Day camp drama: Why can’t I find a Jewish program for my kids?

By Lisa Keys for JTA
I live in New York, one of the most Jewish cities in the world, and yet I reside in a pocket that has few options for Jewish life.

I love my western Queens neighborhood, where my husband and I have lived for more than a decade. The community is great — it’s the kind of place where we babysit each other’s kids — and it’s an easy commute to Manhattan.

But one thing I’ve despaired: the limited Jewish infrastructure. And never do I feel the pain of this more acutely than this time of year, when summer plans are being made. It’s my dream to send my kids, ages 5 and 8, to a Jewish summer camp. But this always seemed impossible, due to a combination of high cost and inconvenience.

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The Jewish Reason Why I Read Dr. Seuss to My Sons

Lela Casey for Kveller
The first time I read “Green Eggs and Ham” to my oldest son, he was 3 years old. I was trying to convince him to eat a cheese stick and getting nowhere. Finally, at my wits end over his impossible eating habits, I remembered the book that he’d recently received as a gift.

For the next 10 minutes he smiled and giggled at Sam I Am and his persistent sales pitch. When the book was over, I handed him the cheese stick one last time and smiled hopefully. He didn’t eat it… Not in his chair, not with his bear, not in the bed, not on his head. But, he did fall in love with Dr. Seuss.

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Purim is Coming & We’re Here to Help

Molly Tolsky for Kveller    
   
At last, the wackiest, craziest Jewish holiday of the year has arrived! Purim begins tomorrow night at sundown and goes until sundown on Sunday night, which means 24 hours of costumes, hamantaschen, noisemakers and more.

But Purim ain’t all cookies and costumes–it’s about beauty pageants, drinking, and evil plots, too! Refresh yourself on the Purim story, and then if you need some last minute ideas to make this year’s Purim extra fun, we’ve got you covered.           

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For more Purim news, check out our    page.

Awesome Purim Crafts

Amy Deutsch for Kveller

Purim is one of those Jewish holidays that lends itself so easily to crafting. From making mishloach manot (goody bags) to groggers (noisemakers) to costumes, there’s just so much to do. We’ve collected some of our favorite crafts for you to check out below–enjoy, and get crackin!

Here at Kveller, we have an environmentally-friendly grogger (repurposed from your recycle bin) as well as some great Purim cards, no-sew costumes, and mishloach manot ideas. And did we mention our adorable miniature Purim dolls from Meredith Jacobs?

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For more Purim news, check out our    page.

10 Reasons Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12

Cris Rowan for the HuffPost Blog

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012). Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, especially by very young children (Common Sense Media, 2013). As a pediatric occupational therapist, I'm calling on parents, teachers and governments to ban the use of all handheld devices for children under the age of 12 years. Following are 10 research-based reasons for this ban. Please visit zonein.ca to view the Zone'in Fact Sheet for referenced research.

1. Rapid brain growth

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LEGO Releases First Minifigure with a Wheelchair

Joanna Valente (Editorial Assistant) for Kveller

Recently, we reported that American Girl launched a line of dolls with a diabetes care kit and British toymaker Makies released a line of dolls with disabilities. Both of these toy lines were inspired by the social media campaign, Toys Like Me, which is a campaign encourages parents and kids with disabilities to customize their toys, and then post them online.

Toys Like Me did it again, calling for LEGO to start featuring more characters and toys that reflect real life, and actually include characters with disabilities. All kids should feel included–and it’s hard to feel included if all of your toys represent some limited one dimensional version of what kids are “supposed” to look like.

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Worst Day Ever!

Blog: jewishhomeschool

My 5 year old daughter is very emotional and sensitive.

Recently I have noticed that when she gets upset or frustrated about something, she makes a very dramatic comment like, 'this is the worst day of my life!' or 'I am having the worst day ever!' which is often followed by a river of tears.

In her little world, things need to go according to plan. Things need to look a certain way and be a certain way. And when they don't, it really is, to her, the worst day ever.

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