How to Create Lasting Memories With Your Kids in the Outdoors

Your child’s growing-up years will be a kaleidoscope filled with more precious moments than they can possibly remember every detail of. However, some memories are so impactful in a child’s life that they will be treasured forever. For whatever reason, times spent together in the outdoors are more indelible than most. Here are some ways to create cherished memories that will last you and your child a lifetime.

Go to the Beach

The magic of the beach is that it is for everyone. Even people who wouldn’t consider themselves the outdoorsy type love the beach. There is something about the deep blue of the skies, the timelessness of the sand, and the constant gentle motion of the ocean that create the perfect ambiance for mindfulness. 

It is in these mindful moments together that perfect moments turn into lasting memories. The most important thing is to engage with your kids. Don’t hand them a bucket, tell them to go play, and then turn to your novel. Build sand castles, splash in the waves, and look for shells together.

Take Them Camping

Camping never fails to deliver lasting memories. Either everything goes wrong and you can laugh about how miserable it was, or it is perfect and brings back nostalgic feelings every time you think about it. 

Camping also provides an excellent opportunity to teach your kids vital skills such as fire making, first aid, and orienteering. It’s also a great time to teach important life skills, such as courtesy and respect. You can teach your kids to be responsible campers by cleaning trash and extinguishing your fires. 

Play With Them in the Backyard

You might think that lasting memories are only made during major events such as family vacations or trips. However, a kid doesn’t need a special destination to form happy memories with you. In fact, some of the best memories can happen in your own backyard. All it takes is a willingness to let go of your everyday stressors and truly connect with your kids. Think about your own magical moments with your parents. Chances are they happened when you were doing something simple together, like playing tag, throwing a ball, or jumping on the trampoline. 

There are ample studies which show that spending more time outdoors is good for both your physical and emotional health. It is also the perfect setting for making lasting memories with your kids. Your kids will be all grown up before you know it, so take every opportunity to spend focused time with them in the great outdoors!

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How to Ensure Healthy Childhood Development

Parenting is something that thousands of experts have spoken about for centuries. Everyone does it differently–and it also doesn’t help that every child is different.

As intimidating as it may be, there are certain things you can do in order to ensure that your child is getting the minimum for their healthy development. 

Take Your Child to the Doctor

Physical health is the most basic and primary priority. There may be some things you can take care of as a parent–a simple abrasion on your child’s arm, a sunburn, a cold–but you should know when it’s best to take them to the doctor. Pediatricians will have the expertise and experience to be able to help your child whenever something more extreme happens. 

Regular appointments will mean that some problems can be caught early on before they become serious. This is why it’s so important to have check-ups even when nothing is obviously wrong. 

Pay Attention to Behavior

It’s important to be familiar with the stages of childhood development so that you can be prepared. It also means that you will know what to interpret as normal or as abnormal. This should be done on both a physical and an emotional level. For example, thumb sucking at a young age is perfectly normal, but it can lead to dental issues long-term. 

Prepare beforehand how to talk to your child about puberty and the changes that occur in the body (not to mention emotionally). Know how to respond to behavior that you feel is inappropriate. Healthy discipline that teaches your child about responsibility without abuse is critical.

Basic Needs

A child needs to be comfortable to develop in a healthy way. That means that food, water, shelter, clothes, exercise, education, and a clean environment are priorities that shouldn't be compromised in any way. One of the most important needs that a child has is their emotional need for love and support. Communicate with your child. Generational trauma occurs when one parent’s unhealthy style of parenting is unconsciously repeated by their child, and so on–so put in the emotional work to deconstruct your own past difficulties and trauma. The last thing you want to do is unconsciously raise your child in a way that will cause them pain. 

A child is not only a responsibility. It is another human being who will grow based on your actions as a parent. It is your responsibility, in turn, to educate yourself before and during your child’s life in order to give them the life that they deserve. 

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Why Isn't My Child Talking Yet?

As a parent, it can be frustrating and scary to realize that your child is not hitting their speech development milestones. Before you start to panic, it is important to understand some of the reasons why your child is not talking yet and what you can do to encourage this development. Here are three of the most common reasons why your child might not be talking yet:

Not Being Talked to Enough

This source recommends, “although many parents might feel silly constantly talking to a person who cannot yet talk back, the regular and persistent verbal communication that you share with your infant is imperative to their speech development. Infants respond to any kind of verbal communication, regardless of whether it is baby talk or more adult vocabulary and inflections.” Young impressionable brains are wired to soak up all of the sounds, tones, and words so that they are able to process those into a vocabulary. By being intentional about speaking with your infant from its first days of life, you will be encouraging it to develop its own language skills when the time comes.

Hearing Issues

This source explains, “one baby in a thousand is born profoundly deaf. Another two to three are born with partial hearing loss. Hearing loss is the No. 1 birth defect in America. Many studies have shown that early diagnosis of hearing loss is crucial to the development of speech, language, cognitive, and psychosocial abilities. Treatment is most successful if hearing loss is identified early, preferably within the first month of life. That's why 39 states require some type of hearing test before the baby leaves the hospital.” Common hearing problems can be negated with proper intervention, making it important to ensure that your child is tested.

Older Siblings

Oftentimes, children with older siblings are delayed in their speech capabilities. This source reports, “babies and toddlers with siblings are more likely to let the older kids speak for them, rather than talking for themselves. After a while, they will start to become dependent on the sibling to speak for them out of habit.” If your baby appears to be delayed in speech acquisition, it is a good idea to instruct any older siblings to encourage their younger brother or sister to speak up for themselves.

Take care to remove any obstacles out of your child's way when it comes to language development. By doing so, you can do your part to encourage normal patterns of speech development from a young age.

Life with children just seems to go by so fast. They may be dealing with these challenges now, but it could feel like this is only a passing second. That’s why it’s so important to take photos of your children, especially in their first couple years of life!