Category Archives: Age 5-7

Little Girl Fashion Guide: 4 Adorable Ballet Flats for Little Girls

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Fashion & Style, Style Guide, , , ,

Gone are the days when little girls run around in ‘play shoes’ all day, every day. Now little girls, at least mine, want to wear cute shoes whenever they can.  My daughter plays dress up and when some girls might want to wear mom’s high heels, my daughter is perfectly happy in a pair of sparkly ballet flats.

Here are a few of my daughter’s favorite ballet flats.. as of today. 🙂

Little Girl Ballet Flats

1 – OLD SOLES Kids’ Cruise Ballet Shoes (Powder Pink) at Shoes.com – $60

2 – Lelli Kelly Kids’ Fiocco Fluo Shoes (Orange) at Shoes.com – $40

3 – Cole Haan Kids’ Air Tali Buckle  Shoes (Black) at Shoes.com – $64

4 – Sam Edelman Kids’ Fiona (Silver Glitter) at Shoes.com – $50

Does your daughter have a favorite shoe style?

Alicia, The Mommy Insider blog author

4 Reasons Kids Should Wear Sunglasses + 4 Cute Pairs of Kids Sunglasses!

Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Ages 10-13, Alicia's Corner, Health, Travel,

On a perfect summer day you and your children are walking into Disney World. You’ve been planning this adventure for months. On your way into the park, you do a last minute check of your bag. Do you have everything? Food, extra clothes, sunblock, and a pair of Ray-Ban Junior glasses?

Why would your child need a pair of sunglasses? For the same reason you need them, for protection from Ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Many people are aware that UV rays can cause sunburns, skin damage, and even cancer.  Less of us are aware that too much sun can cause sunburns on the cornea.  This is a painful reminder to kids and adults to wear sunglasses, but it heals eventually. What doesn’t heal over time are the long-term effects of too much UV. UV is a contributing factor to eye diseases like cataracts. When parents protect their child’s eyes with high-quality sunglasses, they reduce the risk that their child will develop eye problems later in life.

Now all of this may be a lot to think about on a summer day at Disney World.  But during the spring and summer months it is especially important to protect your baby or older child from too much sun. Unfortunately, children are at more risk for eye damage than adults. They are still growing and have less natural eye protection. They are also outside more than adults and have greater sun exposure than Mom and Dad.

How Not Wearing Sunglasses Can Be Harmful for your Child:

  1. Squinting requires muscle activity and can be a contributor to a child’s headache and twitching eyes because (contraction of the muscles).
    Adults should keep in mind that wearing sunglasses will cut down on crows’ feet around their eyes.
  2. UV exposure is harmful to the eyes as well as the skin – Source: Webmd.com
  3. After a long day in the sun, your child’s eyes may be bloodshot, swollen, and light-sensitive. – Source: Webmd.com
  4. Many ophthalmologists educate parents about not only the long-term health risks from UV exposure, such as cataracts, but short-term benefits of wearing sunglasses such as being able to see better in very sunny situations such as on the beach or in an area with a lot of concrete sidewalks such as Disney World, a popular summer vacation destination.

Fortunately, several companies make kids’ sunglasses that are stylish, cool and kid-proof. Ray-Ban Junior, RealKidsShades.com, and Julbo Kids Sunglasses, all offer excellent eyewear options for children.

Here are a few kids sunglasses worth taking a look at

 

Kids Sunglasses

1 – Ray-Ban 65mm Shield Sunglasses (Big Boys) Grey/ Green One Size at Macy’s

2 – Julbo Looping III Sunglasses – Girls’ at REI

3 – Chili’s Jellie Sunglasses at REI

4 – Baby & Kids Sun Smarties Sunglasses with Strap at One Step Ahead

When shopping for your children, look for glasses that are designed for kids with a pair of straps. Adult glasses may not offer the same level of sun protection.  Ray-Ban Junior offers the same level of quality they have on their adult products, but sized for kids.  Julbo Kids Sunglasses offer fun, functional products that are shock-resistant with customized kids frames.  At RealKidsShades.com, you can find products that are comfortable, durable and cool. All these companies offer straps for their glasses.

It can be tempting to buy a pair of toy shades for your little one. Toys only give your baby the illusion of protection during hot summer months. Vendors like RealKidsshades.com offer quality products that have 99-100% UV protection and sturdy construction.

Now is the time to teach your children to take care of their eyes by using quality sunglasses. Just like eating right, if you set the example now, you’ll be giving them a great foundation in life.

 

 

 

St. Patrick’s Day History for Kids and Printable Coloring Pages & Activities

Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Alicia's Corner, Crafts, Holiday, , , ,

St. Patrick’s Day is a fun holiday for both children and adults. It is one of my husband’s favorite holidays.

To understand what is special about this holiday kids should learn about the man it was named after. When Patrick was 16 years old he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. During his time in slavery his faith in God became strong. After 6 years he escaped and returned to his family. Patrick became a priest and was later sent to Ireland. Patrick wasn’t always treated well in Ireland and endured many hardships. He still managed to win many converts to Christianity and established several schools, churches, and monasteries.

The color originally associated with St. Patrick’s Day was blue. The knights of the Order of St. Patrick wore blue. Some legends say that the color representing St. Patrick was changed to green because it represented Ireland’s independence.

There are many legends surrounding St. Patrick. He supposedly drove away all the snakes that were in Ireland and he reportedly used a three leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity. He was born in Britain in the fourth century and is usually given credit for bringing the written word to Ireland.
Legend says he died on March 17, in the 5th century. This day celebrates Christianity coming to Ireland. Children traditionally wear green, orange, and white badges to celebrate. Today kids try to pinch each other if they don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Many people eat corned beef and cabbage on this day in the United States. However, pork is a more popular dish among the Irish.

St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in the United States in Boston in 1737. Although St. Patrick’s Day is not a legal holiday in the United States, it is a public holiday in Ireland.

Help your kids get excited about St. Patrick’s Day by decorating the house, wearing green clothes, making St. Patrick’s Day crafts, printable coloring pages, and printable St. Patrick’s Day activities.

St. Patrick's Day coloring pages, cookies, crafts, and activities for kids

Here are a few fun St. Patrick’s Day recipes, coloring pages and activites:

Hippity-Hop To Chasing Fireflies For The Cutest Easter Gifts and Crafts! | @ChasenFireflies

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Holiday, , ,

Easter is one of three times of the year that we talk to our kids about the meaning of the holiday and that we really get into decorating for.  Christmas and Thanksgiving are the other two.  Besides celebrating the meaning of Easter, kids love to celebrate Easter with Easter Eggs, Crafts, and chocolate bunnies.and parents love to dress their kids in fancy Easter clothes, right?   Luckily my husband’s mom loves to shop for fancy clothes and has made shopping for the kid’s Easter clothes her special thing, so I get to enjoy the fun stuff like decorating and dyeing Easter Eggs and what not.

This year, my daughter and I made the most adorable Easter decoration which came from Chasing Fireflies.  This is not just any Easter decoration, it’s a Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree!  Combine a favorite holiday with a favorite craft.. imagine the amazing time we had!  Chasing Fireflies is our favorite store for Halloween costumes and other superbly adorable stuff. Whenever the Chasing Fireflies catalog comes in the mail, my daughter gets comfy and spends a while looking through it and circling everything she wants.

First Madelyn colored the Shrinky Dinks®.  This was her favorite part of the craft.  She loves to color and did a great job.  I was very impressed at how careful she was to stay in the lines and she stepped out and used green, yellow, and orange for this project!

Easter shrinky dinks craft

 

Next, I cut the Shrinky Dinks® out because I know we are going to have this tree for years and although I usually let her do every (safe) aspect of a craft project I cut the shrinky dinks out this time.

Then, we put the cut shrinky dinks® in the toaster on 350 degrees for about a minute and a half.   Madelyn watched in amazement as the Srinky Dinks® shrunk, curled up, then straightened out.  The shrinky dinks® at the top of the image below have not been baked/shrunk yet and the ones at the bottom have.

shrink dinks easter tree

 

After we baked the Shrinky Dinks®, I put the rings on each piece then she put the rubber bands in the rings.  Then we hung the Shrinky Dinks® on the Easter tree.

Last, we tied and placed the green ribbons, included in the box, onto the tree.

Chasing Fireflies Shrinky Dinks Easter Tree craft project

 

We really had such a great time creating this beautiful Easter Tree together.   All pieces shown in the images are included in the Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree box.   This Easter project is just $18 on the Chasing Fireflies website.  For a decoration (and craft making memories) that we will have for many years, that’s a great deal!

peter rabbit spinning centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies

We also got a Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies.  The centerpiece was easy to put together and I love the classic images that make up the entertaining decoration.

The Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree and Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece both break down to be flat making them very easy to store until next Easter.

Check out Chasing Fireflies‘ selection of adorable children’s clothing, costumes, and gifts and see their entire line of Easter crafts and gifts here.

I hope you and your kids have a Happy Easter!

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received Chasing Fireflies items for the purpose of this review.

Hurry and Get Your Kid’s Valentine’s Day Clothes @ChildrensPlace!

Age 3-5, Age 5-7,

On almost every hanger in my daughter’s closet is a piece from Old Navy, Carter’s, or The Children’s Place.  A few of my favorite ‘designer’ pieces of her’s are her bright red Lacoste tee, pale pink Izod dress, and a black Ralph Lauren sweater.  When I buy clothes for my kids I look at quality and cost.  I want my kid’s clothes to last at least a few months which can be a challenge seeing as how they love being outside.  The Children’s Place has proven to offer great quality clothes for my kids year after year.  I bought my 13-year-old son a sweatshirt from The Children’s Place just about a year ago (the largest size) because I wanted him to have a sweater that would hold up to his level of outdoor activity.

Every year at Christmas time, Easter, and Valentine’s Day, we used put our daughter in themed clothes.   That is until she started picking out her own clothes about a year ago.  Gone are the days when I could take my favorite holiday themed dress out of her closet and expect her to slip it on.  She has to choose her own outfits now.   I can however lead her in a direction such as wearing pink and red on Valentine’s Day.  I even thought about going so far as to take everything that doesn’t have red or pink on it out of her closet in the middle of the night before Valentine’s Day but I think she’d freak out if I did that so I won’t go there.

The Children’s Place has some super cute pink and red pieces out now that are perfect outfits for Valentine’s Day.  I know it’s a little last minute but I’m sure your local mall has a The Children’s Place you can run to tonight to pick up some clothes for your kids to wear on Valentine’s Day.

Here is a peek at what The Children’s Place has to offer this Valentine’s Day

 

The Children's Place Valentine's Day Clothes ideas

 

What are you waiting for? Go out and get some pink and red clothes for your kids! 🙂

If you just don’t think you have time to get to The Children’s Place today, you can check them out online here.