Encourage your kids to be physically active today!

Today’s guest post comes to us from Lisa Griffin from SameDayPapers.com, and she writes on the topic of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active. With today’s ease of access to technology, iPads, Kindles and other tablets, it is easy for us as parents to hand them to our child and let them entertain themselves while we prepare dinner or just while we are relaxing and winding down from the day. However, too much time on those sorts of devices or too much time indoors, for that matter, are not a good thing. In this article, Lisa offers up some great ways to introduce your child to physical activities that they will come to enjoy throughout their lifetimes. In fact, my kids are often on their devices too much right now and this article couldn’t have come at a better time for me and my family.

Thank you for the great guest post article, Lisa.

Enjoy.
– Will

8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active

If you want your child to develop healthily, physical activity is necessary. Like other useful habits, the habit of working out is best formed from early childhood. We offer you eight ideas on how to motivate kids to exercise and spend more time outdoors. These recommendations are suitable for kids from three years-old to adulthood.

1. Limit the use of devices

First in our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is limiting time on devices. Even if your kid really likes to spend time watching the cartoons, playing phone or video games, this pastime should be limited. For example, you can set the time that they are allowed to spend in front of the screen, and the time when they should do something else, for example, take a walk in the fresh air.

2. Take time for active rest

Today, many children are overwhelmed with various tasks: homework, extracurricular activities, English lessons. Because of all these extra-duties, it’s easy to forget how important physical activity is. Therefore, allocate at least one hour a day and devote this time for the child’s stroll, run or play in the fresh air. On weekends, you can spend more time on physical training.

3. Buy toys for outdoor activities

Next in our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is when buying toys, think of outdoor play when selecting your toys to purchase. If your mind is occupied with how to encourage children to exercise, try to buy your child not only toys that can be played at home, but also those that are designed for activity in the fresh air. On the one hand, the child would be interested in trying a new toy, and on the other, it would be an extra reason to spend more time outside. It is important for the kid that the parents spend time with him or her. Walk in the evenings. In the warmer seasons and on weekends, spend more time in the fresh air. Play football or volleyball together. You will show the child a good personal example, and secondly, you’ll spend more time with him or her. By the way, if your kid does not succeed, your support will be useful and encouraging for him or her.

4. Domestic help is also physical exercise

If the kid wants to help you clean the house, let him or her do it. Of course, not all tasks can be assigned to a small assistant. At the same time, cleaning is also one of many physical activities for kids at home. Cleaning the house or helping out in the garden, or even washing dishes is something that little assistants do well. In addition, in this way, from an early age, you can introduce your child to domestic duties that are essential to daily life and is one of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active. Not all activities need to have play at the center of the activity, but cleaning the house can have playful elements as a part of it. For instance, a race to see who can sweep or dust the fastest can always be fun.

5. Praise the child

And, do it not only for the result but for trying. Even if your kid does not do everything how it should be done, praise him or her. Even if, helping around the house, the helper has littered more, than cleaned – praise him or her. If you are willing to get any proactive behavior from the kid (in sports or help in the garden), praise him for any action and their initiative to help as one of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active.

6. Plan an active vacation or weekend

Next among our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active is getting outdoors as a family on weekends or during personal time off (PTO) for a family vacation. In Summer and other warm seasons, arrange excursions into nature. And if hiking with an overnight stay in the tent is not suitable for everyone, then travel by the whole family to the river or the forest is not difficult at all. Your child will rejuvenate to a greater degree outdoors than at home in front of the computer or iPad, and he will have more energy to play sports. Further, he or she will come to appreciate the outdoors and find a love for outdoor activities when the entire family takes part in these kinds of activities.

7. Find a fun activity

Next and an important part of our 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active list is to choose a sport that suits your youngster by age. Such that the kid can enjoy the activity. It can be swimming, team sports,gymnastics or even riding a bike. If necessary, consult a pediatrician – he or shee will help you choose what the child needs at their given age at that time as an age-appropriate activity. Although, it’s important in physical activity that is not be too much and overwhelming or too exerting and demanding on your child’s physical abilities. If your kid is tired and has absolutely no desire to take a walk, let him or her stay at home. If your kid does not participate in a team sport, it may be worthwhile to take a break for a while or choose another type of physical activity. After all, the health and well-being of your child are the most important.

8. Be a role model

Most of all, children take cues and learn from their parents and when developing healthy habits, it is no different. Therefore, if you are willing to motivate your kids to exercise and be physically active, be a personal example. If you do exercises every day, do not doubt that your child will do the same. If you walk a lot in the fresh air and get pleasure from it, keep staying healthy and do not doubt that your child will also love walks.

We hope you find this this list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active inspiring and adopt some of them for your own family. If you could add anything to this list, what would you add to our list of 8 ways to encourage your child to be physically active? Leave us a comment below.

About the Guest Post Author

Lisa Griffin is a physical therapist and a freelance writer at SameDayPapers.com. She is entrepreneurial, energetic and enthusiastic, loves and knows the business of physical therapy, and is an avid runner and exerciser.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

Enjoy this infographic shared with us by Nature Rated and get outdoors with your kids, today

Today’s guest post comes to us from Joe Black of NatureRated.com, and he shared this great list of 15 Summer activities to help your kids appreciate nature infogrphic. Joe speaks about the health benefits of taking 90 minute or longer walks and what it can do to help alleviate stress, anxiety and much more. He discusses that screen time for kids can have lasting negative affects where spending time in nature can inhibit those effects and he would love to see children inspired to climb a tree or build a fort and I happen to agree with that wish.

I too, would love to see children outside more often, not forced outside because mom or dad scheduled a playdate, but truly because they want to be outside. It starts with you, mom and dad, let’s show our kids how nature is something to enjoy and pursue activities that make us all get up and get outside.

We’re delighted that we are able to share this great infographic below with you from Nature Rated, and we are also happy that we were able to share it with you with a couple weeks left of official Summer to get out and enjoy it. We hope you get inspired by some of these 15 Summer activities to help your kids appreciate nature infographic a little more each day.

Besides, with numerous lakes, trails and Lake Tahoe less than 30 minutes to an hour away, why not? It’s in our own backyard. The Northern Nevada region is perfect for a family-fun adventure. Get out an enjoy the outdoors, today!

Enjoy.
– Will

15 Summer activities to help your kids appreciate nature

What are your kids doing this Summer? For many of us Summer time with the kids is a time to enjoy the outdoors, the sunshine and, if you’re lucky, the ocean.

As much as kids love Summer holidays, keeping them busy can be a real chore! If you don’t have the luxury of a Summer camp, then it’s up to you, as parent, to find things for the youngsters to keep busy with.

Failing that, your kids might spend all their time in front of a computer, tablet, cell phone or other screen and research has shown that spending too much time in front of a screen can have a detrimental effect on the health and well-being of children.

On the other side of this discussion, studies have shown that taking part in nature-based activities helps people who are suffering from mental ill-health and can contribute to a reduction in levels of anxiety, stress, and depression. In fact, a daily walk in nature has showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression.

One in four people are estimated to experience bouts of mental illness and it’s on the rise. Doctor prescribed medication of antidepressants are also at a record high level and the demand for more invasive treatments are also on the rise. Health and social care commissioners are examining and commissioning different options for cost effective services for mental health and one of these options is a daily walk of 90 minutes or more. We need to learn from the past when kids got excited to spend their time climbing trees and building forts rather than spending hours inside, and in particular glued to a screen.

Joe at Nature Rated understands this all too well and has put together an infographic on 15 Summer activities to help your kids appreciate nature.

From baking a blackberry pie to constructing a pond or insect hotel, there’s plenty for the youngsters to get up to. Head on over to his site for step by step instructions to get your kids out and about enjoying nature.

Video Credit: Tahoe in a Day | Summer at Lake Tahoe – 4K from Peyton Z Peltier on Vimeo.

About the Guest Post Author

An outdoor enthusiast, Joe Black is the lead editor at Nature Rated; a website which rates and reviews the best outdoor gear for people who quickly want to know what to get. He believes in no fluff, to the point reviews, which help you choose the right gear for your next adventure.

Whenever daily life gets him down he heads to the nearest lake or river with his kayak and camera spending time recharging his batteries.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

Building a small garden in your backyard isn’t as hard as you might think

Today’s guest post comes to us from Ann Katelyn of SumoGardener.com, and she writes about building a small garden in your backyard. She covers everything from soil preparation, seeds, choosing an optimal location and much more.

One of our first posts on Windy Pinwheel was about building a raised garden bed in your backyard, so this one strikes us very near and dear to our hearts.

Thanks for the great post about building a small garden in your backyard, Ann.

Enjoy.
– Will

Tips to Build Beautiful Small Gardens Quickly

Are you thinking of building a small garden in your backyard? Did you know that it is possible? If you are one of the many people considering building a small garden in your backyard, then knowing the tips to building beautiful small gardens quickly is essential, for you to be able to start planting your seeds and growing them immediately.

Having your garden, no matter how small or big it is, is fun because you get to grow the plants that you like. It ‘d be good to look out the window and see how beautiful your backyard is with all the colorful flowers that you have. No matter how small or big your yard is, you will surely be able to get the garden that you want for yourself to build your own personal oasis of relaxation when you look out into your yard.

Here are the tips to build a beautiful small gardens quickly:

1. Think of the type of garden you want
   The first thing that you need when building a small garden in your backyard is to decide about the kind of garden that you want for yourself. You can opt to have a garden that is full of vegetables, or you can also choose to have flowers in your garden. Of course, if you prefer to have both then you should know that it is necessary for you to divide your garden into two parts, for you to be able to have an area to plant your vegetables and flowers.
   

   

2. Choosing an area in your backyard
   The next thing that you need to do is to select an area in your yard where you want to start growing. It is important to choose an area where the soil is rich and one that can easily drain. You need to avoid areas in your backyard where the water is taking too long to drain, as this only means that plants will have a hard time growing since the soil is clay or too soggy.

   Now, if you don’t have good soil in your backyard then creating raised beds will do. Raised beds, like this one on Amazon will also allow you to grow vegetables and flowers and are usually built on the top part of the soil so you can control the quality of your soil that you are using.

3. Start Designing the Small Garden
   Since you only need a small garden, this means that you don’t have to use your entire backyard when building a small garden in your backyard. You need to create your garden depending on the plants that you are going to grow as it will usually dictate the amount of space you need. For instance, if you are growing vegetables, you need to make sure that you will be able to harvest them once they fully ripen.

   For flower gardens, on the other hand, it would be best to choose flower colors that will look great together and fit perfectly. You may also choose to create a pattern out of the flowers that you are planning to grow. Of course, don’t expect them to bloom all at once, especially if you plant different types of flower seeds. So, plan for that when building a small garden in your backyard that focuses on flowers.

   

4. Preparing the grden supplies
   Now you can start preparing the garden supplies that you need when building a small garden in your backyard. Of course, this includes the gardening soil, seeds, topsoil, soil fertilizer, compost, soil tilling stuff, spade, shovel, garden hose, and fencing materials if needed. You will need all these things to prepare the garden for the planting, which is why it is necessary to get them before you even start planting the seeds that you have in mind.
   
5. Preparing the soil in Your garden
   The soil tiller should be used to break the garden soil that you have. It would be best to work the ground to up to 12 inches in depth. You also need to make sure that the ground is loose and don’t have clumps that are large. Any solid objects that you see should be separated from the soil that you want to be prepared for planting and fertilizing. Using soil mix or mulch are quick ways for planting in garden beds.
6. Start planting your chosen seeds
   

   

   Now that you have prepared your small garden, it would be the best start digging holes using the spade. Always make sure that the holes are an inch apart from each other and as deep as possible.

7. Fertilize the soil as needed
   Applying fertilizer will depend on the plants that you have planted in your garden. You can check the packaging of the seeds and learn whether or not it needs to be fertilized more often. The reason behind this is because there are plants that require a lot of fertilizers, while there are some that don’t require too much.
8. Watering your garden well
   

   

   Of course, for your plants to be able to grow well, you need to water your garden generously. Some people prefer watering by a sprinkler since a sprinkler will ensure that you will be watering every part of your garden.

We hope you find these helpful when building a small garden in your backyard beautifully and quickly, so you can instantly start planting the vegetables and flowers that you want when creating the backyard oasis of your dreams.

About the Guest Post Author

Ann Katelyn is the owner of SumoGardener.com. She has dedicated most of her life to a passion for gardening. It is the subject she enjoys the most. Since then, she is committed to developing her website to be the best guidance when it comes to taking care of flowers and plants. She is seeking to become an expert on plants found in desert areas, tropics and even in Mediterranean climates. On her site, you can expect to find information about gardening, the best tools and materials to use and even information about the seasons and weather conditions.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

3 ways to include your family in exercise activities

Today’s guest post comes to us from Dan Chabert at RunnerClick and he writes about how to include your family in exercise activities. This article tugs at my heartstrings because I too find it difficult to get active and motivated to exercise. Perhaps employing these ways to incorporate my family in exercise activities will go a long way to building lasting memories and to lead by example with my children that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for both my mental well-being and physical well-being and it is a life-long endeavor. Not just when the time is convenient. It must be a consideration at all times. Building healthy habits now with your children will last a lifetime with your kids.

Enjoy.
– Will

3 excellent ways to incorporate your family into your exercise routine

Having a family places demands on your time that people without children simply don’t understand. Once you are responsible for the health and well-being of another living person, your time no longer belongs to you, and it seems like the only way you can do everything you need to do in day-to-day life is to somehow secure a magical 25th hour to your day. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but unfortunately, there is no 25th hour. We all have only 24 hours in each day.

It’s not all that surprising, then, that many parents often find themselves unable to exercise, or get into a regular routine, because they feel so strapped for time each day. It’s all too common that we parents get into the habit of caring for others and putting their needs before our own. By the time we realize that we’ve been neglecting ourselves, it seems like it’s too late: we’re stressed out beyond belief, our clothes don’t fit as well anymore (assuming they fit at all), we’re generally unhappy, and the list goes on. Here’s the thing, though: we have to take care of ourselves! We have to look out for our own general health and physical and mental well-being. We owe it to ourselves to do all that we can to make ourselves the very best, the very healthiest, versions of ourselves as possible, not only because it’ll make us feel fantastic, but also because we have to be our own biggest advocates. We parents routinely go above and beyond to care for our families, but no one is going to care for us but ourselves. Our health should be as big a priority as that of our family.

If you’re interested in starting an exercise routine but don’t know where to begin – particularly if you have young children in your family – might I suggest thinking outside the box and establishing an exercise routine wherein you routinely involve your family in exercise activities? Sure, it might sound counter-intuitive, if not also a bit counterproductive, but provided you give yourself some flexibility and patience, exercising with your family can become part of both your and your family’s healthy lifestyle. Besides, incorporating your family in exercise activities can be fun and could build memories that last a lifetime with your children.

Below, you’ll find my suggestions for ways you can involve your family in exercise activities and how to make it a regular routine. Like I mentioned earlier, the biggest, most important thing I can implore you to remember is that you absolutely must be patient and flexible. Some days, things might not go as swimmingly as you desire, and that’s totally ok! Do your best, and you’ll have nothing to be upset about – much like we tell our children.

My tips for how you can incorporate your family in exercise activities:

1. Go on a bicycle ride together. My first suggestion to include your family in exercise activities is going on a bike ride together. I bet you have found memories of riding your bike as a child, and it’s such a fun thing to do that I’m sure your children would love to do it now as well – and with you, it’ll be even more fun! If your children are too young to ride by themselves yet, you could always consider investing in a bike trailer that would allow you to pull them behind you while you ride. Don’t forget all the necessary safety components for bicycle riding – such as obeying traffic laws and wearing helmets (if not also other gear for the little ones). Fortunately, in northern Nevada, you’ll have a variety of terrain to choose from (flats or mountainous areas) and typically-favorable weather that will allow you to ride outdoors nearly year-round, if you so choose. This method of including your family in exercise activities is a great one.
2. Run together as a family. As a hobby, running is incredibly versatile, and it’s an activity that you can do basically anywhere you go: around your neighborhood, through a park, alongside a river, up through the mountains, and the list goes on and on. Plus, children naturally love to run, as evidenced by how quickly toddlers transition from walking to running. Running together as a family could help you create lifelong memories together, and much like it is with bicycling together as a family, the speed or distance you post doesn’t matter. What matters more is that you enjoy the process and the experience and that you emulate for your children how fun it is to regularly incorporate physical activity into your healthy lifestyle. In addition, if your children are too little to run by themselves quite yet, you could consider purchasing a running-friendly stroller and push them in it while you log some miles with the rest of your family. In fact, some bicycle trailers transition into running strollers so if the day isn’t good for a bike ride, you can run or vice versa.



3. Explore your world together on foot by hiking or walking. Perhaps the most accessible exercise that you can do together as a family is simply going for a walk or a hike together. It takes basically zero equipment, save for a good pair of shoes and some water perhaps, and it doesn’t matter if you stay indoors or go venture through any of Nevada’s amazing landscapes, up Mount Rose, around Davis Creek or out near Pyramid Lake. Anyone can walk, and speed and distance do not matter here, either. You can chat with your family while you’re on the move about their observations of the world around them, teach them about the wildlife and vegetation, and you might learn more than you realize when you begin to see the world through your childrens’ eyes.

It’s understandably really challenging, when you’re a parent, to find a way to devote time for exercise nearly every single day. However, it’s incredibly important to do so for all the obvious reasons, but also because you’ll likely find that regularly exercising makes you a better parent and a better partner. While none of us can extract a 25th hour from the day to devote to exercise, one way that we can ensure that we get our daily dose of sweat on our brows is by involving our family in exercise activities. Doing so, will teach the youngest ones in our families that exercise is a normal and enjoyable part of a healthy and active lifestyle, and it will surely help set a positive example and precedent for your children to follow as they grow, develop and mature, as well.

About the Guest Post Author

Dan Chabert is a husband, entrepreneur, long distance runner, travel enthusiast, web guru, certified geek and author at RunnerClick.com, a website dedicated to research and reviews about the many topics, and categories that running encompasses.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

What is your baby’s nutrition worth to you?

Today’s guest post comes to us from Emma Claire at CookNovel who writes about baby food recipes so that you can make your baby food right at home.

When our children were little (today, at the time of this post they are 8, 6 and 3 respectively), we used the BEABA Babycook steam cooker/blender to make our baby food. We put the food in ice cube trays and put them in the freezer and pulled them out when we needed them.

Making food for our children without preservatives and all of the extras of store-bought food off of the shelf helped us feel good about what our children ate while growing at such critical stages in their brain development. Even to this day, we only buy Horizon brand organic milk with DHA labeled on the container.

The nutrition our children receive is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. We hope you can use some of these recipes for your own little ones. Thanks for the great article, Emma.

Enjoy.
– Will

5 Delicious wholesome homemade baby food recipes for your baby

When it comes to your baby, there’s no such thing as “trying too hard”, particularly when it comes to their food.

Cooking your baby’s food at home might take some extra time, which can be a problem for busy parents but there are several good reasons why you should consider homemade and wholesome baby food.

1. Since you’re the one that makes the food, you’ll know exactly what your baby is eating, down to the last ingredient. No preservatives, no colorants, no extra sugar. Just want you chose to eat.
2. It can be more affordable. This is not always the case but high-quality, organic, pre-packaged baby food tends to be pretty expensive. Luckily, making your own baby food can help you cut on the costs.
3. You can personalize your baby’s food based on what they like. This can help you gradually introduce new things in their diets, take out the foods they don’t like and eliminate any allergy risks.
4. You can share your food with your baby by making their food with similar ingredients as the one you used for your family’s dinner, saving time and money!

Now that you know why making your baby’s food at home is so convenient, it’s time to look at some of the most wholesome baby food recipes out there so you can make sure you’re giving your baby nothing but the best!

Delicious apple, oatmeal and pumpkin baby food

[col_half]

Ingredients:

½ cup of unsweetened apple sauce.
½ cup of pumpkin, pureed.
1 ½ cup of cooked rolled oats. (Unsweetened)

Cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg to taste. (Remember not to use too much as to not to overwhelm your baby’s palate)

[/col_half][col_half_last]

Instructions:

Step 1: Mix the unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin and the cooked oatmeal together.
Step 2: Gradually add the cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger and taste it. Add more spices if necessary.
Step 3: Stir everything until perfectly mixed and blend if necessary.

This recipe is fantastic for babies aged 6-8 months.

[/col_half_last]

Creamed peas and nuggets

[col_half]

Ingredients:

4 cups of peas, preferably fresh.
1 cup of whole milk
2 tbsp. of flour
2 tbsp. of butter
Chicken

[/col_half][col_half_last]

Instructions:

Step 1: In a sauce pan, mix the flour with melted butter. Cook no longer than a minute.
Step 2: Add the milk and mix as you do it to prevent any lumps.
Step 3: Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add other spices if you feel it’s appropriate.
Step 4: Cook while stirring until the mix starts to thicken.
Step 5: Add the peas and cook them for about five minutes or until they’re heated through.
Step 6: Add chicken

Since this recipe has dairy consult with your pediatrician before introducing it to your baby’s diet.

[/col_half_last]

Squash and rice puree

[col_half]

Ingredients:

1 cup of mashed butternut squash
½ cup of fresh water
¼ cup of rice of your choosing.
Yogurt (optional)

[/col_half][col_half_last]

Instructions:

Step 1: Using a blender or a food processor mix your mashed squash and the water. Slowly integrate the rice until perfectly blended.
Step 2: If your baby doesn’t like the consistency add more water to thin it or, if your baby can eat dairy, add yogurt to thicken it.

This recipe is perfect for babies 8 months old or more!

[/col_half_last]

Banana Avocado Baby Food

[col_half]

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana

[/col_half][col_half_last]

Instructions:

Step 1: Peel and de-pit your avocado
Step 2: Remove the avocado meat and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 3: Peel your banana and mash it with a food masher or a fork.
Step 4: Blend everything together in a food processor or a blender until you reach the desired consistency.

This recipe is perfect for babies between 6 – 4 months and it doesn’t need to be cooked so you can make it in a pinch.

[/col_half_last]

Sweet potato soup

[col_half]

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of sweet potatoes, cooked.
1 tbsp. of flour
1 tbsp. of butter
1 ½ cups of chicken broth
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup of whole milk

You can use cinnamon instead or nutmeg or, if you prefer it, you can also use 1/8 of nutmeg and 1/8 of ginger for extra flavor.

[/col_half][col_half_last]

Instructions:

Step 1: Melt the butter and mix it with the flour in a saucepan. Mix until it acquires a caramel-like color.
Step 2: Slowly add the broth while mixing the entire way to prevent any lumps. Keep the soup simmering and slowly stir in the potatoes and whatever spices you chose.
Step 3: Cook for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Mix using a food processor or a blender (Top 5 best personal blenders for smoothies). Add the milk when you serve the baby food.

[/col_half_last]

Storing homemade baby food

If there’s a downside to homemade baby food is the fact that it doesn’t keep as long as pre-packed food.

There are two ways you can store baby food, in the freezer or the fridge.

Fridge

You can store your homemade baby food in the fridge for up to 48 hours, as long as you keep it in an airtight container.

Freezer

You can also freeze your baby food so it lasts from 1-3 months.

The best way of doing this is not adding liquids (such as milk or broth) to the food until it’s time to eat it:

• Puree the base of your baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays.
• Take out only the baby food cubes you’ll need. (1 cube is optimal for young babies)
• Thaw the pureed baby food and integrate the liquids
• Reheat and serve

What do you think of these recipes?

Do you know any others that you think need to be included in this list? Do you have any doubts? Questions? Suggestions? Want to let us know if your baby liked the food? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to share with your friends and family if you found this article useful.

Thanks for reading!

About the Guest Post Author

I’m Emma, founder of CookNovel blog, and I’m absolutely in love with food blogs. I’d like to share the interesting recipes, food tips and top lists of kitchen gadgets. I’m a foodie at heart but being the mother of 3 kids, it’s not always easy to keep up with fancy dinners… so I rely on the support of other blogging moms like me to help along the way.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

Pool safety is no joke

Today’s guest post comes to us from Sean Morris at LearnFit.com. He writes about pool safety in the off-season. Even though we are in Northern Nevada, some of us might have pools in our backyards. Pool safety with young children is no joke. It can only take seconds for a toddler or young child to drown. Please take these precautions when wrapping up your Summer fun zone in the backyard. Thank you for your fantastic article, Sean. We really appreciate the contribution.

Enjoy.
– Will

4 ways to protect your child from drowning in the off-season

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) names drowning as the top cause of unintentional deaths for children ages 1-4 years? An astounding 58% of these occur in in-ground pools.

But never fear: here are four ways to ensure pool safety to protect your little one from drowning during the off-season.

1. Invest in a pool fence.

A pool fence can be the ultimate safeguard for your home when it comes to pool safety. All kids have the tendency to wander off to forbidden areas, and this can include your backyard and pool area. In fact, more than 75 percent of children who drown are seen five minutes or less before they are discovered in the pool. Reduce the risk dramatically by blocking off the water, and ensure the gate to enter has a self-latching, child-safety lock on it to deter even the craftiest of children.

2. Ensure that pool drain and filter covers are secure and out of reach.

From 2005 to 2007, 24 cases (and two deaths) were reported of a child becoming trapped in a pool or spa drain. Kids have been known to play with an open drain only to have hair, a hand or a foot get caught in the suction, leaving them unable to escape. Public pools are required by law to adhere to specific child-safe drain covers; these kinds of covers might be a valuable option for your own home as a pool safety measure!

3. Keep that rescue equipment right where it is.

If you have a pool and a young child, you certainly have a life preserver and shepherd’s hook by the pool. Keep them there! Even if your pool is covered for the season, even if your gate is locked and secured, always keep your pool safety tools handy.

4. Consider an extra, louder layer of protection.

Consider adding an alarm to your pool area, especially if your child is particularly precocious and ambitious, add an alarm to your pool gate. This could save precious seconds if a toddler figures out the child-safety locks. Remember, it takes only seconds for a child to drown.

“Off-season” doesn’t mean “out of danger.” When it comes to pool safety, even the most conscientious parents can have close calls. Remember these tips and keep your child safe from drowning no matter the season!

About the Guest Post Author

Sean Morris recently left his career as a social worker to be a stay-at-home dad to his wonderful kids. He and a couple of his friends created LearnFit.org. On the site, he enjoys writing about parenting, marriage, how to achieve work-life balance, and more.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.