What we learned this week #64

As Justin Timberlake once sang, what goes around…comes around and so here we are with another round up of the best stuff from the main site this week. He also once claimed to be bringing sexy back, and made the same promise about MySpace, but forget about that – instead we had discussions on ethical parenting, the great outdoors and (most importantly) cake.

Get kids outdoors (even in winter)!

Getting outside is important, even more so for kids.

Much as we spend a lot of our time in front of the warming glow of the computer, getting outside is important, even more so for kids. Simon Munk has some advice for getting the youngsters out into the great outdoors, even as the weather turns all nasty:

‘Being sociable is a great way to embrace the outdoors – going on a windy walk is more fun if your kids and you have friends along. Consider joining (or forming) a local outdoorsy parents/kids group. The brilliant Woodcraft Folk is ideal for this. It’s basically hippy Scouts, with younger children sessions generally run with all parents mucking in. Learning from others is a good way to learn about child safety too – the most serious issues are likely to be nearby roads, followed by steep drops and bodies of water.’

Don’t invite the whole class to a birthday party!

Apparently, birthday party invitations aren’t the done thing any more. At least, not for primary school students. So should you invite your sprog’s whole class to your house for pin the tail on the Skylander (or whatever it is kids play these days)? Not so, says our fearless leader Holly Seddon:

‘It is none of the school’s business how parents (and let’s face it, parties are parents’ domain as they pay for the wretched things) conduct their children’s birthday parties. Any more than it has anything to do with the school what birthday presents kids are given.’

Although, as Ellie Hirsch points out, there is a reason for it:

‘I think for the little ones, it’s important to not leave anyone out. While your child may not be friends with everyone in the class, it can be hurtful to find out you weren’t included in something. It really protects the kids.’