Summer is just around the corner, and if you haven’t yet chosen a summer camp for your children, you’re probably thinking about it. If you’ve looked around at your local camp offerings, you’ve no doubt noticed that there are a lot of choices out there. So how do you find the right camp for you kids? Here are a few tips to help you choose the best camp for your family’s needs.

Consider your child’s needs and interests.

There are most likely camps in your area for every subject and interest. You probably know what your children’s interests are, so choose a camp that caters to them. Cooking, outdoors, filmmaking, art, animal care—they’re all offered out there. My son even attended a Harry Potter camp last summer! A fun, exciting camp that your kids are enthusiastic about can make a world of difference in their summer experience.

Consider the offerings

While choosing a camp that fits your child’s interests and personality is really important, exposing them to new ideas and skills is important, too. Consider choosing a camp that offers programs for things your child is not regularly exposed to in school or at home. Robotics, animation, cooking, video game design, foreign languages, and sailing are some of the great topics that we’ve found offered at local camps.

Consider the distance

Most camps these days seem to be day camps, which means someone will have to drop your kids off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. Unless your camp is lucky enough to offer a transportation option, that someone will most likely be you. Make sure that the camp is a manageable distance away so you don’t have to rush in the morning or head off early for pick-up in the afternoon. On the other hand, a camp located on the way to a parent’s workplace can be a plus (think carpool lane).

Consider your schedule

If both parents work, try to find a day camp that offers flexible and extended hours to accommodate your busy schedules. Many camp programs offer reasonably priced before- and after-care programs that make drop-off and pick-up easier for working parents. Make sure you or a caregiver can get to the camp in time to pick up your children in the afternoon or evening.

Attend a local camp fair if you can

If there’s a camp fair in your area, try to attend it. It’s great way to see what’s out there. What’s more, you can meet camp staff and directors and see what they’re like first-hand. You’ll also probably walk out with a bag of camp goodies, too. We attended one recently and discovered a variety of unique camps in our area that we didn’t know existed!

While we all know you’re supposed to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, sometimes it’s hard to do, especially for busy families who may not eat all the vegetables and fruits they should at mealtimes. In our house, one way we often get our five servings is with fruit shakes or smoothies. Everyone in the family loves them—from kids to grownups—and they’re quick to make with a few staples that you keep on hand. We drink these fruit shakes for breakfast when we’re in a hurry, for after-school snacks, and even for dessert.

Since we drink these fruit shakes so often, I make sure to always have a variety of frozen fruit in the freezer. Blueberries, strawberries, mango, pineapple, mixed berries—they’re all delicious when blended up in a fruit shake. Another benefit of the frozen fruit is that they help make your fruit shake extra thick and cold without having to add ice and dilute the mixture.

We’ll supplement our frozen fruit supply with fresh fruit like bananas (I almost always add bananas to thicken the shake and add sweetness) and whatever’s in season. Right now it’s the beginning of spring, which is strawberry season, so I try to use organic strawberries whenever I can. Other ingredients I also usually add include orange juice and low-fat yogurt.

To make a fruit shake, simply fill your blender jar with a combination of frozen and fresh fruit, then top it up with yogurt and orange juice, and blend until smooth. Serve in tall glasses with straws, or fill up your travel mug and sip on it as you commute to work.

I usually use about half fruit to half liquid (usually orange juice and yogurt). Of course you can vary the proportions, depending on how thick you like the finished product.

While fruit is the usual focus of my fruit shakes, I sometimes put other healthy ingredients in them as well. Chopped walnuts add a nutty flavor, thick texture, and important omega-3s, and wheat germ adds vitamin E, minerals, and fiber.

Some fruit shake flavor combinations that we particularly like include:

• Tropical Twist: Frozen pineapple, mango chunks or pulp, fresh banana, orange juice, and vanilla yogurt
• Spring Strawberry: Fresh strawberries, strawberry yogurt, banana, and orange juice
• Very Blueberry: Frozen blueberries, vanilla yogurt, banana, and orange juice

While I still know how to ride a bike, I’m getting to the point where I have to teach my kids to do so, and it’s a little harder than I thought it would be. While they say you don’t forget how to ride, you don’t always remember how you learned. My son picked up the whole two-wheeler thing right away, but it’s turning out to be a bit more of a challenge with my six-year-old daughter.

I still have distinct memories of learning to ride my own bike way back when I was her age. My bike, as was the style in the mid ’70s, was a bottle-green Schwinn Stingray, with the traditional banana seat and tall handlebars replaced by my dad with much cooler BMX-style components.

I remember practicing with my uncle at the park across the street. He held onto the back of the saddle to steady me as I pedaled along. I took a quick glance over my shoulder only to see him standing about 100 feet behind me—I’d been riding by myself! Of course I promptly crashed into a heap on the grass, but I got the hang of it after that.

We bought my daughter a new bike for her birthday, and we’ve been practicing when the weather permits. She relied on training wheels on her last bike, and I’ve been told by people who know that they’re really not very good for actually learning to ride a bike. That’s why you see those cool little wooden scooter bikes all over the place; apparently they’re much better for teaching children to balance on a bike. After they figure out how to balance, they can deal with the whole pedaling issue.

The new bike doesn’t have training wheels, and my daughter insists on learning to ride without them. This is great, except for the fact that I have to hunch over and hold onto the seat to keep her from falling over as she learns. When I taught my son to ride, it seemed like we did a few minutes of this bike-holding and then he just took off on his own. But all kids learn differently, so we’re just going to have to take a little longer this time, even if it kills my back.

We’ve been practicing on the grass by the school, and while it seems like a good idea from a safety standpoint, the grass is actually more difficult to ride on due to the unevenness of the surface. We tried this for a while, but eventually headed up to the blacktop to try again there.

The smoother surface was actually better, although my little cyclist was a bit more nervous about falling. Most of the time I had to hang on, but at one point I let go and jogged along just behind her—success! It was only for a few yards, but it was progress. This spring we’ll work on it some more and she’ll be riding on her own in no time. And she won’t forget how to do it, either.

On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone tries to wear a bit o’ the green. Last year, we discovered that my daughter didn’t own a single piece of green clothing, so we opened up the crafts bin and created two St. Patrick’s Day crafts that are easy, fun, and above all, green.

The first project we made was St. Patrick’s Day beaded friendship bracelets. These are simple to make and inexpensive, and make the perfect gifts to hand out to your friends on March 17. To make them, you’ll need an assortment of plastic beads, preferably in two shades of green, and green pipe cleaners. You can find these supplies at almost any craft store.

To assemble, string the beads along a strand of pipe cleaner, alternating dark and light green beads. This is a really good tactile activity for little ones.

The length of the pipe cleaner and number of beads necessary will depend on the diameter of the child’s wrist. Leave about an inch of pipe cleaner showing at each end, then twist them together to complete the bracelet. A grownup should snip the ends of the twisted pipe cleaner with a pair of scissors.

My daughter was so proud of her bracelet that she wore it to bed that night and for days afterward. You can also vary this project for other holidays and special occasions. Try red, white, and blue beads for the Fourth of July, for instance, red and pink beads on Valentine’s Day, or orange and black on Halloween.

Another easy St. Patrick’s Day project we made were shamrock necklaces. To make them, you’ll need heavy construction paper (in green, of course), kid-safe scissors, one of the leftover green pipe cleaners from the bracelet project, a hole punch, clear tape or glue, and crayons, markers, paint, or glitter to decorate your necklace.

First, cut out pieces of green construction paper into 1-by-4 inch strips. You’ll need about 20 for each necklace, which you should be able to get out of one letter-sized sheet of construction paper.

Make a paper chain by taping or gluing each strip into a circle.  Now take another piece of construction paper and cut out a large shamrock (get the template here, on which I’ve included several different sizes of shamrock).

Decorate the shamrock with markers, crayons, glitter, or paints. When it’s dry, punch a hole in the top and attach it to the paper chain with a green pipe cleaner.

When you’ve finished with both of your projects, you can proudly display your green at home or at school. Have fun creating these fun projects with your kids.

In a busy family, it’s often easy to fall into the trap of buying convenient and inexpensive but often less-than-healthy processed foods for snacks and lunchbox treats. If you dig a little further into your refrigerator or pantry, you’ll probably find that you have almost everything you need to make some healthy and delicious snacks that the kids will love, and you’ll feel good about letting them eat them, too. The kids love to pitch in in the kitchen and help make all these things, too.

My kids sometimes seem obsessed with sweets—but what kid isn’t? I often bring the sweet craving under control with healthy treats like these easy-to-make oatmeal muffins. They’re low in fat, high in fiber, and lightly sweet, and kids love to get these in their lunchbox or after school; they make a great play date tea party snack, too.

Ingredients for Oatmeal Muffins (makes 1 dozen regular size muffins or approximately 20 mini muffins)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Stir in oats and raisins.
4. Add oil, egg, and milk, then stir until moistened.
5. Spoon the batter into greased or papered muffin tins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Another fun, tasty, and healthy idea that doesn’t even involve cooking is to make fresh fruit kebabs. Take bamboo skewers and snip off the sharp ends, then thread different pieces of fruit onto them: strawberries, pineapple chunks, melon pieces, banana slices—whatever you can think of or have on hand.

We often serve these with a small bowl of vanilla yogurt as a dipping sauce for the fruit. It’s delicious and sweet and the kids don’t even realize it’s good for them, too.

Back when I first had kids, a group of friends and I got into scrapbooking with our baby photos. While scrapbooking is fun, it’s a lot of work, too, and I never really got around to finishing all of the books that I started.

Eventually I got into digital scrapbooking instead, which was a lot easier, but still a bit time-consuming. It’s always fun to get your photos and memories delivered in a professionally printed book, though.

Now that my kids are older, I’ve found a great use for all those leftover scrapbooking supplies: vacation memory books. These books are a lot of fun for the whole family to create, and, because they’re done on a smaller scale than most scrapbooks, we actually finish them!

The kids have a great time assembling these little photo books full of their vacation memories. They get to re-live the fun times they had on vacation, and then they love to show them off in school or to their grandparents and friends.

Since most of the scrapbooking supplies I have on hand are archival and acid-free, these photo books will last a long time. After the kids are done showing them off, we put them away so they can pull them out and look at them later on in life. Maybe they can even show them to their own children someday!

All our photos these days are taken with a digital camera, so we select our favorites on the computer and then send them out to the local photo store for printing. And since we can print as many copies as we like, we don’t worry about cutting  them up or putting stickers on them in the name of creativity.

Once we get our photos home we make a second cut, choosing only those that tell the story that we’re trying to tell in each of the memory books. Then we mount them on paper with archival double-stick tape and assemble the pages.

The kids then can embellish the finished pages with stickers and drawings and make them really unique. Finally, punch two holes in the top of each page and bind them together with some decorative ribbon. You’re only limited by your imagination.

Give this a try after your next family trip.

My daughter’s birthday falls on the day after Christmas, and you can probably imagine how difficult it is celebrating amid all the holiday chaos. We decided early on that we’d certainly make a big deal—with gifts and cake and all that—on her actual December birthday, but we actually hold a birthday party for her with all her friends later or March or April to avoid the holiday craziness. Ideally, it’s great to have a birthday in the summer, but we can’t push the party off that far.

As it turns out, we have a lot of family birthdays in January and February, so her party always gets scheduled later in the year. We’ve had a few of her birthday parties planned at the house, but you’re never sure how the weather will be in the spring. Last year, it rained heavily on the day of the party, so I had to make sure that I had enough indoor-appropriate activities for the girls to do.

Here are some fun and inexpensive ideas for indoor birthday party themes that we’ve either done or experienced. Of course you can do these outside, too—they’re perfect for any time of year!

Tea Party

Encourage everyone to wear their most fancy dress at this party for girls. Serve herb or fruit-based tea, juice, cookies, and little tea sandwiches with kid-friendly filling like strawberry jam and cream cheese, or peanut butter (or other nut and seed butters if you’re concerned about allergies. Try sunflower seed butter—it’s good.) Serve mini cupcakes instead of a big birthday cake.

You can decorate a tea party table with a nice tablecloth, flowers, and elegant paper napkins and plates for easy cleanup. Of course dolls, teddy bears, and other stuffed animals are welcome, too. Traditional party games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Hot Potato can round out the fun.

Paper Airplane Party

Aviation-themed decorations and activities make this a fun party for everyone. Have plenty of paper on hand for guests to make their own paper airplane creations. The classic paper airplane shape is fine, but you can find patterns and instructions for all kinds of different planes on the Web or at the library.

Make markers, crayons, and stickers available for everyone to personalize their aviation creations. When everyone’s done, it’s time to fly the planes. Race them and try different stunts and tricks.

Ice Cream Social

Who doesn’t like ice cream? My daughter attended a party like this last fall for one of her kindergarten friends. Offer up several different kinds of ice cream and toppings like hot fudge, fruit, whipped cream, crushed Oreos, and maraschino cherries. Serve the ice cream to your guests and pass around the toppings in little bowls. The birthday boy or girl gets a sundae with a candle in it. Delicious and fun!

I hope these ideas inspire you to hold your own fun birthday party, whether it’s indoors or out.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, everyone loves a sweet treat, especially when it involves chocolate. These decadent, gooey, baked brownie cups are as fun to make as they are delicious to eat, and of course the kids can pitch in in the kitchen and help make them, too!

We found some cute heart-shaped ramekins that are absolutely perfect for baking and serving these brownie cups—and are totally appropriate for Valentine’s Day. This dessert has the rich chocolate flavor of your favorite fudge brownie. The top has a chewy crust that gives way to a rich, dense, pudding-like interior.

Make sure you serve these while still warm, preferably topped with a dusting of powdered sugar; although if you wanted to go all-out you can top it with some vanilla ice cream, but we think they’re rich enough on their own.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350º. On the lower rack, place a baking pan half-filled with water.

In a medium bowl, place chocolate chips and butter. Heat in the microwave for a minute on high to melt. If not completely melted, cook for another 20–30 seconds. Set aside and let cool a little.

Sift together all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, except sugar. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar together in an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment, beat the eggs and vanilla until frothy and light. Add the sugar and continue to beat until fluffy.

Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the dry ingredients. Pour into ramekins—you’ll be able to fill 4 to 6, depending on the size.

Place ramekins in the water-filled baking pan already in the the oven. The water should come up about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 30 minutes or until brownie cups have risen up above the tops of the ramekins and the tops are cracked. The tops should be firm to the touch.

Let brownie cups cool for 5–10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Every January, my kids look forward to celebrating Chinese New Year. They love the colorful decorations, lion dancers, festive food, firecrackers, lucky red envelopes filled with gifts of money, and of course the magnificent golden dragon that appears in the Chinese New Year parade.

Chinese New Year—also known as the Lunar New Year—is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. This year, Chinese New Year falls on January 23, 2012.

Say goodbye at the Year of the Rabbit as it hops away and get ready as the Year of the Dragon prepares to roar in. My kids think that this year is extra special, because it’s the Year of the Dragon and of course the giant golden dragon is always the centerpiece of the parade.

You and your family can celebrate Chinese New Year by making this fun, colorful, and easy paper dragon craft. Use your dragons to decorate the house, or you can even have your own Chinese New Year parade at home!

My kids hung their dragons on the walls in our living room, after parading them through the house. This craft is suitable for all ages, with parental supervision.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Gold stickers or paint (red and gold are traditional colors for Chinese New Year)
• Crepe paper in red, yellow, or orange
• Dragon head template (download here)
• Heavy white paper or card stock (letter size)
• Markers or crayons
• Wooden chopsticks or other thin but sturdy sticks
• Tape
• Paint brushes
• Scissors

Here’s how to make it:

1. Download the template and print out a head for each dragon you want to make on card stock. Children can color the head with markers or crayons. Be colorful and creative!
2. Cut out the dragon’s head.
3. Cut three strips of crepe paper to at least three feet in length. Kids can decorate the crepe paper strips with gold stickers or paint. Make sure you let painted strips dry before handling.
4. Tape the chopstick to the back of the dragon’s head to make a handle
5. Tape the crepe paper strips to the dragon’s head.

Now you’re ready for your dragon parade! Grab hold of the handle and parade your creation around the room. Gung hay fat choy—wishing you good fortune and prosperity!

On cold winter evenings, there’s seldom something better for dinner than a hearty savory long-simmered soup or stew. But who has that much time to spend in the kitchen? That’s where your slow cooker comes in. Put the ingredients in before work or school, set it to “low” and let it go all day. You’ll usually be rewarded with something tasty around dinnertime.

I love making meals in my slow cooker, and my family always enjoys the results. It comes in especially handy on those busy days when I know I’m not going to have time to spend in cooking in the evening.

One of the problems with many slow cooker recipes, however, is that they rely too much on using processed foods like canned soup that are high in fat and sodium. Here’s a recipe that I developed for easy slow cooker chicken and dumplings, a one-pot meal that’s a little bit more work (but not much) and really delicious.

If we make this at home my kids always ask for seconds, even my six-year-old daughter, who usually doesn’t like anything.

If you’re really in a hurry you can use two cans of condensed cream-of-chicken soup instead of the sauce called for in the recipe. It tastes great either way.

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks, or chicken tenders (frozen OK)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 medium waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold, diced
• ½ cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 16-ounce package refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough (I use the kind from Trader Joe’s)

Directions

Put all ingredients except broth, butter, flour, peas, biscuit dough, and parsley into your slow cooker.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste, and then slowly whisk in the broth. If you whisk in the broth bit by bit until it’s all incorporated you’ll avoid lumps.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.

Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.

During the last half hour of cooking turn slow cooker temperature to high and stir in peas. Tear each biscuit into four pieces and add to the pot. Gently stir into the chicken and vegetable mixture, then cover and cook for 30 minutes or until biscuit dough dumplings are tender but cooked through.

Stir in chopped parsley just before you ladle the stew into soup bowls. Enjoy!