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My oldest is in preschool. Normally school’s out before lunch, but sometimes he stays after for the “lunch buddies” program. He gets very excited for this because it means he gets a packed lunch and more time to play with his friends. I want to pack a nutritious lunch while making it extra fun and special for him at the same time. If I pack something boring he’s more likely to abandon it after a bite or two. Here are a few tips to pack a healthy lunch your kids will eat:
Kids play hard and think hard while at school. It can be exhausting for them so it’s important that they get the proper nutrition to refuel. Below are some fun and healthy options for including in packed lunches that both moms and kids will appreciate.
Yoplait Go-Gurt
There’s something about yogurt in a tube that kids just love. It gets even better with Phineas & Ferb or Wizards of Waverly Place packaging with sports fun trivia on each tube. Moms can appreciate that it’s low-fat and contains calcuim! A box sells for around $2.99 at grocery stores nationwide.
Brother’s All Natural Freeze Dried Fruit Crisps
These 100% natural fresh fruit snacks are available in a variety of flavors and are the perfect alternative to chips. My youngest who is turning one next week loves this treat. The Disney packaging makes her smile too! Retails for around $5.99 at grocery stores nationwide.
Crunch Pak Foodles
Mickey shaped trays with interesting combinations of fruits, veggies and sides like dips, raisins, crackers or cheese are the perfect addition to any lunch box. They also make a great healthy snack or mini-meal! These retail from $1.99 to $2.99 at select grocery stores nationwide.
Crunch Pak Apple Slices
Cars Apple Slices are easy to pack for the kids and another good alternative to chips. The crunch is satisfying and fulfills a food group requirement. Moms will love the grab and go convenience of these! They sell for $2.99-3.99 at select grocery stores nationwide
Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks
Made with real fruit, these fruit snacks with characters like Phineas & Ferb or Toy Story friends might just be the dessert your child craves for the perfect end to their lunch. A box sells for $2.69 at Walmart, Target and grocery stores nationwide
Kellogg’s Cheezits
A classic snack and a favorite at our house, Cheezits now come with your favorite Cars characters on them. I know my son will be excited to find these in his lunch box. They sell for $3.79 at select Target stores
Kellogg’s Rice Krispy Treats
With only 90 calories, rice crispy treats are another fun lunch dessert item, especially with the Cars ones with the red rice cereal! These sell for $2.89 at select grocery stores nationwide
Kellogg’s Grahams Bites
Fun for snacking any time with their crisp texture and cinnamon flavor, bite size graham crackers in fun Cars shapes are another favorite at our house. A box sells for around $3.29 at select grocery stores nationwide
Utz’s Pretzels
My son has a classmate with a peanut allergy. This was the perfect snack to share when it was our turn to bring snack. These pretzels are packaged in red and black Cars character packs and were a hit with everyone, including moms who like to see less sugar in the snack selections! These sell for$4.99 at select grocery stores nationwide.
Peach Tree Pocket Pack Tissues (Princess)
Slip a pack of tissues into the lunch bag to encourage cleanliness! Perfect for wiping hands or noses. These sell for $1.00/6-pack at Dollar Tree stores.
Insignia Snack Bags, Sandwich Bags, Lunch Bags and Ice Packs
Sometimes its the packaging that keeps kids excited about lunch time. Use snack bags, sandwich bags, lunch bags, and ice packs with their favorite Disney characters to keep them interested in their lunch These products retail for $2.00/each at select grocery stores nationwide.
It’s easy for kids to lose interest in eating right when they are at school. What are some of the ways you keep your kids keen on healthy munching? Let us know by leaving a comment!
Disney Living has launched the D-Lightful Living campaign on their Disney Living Facebook page. Over a 12 week period they’ll post a weekly challenge for families to encourage them to live a healthy lifestyle. These challenges will feature simple tips and product suggestions to make it easy. You’ll be able to download a checklist that outlines all 12 weekly challenges to help you track your progress. You’ll also be able to participate in an online forum to share tips with one another. Last, but not least, visitors will be able to enter to win a weekly Disney-branded product prize package! Be sure to visit Disney Living on Facebook for all of the details.
Complimentary products were provided for this post and I am being compensated for my time as a Disney Brand Ambassador, however, all opinions expressed are my own. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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It’s never too early to start teaching your children about responsibility. Even young toddlers can help out around the house. In fact, toddlerhood is a great time to start teaching kids to pick up after themselves, set the table for dinner and more, because they are very eager to help.
My two and three year old children help with the laundry by putting their own clothing into the laundry hamper each morning after getting dressed and each night after putting on their pj’s. They also help me transfer clothing from the washer to the dryer, sort and fold socks, and even drag the laundry basket to the laundry room on occasion.
I wrote this post as part of the Evenflo Brand Ambassador program. The rest of the article can be found on the Evenflo blog.
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The Wii game console is truly gaming experience for the entire family. Even preschoolers can enjoy playing with games such as Sesame Street Elmo’s A to Zoo Adventure and Cookie’s Counting Carnival. In Elmo’s A to Z Adventure, players explore zoo habitats including an aquarium, savanna, jungle, wetlands and the arctic. Along the way they’ll play mini games based on literacy skills such as letter identification, letter sounds and word families. In Cookie’s Counting Carnival, players join Cookie and Big Bird at the carnival. The mini games which take place in the grandstand, at the midway, petting zoo, food court and the arcade are designed to help develop math skills including number identification, counting, shapes and pattern recognition.
Both games feature:
Elmo’s A to Z Adventure and Cookie’s Counting Carnival for Nintendo Wii each retail for around $40. They are also available for PCs and Nintendo DS platforms for around $30
Doesn’t this look like a cool game for preschoolers? I love how well thought out they are with the special controller covers that block out buttons that don’t need to be used for this game. I also love the fact that the game includes a parent’s page. I can’t wait to give my three year old son this game for Christmas!
You can find more information on these games at www.sesamestreetvideogames.com. Through December 20th, use code MOMMY to take 10% off any Sesame Street video game!
Enter to win your choice of the games above in Wii format by filling out the form below. Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways here.
This giveaway is open until December 12, 2010 at 11:59 pm CST to U.S residents.
Please leave your name, address, email and answers to the questions (if any) in the form below. This is required for initial entry. Extra entries are optional. For more information on how to enter our giveaways, please see our contest guidelines page. There you’ll find options for extra entries, rules, etc.
Your information is confidential and used for contacting the winner and prize fulfillment purposes only.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review, however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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Most parents have no idea where to begin with weaning; Starting Solids tells you everything you need to know — what to buy, when to begin, and how to do it.
Starting Solids is packed with simple, practical advice for the initial stages of weaning. It is the perfect introductory book to first foods and gives parents all the information they need. Acclaimed children’s nutritionist Annabel Karmel offers more than 50 delicious recipes, from purees to family meals, to jumpstart parents into cooking healthy, nutritious food for their babies and three menu planners give extra guidance to parents. Starting Solids also features first-month menu planners, tips to help parents to encourage their babies to explore new tastes and textures, and answers questions about key feeding problems, such as allergies, fussy eating, weight concerns, and messy eaters.
Bestselling children’s food author, Annabel Karmel, steers you through the confusion, covering all the crucial details, from the very first spoonful and essential nutrition information to key concerns and issues and the latest allergy advice. Annabel Karmel shows you how to establish good eating habits that will stay with your child for life.
Book: Starting Solids: What to Feed, When to Feed, and How to Feed Your Baby
Author: Annabel Karmel
ISBN: 0756662141
ISBN-13: 9780756662141, 978-0756662141
Publishing Date: Jul 2010
Publisher: Dk Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
Number of Pages: 128
Retail: $16.00
I also received a cute set of stackable food containers (Stackable Weaning Pots) that are perfect for storing fresh baby food. The containers clip together for easy storage and they are see-through so you can tell what food is inside – something I always find to be quite helpful! They are suitable for the freezer and microwave and are dishwasher safe. The portion sizes are perfect for your infant and can be used easily at home or while traveling. They are also BPA free.
They sell for $5.99 and can be found at a variety of locations.
Here are some yummy and super simple smoothie recipes from Annabel Karmel:
Blackberry and Blueberry Smoothie-
1/2 Cup blackberries
1/2 Cup sliced strawberries
1/2 Cup blueberries
1/4 Banana
1/4 Cup blueberry yogurt
2 Tsp honey
Put the berries and banana in a blender with the yogurt and honey. Blend until all the lumps have gone and it’s a pretty deep purple color.
Banana Caramel Smoothie-
2 1/2 Tbsp caramel sauce
1/2 Cup milk
1 Large banana
1/2 Greek yogurt
Put 1 tsp of the caramel into a small bowl and mix with 1 tsp of the milk. Set aside while you make the smoothie.
Put the remaining caramel, banana, and yogurt in a blender and blend it all together. Add the rest of the milk and blend again. Drizzle over the thinned caramel before serving.
Double Strawberry Smoothie-
1 Cup sliced strawberries
1/4 Banana
1/3 Cup strawberry yogurt
2 Tsp honey
Put the strawberries, banana, yogurt, and honey in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If you have any strawberries left, just dip them in and eat them!
Annabel Karmel is the UK’s best-selling author of twenty-two books on baby and children’s food and nutrition. She is an expert in devising tasty and nutritious meals for children without the need for parents to spend hours in the kitchen
A mother of three, Annabel Karmel has become a cookbook phenomenon. Her series of home-made recipes for babies and toddlers have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Her Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner has become the authoritative guide on feeding babies and children and is regularly in the top five cookery titles. Three new titles have launched this year including You Can Cook, Top 100 Pasta Dishes and Weaning..
Annabel Karmel has also recognized that children love to cook & cooking is one of the most important life skills that a child can learn. She is motivating children to cook through nationwide children’s “how to cook-it” courses at Britain’s leading holiday centres, developing a range of branded kids cooking sets including the fabulous Princess baking set, launching a cake mix product as well as her kids cooking books which focus on children cooking up tasty things that they can make and bake.
Books are not the only string to Annabel Karmel’s bow; she now has ranges for feeding babies and toddlers, food preparation equipment, children’s food, baking and party ware. They can be found on the shelf in supermarkets, pharmacy and specialist baby shops in the UK and Ireland. Her healthy and nutritious chilled ready meal range ‘Eat Fussy’ for 1 to 4 year olds has quickly become the UK’s favourite with children.
Her first food range for babies of sauces and pastas combines fresh with convenience – providing parents with a time saving way to prepare baby food at home with a clever storage system of food cube trays and containers for freezing food for baby.
She is also aiming to revolutionise the way children eat in pubs and restaurants and her menus can be found in popular attractions such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Legoland, Chessington World of Adventure, Warwick Castle and Sea Life theme parks as well the UK’s largest Holiday Park group – Haven Holidays and Butlins.
And if that’s not enough she has several children’s food lines in development, due to launch this year.
Her popular web-site has more than 70,000 members.
Annabel Karmel writes regularly for national newspapers and magazines and also appears frequently on radio and television as the expert on child nutritional issues. She’s worked on a number of series for national TV including the popular “Foodie Godmother” on Channel 4′s Richard and Judy Show, this year’s “Annabel’s Kitchen” on GMTV, Mummy that’s Yummy on Sky and was voted as one of the eight iconic chefs of her generation recently for ITV’s This Morning.
Annabel Karmel was awarded an MBE in June 2006 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition.
Make sure to head over to Annabel Karmel’s Blog! I really enjoy it! Stay up-to-date by reading Annabel Karmel’s News section. Follow Annabel Karmel on Facebook. You can also keep up to speed with Annabel Karmel on Twitter too. Here’s a great Forum to look to for helpful information!
Here is a great place for Halloween recipes!
One lucky reader will receive Starting Solids: What to Feed, When to Feed, and How to Feed Your Baby! Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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Over the past decade, tattoos have become a widely accepted form of artistic expression for people from all walks of life. With the number of Americans inked, including millions of mommies and daddies, it’s amazing how under-valued tattooed parents were in children’s books and early education. In fact, there was no representation to be heard of until Phil Padwe published Mommy Has a Tattoo, with its message of validation and acceptance. Since its release, the groundbreaking storybook has acquired an impressive swell of readers, leading to Amazon selling out repeatedly. The story is about a little boy named James, who is afraid of his tattooed neighbor until he realizes his mother has a tattoo as well. In one afternoon, James learns that tattoos are not scary at all and his neighbor is really just a nice man with some colorful body art. A simple concept – but timely and relatable to kids everywhere.
The book emphasizes the importance of familiarizing children with tattoos at a young age and eliminates the common notion of “scary” that has sometimes been linked to tattoos.
In a recent book reading, Padwe shared his story with three classes of 2nd graders at PS 87, a Manhattan public school, and asked who in the group had a tattooed parent. In response, he noticed that nearly half of the students raised their hands… a number up significantly from readings he did just a few years ago. From New York to thousands of families nationwide, the storybook has become a favorite in the tattoo community.
Through friendly characters and positive explanations of body art, Mommy Has a Tattoo eliminates the negative notion that is sometimes associated with tattoos. More importantly, it’s a book with which today’s children will relate, raising their enjoyment of reading. Numerous five star ratings attest to the positive appraisal and the folks at Pricked magazine add, “This book belongs in the home of every tattooed family!”
After a decade in marketing, Phil Padwe has been working the nightshift at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as a security guard, which allows him to work on his art and children’s books during the days. He recently was interviewed for his work as a fine-artist by NPR, WNYC, and NYC Cable News after his painted portrait of Edgar Alan Poe appeared in the New York Times.
Combining a lifelong love of storytelling, illustration, and tattoos, Phil was born to write this book. He has been collecting ink for over 20 years, and with two sleeves of his own, takes his mission of “Teaching Tattoo Tolerance” seriously.
Phil was born in the 70′s, educated in the 80′s, and spent much of the 1990′s in Marketing and Graphic Design.
A graduate of the writing program at SUNY Purchase (BA in Poetry, class of ’99), Phil currently lives and works in New York City as an artist and illustrator.
To view more of Phil’s work, check out his site HERE.
“First of all, there’s not really an “us.” The fact is… this is a one man operation! In keeping with the DIY (do it yourself) work ethic… I wrote a story… then illustrated it… then colored it… then did all the layout and design to make it an actual book… then handled the pre-press, printing, and sourcing chores… drove the truck when the books arrived… created this web site… it’s all done by hand. My name is Phil Padwe
Mommy Has a Tattoo has been translated and published overseas and is available in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and The Netherlands, as “Mami Hat Ein Tattoo!” Here in the USA, the book has been carried by a diverse group of selective retailers… including Marc Jacobs (Little Marc Jacobs children’s boutique), The Philadelphia Maritime Museum, and Ricky’s NYC. It is more widely available at Amazon.com, and better booksellers. Over 3,000 copies have sold (and counting), making Mommy Has a Tattoo a best selling self-published children’s book!
A few years back, I began noticing a new breed of tattooed, down-to-earth parents. It was hard NOT to notice, because my best friends, coworkers and closest family members were among this group. Instead of being caught up in some “laser removal guilt trip,” I saw an entire generation of parents embracing their individuality! I’ve got sleeves myself, so it’s a bit of an understatement to say tattoos aren’t a big deal to me or most of my friends.
These days, as we all know, tattooed parents are highly visible just about everywhere. Except in children’s books! I couldn’t believe, when I went shopping on my lunch-break one day (for a baby-book for my tattooed buddy, who’d just had a son)… that there were no characters (and certainly no parents!) in children’s books, who had tattoos. Tattooed people simply weren’t represented, even though millions of American families have happily tattooed mommies and daddies! What’s up with that?
Were the big book publishers not showing tattooed people in their books because they hoped we’d all just quietly go away? Was there something wrong with having both tattoos AND children? In short, I saw the opportunity for a new kind of children’s book because I saw our generation producing a new kind of parent!
I wanted to make a book that kids would really, truly, love. It’s drawn in a fun, animated, colorful style… specifically for toddlers and little ones. I learned (and was encouraged) to draw, as a 4 or 5 year old, by copying Snoopy and Charlie Brown from the newspaper strips… circular, easy-to-draw characters comprised of simple shapes. So that’s the route I took, when it was time for illustrating this book. See my website for the type of drawing I typically do…
Also, “Mommy Has a Tattoo” had to be something that parents would be cool about giving, or receiving. Let’s face it… this is a baby-shower gift if ever there was one… so it was really important that this be fun, light-hearted… the kind of thing you’d want to give your friends. My goal, in short, was to make this positive for everyone involved. For mommies, and toddlers, and for the those of us who buy books for babies!
Share it with someone you love!”
Plus, you can also order Mommy Has a Tattoo Coloring Book! Millions of people have tattoos and millions more love them. But how many have the opportunity to color in real tattoo designs? This entertaining coloring book offers readers the chance to do just that. It contains designs so realistic they might be seen in a tattoo shop. That’s because every single page is based on real-life tattoos! Created by artist and writer Phil Padwe, author of Mommy Has a Tattoo, this unique book is perfect for reference, practice, or just plain fun! Great for kids and parents.
The Tattoo coloring book retails for $9.95.
Click HERE to purchases Mommy Has a Tattoo and, for a limited time, receive a signed copy from the author/illustrator!
Follow Mommy Has a Tattoo on Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook.
Three lucky readers will receive a signed copy of Mommy Has a Tattoo! Also, be sure to check out all of our other Giveaways HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents Disclosure Policy for more details.
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Do you remember the logic puzzles from school that always kept you guessing? Puzzle Baron’s Logic Puzzles offers similar brain-testers that will change both kids and adults alike.
Two hundred grid-based logic puzzles from Puzzle Baron, the mega-popular online puzzle site! For each puzzle, readers are given a background story and a list of clues and then left with only pure logic to arrive at the correct answer. Unlike other logic puzzle books, every puzzle includes statistics-such as the average completion time, the record completion time, and the percentage of people to complete the puzzle-to bring out the competitor in each puzzler and better inform them on how easy or difficult each puzzle is.
•Features 200 grid-based logic puzzles
•Includes puzzles statistics for added excitement
•Ideal for kids and adults
The multiple “logic grid” puzzles are solvable through logical deduction alone, and each puzzle includes a completion rate, an average solve time taken from thousands of previously solved online games and a “best time” that recognizes the current online record holder for that puzzle on Logic-Puzzles.org. Numbered and categorized according to its online completion rate, readers can start at the easy puzzles and work their way up to the tough ones. Best of all, if the puzzle-solver gets stumped, there is an online solution section at www.Logic-Puzzles.org/book.
Stephen P. Ryder, a.k.a. Puzzle Baron, is your friendly neighborhood puzzle provider (and founder of Puzzle Baron). These sites, with a user base of more than 50,000 registered players, focus primarily on textual games and puzzles, including acrostics, cryptograms, logic puzzles, drop quotes, Sudoku, patchwords, and more. Stephen published Notable Quotable Cryptograms, and his puzzles regularly appear in the periodical Brain Games and other books. Apart from being completely and utterly addicted to puzzle-crafting, he’s also something of a WWI aviation nut, fascinated with the expoits of the early aces like Manfred von Richthofen, also known as “The Red Baron”. The name “Puzzle Baron” started off as a joke, but it stuck.
Released: August 3rd, 2010
Retail: $14.95
Paperback: 224 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1615640324
ISBN-10: 1615640320
Publisher: Alpha Books
Don’t forget to read-up on Puzzle Baron’s Blog.
The Puzzle Baron network of web sites include some of the most popular word game and puzzle sites on the web. They strive to provide cleanly-designed and easy-to-use interfaces that will appeal to game and puzzle enthusiasts of all ages.
Want to chat or read up on Puzzle Baron Logic Puzzles? Then check out their forum HERE.
You can follow Puzzle Baron on Twitter.
An additional 10,000 unique puzzles are available online HERE!
One lucky reader will receive a Logic Puzzle! Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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When faced with a blank page, most kids (and people!) are intimidated—unless they’re being asked to destroy it. That was the theory behind Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal, now a literary phenomenon that’s sold over 200,000 copies and counting.
Now, Smith is back with MESS: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes in which she asks readers to break their librarians’ rules and make a mess of a book on purpose. Using accidents and mistakes, readers venture where they wouldn’t normally go with the possibility of creating something unexpected.
Smith dares us to:
• Drop some kind of colored liquid (ink, tea, coffee) onto a page from a good height (at least five feet)
• Draw in the dark (or with eyes closed)
• Creatively misspell words
• Paint a picture in a water-based medium (pen, marker, watercolor, etc.) and leave it out during a rain or snowstorm
• Bury the book and dig it up
Your whole life you’ve been taught to avoid making a mess: Try to keep everything under control, color inside the lines, make it perfect, and at all costs, avoid contact with things that stain!
This book asks you to do the opposite of what you have been taught. Think of it as your own personal rumpus room. A place to let loose, to trash, to spew, to do the things you are not allowed to do in the “real world.” It’s time to make a mess.
The only three rules you’ll find in this book:
1. Do not try to make something beautiful.
2. Do not think too much. (There is no “wrong.”)
3. Continue under all circumstances.
Keri Smith is an artist, illustrator turned guerrilla artist. She is the author of several bestselling books about creativity including the bestselling Wreck this Journal (2007 Perigee), How to be an Explorer of the World –the Portable Life/Art Museum, (2008 Perigee), The Guerilla Art Kit (2007 Princeton Architectural Press), Living Out Loud – Activities to Fuel a Creative Life (published 2003 by Chronicle Books), and Tear up this Book! :The Sticker, Stencil, Stationery, Games, Crafts, Doodle, And Journal Book For Girls!, (2005 American Girl). Her newest book, Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes. She is the author of the popular weblog the Wish Jar, and writes on occasion for a variety of magazines. Keri spends her days playing with her husband and son, reading, cooking and writing books and divides her time between upstate New York, and the countryside of Canada. As of fall 2010 she will be teaching part time at Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver B.C.
As a free lance illustrator she has worked for a wide variety of clients worldwide. Most recently Random House, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Ford Motor Co., the Boston Globe, Galison/Mudpuppy Press, and Hallmark. In the last few years she has given lectures and workshops on a variety of topics for The Learning, Arts & the Brain Summit at Johns Hopkins University, the How Design Conference, the OntarioGraphic Artist’s Assocation, UC Davis, and schools across North America. She has been featured in How, Step by Step, Print, Bust, Wired and many more.
I could not stress enough to visit Keri Smith’s website and buy her amazing books!
Click HERE to view creations made by readers through using various Keri Smith books.
Want to see if your masterpiece from Keri Smith’s Website wound up in her Explorations Page?
I double-dog-dare-you to read Keri Smith’s Blog!
Make sure you check out Keri Smith’s Facebook page too!
Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes retails for $13.95 and worth every penny!
One lucky reader will receive MESS: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes! Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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About the Author
Jennifer Fosberry is a science geek turned children’s book writer. She was born and raised in the Adirondacks. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in Physics from SUNY Geneseo and a master’s degree from SUNY Binghamton. Until recently, she worked as a project manager in Silicon Valley in the high-tech electronics field. She currently divides her time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Costa Rica with her husband and three children.
One lucky reader will receive My Name is Not Isabella! Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review, however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
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Sharon Lechter, a life-long advocate for education, is well known for her part in a number of best-selling books. Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Rich Dad series taught some excellent lessons in the common sense ways that wealth can be earned – and kept – throughout a lifetime. Sharon continues her work to educate children and families as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, serving Presidents Bush and Obama. Sharon is also the founder of Pay Your Family First, LLC, a financial education organization, and YOUTHpreneur, an online social community designed to ignite the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
Pay Your Family First has released a new board game called Thrive Time for Teens, designed to challenge your thinking and help you see patterns in good choices vs. bad choices with money. You will decide when to start businesses, weighing the profit potential against start up costs and time commitments; make decisions about things like buying cars, going to college, and giving to charity – activities that might cost money but have financial benefits in the long run; you’ll learn the positive and negative consequences of using credit and practice keeping track of debt and paying it off responsibly. Each player has a full accounting sheet with areas to keep track of cash on hand, money in savings, businesses, debts, salary, living expenses. Cards drawn could reward you for giving to charity or punish you for buying too many lattes.
The first time you play the game it seems a little complicated, but it doesn’t take long to pick it up. I played with my daughter who is only 10, and she understood and LOVES the game. In her words:
“The game is really fun and I had a good time playing it. I learned the importantness (lol) of saving money, how to Be Fab (Back straight, Eye Contact, Firm Handshake, Ask Questions, Be Bold – she remembered ALL of these on her own!), that you need to choose things carefully, don’t just choose things without thinking.”
I was really surprised that she remembered all of “Be Fab” without any help. There are “Be Fab” cards that provide excellent benefits to you in the game, but require you to stand up and present yourself to the other players. As a business woman, I’ve always felt that one of my advantages is my ability to speak in front of people and be poised under pressure so that fact that this game specifically aims to teach that is fantastic.
One of the things that I think is sorely missing in today’s education system is the ability to make decisions, the process behind it. I think Thrive Time really helps to fill some of that decision making gap, plus some of the financial education that schools just don’t have time to teach anymore. The majority of my career thus far has been spent in banking and I can tell you that there is a large percentage of the adult population that doesn’t understand credit, debt, or even how to balance a checkbook. Teaching these concepts early can save your children a great deal of heartache – and money – in the future.
Thrive Time for Teens is available for purchase at thrivetimegame.com. Notice there is also a link for donating a game to a local organization – teaching yet again the powerful rewards of sharing with others.
After a decade in the corporate world as a working mom, Rachel, a MWC guest blogger, is a new stay at home mom to her 9-year old daughter and 3 month old son. She also writes for The Examiner as the Baby and Toddler Gear Examiner in the Seattle area. Check out her stories and reviews HERE.
A complimentary product/service was provided for this review; however, all opinions expressed are our own. We were not compensated in any other way for this review. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.
Enter to win a Thrive Time game by filling out the form below. Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways here.
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design by Sharon Hujik
