Cozi Blog

Back to School Articles

Back to Schoolology: The Science of a Simple Back to School

Cozi Back to School Lists

Quiz: Are You a Back to School Genius?

5 Things To Do NOW To Jumpstart the New School Year

Bedtime Routines - How to Get Back on School Time

Organizing a Carpool

Tips for Stress-free Mornings

5 Sack Lunches Kids Love

Get Ready for Kindergarten

Kindergarten Social Changes: What to Expect

10 Tips for Middle School Parents   

10 Questions About Your Child and School

Back to School Books

A Summer Pool Party

It’s summer! Given the rising temperatures, an outdoor water party for your child and his friends would be a perfect way to keep everyone cool.

On your invitation, ask your party guests to bring their swimsuits, a change of clothes, flip flops, and a towel.

The entire party time will be taken with the kids swimming and playing together in the pool. Jump right in and lead some of the following games, or ask a few parents who don’t mind getting wet to volunteer.

Games

• Play Marco Polo.

• Hold a rubber duck race. Give each child a rubber duck and have them use their noses to move it to the other side of the pool. First one there wins!

• Play Shark! Have the birthday kid start off as the shark and tag the fish (the rest of the kids in the pool). As the fish are tagged, they also become sharks. The game is over when the pool is full of sharks!

• Have a splash contest to see who can make the biggest splash! Make sure to follow pool rules, however!

• Place floating toys throughout the pool and divide the kids into two teams. Blow a whistle and see which team can gather the most floats in two minutes.

• Have the kids swim through rings (i.e., hula hoops).

Activities

• Play Water Balloon Volleyball: You'll need a net, lots of water balloons stored in a bucket full of water,and towels for each pair of children. Divide children into two groups, pair them off, and give each pair a beach towel. One side begins by placing a water balloon in the center of their towel. Each child holds onto two corners of their towel. The object is to toss the water balloon over the net with the opposing side catching the balloon in their towel. The volley continues until one side misses and the balloon breaks, giving the other team a point. First team to 15 wins.

• Variation: If you don’t own a volleyball net, put two pairs of kids a distance apart and have them volley back and forth.

• Variation for young children: Instead of beach towels, use two large blankets. Divide the kids into two teams with each team member holding a part of the blanket. Toss the balloon back and forth between teams—not too tough with a bit of teamwork.

• Game tips: Make sure to carefully clean up the balloon remains, as they are a choking hazard for young children. Also, make sure to have an adult supervise the pool!

• If you don't have a pool, fill a small plastic pool with bubble solution and water so that small children can wade in the bubbly water and blow massive bubbles!

• Give out plastic squirt toys and fill them up so the kids can run around squirting water at one another. They can also keep the toy as a party favor.

• Set up a sprinkler or Slip 'n Slide.

Food and Beverages

Make sure to have fun pool party food and drinks on hand:

• Juice boxes and small water bottles

• Fish chow: popcorn, raisins, gummy fish, Goldfish crackers, and chocolate chips—what a yummy snack!

• A variety of small sandwiches cut into fish shapes with a cookie cutter

• Skewered fruit served with yogurt for dipping

• Pizza

Party Favors

Send the kids home with a taste of summer:

• Small glass fish bowls filled with blue gelatin and gummy fish

• Bubbles and Lifesaver candies

• Pool floatables, such as rubber duckies and noodles

• Sun glasses, sun visors, and whistles

Enjoy this fun-in-the-sun party this summer!

--Lisa Kothari, Peppers and Pollywogs

A Star-Spangled Fourth of July Celebration

 

It’s the time of year when you begin to plan your Fourth of July celebration, and you want to include the kids in the fun too, of course! Read on for easy, budget-friendly ways to make the Fourth of July full of family fun!

Decorations

• Instead of filling vases with flowers, fill them with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. This is yummy and festive looking. Guests can scoop the berries out and add whipped cream for a truly red, white, and blue treat!

• Use different-shaped vases to hold dips and chips as well. These make great centerpieces and unique serving dishes.

• Mix and match red, white, and blue solid paper ware. Cloth napkins in the same colors would also add an elegant touch.

• Roll butcher paper out onto your party table. Scatter red, white, and blue crayons across the table for the kids to color with while eating.

• Fill balloons with red, white, and blue crinkled paper. Have the kids pop the balloons for festive explosions of color.

• Attach the kids’ names to cork placemats for easy seating arrangements. The kids can take their placemats home along with their tags, so use red, white, and blue colors to make them festive.

• Sprinkle red, white, and blue confetti and candies around the table.

Activities

• Have the kids make small American flags and place them in red, white, and blue pails filled with sand. Then, turn this decoration into a game! Divide the kids into two teams and have them run, grab a flag, and quickly walk back to the team line, where the next person must do the same. The team that has all of the flags in hand most quickly wins! Let the kids take the flags home as a goody.

• Let the kids make a sidewalk chalk mural using red, white, and blue sidewalk chalk. They can create an American flag, fireworks, the Washington Monument, etc. This is a great activity for a dry Fourth of July day!

• Boil a dozen eggs and color some red and blue (be sure to keep some white), and have an Egg Spoon Relay Race. Divide the kids into two teams, and provide each team with a spoon and eggs. The kids must balance a colored egg on their spoons and walk quickly from one end of the yard to the other and back. If the egg drops, the team member must begin again. The first team with all members completing the relay wins!

• For older kids, water balloons are loads of fun. A great twist on traditional water balloon games is to create a small hole in each balloon, and then fill it with water. Let the kids toss the leaking balloon, trying not to be the last one holding it when it finally runs out of water! Quick, easy, and fun!

• Play classic relay races and picnic games, such as ring toss, sack race, and three-legged race.

• Have the girls add red, white, and blue star beads to their shoelaces for added fun.

• The kids can make their own creative rockets with cardboard tubes, tin foil, craft paper, tissue paper, glue, markers, ribbon, and child-friendly scissors. 

Tasty Treats

• Have a red, white, and blue taste test with the kids. Put out all sorts of foods and spices in a series of small dishes. Blindfold the kids and have them taste the foods and spices and guess what they are. Ideas for tasting include salt, ketchup, blueberries, strawberries, French salad dressing, mayonnaise, sponge cake, strawberry jam, pepper jack cheese, beets, tomatoes, garlic, bananas, cherries, etc. 

• Freeze blueberries and raspberries in ice cube trays to make star-spangled cubes.

• Make a rocket pop drink. Fill a glass with ice cubes, and carefully pour cranberry juice, blue Gatorade, and 7-Up into the glass directly over the ice cubes to maintain the patriotic colors. 

• Using blackberries, cut strawberries, and bananas, have the kids create a fruit flag. They can place this on a cookie tray, and then you can lay it out to serve to the rest of the guests. The kids can also make mini flags for themselves. 

• Using a star cookie cutter, make up a batch of patriotic gelatin stars, star sugar cookies, cheese slices, and sandwiches filled with cream cheese and blackberry jam.

• Make a batch of cupcakes for the kids to frost and decorate with red, white, and blue sprinkles.

So much fun for so little money and time. Happy Fourth of July planning!

 

Lisa Kothari has based her ambition on helping parents throw the best children's parties without the added stress that planning often creates. She is the founder of Peppers and Pollywogs, a kids' party planning company providing families with party ideas and inspiration.

What's in a Name?

One of the most valuable things parents can do is bestow their children with good taste in names. No one ever talks about this. It's not an official part of any parenting manual. But it's important. Oh, it's important.

I read in the news recently that a teenage girl protesting a biology assignment changed her name from Jennifer to Cutout Dissection.com. Seriously. Her driver's license now reads Dissection.com, Cutout.

I'm all for political protest, but why didn't she go with Ann T. D'Section? Same message, but miles closer to normal.

High school can be miserable but it's not a permanent affliction. A name, on the other hand, lasts until death or an inconvenient trip to the courthouse. Why not just wear a message T-shirt and the character-building regrettable haircut, and be done with it? Why change your name and be stuck saying, "Well, in high school…" for the rest of your life?

Her parents should have taught her better.

Most people's first naming attempts don't begin with themselves, though I'm going to make an exception here for the spawn of certain celebrities. Pilot Inspektor and Moxie Crimefighter, I'm talking to you. You have my permission for a do-over as soon as you're of legal age.

My point, and I do have one somewhere, is that it's important to give kids a chance to name a thing or two before they make a horrible mistake with their own offspring.

When Lucy was 3, my beloved dog died. I thought it'd be a great idea to let Lucy name the new puppy herself. She was learning her alphabet and really liked to string together novel combinations of letters.

"What about M-O-I-D?" she said.

"That spells Moid," I replied. "It's quite possibly the worst name in the history of the world."

"Moid!" Lucy said, delighted. "Moid, Moid, Moid, Moid."

Moid is not a name that grows on you with repetition, except in the manner that mildew might creep up the hem of your shower curtain.

But she clung to the name Moid, and we were only saved by the fact that my aunt and uncle gave her a goldfish before we met the right puppy. The goldfish became Moid, and for his short life, seemed to tolerate it, though I'm leaning toward the conclusion now that his quick death was his only means of protest. 

When we did get the puppy, I named her Rosemary. Lucy was angry that Couch Jumper and "Petally" didn't meet my high standards. Still, after what happened later to Tom Cruise when he jumped on Oprah's couch, I'm glad I held firm.

Now we are in the process of assembling our family band. Alice is teaching herself to play the piano. Lucy and I play the violin. With Adam on the guitar, we're a regular honkytonkish/bluegrassish group that knows one whole song, "Bile Them Cabbages."

Alice, ever the logical child, has suggested we name our group "Family Band" or "The Bile Them Cabbages Band."  She also suggested "The Bathing Suit Rockers" because she is lately obsessed with the idea of learning to swim. I rejected this. I do not like rocking a bathing suit. I will not rock one on stage—not without liposuction, a spray tan, and entrance into the federal witness protection program.

Lucy, however, is staying true to her roots. Her suggestion, repeated several times at top volume, is "The Rocking Moids," which sounds like something you might get when you're old, sedentary, and in need of more fiber in your diet.

I am considering it, though, if only to save a future grandchild from having to answer when someone calls out, "Moid!" I don't know, though. Maybe we should get a hamster instead.

--Martha Brockenbrough

(Martha Brockenbrough is taking time off. While she's gone, we're republishing some of her most popular posts.)

Keeping Summer Schedules Straight

With kids out of school for the summer, many families are adjusting to new schedules. Summer’s fun, but changing schedules can be hard, especially for families with both parents trying to juggle jobs and kids. Between summer camps, day care, swimming lessons, and the usual chaos of life, staying on top of the new schedules can be a challenge. Here are some ways that Cozi can help:

FAMILY CALENDAR: Keep all the plans in your family calendar, and then us the Send to Phone option in the Cozi calendar to send each person’s schedule to them each day by text.

REMINDERS: You probably had the school-year routines memorized, but with the new schedule, you might need a gentle nudge to get everyone where they need to be at the right time. Even if your summer schedule changes every week, setting Cozi reminders for your kids’ camps and lessons can help keep you on track.

COZI MOBILE: If you haven’t tried Cozi Mobile yet, now might be a good time to get started with this new feature from Cozi. This is a great new option for accessing your Cozi information when you’re away from your computer.

SHOPPING LISTS: With all the extra activities you have on your schedule this summer, the last thing you want to do is go grocery shopping. By using the list feature in Cozi, you can save yourself extra trips and make shopping more efficient. If you’re busy picking up the kids and your husband’s on his way home from work, he can make a quick stop at the store, calling into 888-808-COZI for anything on the list.

Keeping your new summer schedule straight might be a challenge at first, but let Cozi help you keep track and keep it simple so that you can enjoy some summer fun.

Summer Reading List

SchoolFamily.com helps parents help their kids succeed in school. SchoolFamily.com provides expert insight, information, and resources for parents of school-age children in grades K-12.

These books will capture your kids’ imagination, and they’re perfect for reading aloud.

Ages 4-8

Across the Alley
by Richard Michelson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Two young boys—one African-American, the other Jewish—forge a friendship and share their love of baseball and playing the violin in an era when racial differences keep people apart.

Adèle & Simon
by Barbara McClintock

Adele tells her little brother, Simon, not to lose anything on the way home from school. This books is set in Paris in the early 20th century, and the siblings stop at various sites and landmarks along the way. Of course, Simon leaves something behind at each one.

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County
by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson

A little girl just can’t stop herself from chasing chickens on her family’s farm.

For You Are a Kenyan Child
by Kelly Cunnane, illustrated by Ana Juan

A young boy’s day in a Kenyan village.

The Giant and the Beanstalk
by Diane Stanley

Otto, a gentle and polite giant, follows Jack down the beanstalk to rescue his beloved pet chicken. Otto keeps running into Jacks from other fairy tales until he finds the one he’s looking for.

Max’s Words
by Kate Banks, illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Max’s big brothers collect stamps and coins. Max wants to collect something, too. He collects words, cutting them out of newspapers and magazines and writing them down. He and his brothers arrange the words to create a story.

Mr. George Baker
by Amy Hest, illustrated by Jon J. Muth

A 1st grade boy and a 100-year-old man learn to read at the same time.

Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything
by Lenore Look, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

In this sequel to Ruby Lu, Brave and True, 2nd grader Ruby Lu is assigned to help her deaf cousin from China acclimate to school. She takes her role so seriously that she neglects her own work and has to go to summer school.

You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Stories To Read Together
by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Michel Emberley

This collection of 13 two-page rhyming stories is written for children and adults to enjoy loud together.

Ages 9-12

The following selections are terrific to read aloud a chapter at a time to younger children. Older children (and their parents!) will enjoy reading these books on their own.

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L’Engle

The story of Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin’s search through the universe for Meg’s father. The 1963 Newbery Medal winner.

Charlotte’s Web
by E.B. White

The classic story about Wilbur the pig and his spider friend, Charlotte, who saves his life. A 1953 Newbery Honor book.

Feathers
by Jacqueline Woodson

Sixth-grader Frannie learns about the barriers that separate people when a new boy arrives in her class. A 2008 Newbery Honor book.

James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl

Young James escapes his two horrible aunts and finds friendship and adventure inside a giant peach.

Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes

The story of a young apprentice silversmith in Boston in the period leading up to the Revolutionary War. The 1944 Newbery Medal winner.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo

A vain and selfish china rabbit learns the value of love.

My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George

The story of a boy who leaves home to spend a year living alone in the forest. A 1960 Newbery Honor book.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor

The story centers on the 9-year-old daughter of an African-American family living amid poverty and racism in the Deep South during the 1930s. The 1977 Newbery Medal winner.

Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia MacLachlan

A warm and moving story set in the 19th century about a Midwestern widower who advertises for a mother for his two young children. Sarah arrives from Maine to live with the family. The 1986 Newbery Medal winner.

The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame

The adventures of Mole, Rat, Toad, and their woodland friends

Summer Travel Tips

Create a travel file for your upcoming summer vacation. Things to include in the file might be:

1. Your itinerary
2. Plane tickets, e-tickets and board passes
3. Directions
4. Important phone numbers and addresses
5. Hotel, Cruise, Car Rental or Camping Information
6. Activity and sightseeing information
7. Copies of passports driver’s licenses or other identification
8. Check lists of what to bring and what to do before leaving

If you’re not used to traveling by air, one of the best things you can to do make your trip start and end smoothly is to be organized and prepared. Even the TSA recommends it on their posted signs. Stash some extra quart size Ziploc bags with your carry-on luggage – just in case you forget to pack your liquids in them before you leave; otherwise you could be sorry when you get to the security check and have to toss it in the garbage.

 

Laura Leist, CPO, is a speaker, productivity consultant and the best-selling author of Eliminate Chaos: The 10-Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life. She founded the Seattle-based organizing services firm Eliminate Chaos in 2000 and is the President of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers). Laura is a frequent guest on TV, radio and has been published in several national newspapers and magazines.

 

Copyright Eliminate Chaos. Reprinted with permission.

Family Summer Movies 2009

What's more fun than going out to the movies with your family? Being the very first in the theater to catch a new release! Here are the big family movies for Summer 2009. No need to write down the release dates – add these dates instantly to your Cozi Calendar by adding the Family Summer Movies iCalendar.

Family Movie Release Dates - Summer 2009

Now Showing
Up (PG)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (PG)

June 2009
Imagine That (June 12 - PG)

July 2009
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July 1 - PG)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 15 - PG)
G-Force 3D (July 24 - PG)
Aliens in the Attic (July 31 – not yet rated)

August 2009
Shorts (August 7 - PG)
Bandslam (August 14 - PG)
Ponyo (August 14 – not yet rated)

September 2009
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (September 18 – not yet rated)

 

Add Summer Movie Release Dates to Your Cozi Calendar:

1. Click on this link to open your Cozi Calendar options where you can add an Internet calendar of your own. (You may need to sign into your Cozi account first.)
2. Right click on the link below and select 'Copy link' or 'Copy shortcut.' Then paste into the Calendar URL text box on that page:
   
   Family Summer Movies 2009 iCalendar
   
   
3. Click Add.
4. That's it! You can now look ahead to family movie releases all summer!

 To add an iCalendar in the future, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to Cozi
2. Click Settings, and then click Calendar options.
3. On the "Customize your calendar" settings page, click Add a holiday calendar or other Internet calendar.
4. Paste the URL into the text box in the Add an Internet calendar of your own section.
5. Click Add.

Plan a Summer Ice Cream Social

‘Tis the season for trips to your favorite ice cream spot, and for ice cream socials! Read on for some cool ice cream social party ideas for the upcoming summer season.

• For decorations, bunch balloons together to look like an ice cream cone. Use brown balloons for the cone and different colors for the different flavors of ice cream! Another way to make balloons look like ice cream cones is to attach helium-filled balloons to party hats— this can be a great centerpiece for your party table.

• Make a sign welcoming your guests to your child’s “Ice Cream Parlor.”

• Play some old-fashioned ice cream parlor music to get your guests in the mood of the party theme as they arrive.

• On the party table, place old fashioned stick candy in brightly colored pails as an additional decoration and treat. It will look festive!

• Match your tableware to the ice cream colors you choose. If you choose a plain white tablecloth, decorate it by sticking ice cream cone cutouts all over it, or by drawing an ice cream parlor on it.

• Enjoy a sundae bar with toppings such as sprinkles, nuts, chocolate sauce, cherries, caramel, etc. Make “Creamy Cones” by using standard ice cream cones and providing whipped cream for the kids to fill them up with. The kids can top their cones with chocolate shavings, sprinkles, gummies, etc.

• Play a version of the Pin the Tail on the Donkey, in which you pin a cherry on a sundae or an ice cream cone!

• Organize a game for the adults: match the Ben and Jerry’s flavors to their names. This could be challenging!

•  Make paper soda hats.

• Have an ice cream eating contest!

• As a favor, buy some vintage sundae cups at a thrift store and fill them with Baskin Robbins hard candies. Add a Pixie Stix candy as a straw.

Ice cream socials and birthday parties are sure to be a huge hit and cool everyone off!

Lisa Kothari has based her ambition on helping parents throw the best children's parties without the added stress that planning often creates. She is the founder of Peppers and Pollywogs, a kids' party planning company providing families with party ideas and inspiration.

Summer Fruit Fun

Summertime means plenty of opportunities for fun. But little hands and minds need something to occupy all that free time. Why not experience the sweet, fresh fruit of summer with everyday food activities you can do with your children? It’s an easy way to pass the time and doesn’t cost extra.

1. Go berry picking. If you don’t have a backyard garden, look up a local U-Pick farm for a berry-picking adventure. Start now. Strawberries are in season first, then blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
2. Do a daily taste test. A taste test is one of the best ways to help children try new foods. Simply announce that you are conducting a taste test, set out the samples and watch them be gobbled up. Test different varieties of fruit and pick a winner, or try an exotic fruit with a crazy name.
3. Freeze leftovers for future goodies. Sometimes the harvest is a little too abundant. Decide to save some before it’s too late by washing and placing berries or cut-up pieces of fruit in freezer bags. Next time your kids are in the mood for a smoothie, it’s as easy as popping some fruit pieces in the blender. And since the fruit is frozen, it takes the place of ice cubes.<
4. Make fruit kabobs. There’s something about food on a stick that makes eating fun for kids. Serve a wooden skewer of a single fruit or get creative. Create an image with a plateful of fruit kabobs. How? Make an American flag by arranging skewers of alternating strawberries and bananas for the stripes and top a few of the skewers with blueberries for the stars section.
5. Make homemade fruit soda. A no-soda household is a great start to a healthy food environment. But there is nothing wrong with mixing up some homemade soda for a summer treat. You can make a simple soda by mixing equal parts of fruit juice with soda water, club soda or sparkling water. Turn sour lemons and limes into soda by mixing ¼ cup lemon or lime juice with 3 tablespoons sugar first, then adding a cup of soda water.
6. Visit a fruit tree. If you don’t have a fruit tree in your yard, maybe you can visit a neighbor who does or a local orchard. Seeing fruit grow on trees helps little ones understand how real food grows.
7. Make a summer fruit mural. As you enjoy the latest fruit in season, have your little one draw or paint a picture of it. Display the growing line of color as the summer progresses. You might even make it from red berries to peachy peaches and on to orange pumpkins!
8. Use fruit as a natural flavor and color. Many foods in the grocery store come pre-made, meaning they are pre-flavored, pre-colored and pre-sweetened. You can do the same thing at home while having fun and limiting the not-so-good ingredients you have to settle for when buying processed foods. Use the juice of berries or cherries to color yogurt, ice cream or milk. Add cut up whole fruit to add the flavor and you’ve got an easy, healthy snack.
9. Create fruit art. For a classic still life, set out bowls of peaches, berries or just a slice of watermelon for water color inspiration. If you find yourself with peaches or small melons that are past their fresh date, dip in paint and use for stamping before they go in the garbage.
10. Inspect the seeds. It might be tough to get them to grow (trying can be fun, though!) but don’t just throw away the fruit seeds. Take the chance to inspect the type and size of seeds in summer fruits you eat. Strawberries have tiny seed specks that end up in your tummy, mid-summer fruits like peaches and plums have bigger stone-like seeds, and then you’ve got the spit-able seeds of watermelons.

Enjoy a summer full of fruit!

--Live Simply