5 Back-To-School Stress-Relief Tips for Busy Parents

Back-to-school can be a stressful time for parents. Between homework, routine changes and the difficulty of parting with your child for the day, it's not easy dealing with the back-to-school bustle. In honor of busy parents facing the new school year, we've put together some stress-relief tips and tricks to help calm you down and get your school year off to the right start.

1. Prepare the night before.

Planning ahead is the best way to avoid the morning time crunch. Packing your child a lunch or snack the night before can save some early-morning headaches. Lay out the cereals, muffins or anything else you need to make breakfast the night before so it's ready to grab and go. Help your child pick out his or her outfit in advance so there's nothing to worry about in the morning.

2. Get a massage.

Don't think of a massage as an indulgence--think of it as something that'll help you manage your stress so you'll have more time, energy and smiles for your little ones. You can also do self-massage--or perhaps persuade your little one to give you a nice foot rub in exchange for a treat.

3. Do stress-relief exercises and stretches.

Modern parents are particularly susceptible to shoulder and neck pain because so many of us work in front of a computer for most of the day. In addition, breastfeeding, stress, sports, and carrying a heavy baby bag or purse can also contribute to pain in this area. Check out some of these great tips from Stress Free Mama, or try some of these stress-busting yoga poses perfect for busy parents, even if you have no yoga experience.

4. Have some fun with the kids.

You can still relieve your stress even while hanging out with the kids. Dance to some fun multicultural beats, cook up a global-inspired meal or sit down together and read one one of these famous children's books from around the world.

5. Don't try to be SuperMom or SuperDad. No parent is perfect. We're all going to mess up, be late or forget to do something for our children on occasion. Learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and use the experience to figure out how you can be better next time.

photo credit: Nikki McLeod via photopincc and billhd via photopincc

Little Pim Supports Universal Pre-K

All children deserve a smart start in life. National and local momentum has built behind universal pre-K, an international movement to make quality preschool education accessible to all children in the United States. Several states including Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida already offer pre-K to all children, and 40 states, overall, offer at least some publicly funded pre-K programming. Here in New York City, where Little Pim is based, a recent state budget agreement has enabled the mayor, Bill de Blasio, to begin working to add 53,000 new full-day pre-K seats to the city's public school system.  President Obama and Washington lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pushing for Congress to approve federal support and we can hope to see more states follow suit in the upcoming years.

Progress is underway, but the United States must continue to expand access to ensure its children remain competitive in the global marketplace. Many other industrialized countries, including France, Sweden, Canada, India and Australia have long offered government-funded public preschool programs – and it's easy to see why.

Research indicates that high-quality early childhood education offers enduring benefits – benefits similar to those brought by early bilingualism. It has been found to improve children's long-term cognitive abilities, boosting language, literacy and mathematics skills, and to positively affect behavioral traits including sociability, motivation and self-esteem.

What's more, studies show, the benefits of pre-K for kids continue into adulthood, leading to greater college success, higher incomes and lower rates of incarceration. These benefits are most pronounced for disadvantaged kids but there are undeniable benefits to early education for children from all socio-economic backgrounds.

The growing support for expanding access to pre-K is exciting – and the result of parents and lawmakers taking action to level the playing field for kids and provide each and every one of them with the tools they need to succeed in school and beyond.  We applaud their efforts and are in lock step with this important movement.

At Little Pim, the idea of democratizing education has always been one of our most important guiding principles. We believe strongly that all young children should have the opportunity to learn a second language when they can learn it best – in that critical window, from birth to age 6. These children will be better positioned to achieve success in an increasingly global world. In the wake of the Universal PreK movement, we would love to see a greater national focus on early world language education for all children.

10 Great Kids Books With Global Appeal

Sail away with your kids to magical lands across the sea – just by picking up a book. These 10 great kids books will give your family a glimpse of cultures and a taste of languages around the world. You can read all of them in English, but if you’re feeling up to it, several (such as the French classic The Little Prince) can easily be found in their original language. Whatever you choose, reading with your kids is a great way to bond and let their imaginations grow. Plus, it’s one step closer to getting ready for school, which will be here before you know it.

Europe

1. The Adventures of TinTin (Belgium) – A dog and his intrepid young reporter owner solve mysteries around the world – the comic strip imagery is especially popular with young children; and the comics are also available in French.

2. The Little Prince – A lovely French classic that tells the story of an aviator who meets a prince from a distant asteroid while stranded in the desert. This is a good one to try in French if you can.

3. The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Take a trip through Paris with the vivid pencil images in this imaginative story of Hugo, a boy who lives in a train station in Paris, and the friend who helps uncover his mechanical secret.

4. Strega Nona—Although written in English, this is the tale of an Italian “Grandma Witch” who lives in Calabria and makes enough pasta to bury an entire town. There are more than a dozen Strega Nona stories to keep the pasta-fueled fun going.

Scandinavia

5. Pippi Longstocking –Sweden’s contribution to global kids’ imaginations is this firecracker of a main character, a red-headed 9-yr-old with a with a suitcase full of gold, a pet monkey, and horse on her front porch. A great read out loud book that will make you and your kids laugh out loud.

6. The Moomins – A Swedish/Finnish illustrated collection of books about a family of animal-like creatures. The pictures are sure to captivate kids, and if they really love it, there’s even a Moomin theme park in Finland!

Asia

7. Lon Po Po – A Red Riding Hood Story from China – In this Chinese reworking of the classic Grimm fairytale, three sisters in rural China outwit the (heads up, relatively scary looking) Lon Po Po (Granny Wolf). Great for kids who like their stories to keep them on the edge of their seat.

8. The REAL Story of Stone Soup – Another children’s classic story with a Chinese twist. This time three clever brothers turn stones into egg drop soup – keep an eye out for Chinese vocabulary sprinkled throughout the story.

Africa

9. Anansi The Spider – From West Africa comes this Ashanti fable of a small spider who must make a big decision.

10. We All Went on Safari -- A counting journey through a safari in Tanzania. There’s a surprising amount of rhythmic Swahili vocabulary tucked into the illustrations of animals.

Staycation: Messy Summer Fun for Families

Summer is in full swing: long sunny days where the sun doesn’t set until late in the evening, and lots of hours to fill entertaining little ones. In some Scandinavian countries, in fact, the sun barely sets at all during July!

But never fear, we have LOTS of great ideas on how to fill those summer hours with plenty of messy summer fun for families, with the added bonus of a small price tag to boot.

In this round up, we have messy projects – the kind kids love, and parents are usually afraid of – but all of these are easily cleaned up as long as they’re done outside. Whether you have a balcony, picnic table in the park, or a grassy yard, we’ve got some messy fun for everyone!

MESSY STAYCATION FUN

Fun Foam Twister

What you’ll need:

• * Plastic Twister board
• * Foam soap in a variety of colors or shaving cream and food dye

Honestly, Twister is fun in any season. But you can amp up the laughs for your little ones by using colored foam soap (look for kid-friendly versions usually used in the bathtub) that coordinates with the colored circles on the board. Fill in each circle with the soap.

Then play away! This is guaranteed to be slippery, squeal-worthy, laugh-out-loud fun.

(Can't find foam soap? Simply buy shaving cream, dispense into bowls, then add drops of food coloring to create colored soap foam. Warning: this version may stain light clothing.)

Finish up the game by having everyone run through the sprinklers, hose, or even the shower to clean off.

Variations:

Are your kids too young to know left from right? Use a washable marker to make a red circle on their right hand to differentiate the two.

Make it a bilingual, or trilingual, game by using a language such as French to yell out commands.

Here’s a quick French Twister cheat sheet:

• Right— Droite
• Left— Gauche
• Circle— Cercle
• Foot— Pied
• Hand— Main
• Red— Rouge
• Blue— Bleu
• Yellow— Jaune
• Green— Vert

Ice fossil hunt

What you’ll need:

• *Large plastic bowl
• *Cooking Spray
• *Small toys
• *Water
• *Plastic and/or wooden spoons

Note: Make sure you start this one the night before so you’re ready to play on a hot day:

Take a large plastic bowl (make sure it will fit in your freezer) and spray with cooking spray.

Then add an assortment of small plastic and rubber toys; think: dinosaurs, rubber duckies, anything you’d get in a party gift bag or at an arcade.

Then fill the bowl with water and freeze overnight.

The next day, take the bowl to any outdoor location. Unmold (this should be easy after the cooking spray). Hand out plastic or wooden spoons to the kids and let them dig for treasure.

Good, cold, wet fun!

DIY Slime

OK, you’re probably not going to like this one as much as your kids are – but remember, do this outside and clean up will be a breeze (consider lining whatever table you’re using with newspaper or wax paper).

There are a number of DIY Slime recipes around, but the ones that make plastic-y slime usually contain Borax, which isn’t safe for little mouths. This recipe is completely edible (although we don’t recommend eating it – yuck!), and plenty of fun to play with, too.

What you’ll need:

• Plastic bowls
• Water
• Cornstarch
• Food coloring

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of water. Mix until you have a good and slimy mixture.

Add 1 to 3 drops of food coloring (classic green is always a great starting point).

Repeat with other colors.

Then play away.

15 Essential Tips for Your Next Family Road Trip

Little Pim Founder and CEO Julia Pimsleur reports on her family's recent road trip. She returned to us with lots of stories and some great tips for busy moms.When we decided to go on a two-week road trip this summer through Oregon, Nevada and California many of our fellow urban parents with kids exclaimed “we have always wanted to do that!” But they still packed their brood off to Maine, grandma’s or sprung for that extra week of summer camp. To our surprise, we are among the first in our circle of friends to actually take a bona fide road trip. Our findings seemed blog-worthy and a great way to honor this amazing country and Independence month to boot! Both my husband and I have fond memories of summer car trips we took with our parents, and while this very American tradition may be going the way of the dial phone, if records can make a come back, why not road trips? We decided to find out whether 11 days of two adults, two boys (6 and 9), 1250 miles and imposing on far flung family and friends in three different states would make for a great time or a failed attempt at old fashioned fun, like trying to bring back square dancing. Happily, it was a huge success!

The trip included breath-taking views as we wound along Highway 101 on the Oregon coast, which really can’t be captured with any camera or smartphone. We only drove a few hours a day (maximum 4, and never more than 2 at a time) and had a great time in the car comparing hamburgers at our various stops, counting red cars, and playing French music. We did have rain the first couple days and we did have moments of total meltdown (the main one on a nature walk that did not get sufficient up front buy-in). In less than two weeks we saw three states, visited cousins in two states, ate in countless charming roadside restaurants, explored great zoos and aquariums, tasted local peaches and watermelon, heard our kids exclaim in delight over bugs they had never seen, took walks on bridges made by famous architects, and created opportunities for our third grader to show off his Native American history knowledge. As a side benefit, now we can all name which states are part of the Lewis and Clark trail! Can you?

Here is my list of Do’s and Don’ts for when you plan your own road trip. There is something deeply satisfying about moving your family unit through America and reconnecting with how vast and grand this country is. It is also a way of slowing down time and enjoying time together far from tech and TV. These tips are most pertinent if you have kids in the 5-11 age range – we figure we are in that short window when they will actually WANT to do this kind of trip with us. I also think setting yourself up for success means having at least one real driver in the family who thinks it will be fun to take on the lion’s share of driving.

DO:

1. Set up hotels and an intinerary a few weeks in advance. Book at least half your hotels up front so you have some anchors. Ask friends you haven’t spoken to in years where to go in their areas, you’ll find people are excited to help!
2. When planning the trip look for friends and family who have kids roughly your kids ages. And an extra bedroom. Lacking either will be sub optimal.
3. Stay at the nicest hotels you can and alternate with camping or cabins if you want t go more natural. (Shout out to my husband for agreeing to stay at “Marriott Town Suites” with eat-in kitchens and outdoor pools in lieu of the camping he requested.)
4. Let each child have his or her own iPod. Major sanity preserver and they can still hear you and look out the window.
5. Make a “Summer Road Trip” song playlist in advance with music everyone in the family likes (this takes some advance research). Let your kids make their own playlists too; they will love that.
6. Spend two nights in one place when you start feeling like if you have to rummage through your bag one more time to find your toiletries you might scream.
7. Map out the trip but don’t overplan. One of our favorite places was in a town we had no intention of going to (Redding) that was recommended by our hotel receptionist.
8. Have strict rules about "tech time" on smartphones or tablets (ours got 30 min a day in the car and listening to music on iPods did not count).
9. Start traditions! Every few days at a dinner we went around the table and each said 3 things we are grateful for. It’s a great way to get kids to reflect on the generosity of friends hosting us. And sometimes they even thanked us for planning this trip!
10. Use the road trip to learn new facts about America. We became Lewis and Clark Expedition experts.
11. Have a designated bag you bring with you to restaurants with entertainment for the kids. They color in those placemats way too fast and service is not always speedy. Inside the bag – coloring pad, markers, lego guys, Lewis and Clark kids book, stuff like that. Keep it in the back seat for easy grab and go.

DON’T:

1. Be too attached to the plan. But do have one.
2. Let your kids ask servers for things directly. Trust me on this one.
3. Settle for bad coffee.
4. Tell your kids more than once a day “look out the window, this is so beautiful!” You didn’t care about that when you were a kid, and chances are, they don’t either!

Kids Cook! Frozen Delights for Summer: Mexican Paletas

Looking for ways to beat the heat this summer? Turn your freezer into a private popsicle stand – it’s a chilly, fun, tasty way to beat the summer heat. Oh, and did we mention economical, too?

Ice pops are popular around the world, especially in Mexico where paletas, ice pops made from unusual tropical flavors (think tamarind, mango lime, or watermelon and cucumber) are a super refreshing way to cool off on the tropical beaches. On the creamy side, there’s even arroz con leche (rice pudding) paletas, Mexican chocolate (cinnamon flavored), and avocado frozen treats as well.

Authentic Mexican paletas often combine a bit a savory, or even spicy, flavors together – pineapple and jalapeno or mango and chile, ice pops are even dipped in savory spices – we’ve decided to go with a sweeter version here though.

To make Paletas at home, think about whether you prefer an agua (water) based pop or one made with leche (milk) for a creamier treat.

Then the sky’s the limit as far as flavors – if you have lots of berries on hand, puree them in the blender or food processor. Then pour through a fine sieve to discard seeds. Add sugar (about 1 tbsp per ½ cup of fruit). Mix with milk, yogurt, juice, or water – then freeze.

To freeze paletas, you don’t need fancy equipment. Have a Dixie cup and a popsicle stick? You’re in business! Plastic ice pop trays can be picked up at the supermarket, dollar store, or even drugstores.

The trick, especially with small children, is patience – paletas, and all ice pops, need time to freeze. But if you start these in the morning, they should be ready after dinner. Or make the night before for the next afternoon.

For a fun summer activity, try setting up a paletas bar with a variety of juices, yogurt, plus assorted chopped up fruit and let the kids play ice chef!

We created two easy, tasty, fresh, and relatively healthy paletas combos below.

But use your imagination – Enjoy!

Orange and Blackberry Paletas

• * 1 cup Orange juice
• * ½ cup Pomegranate juice
• * ½ cup Blackberries

Pour a layer of orange juice into pop mold. Freeze until firm.

Mash blackberries and combine with pomegranate juice (strain through a fine colander if mixture is too thick).

Fill molds rest of way with pom/blackberry combo

Freeze until hard.

Strawberry Lemonade

• * Store bought lemonade
• * Squeeze of lime juice
• * Fresh strawberries

Mince or thinly slice strawberries. Combine with lemonade and lime juice.

Freeze in pop molds.

 Bonus Recipes

Mexican Chocolate Fudgicles: prepare instant chocolate pudding mix. Add ½ tsp of cinnamon and dash of vanilla. Pour into molds. Freeze.

Watermelon Paletas: Puree watermelon in the blender, add a squeeze of lime. Combine with a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled, then cooled) to get desired consistency and sweetness (you may find you prefer the pops sugarless). Freeze.

Love these Mexican –influenced ice pops? Discover more Spanish language fun with our Spanish Discovery Set, here.

Color Your July 4th with Fun!

Here at Little Pim, another holiday means another coloring sheet! In preparation for your July 4th road trips and traffic jams, print out a bunch of these festive sheets to keep the kiddos occupied. And if you need some additional reinforcements, take advantage of our pre-July 4th sale and get 30% off your order with code USA. Voilà! Click on here to print your free coloring page!

Free Brazilian Samba Beats for Little Feet

Little Pim is celebrating the rhythms of the  FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil with a FREE kid-friendly compilation of Samba-influenced tunes. So get ready for a dance party Brazilian style!

Brazilian music has a get-up-and-dance beat that kids love, with rhythms that make it hard to sit still. The most famous Brazil sound is the Samba, a mix of Afro-Jazz influences. Kids are drawn to it for the multiple percussion instruments --- such as drums, whistles, and bells (very fun to play along with--DO try this at home!) -- featured in the songs.

Your children may recognize some of the Portuguese lyrics and Brazilian beats from their Little Pim language lessons and the fun animated movies Rio and Rio2. We’ve delved a little deeper into the music of the “Samba Nation” and created a get-up-and-dance music compilation. Just click on the link below and then turn-it-up for family-friendly Samba and Brazilian beats -- plus a special FIFA World Cup 2014 song by Shakira. We dare you stay in your seats!

World Cup 2014 Soccer Crafts for Kids (Perfect for Father’s Day!)

Does your family love soccer? Have they caught World Cup 2014 (currently being played in Portuguese speaking Brazil) fever yet? Are you all itching to find a way to show your love of the most popular game in the world? If you answered yes to any of the above, we have great news for you: we’ve found fabulous, fun soccer crafts (or as they would be called in most of the world, “football crafts”) for kids, fun to make and also perfect for Father’s Day giving.

We think they’ll score a goal with your whole family!

Soccer Field Mouse Pad

soccer crafts - mousepad

Supplies: Green craft foam square (you can also use green craft paper and glue it to Styrofoam or carboard), white paint markers, white crayon, or white acrylic paint and a small brush

1. Cut green construction foam into a rectangle, approximately 6” x 8”
2. Using a pencil, sketch the outline of a soccer pitch on the foam: circle in middle, rectangles for goals, line across the center. Hint: We used a small glass and our mobile phones to trace the shapes in pencil before we started coloring in.
3. Then using whatever white art supplies you've chosen, fill in the lines on the field.

Goal!

Check out these links for other great Soccer Projects for Father’s Day and beyond. Feliz dia dos pais!

Kick Off World Cup 2014 With Fun Portuguese for Kids

The biggest sporting event in the world, The World Cup of soccer (or football as it’s referred to in most countries) is about to kick off in the South American country of Brazil! To help you get ready for this month-long international sports tournament, we’ve rounded up a helpful list of Portuguese futebol (soccer) terms and a fun word search so you can say Let’s play soccer! Vamos jogar futebol!

Portuguese For World Cup 2014

soccer = futebol
the ball = a bola
to kick = chute
to run = corre
to catch = pege
to throw = joge
head = cabeça
hand = mão
foot = pé
He is kicking = Ele está chutando
He is kicking the ball = Ele está chutando a bola
He is running = Ele está correndo
He is throwing the ball = Ele está jogando a bola
He is catching the ball = Ele está pegando a bola

Click image to download our free World Cup 2014 word search!