Learning Expressions

Blog: Minding Our Manners, Toddler to Tween

With the holidays fast approaching, kids and adults alike will have their manners on display in front of family, friends, and strangers during multiple occasions. To prepare for Thanksgiving dinner next week, we thought we would compile a few tips drawn from some of the great manner-minded products that we carry at Learning Express.

Junior Hosts

From the creators of Blunders, the award-winning game that teaches children about social and dining etiquette, come these helpful suggestions about what responsibilities kids can take on when you’re playing host.

1. Welcome guests at the door. All family members should be at the door to greet the guests. Give names, say “Hello, it is nice to meet you” and shake hands if meeting for the first time.

2. Take and hang up coats.

3. If there are children visiting, your kids can have activities planned for them to do. This does not include playing video games and having the guests watch!

4. At some point, your kids should be expected to sit with the adults and make polite conversation.

5. Children can also help you to serve food and do things to make the visit easier.

What do you do?

Some answers to those what-if’s of the dinner table from A Smart Girl’s Guide to Manners, which is part of the complete American Girl “Smart Girl” series.

Q: There are anchovies in the salad, and as far as you’re concerned, anchovies are the yuckiest things on the planet.
A: It’s O.K. to eat around bits of food you dislike, as long as you don’t sort your food into little piles as you do it. And what if a platter comes along with food you don’t want? Pleasantly say, “No thank you.”

Q: Ping! Your fork hits the floor.
A: Leave the fork on the floor if you’re in a restaurant, and ask the server for a new one. If you’re at a friend’s, pick up the fork and say, “Excuse me, I dropped my fork.” That’s the host’s cue to get you a new one.

Q: A piece of spinach is wedged between your teeth.
A: Say, “May I be excused for a moment, please?” Go to the bathroom and do whatever you need to do to get the spinach out. (If you see something stuck in your friend’s teeth, don’t sit there wondering when she’ll notice it herself. Let her know with a small hand motion.)

Q: You poke your salad and a bug crawls out.
A: Say, “May I have another salad?” Explain why if the host asks. Try—really try—not to squeal and make a fuss.

Q: Your milk topples over onto the tablecloth.
A: Say, “I’m sorry!” and help clean up. Accidents happen to everybody—including adults.

Q: The moment the host has filled your plate, you realize that you really, really have to go to the bathroom.
A: Say, “May I be excused for a moment, please?”

Q: There’s a UFO on your plate—an Unidentified Food Object. (What is it? How do you eat it? You have no idea!)
A: Keep chatting. Wait to see what the hostess does with the UFO on her plate.

Q: You took a bite of meat five minutes ago and are still chewing, trying to get rid of the gristle.
A: Quietly take the gristle out of your mouth with your thumb and forefinger and place it on the edge of your plate.

Q: The host appears with a platter of deviled eggs, and you’re allergic to eggs.
A: Say, “No thank you. I’m allergic to eggs.” Make a meal of the other foods on the table.

 

For more advice, check out last year’s Thanksgiving blog. Here’s wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Raising a Generation of Smart, Healthy Kids

I’ve been very intrigued by First Lady Michelle Obama’s recently announced cause of choice—childhood obesity. This is an issue that was first raised three decades ago, but, like most things, it’s only when the consequences are in full swing that we start paying attention. For several years, Learning Express has addressed the topic with a program called the Bunny Buffet™, which is a healthy alternative to the typical Easter basket. Regardless of whether you’re the First Lady, a franchise of educational toy stores, a medical professional, or a neighborhood parent, I think this is a battle we can all fight.

Some Facts

Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children, hence why it has been called an “epidemic.”

We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing.

 Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents.

The average teen eats fast food twice a week.

Only 3 out of 10 high school seniors report eating green vegetables “nearly every day or more.”

In a study of 200 neighborhoods, there were three times as many supermarkets in wealthy neighborhood as in poor neighborhoods, leaving fast food restaurants as the most convenient meal option for many low income families.

Almost one in four children does not participate in any free-time physical activity. (YIKES!)

92% of elementary schools don’t have daily physical education classes year-round. Less than a quarter of high school students take daily physical education classes.

A typical American youth spends approximately four to five hours a day watching TV, using the computer, or playing video games.

Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign

I think the most positive part of this campaign is that it brings media attention to an issue that is (clearly) in desperate need of it. While the program has now officially launched, it is still in the developmental phase. At the moment, the supporting literature says that Let’s Move plans to give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.

The website is already up and running and has some useful resources for parents available. The “Healthy Choices” section in particular includes how to make a healthy start when feeding your infant, how to create a healthy family home, healthy eating for different age levels (there’s a chart with estimated calories requirements by gender, age, and physical activity level, see link below), healthy cooking and shopping made easy, and facts about healthy weight and BMI.

For more information visit www.letsmove.gov.

Calorie Chart: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/downloads/calreqtips.pdf

The Bunny Buffet™

So where does Learning Express fit into all of this? Well, we certainly think that learning should be fun (that’s the smarts part), but we also believe that the healthy part should be fun too. There’s no question that Easter is a sugar-dominated holiday, and that’s why so many of our stores offer the Bunny Buffet™ as a one-stop shopping alternative. We like to “think outside the basket” as it were.

Basically it’s a three step program. You go into the store and choose from the selection of colorful buckets. Second, you fill the bucket with $25 worth of gifts from the “buffet” of educational toys and gifts. Finally, once everything is rung up, you receive the bucket for FREE, and the Learning Express staff will personalize it with the child’s name. Voila! A meaningful gift that will last much longer than a sugar high.

Find a Learning Express store near you.

In Conclusion

I really hope that the First Lady is able to keep childhood obesity in the limelight as the Let’s Move campaign moves forward. I for one would love to see an entire generation of smart, healthy kids. Wouldn’t you?

- Toy Talker