Your inspirational quote from Gadgetforkids Pty Ltd

"The problem with our children is not enough of them have dreams. The problem with our adults is too many of them only ever dream. For a dream to come true, we have to realize that the first thing to do is WAKE UP AND DO SOMETHING!"


Bill Cosby 

What Are Cognitive Skills?

Cognitive skill development in children involves the progressive building of learning skills, such as attending, memory and thinking. These crucial skills enable children to process the sensory information they experience and eventually learn to evaluate, analyze, remember, make comparisons and understand cause and effect. Although some cognitive skill development is related to the child's genetic makeup, most cognitive skills are learned. That means thinking and learning skills can be improved with practice and the right training.

Primary Areas Of Cognitive Development

Attention

When a child learns to pay attention, it enables him to concentrate on one task or conversation for an extended period of time. Learning to focus attention is an important cognitive skill that the child will use in virtually all future learning. Children younger than five years of age tend to have short attention spans that typically last 15 minutes or less. By the time a child reaches eight years of age, he typically has an increased ability to focus on one thing for longer periods and complete tasks and is more adept at ignoring distractions.

Parents and teachers can help children develop their ability to focus by pointing out things that seem important or interesting and then asking the child to comment on their observations. For example, a trip to the zoo might result in some specific questions such as:'What animal was your favorite?' and 'What did you like best about this animal?' Questions like these help the child to pay closer attention to what he is exposed to and also challenges his ability to choose specific words to describe his thoughts.

Memory

Memory is an important cognitive skill that equips a child to retain what he has learned and experienced and therefore build a future base of knowledge. Children younger than five years of age have difficulty with short- and long-term memory retention. But, as a child progresses into the school years, his long-term memory increases and allows the child to progressively build on the previous knowledge.

A useful technique for facilitating memory in children, especially when there is a lot of information, is teaching content with rhymes, catchy sayings or putting the content to music.

Thinking

The cognitive skill of thinking involves helping children to assess his own ability to reason out a task and find solutions. This skill helps him become more aware of his own thinking process, to know whether he's accomplishing what he set out to do or whether he needs to ask for help. For example, when a child reads a story, thinking skills allow the child to determine for himself whether he's able to understand what he is reading or whether he needs to go over the passage again, look for additional clues, study any available pictures or ask for help in order to better grasp the intended meaning.

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Helping your child maintain a healthy weight

If you give your child a range of healthy nutritious food, it will help your child grow and develop in a healthy way. Your child will also be less likely to gain too much body fat.

Healthy nutritious foods include vegetables, fruits, grains, reduced-fat dairy, meat, fish, chicken, eggs and legumes such as peas, beans and lentils.

Tap water and milk are the healthiest choices for children

Physical activity 

You can encourage your child to be physically active by walking when possible and playing outdoors. Physical activity will:

• balance your child’s energy intake
• control your child’s appetite
• decrease your child’s stress
• prevent disease
• increase social interactions.

All these things are part of an overall healthy lifestyle for your child. 

Family habits 

Your child is more likely to make healthy food choices and be active if she sees you eating healthily and being active. Young children do as you do, so modelling healthy eating and regular exercise can have a big impact.

Family genetic history and other factors

Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes, partly because of lifestyle, but also because of genes.

Some children are at greater risk of obesity because of their genes, or because they have health problems or take medication. If you have any of these factors in your family, it’s even more important for you all to make healthy food and lifestyle choices.

Other factors 

Screen time, busy family lifestyles, lack of outdoor space – all these things can make it easy for children to overeat and harder for them to be active. 

Another risk factor for childhood obesity is sleep. Children who don’t get enough sleep at night are more likely to become overweight or obese. 

Getting your child into healthy fresh food and physical activity early in life can help reduce your child’s risk of overweight issues or obesity in the future. 

Why your child needs to maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is important to your child’s health now and in the future. A healthy weight now reduces your child’s chances of:

• being overweight or obese as an adult
• developing serious health disorders during childhood such as type-2 diabetes, hip and joint problems and obstructive sleep apnoea
• suffering from emotional and social problems 
• suffering physical health problems in adulthood, such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes, some types of cancer, infertility and skin disorders.

When we identify and manage overweight problems and childhood obesity early, it gives children a better chance of avoiding long-term weight problems that can lead to serious consequences for their health and wellbeing.

Worried about weight or childhood obesity: what to do

If you’re worried that your child might have a weight problem or even childhood obesity, it’s important to start with a proper assessment.

A GP, paediatrician or dietitian can look at your child’s growth and work out whether he has a healthy weight. The health professional might look at your child’s height, weight and body mass index (BMI). BMI is one way of adding up total body fat and working out whether your child’s weight is within a healthy average range.

If your child is overweight, you can make many small and realistic lifestyle changes to help your child. If you involve the whole family in these changes, it’s easier for your child to stick with the changes – and it’s good for everyone.

Here are simple changes you can make to everyday family eating:

• Involve your children in choosing and preparing healthy foods for meals. This helps them learn about healthy foods and making good choices. They’re also more likely to eat something they’ve helped to make.
• Get your child drinking water, and keep soft drink, juices, cordials, sports drinks, flavoured waters and flavoured milks out of the house.
• Eat more vegetables and salad. Aim to fill half the plate at main meals with salad or vegetables.
• Keep ‘sometimes’ foods such as fast food, potato chips, biscuits, cakes and chocolates out of the house. If you don’t have them at home, it’s harder for your child to eat them.
• Set a good example, and show your child that you enjoy healthy eating yourself.
• Establish regular mealtimes, including breakfast, and sit down to enjoy meals together as a family – with the TV switched off.
• Eat most meals at home. At home you can limit the amount of fat, salt and sugar in your meal.
• Have healthy snacks handy for when you know your child will be hungry. For example, keep a bowl of fresh fruit on the bench and a container of vegie sticks in the fridge.
• Don’t force your child to eat. You don’t need to worry if your child refuses to eat or eats very little. Your child won’t starve.

Here are simple changes you can make to get more physical activity into your family’s life:

• Restrict screen time to no more than two hours a day for children aged 5-18 years. Screen time includes TV, DVDs, computers, video games, mobiles phones and tablets.
• Give your child the chance for active play. Your child needs at least one hour a day of physical activity.
• Build activity into everyday family life – for example, go for family walks or bike rides together.
• Walk to and from school, the local shops or friends’ places if possible.

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Chocolate biscuits recipe

These biscuits are so delicious, I have to hide them in the pantry or the kids will eat them all in one sitting. They are a little chocolate indulgence and great to have with a cup of tea or coffee.

Serving Size:

24

Category:

Biscuits and cookies, Budget, Cake stall, Cakes & Baking, Chocolate, Easy recipes, Kids cooking, Lunch box, Snacks

Prep Time:

15 mins

Cook Time:

20 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup cocoa, sifted

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until well combined.

Stir in flour, baking powder and cocoa.

Roll spoonfuls into balls and press with a fork to slightly flatten.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

• These biscuits beg for the addition of chocolate chips. If I don't have some I like to add some chopped nuts for crunch.
• If they are for a special occasion or I am giving them as a gift, I add macadamias.
• You can add some chocolate chips to turn this recipe into double choc biscuits. 
• These cookies are cheap to make and a savvy way to save on your weekly shopping bill as bought biscuits and snacks can really add up. 

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Sherbet recipe

Sherbet is an old-fashioned favourite sweet for children. Now you can make it at home using simple ingredients like jelly crystals, baking powder and icing sugar. Delicious and so easy that your kids can make it with you.

Serving Size:

1

Category:

Confectionery, easy recipes, kids cooking, party food

Prep Time:

5 mins

Cook Time:

0 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp citric acid
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 3 tbsp jelly crystals (any flavour you like)
• 1 tsp baking soda

Pour all the ingredients into a cup.

Mix them well.

Enjoy.

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Bubble art and science

Who doesn't love bubbles? Get creative as you and your kids do the bubble art science project. This is a great art and craft kids activity and will have your kids amazed at the wonder of bubbles. Once they are done they will have a beautiful piece of art to hang on the wall.

Number of players:

1+

What you need:

• plastic container
• dishwashing detergent
• powder paints
• paper
• straws
• adult assistance

Activity:

Fill the plastic container about halfway and add some powder paint and a squirt of detergent.

You can do this with as many containers and colours as you like.

Place a straw in each container and show your child how to blow until the bubbles grow higher and higher up the container - nearly overflowing.

Quickly place the piece of copier paper on top of the container allowing the bubbles to hit it from the underside.

When you remove the paper, there will be lots of gorgeous bubbles marking the underside.

True bubble art!

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Tiny Teddy cars recipe

Get these Tiny Teddies on the grid for your next birthday party and you will be super popular with the little ones. Serve them on their own or use them as cars on a racetrack birthday cake!

Serving Size:

24

Category:

Chocolate, Kids cooking, Kids food, Party food

Prep Time:

20 mins

Cook Time:

2 mins

Ingredients:

• 100g milk chocolate, melted
• 1 bag Milky Way bars (you will need 24)
• 1 box Tiny Teddy biscuits, honey flavour
• 1 bag Smarties (340g)

Method:

Set out a tray or serving plate for the Teddies.

Sort the Smarties into colours and cut 12 Smarties in half with a sharp knife to use for steering wheels (keep in mind steering wheel colours need to match with wheel colours).

Remove the wrappers from the Milky Way bars.

Cut 24 Tiny Teddies in half at the belly button using a sharp knife.

Place the melted chocolate into a resealable bag and snip a tiny corner off. Squeeze out a few drops of chocolate to glue 4 Smarties 'wheels' on each car then place on the serving tray.

Place a few drops of chocolate on the top of each 'car' and sit the Teddies on. Place a drop of chocolate on the 'car' in the front of each Teddy and glue on steering wheels.

Notes

• These are super-cute! You can just plate them up and serve them as a special treat or use them to top cupcakes or birthday cakes.
• Toot, toot! Did you know Tiny Teddies also drive trains?! Check out these ADORABLE teddy bear conductors riding on Milky Way carriages.
• Adorbs! Make Tiny Teddy Santa sleighs to cute-ify your Christmas feast table this year.
• These teddy cars are the perfect plate to bring to a teddy bears picnic. For other bear-themed recipes, check out teddy bear pancakes and teddy bear toast.
• You could make a tray of these cuties for your child’s next birthday party. In fact, why not make it a teddy bear theme? This cute chocolate-iced teddy cake is perfect.   
• Want a cute and clever way to get kids to eat their dinner? Try making savoury teddy scones which sit on a beef and mashed potato bed and watch it disappear.

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