds, ) ​ Grade 1 or 2 (6-7 Year Olds,) ​ Grades 3 or 4 (8-9 Year Olds.) ​ Click on the grade level above that is most appropriate to your needs. ​ Scroll through the parent information covered on Maths Concepts & Mathematical Language by the Games. Then click on the game you want to view. I've deliberately left all levels on the one page so you can extend or remediate as required. 3-5 Maths Games 3-5 Year Olds Prep or Kindergarten ​ MY FAVOURITES ARE IN CAPITAL LETTERS Car 10 Car 10 Game ONE UP ONE DOWN Best card game for young children Guesstimate How many items I've Got Ten Make 10 How Many Till They Fall How many till they fall Playing Fair Beautiful Kelpie-Couli cross This Free Fun Learning Maths Games Page provides advice for parents to best help identify the concepts and mathematical language they could be using while playing games with their children which helps make the learning experience as rich as possible. ​ Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to Ten Rote 1-10 Real counting accurately using Conservation of Number Understanding that numerals (numbers) represent a numerical value Number Recognition to 10 Recalling the correct sequence of numbers to ten, knowing what number comes immediately before or after a number to ten Approximation of numbers to 10 Keeping score ​ ​ Mathematical Language Covered What before and after means relating to a number sequence What more, less, or 'how many' means What add, minus or takeaway is SHOPPING GAME Shopping Game Tricky Bears Tricky Teddy Bear Game Roll Six Two Dice, roll six Game Match Me Match Me: Two dice Game FISHING GAME How to Make a fishing Game How Many Legs? How Many Legs Sorting Game Big Shark Little Shark Big Shark Little Shark Game Icon Spots, Stripes and Plain Spots, stripes and Plains game Icon Same and Different Sorting Sea Creatures Game Icon In addition to revising and building on the above mentioned skills and concepts from the first six games these additional Maths skills are covered by this collection of nine games. ​ Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to Ten Recognizing number patterns e.g. Dice Counting on from a particular number Matching a Numeral with the amount it's representing Making equal collections according to number Recognition of the concept of money and realizing that it's used to represent a numerical value Developing Skills of Classification and Comparison Colour identification Size Comparison Shape Comparison Type Comparison Ordering according to size ​ Mathematical Language Covered What a group or collection is What the same and different means Developing a Language of Classification: Specific Colours (red, blue, yellow, green, etc) patterns (plain, stripes, spots, etc,) size (larger, smaller,) type ( names of animal sub groups,) etc Developing a Language of Comparison: big, bigger, biggest, huge, enormous, small, smaller, smallest, tiny, high, higher, tall, taller, tallest, lighter coloured, darker coloured, etc Bank It ​ Mathematical Language Covered What symmetry and symmetrical mean What opposite and reverse means Development of a range of prepositions related to a 2D example: above, next to, below, further away, close to, etc In addition to revising and building on the above mentioned skills and concepts from the first fifteen games these additional Maths skills are covered by the game BANK IT. Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to Ten Recognizing number patterns e.g. Dice Understanding that you can 'Bank' an amount and count on making addition quicker and more accurate Seeing patterns of ten in rows and understanding they are the basis for building our numerical system Experimenting with real items to twenty, then fifty then one hundred and beyond Introducing numerals to twenty Exposing children to a number chart to 100 Fun Maths Games 5-7 Year Olds Grade 1 and Grade 2 6-7 More or Less More or less First to 30 Caterpillar with 30 segments Largest Number Wins Number plate Add Them Up GO TABLES 10 x, 2x and 5x Between One and a Hundred These six fun learning Maths Games build upon some of the Maths skills covered by the eighteen above mentioned learning games. Some of the new skills are: Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to Thirty and beyond Rote 1-30 from memory Real counting accurately to 30 using Conservation of Number Using a marker on a numeral to 30 as a visual means of keeping score Rote 1-50 from memory Understanding that numbers represent a numerical value and their position denotes value. For example The 3 in the numeral 37 represents 30 Developing an awareness that the order of the numbers in a numeral (from left to right) changes the value of the numeral. e.g 54 is greater than 45 Increasing awareness of rote counting to 100 emphasizing transitions to the next lot of ten Increasing awareness of Number recognition to 100 Addition and Subtraction to 30 Adding multiple combinations to 30 Subtracting from 30 using a score card to keep track Increasing speed of addition Identifying and recalling number combinations e.g. 6 +4 = 10 Developing an Awareness of the Concept of Multiplication Building on array work to recall 10 X tables Jumping numbers to create even numbers Learning 10 x tables and recalling them at speed Multiplication: Becoming aware of odd and even numbers Learning 2 x tables and recalling them at speed Learning 5 x tables and recalling them at speed ​ Mathematical Language Covered Addition: Add, total, plus, sum, altogether Subtraction: Subtract, take away, minus, left over, remainder Approximation: Guess, approximate, greatest, least, exact, closest to Multiplication: lots of, multiply, times Bean Bag Maths Kids in huddle Addled Lowest Wins Flash Countdown Make 10 These additional six fun Maths Games build upon the Maths skills previously covered by the twenty four sequential learning games above. Some of the new skills are: Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to Thirty and beyond Developing an awareness that the order of the numbers in a numeral (from left to right) changes the value of the numeral. e.g 35 is lower than 53 Addition and Subtraction to 30 Identifying and recalling number combinations to ten e.g. 6 +4 = 10 Increasing speed of addition in abstract form Developing an Awareness of Fractions Dividing a shape into equal sized amounts and naming the fraction Following directions to divide accurately ​ Mathematical Language Covered Addition: Add, plus, total, sum, altogether Subtraction: Subtract, take away, minus, left over, remainder Approximation: Guess, approximate, greatest, least, exact, closest to Fractions: divide, cut, equal amounts, half, quarters, thirds, remainder, left over, whole Multiplication and Division: multiples, multiply, divide by 7-8 Fun Maths Games for 7-8 Year Olds Grade 3 and Grade 4 Go Tables 3x 4x Between One and a Thousand Fractions Wars Mental Maths Best Four Pegs Black Card Go Back How Many Patterns Make Ten DICE CRICKET Double Up or Not These twelve fun Maths Games build upon the Maths skills previously covered by the twenty four sequential learning games above. Some of the new skills, concepts and language are: Mathematical Concepts Covered Counting to One Thousand Increasing awareness of Number recognition to 1000 Developing an ability to determine where a number sits between 1 and 1000... What numbers are ahead or behind it. Recognizing the value of position within numbers to 1000 and creating the largest value possible with four numbers Addition and Subtraction to 30 Increasing speed of addition in abstract form to include up to four numbers (Mental arithmetic) Identifying and recalling number combinations Subtracting using mental arithmetic Predicting and estimating addition options to create a specific total Developing an Awareness of Fractions Dividing a shape into equal sized amounts and naming them Increase awareness of equivalent fractions Developing an Awareness of the Concept of Multiplication Learning 3 x tables and recalling them at speed Learning 4 x tables and recalling them at speed Multiplying random numbers together and checking with concrete materials Recognizing and Predicting what number will come next in a pattern Estimating multiplied values Using a Combination of Mathematical Strategies Simultaneously Using the best combined strategies to reach a specific number Increasingly moving from the use of concrete materials and visual representations to abstract maths ​ Mathematical Language Covered Addition: between, following, after, approximately, combine, remove, reduce by, Multiplication and Division: solution, pattern, predict Fractions: equivalent, equal, fair division, remainder Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice possible on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. ​ The best parenting advice regarding creating engaged learners is to make learning as much fun as possible. That's why games work best to revise new information. Children practise skills over and over in play situations, yet aren't even aware they're doing it. Best parenting advice.com provides many examples of quick and easy games to help develop both early reading and maths skills. This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

Back to Top FREE FUN LEARNING GAMES Fun Maths Games for 7-8 Year Olds Grade 3 and Grade 4 Playing fun learning games helps your children to improve their mathematical skill and literacy without them realizing they're performing increasingly more difficult Mathematical activities. All activities on the Best Parenting Advice site reinforce existing Mathematical skills while offering extension due to the open ended opportunities they provide. Many of these games can be either up skilled or downgraded to accommodate siblings during shared family times such as travel. Fun Learning Games such as the games on Best Parenting Advice.com not only revise Maths concepts and expand Mathematical language they encourage positive attitudes to learning, increase cooperative behaviour between children and adults (as children learn cooperating has benefits) and it increases positive interactions within the family because it's fun. ​ Children usually love more of their parent's positive attention. Fun Maths Games is a great way of improving Maths skills while having fun at the same time with those they love to spend time with. ​ Please look at the Fun Maths Games Page to learn best parenting advice on specific skill development and mathematical terminology to best support your child's Maths development. ​ ​ FREE FUN LEARNING MATHS GAMES Fun Maths Game List or scroll down to see all games Go Tables 3x & 4x The Human Calculator Fraction Wars Mental Maths Best Four Pegs Black Card Go Back How Many Patterns Make Ten Dice Cricket Double Up or Not Tables Go Tables 3x & 4x Game 1 10 4 9 7 11 5 8 2 6 12 3 3x This is one of the best games I've known for revising tables. To begin you write down the numerals from one to twelve around a circle similar to the clock face below, in random order. Then initially write 3x then introduce later 4x in the middle, depending on which table you are wanting to revise. Generally 3x tables are taught early in Grade 3 followed by 4x tables. You can similarly revise tables 2x 5x and 10 x from last year ​ You start the stopwatch. Beginning at the one position on the clock (where the star is) give just the answer to each number as quickly as possible going clockwise around the clock. For example 2x9 is 18 so you say 18. You continue around the clock until you reach the twelve o'clock position. You stop the stopwatch and see how long it takes you. The next player takes their turn and times themselves. The winner is the person who completes the circle in the least amount of time. If someone makes an error they need to repeat their answer correctly then continue. ​ I've recorded an example of the clock face below to help you. You will notice the speed with which you go round the clock face will improve rapidly. Get the whole family involved and see how much you all improve over a week just playing five minutes a day. Between One and a Thousand Game (or The Human Calculator Game) Calculator This is an easy game that you can play anywhere with the whole family and it's especially great for car travel. Three or more players makes it more fun. ​ You begin by thinking of a number between one and a thousand (you can write it on a piece of paper if you wish.) By asking questions your child/children will attempt to guess what the number is. You can only answer 'Yes' or 'No' to their questions. If they get a 'No' response it goes to the next person's turn. The game continues until the number is identified. ​ For Example: Number 176 The first player might say 'Is the number greater than 500?' You would answer 'No.' It would become the next person's go. They might then ask, 'Is the number less than 250?' This time you would answer 'Yes.' They get another go. This time the player asks 'Is the number less than 125?' You would answer 'No.' It becomes the third players go (or reverts to player 1's turn.) ​ Ideally your child will have remembered that the number is less than 250 but greater than 125. If they can't remember you may need to include a revision like 'So we know it's between 125 and 250. (It's important to remember you are trying to build confidence and a positive attitude equally with their mathematical skill, so provide initial support where necessary.) The game continues, changing players after a 'No.' The winner if the one who works out the correct number. 11 Mental Maths Fraction Wars Fraction Wars Mental This is a great game to play when divvying up food that is easily divided. For example pizza, birthday cake, chocolate, etc so can be ideal for a family birthday celebration. Chocolate squares are great because you can divide them easily. You can cut up pizza/cake/chocolate using the language of fractions as you do so. For example cut a pizza in half, then half again, then half again. Discuss. How many pieces will there be if you cut each piece in half again? (One quarter equals two eighths which equals four sixteenths.) The Object of the game is for your child to predict how many pieces the pizza will be divided into ahead of you cutting it. The one who guesses correctly gets their pizza first. Encourage them to ask for their pizza in correct terminology.For example: Can I have four sixteenths please? ​ Extending upon the first game this time is for players to guess the fraction size prior to cutting it up to win. What happens if you cut the 2nd pizza into threes, then threes again. How many pieces will that be? Again the one who guesses correctly gets to go first. For example: Can I have three ninths please? ​ Use the language of fraction as you allocate portions. For example you want two ninths and I want three ninths. How many left? ​ A great idea is to look at comparisons so your children have a great understanding of fractions before they begin equivalent fractions in Grades 5 & 6. For example: 'I wonder which is bigger... One half or two quarters? (Can your child see that they are both the same.) This is quick and easy addition game that can be played anywhere. Player 1: Roll four die. Total the scores mentally. Player 2: Take their turn to roll four die. Total the score mentally. ​ Highest score gets a counter. First to five counters wins. Best Four Best Four Player 1: Roll four die. Make the largest numeral possible at face value. e.g. Scores: 2, 4, 6, 1 ... Largest number is 6421 ​ Player 2: Roll four die. Make the largest numeral possible from their numbers. ​ The largest numeral gets a counter. First to five counters wins. Pegs Black Card Go Back Pegs Black Card Take a handful of pegs. Each peg represents 10. Count by tens to see how many pegs are in a handful. Players estimate how many there will be in a bowl full. Repeat with a peg bucket full. ​ The closest estimate wins. Locate all cards from one (an Ace) through to ten. ​ Each player starts with 20. As each player takes turns drawing from the pile they get to add each red card's value to their total or subtract each black card's face value from their total. ​ The winner is the first to fifty. How many How Many? This is a great car game. Ask how many questions. e.g. How many windows in the car? Hands in the car? Fingers in the car? Toes in the car? Eyes in the car? Doors on the car? etc ​ You can adjust the difficulty of the questions according to the age and skill of the children. Patterns This is another great car game. It's a great way of revising number patterns and tables and it's really easy to tier the questions according to the ability levels of each child in your family. For older children you might make it quite difficult. e.g. 1,2,3 5,7,11, ​ e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4... ​ 2,4,6,8... ​ 10,9,8,7,6... ​ 3,6,9... ​ 5,10,15... Make Ten: Thank you Cherylin This is a great game for two players. Using a deck of playing cards remove queens, kings, jacks and tens. Aces counts as 1. Shuffle deck. Place deck face up in nine equal rows (four in each pile). The aim is to get as many cards as possible by making combinations to 10. Taking turns each player picks up cards in turns to make a total of 10. When a player makes 'ten' they place those cards face down. ​ If a player can't go they miss a turn until the other person reveals a card they can use. ​ The game finishes when neither player can go or there are no cards left. The player with the most cards wins. For example: The person who picks up a 5 and 2 and 2 and an ace are obviously going to get a higher score because it's the highest number of cards that win. Children catch onto this quickly. ​ More capable children may choose to play two piles at a time. Dice Cricket: Thank you Cherylin & Terrie This is a great game for two players. Players decide at the outset on a target: either 50 or 100 Player One throws one die and calls out the number, continuing to throw then add each successive amount until they throw a 5. When they get a five they relinquish their turn but keep their score. e.g. Player 1 scores 3 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 5=20 ​ Player 2 follows the same process, rolling a die and adding the scores until they either get a five or reach their target number. 6 + 4 + 6 + 5 = 21 ​ The game repeats until one of the player reaches the target score. Initially children may need to use paper to work out their score but over time they should be able to do it as a mental. When it’s your turn again add onto your cumulative score. ​ For more learning ideas go to the following links: Double Up or Not The players can choose to use one or two die to make their score for each round. They add the numbers on the faces. ​ N.B. One of the die represents tens. The other die represents ones. For example: The Ten Die might say five which would score fifty. The Singles Die might say three. Thus the total could be fifty three. This would be useless for scoring twenty, so the player would likely take the three as a part towards their goal score of twenty. ​ The next player throws to see what numbers they get and chooses either to use the scores on the tens dice or the singles or both together. These can be then added towards their goal number. For example if the player got a two on the tens dice that equals twenty and they have won that round. ​ Each player has to get specific goal numbers before going onto the next amount. ​ You can add scores and acquire the number slowly or get it in one go. ​ The first goal number is twenty. The first to get twenty gets a counter. ​ The next goal number is fifty. The first to get fifty gets a counter. ​ And the last important number is one hundred. This will require adding and is more difficult. ​ You can stage the game according to your child's abilities. ​ ​ Sometimes as children get older its tempting to keep adding complexity to their Maths concepts and language by providing them with increasingly difficult tasks to do. Not only can this make Maths less enjoyable but if the activities are not pitched to their levels of proximal development it can result in a negative attitude developing. Patterns Make Ten Cricket Double Up Learning Maths Incidentally Developing a Love of Learning Proximal Development is Important Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice possible on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. ​ The best parenting advice regarding creating engaged learners is to make learning as much fun as possible. That's why games work best to revise new information. Children practise skills over and over in play situations, yet aren't even aware they're doing it. Best parenting advice.com provides many examples of quick and easy games to help develop both early reading and maths skills. This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.

back to top Easy Healthy Fish Recipes Tuna Pesto Pasta Salmon Mornay by David Jamie's Succulent Salmon For more Easy Healthy Recipes go to the following links: Easy Healthy Breakfasts Best Lunch Box Story Ever Easy Healthy Soups Easy Tasty Recipes Easy Tasty Recipes 10 Tips to Make Meals Kid Friendly 10 tips to make meals kid friendly Easy Healthy Lamb Recipes Easy Healthy Beef Recipes Easy Pasta and Pizza Recipes Easy Healthy Rice Recipes Share this group of recipes with a friend Back to Top Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family. One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof. ​ This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems. Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.