Vision boards aren’t just for grownups! The positive gains that grownups get from making and then viewing their own vision board each day can be had by kids, too. In fact, kids can build life-long visualization habits by learning to make their own vision (purpose) boards at an early age. The earlier you start, the more fun they’ll have with the project. Vision boards help kids express their hopes and dreams in pictures, especially at a time in their lives when sophisticated language skills...

Kids need lots of opportunities to find their strengths and learn to take safe risks. You also need to guide them in their decision making but, ultimately, let them resolve many things on their own. This is the way to raise strong, competent adults—people who can make a difference in their world! Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum discuss their twelve steps to raising competent children. See how many of these useful tips you are already using!

Kids not only do humorous things, but they are great humor barometers. When something strikes their funny bone, they will laugh and laugh without any reserve. They like to giggle and repeat silly phrases and exaggerate them over and over. Kids love funny, goofy stories that could probably never really happen. You may be surprised at the things they find funny—sometimes you may even be horrified! Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share their grandkids’ favorite Funny Bone...

If you want to see smiles and hear laughter in your house, have a baking play day with your kids and grandkids! The happy memories will last-and-last, especially if you take lots of pictures with your smart phone—and a video or two! Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share the fun they had with their grandkids on various baking days. On each occasion, great times were had by all and delicious treats were even available to share with their parents! Links Ikea “Bolmen” Step...

Children are born to copy our behavior. If were stressed-out, out-of-control, impatient, short-tempered, sarcastic—we’re teaching our kids to be the same. But if we’re loving, supportive, praising, patient, calming, harmonious—we’re teaching our kids to be that. Which kind of adult do you want to raise? Deciding to teach meditation to your children is a great way to get started on the “calm, cool, collected” road of parenting. It’s not only practice for your children, it’s “harmony” practice...

All kids love to collect things when they’re outside. Pretty stones (and even plain ones), dead leaves, sticks, robin’s blue egg shells, sea shells, driftwood; the list is endless. It’s usually a matter of what catches their eye in the moment when they’re out-and-about. Making a collage is a pastime that helps assemble those “found objects” in an imaginative, creative, and fun way. The results can be amazing and the finished result will help anchor the time when the objects were...

Kids love to play games and to win. Treasure hunts allow them the opportunity to win, either as individuals, or in a group. You can have a treasure hunt right at home, in your yard, or just about anywhere. And the different themes and styles to choose from are endless. Treasure hunts can be inexpensive. You don’t have to buy anything at all for a treasure hunt—all you really need are some slips of paper and something to search for. Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share tips and experiences for...

Puppets are enjoyed the world over by kids of all ages, especially since the fuzzy, stuffed-animal hand puppets are being sold. There are hundreds of different designs, sizes, and colors available. Most big-box department stores have them at a very reasonable cost. Puppets encourage kids to be creative and express themselves. They invent stories for the puppets to perform and many of these imaginary situations involve humor, drama, and their emotions. Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum...

It doesn’t really matter how kids move, as long as they move! It’s much easier to get them movin’ and rippin’ and rompin’ if they’re encouraged to do fun activities. All it takes is a little research, a little planning, and a little guidance. Once your kids see how much fun they can have, they’ll take over from there. Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share the games that they love to play with their grandkids and give tips to get them started at your house. Everyone benefits when kids are...

What is healthy self-esteem? It can be defined as feeling capable while also feeling loved. Self-esteem is similar to self-worth—how much a person values himself or herself. This can change from day-to-day and from year-to-year, but, overall, self-esteem tends to develop from infancy and it keeps developing throughout adulthood. Sometimes self-esteem suffers because a person feels judged as less than acceptable to others. This is why it is so important to instill a strong sense of self-value...

Laughter is contagious, and now research shows that happiness is too—especially in your family. Happy parents have happier kids than the norm. What’s more: parents at the other extreme—negative, depressed, unhappy—often have children that act out, and have other behavior problems. So, it’s not selfish for parents to develop activities away from the kids that make them feel good as a couple; to recapture the romance of their “coming together” period. As parents maintain—or reclaim—their...

Practically all kids love to dance. It’s the earliest form of self-expression and creativity. Dance comes long before verbal expression and helps all humans—young and old alike—to find success in many areas of life, and especially in growing up. Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum discuss how dance and physical movement helps kids become happy, healthy, and successful adults. From improving coordination, to overcoming shyness, to enhancing math and science skills, dance helps kids do it...

Kids are natural-born helpers. They want to contribute to their family and they “love” to be called “helpers.” However—most of all—they like to be asked, not told. So, instead of saying, “Go get that,” or “Pick that up,” say, “Would you like to be my helper?” Kira and Bill Van Ittersum share their great tips to make children’s contribution around the house fun for all. When the whole family works together and appreciates each other, chores are not a chore!

Why do kids love magic so much? One reason is that magic can suspend their belief in their rational world. Instantly, magic can transport them to a “Magic World” where the impossible is suddenly possible. Kids also have very vivid imaginations and magic, performed masterfully, “fires” those receptive imaginations. Kids want to believe and hope—hence the enormous popularity of fantasy literature. Kira and Bill Van Ittersum think magic encourages kids to observe and to use inferential...

Unstructured play can occur nearly anywhere. All it takes is kids, imagination, and some patience from the grownups. Kids at play are happiest when inventing their own games and re-inventing rules for old games. Free form play is a big part of growing up. The skills they learn from unstructured play on one hand and the joy they experience from it on the other help them become responsible, caring, enthusiastic adults who also know how to keep play alive in their adult lives. Learning to play...

Kira and Bill Van Ittersum believe that kids and music go together like hot dogs and buns. When the Van Ittersum grandkids start acting up and acting out, Grandma and Papa steer them toward their favorite tunes; because they know that in most cases, music helps control the mood. Music will tame a child like magic! Music is virtually everywhere: on CD’s, DVD’s, and on the internet via YouTube and other sites. Kira and Bill play their grand kids favorite sing-a-long tunes in the car and they...

You can test this out, and you’re encouraged to do so, but Kira and Bill Van Ittersum think playing in tents is one of those really simple pleasures in life. They believe that nearly every child could and would enjoy this experience if given the opportunity. Tents are a lot of fun, and they can be made out of things you already own: sheets, blankets, quilts and tablecloths, an old stepladder or even dining room chairs. Actual store-bought pop-up tents will do, too. Kira and Bill share their...

“What’s that noise?” Wee ones come marching with instruments in hand—through the hallway, around the living room, into the dining room, on to the kitchen, around the island. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp to the beat! And, oh what a loud beat it is! Bill and Kira Van Ittersum share the gleeful experience kids can have creating their own first music in this fun-filled discussion. Kids are not bashful, but rather bold and daring in this endeavor! It’s high drama and major impact that they are intending,...

Listen in as Kira and Bill Van Ittersum talk about the “joy of allowing” as they explain how the project of decorating their Christmas tree truly became child’s play. Kids can do amazing things—as they demonstrated while sharing in this somewhat daunting task. Together, they created a masterpiece for themselves and others. As you can see in the photos, they also decorated ornaments of their own to hang on the tree. A lot of fun was had by all and lots of tricks were learned.  The lesson...

In this light and often zany podcast, Kira and Bill Van Ittersum are having fun! They’re sharing the experience of happiness however it is landing on them at the moment and encouraging you to do the same. All of our kids’ happiness grows by leaps-and-bounds when grownups provide activities that bring joy to life. The bonus is that these fun activities are neither elaborate nor expensive!