Summer time means your kids will have plenty of leisure hours and these days, that actually means playing on gadgets like the iPad, iPhone or any Android device. If you allow your kids use of these in the house, there are a lot of child-appropriate applications you can download or buy online.

Some of these aren’t just brainless games, as they also encourage creativity and a good thinking process. Below are just some of the stuff you can get for your kids for their gadgets:

1. Faces I Make Application — I love that this application is so fun to play with and at the same time, it helps children come up with creative ideas. I myself can get lost for hours on this, so imagine what it can do for your kids. This application is about a less than two dollars at the Apple store and can work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

2. Doodle Buddy — my nieces have this in their parents’ gadgets and I can tell you how much they’re having fun. This application has finger painting and offers really colorful and vivid images where children can also make stamps out of. The best part? This is a Free application for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

3. Kids Doodle — this is slightly similar to Doodle Buddy except that it works only for the Android. This is a painting application and your child will be amazed with all the colors and drawings he can do with it. You can get this for $1.49 at the Android Market.

When I was a child, rainy days could really dampen playtime for my friends and I because we aren’t allowed to go outside. Playing indoors is boring. But since kids today enjoy a lot of gadgets at home, they probably won’t notice anything different.

However, it’s not a good idea to let children be playing with video games all the time. Sometimes you have to also initiate other activities. On rainy days, it can be challenging but here are some ideas to make playing indoors fun, and without the use of any portable technology.

1. Baking

Parents don’t usually allow kids to be in the kitchen because they may hurt themselves. But with an adult’s help, you can spend the day baking cookie doughs or going for the more ambitious like baking pasta or fish meals. Kids enjoy measuring and doing something with their hands, such as kneading. And I’m sure they will love it more if they see the fruits of their labor — and realize that it tastes really good.

2. Arts and Crafts

Don’t do the usual coloring, cutting and pasting as children do these a lot in school and may now feel like a chore, instead of a fun thing to do. Be creative. This is playtime, so have fun with your ideas. I’m thinking shaving creams mixed with tubed watercolors can be fun. They don’t have to create masterpieces. The idea is to have something that will keep them busy and entertained.

3. Have A Game Of Cards

This one always works with my kids and their game of choice is Go Fish! We make it interesting by placing bets. And we use pebbles for our bets. The more pebbles earned at the end of the game, and the winner gets a prize from Mom or Dad.

Women by nature are very competitive. Among themselves, there’s great camaraderie but there’s also damning competition, hence the term Mean Girls is so apt to describe.

But it seems as though this situation has risen to alarming levels. You can witness it in many social networking sites. The catfight has moved on from actual catfights to cyber catfights. What seems to have changed this or have made it worse? Especially with younger women.

Is it because of what our young girls are exposed to in the media? We see so many programs that seem to condone the diva mentality with kids as young as two year old, vying for beauty titles and crowns. We see it in countless of gossip sites and lifestyle sites. We see it on programs like Jersey Shore or Real Housewives. We see it in many forum. Bullying among women is rampant.

It has become alarming because the young kids have easy access to all of these. Not every parent can be there to monitor their kids and picking up on this culture can be so damaging.

How do you, as parents, make sure that your girls are guided by what they see or witness? How do you tell them that such a behavior can be appalling and that it is wrong to pick on other people?

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While there are a lot of talented musicians out there, it can be a lot harder to find some really family-friendly fare. Many musicians don’t cater to the younger set, and while many parents may love the tunes by the more popular artists (Lady Gaga, anyone?) finding something for both parents and their musical children can be frustrating.

Kidz Bop tries to make the differences a bit more livable, by taking many popular songs and changing some of the more questionable lyrics. While this works out for music that may not be great for kids, or at least a but more on the questionable side, many groups are still wondering if the idea is even a workable one. After all, having a nine year old singing about broken hearts and falling in love may seem a bit more ridiculous than many may be able to overlook.

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A picky eater can throw a wrench into meal planning. While the rest of the family may happily eat almost anything, some are finding themselves forced into submission (or at the very least macaroni and cheese again). There may be help out there after the fact, but it can help to limit ‘kids’ foods until your child is older and has a taste of other culinary meals (namely, grown up food).

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