Hot Family How-Tos
How To: Teach your children good manners by modeling them
The best way to teach your children good manners is to have good manners yourself, and model them in front of your children. This mother of three goes over several of her favorite strategies for raising a well-mannered and polite child.
How To: Make it a point to teach your children how to behave in public
Toddlers can be difficult to manage in a public setting. This mother of three shows how you can get even a very young child to behave and have good manners when you're in a place like a restaurant or other public place.
How To: Get your child to go to bed without having to deal with a tantrum
Children hate going to bed, but they certainly need their sleep. How can you get a toddler to accept that it's bedtime without having to deal with a temper tantrum? Here are a few good stratgies for getting a toddler to go to bed peacefully.
How To: Make ice cream in a bag with your children
You don't need an expensive ice cream maker to make your own ice cream! All you need is a sandwich bag or Ziploc bag, milk, sugar and vanilla flavoring. Once you've put your ingredients in the bag, mix it up and then freeze it!
How To: Craft a princess purse from spare fabric and a shoelace
Make a fashion purse for your little princess! You'll need four squares of fabric in two separate colors (one for the outside and one for the lining), beads for decoration, a shoelace to use as a strap, needle and thread (or a craft sewing machine) and a pair of scissors.
How To: Make a recycled bubble wand with your kids
Here's a fun and eco-friendly activity that will let you make some clever bubble wands out of recycled wire. All you need is the colored wire (you can use old hanger wire) and a few BBQ sticks. Then bend into the shape you want!
How To: Diaper your baby and prevent the development of diaper rash
Diapering. It's one of those things which you can't avoid. This video shows you a few useful techniques for changing the diapers for your new baby, including how to avoid things like diaper rash - or how to treat diaper rash if your child develops it.
How To: Bathe a newborn baby safely and thoroughly
A little worried about giving your newborn infant a bath? This tutorial shows you how to not only give your baby a bath, but make bathtime a fun time and have your child look forward to the playtime. Also included are some good safety tips for putting your baby in the bath.
How To: Help your baby sleep better by establishing a good sleep routine
Babies sleep best when they have a reliable sleep routine, and this also helps the new parents get enough sleep themselves. This tutorial shows you how to give your baby a good routine to make sure they sleep as much through the night as possible.
How To: Take care of your child's superfine hair
Baby hair can usually be extra fine, and baby skin is also sensitive to harsh shampoo. Detangling can also be a challenging. This tutorial shows you how to take care of your child's hair, and still let them express themselves.
How To: Take care of your baby's sensitive skin at bath time
Bathing a baby means not only keeping them clean, but also taking care of their skin. This video shows you how to keep your child's skin soft and well moisturized. Make sure your baby doesn't continually suffer from dry skin, and always moisturize after a bath.
How To: Build a great couch fort with your child
What's better than building a fort out of couch cushions, blankets and chairs? Not much, if you're a kid! This tutorial shows you how to build a stable couch fort, that can repel the assault of even the most determined playmate.
How To: Make a baby carriage out of circles with your child
This craft is for pre-K children, and is useful if you want to teach them about shapes. By using circles, you can craft them to make a cute little baby carriage. All you need is some glue and scissors, and maybe some stickers or other decorations.
How To: Make a tea cup from rectangle shapes with your child
Teach your young child about shapes! This tutorial shows you how to make a teacup out of rectangle shapes - both perfect and trapezoidal. All you need is some colored paper, glue and safety scissors (and markers or colored pencils to decorate your tea cup)
How To: Teach your pre-K child about circles by making a paper ice cream cone
Turn craft time into an educational experience! Using one paper triangle for the cone, you can use other paper circles to represent scoops of ice cream to teach your child about different shapes. This is a fun and easy craft for young children and their parents to do together.
How To: Cut your baby's umbilical cord in the birthing room
Traditionally, cutting the umbilical cord is done by the new father - and while many dads to be might be excited by the opportunity, it can also be a little scary. This video will hopefully assuage your fears and show you the right way to cut the cord.
How To: Make a princess mirror out of posterboard with your child
This is a simple craft you can make with a child who loves to play dress-up. You'll need cardboard or posterboard, aluminum foil or reflective paper, glitter pencils, a circular trace, a paper puncher, markers or colored pencils, glue and safety scissors.
How To: Make a foam flower curtain with your child
Help your child decorate their room! This tutorial shows you how to use craft foam to construct a curtain of flowers. In addition to the foam, you will also need a glitter pencil, decorative ribbon and a pair of kid safe craft scissors.
How To: Set up an effective chore matrix and get your children to do their chores
Teach your children responsibility by having them do chores. But sometimes, the stress of getting your children to do their chores seems more than it's worth. Here's a useful tutorial to set up a chore matrix or chore chart and get your children to do their chores.
How To: Make a snake sock puppet out of an old sock
Here's a great way to recycle old socks into clever puppets for your kids! This tutorial shows you how to turn an old green sock into a snake pupet using googly eyes, a bit of red felt, some cardboard, fabric glue and scissors (and some yarn if you want your puppet to have hair).
How To: Make a sailboat out of recycled wooden building blocks
Turn a left over wooden block into a sailboat! To make this craft, you'll need four rectangular wooden blocks and one triangle, three foam leaves, a BBQ or bamboo skewer, glue or a glue gun and scissors (and paint, if you want to paint your blocks a different color).
How To: Make a Turkish-style jewelry box or trinket box with your kids
Make a beautiful box for your child to keep their jewelry or precious possessions in. You'll need a small plastic or metal container, strands of thread with small beads on them, plastic gems or rhinestones, a hot glue gun and a kid-friendly pair of scissors.
How To: Make a paper craft that teaches your child how to tie their shoelaces
Teach your child how to tie shoelaces, and have fun at the same time! You can make a pair of paper shoes with laces by using recycled cardboard, foam leaves, a glue gun, a hole punch, scissors and, of course, a pair of shoelaces!
How To: Make a pair of Turkish-inspired bedroom slippers out of paper
This is a fun craft to do with your child which teaches them how to make a Turkish-style pair of slippers. All you'll need is some colored cardboard, decorative ribbon, glue, scissors, colored markers and a few decorations to put on the shoes.
How To: Build a backyard home theater for family movie night
Make family movie night extra special by holding it outdoors! If your backyard is big enough and the weather where you live lets you, you can set up your own home theater in the backyard! All you need is a screen, projector, DVD player and a sound system.
How To: Manage your child's painful teething period
Dealing with a teething baby is probably the worst time of raising a child. This video shows parents how to manage teething and help your child through a painful period in their life. A few good strategies involving food and medicine are laid out for desperate parents.
How To: Decide if your child should be given a cell phone or not
Is your kid begging for a cell phone? Are you worried about giving them that much responsibility? Here's how to decide if your child should have a cell phone, and how to manage talk time and other aspects of kids with cell phones.
How To: Jump rope using the double dutch routine
You'll need to assemble a good team if you want to pull off double dutch. This video comes from competitive jump ropers, but you can use the strategies and techniques outlined for your own leisure or playtime jump rope games.
How To: Get your child swimming and teach them water safety
When is the right age to teach your child how to swim? How can you teach your child about water safety when they're young? This tutorial shows you how to teach your child, even an infant, how to swim or at least handle themselves in the water.
How To: Make a toy swing out of Tinker Toys
Make a fun little toy swing! This video gives you the plans to make a swing for your dolls or other toys. You'll need to assemble five pink rods, two red rods, one green rod, two blue spools, four yellow spools and four orange washers to make this item.
How To: Make a candy-filled paper carrot with your child
Make a paper carrot and fill it with candy! To make this craft, you'll need green crepe paper, orange construction paper, glue, candies, and a pair of kid-safe scissors. Once you make the paper shell, you can fill it with candy (or anything else you want)!
How To: Make an easy patriotic beaded bracelet
Perfect for a 4th of July craft, this tutorial shows you how to make an easy beaded bracelet with a patriotic touch. You'll need some copper wire (or jewelry wire), red, white and blue beads, a pencil and a pair of safety scissors.
How To: Make an octopus toy out of yarn
This is a fun craft for a child of any age, which teaches how to make an octopus out of yarn. All you need besides the yarn is a pair of googly eyes, glue and scissors. And a few decorations, like a pom pom or foam flower, if you want.
How To: Jump rope with two ropes for double dutch
Double dutch is jumping rope with two ropes, with someone at either end and jumpers in the middle trying to jump both ropes. This video shows you how to jump rope with double dutch, and also teaches some popular rhythm-keeping chants.
How To: Make a bumble bee out of an old plastic Easter egg
Easter is over, and what to do with all the plastic eggs that hold candy? You can always recycle them and turn them into a bumble bee! This craft requires 2 googly eyes, one black pipe cleaner, one white, gold or silver pipe cleaner, a stick and some glue.
How To: Make a porcupine or hedgehog craft out of paper
Here's a fun rainy day craft, good for especially young children. Make your own porcupine or hedgehog out of construction paper. You'll need yellow and brown origami paper, one black marker, one popsicle stick, two googly eyes, a stapler, glue and a pair of safety scissors.
How To: Make a Patriotic Paper Hanger for the 4th of July
Here's an easy craft you can do with your children to make a patriotic Fourth of July paper hanger. All you need is some construction paper in red, white and blue, a pipe cleaner to serve as the hanger, a stapler or hot glue gun, and some scissors.
How To: Interpret your ultrasound photograph and be relaxed during the procedure
An ultrasound is the first photograph of your baby, but sometimes it can be difficult to understand. This video shows you what an ultrasound is, how you can interpret the photgraph and what you can expect when you go in for yours.
How To: Decide if Flexion exercises are right for you during pregnancy
Flexion exercises are a popular method to flatten a stomach after pregnancy. But always make sure that you give your body time to heal after becoming a new mother. Avoid these Flexion exercises until you're sure that your body has returned to normal.
How To: Establish a workable and predictable baby care routine
Keeping your baby on a schedule is important for their development, and also for establishing early on a reliable sleeping pattern. This tutorial shows you how to get a good bedtime or nighttime routine going so you can easily put your child to bed and have them sleep through the night.