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Do you know what the number one cause of childhood obesity is? Time spent in front of the television, snacking, is one of the primary causes of obesity. Get your child away from the TV and outside, doing something that challenges his body and mind. Check out this list of activities for ideas on how to get your kid to move.

Join a local sport team or club. Tennis lessons. Put up a volleyball net in your yard. A running club. Anything that gets your child up and moving counts.

Put together a friendly scavenger hunt. Work with neighbor parents to determine what should be on the list, and send the kids from house to house searching for everything on the list.

Borrow a neighbor’s dog. You can always teach your child how to be a generous citizen by asking them to volunteer to walk the neighbor’s dog.

Gather together a bunch of neighbor kids for a big, multi-property hide and seek game. If your kids are older, set up a flashlight tag game for after dark.

Buy outdoor games such as crochet, horseshoes, and badminton. Once you’ve got the gaem set up outside, call up your friends and family and have them over to play.

Set up a jump rope competition. Try a few variations – Chinese jump ropes, single person and long, multi-jumper ropes are all good choices. Give out inexpensive prizes, like bubbles or silly string.

Look for summer camps that feature active themes. Many community programs are dirt cheap and lots of fun.

Put your child in charge of mowing the lawn. Most kids can take over at least half the yard by age ten.

Show the kids how to play Twister. Time the kids to see who can last the longest.

Go for a walk with your child. Or hop on bikes together. Or put up a basket ball hoop and start teaching him or her how to shoot. If you use exercise as a way to spend time with your children, they’ll be more eager to participate. Be the example you want your child to grow up to be, and watch their enthusiasm grow!

Got the blues? Having trouble finding the positive? The following suggestions are intended to help you boost your emotional health.

Discover the power of exercise. You’ll be surprised at how even less than thirty minutes of exercise a day can act as a mild antidepressant. Make sure you try a variety of exercise options until you find something you truly enjoy and will look forward to each day. It’ll help you trim down, tone up, and feel better about yourself.

Invest in time with people you like. People need social connections with other people in order to feel fulfilled. Try initiating with someone, even if that is intimidating for you or if you feel like you are too busy to make time for friends. If something negative have been dominating your life (work, a bad relationship, tough parenting situation), take some time away from it and talk to a friend who understands.

Laugh. Laughter is one of the best mood boosters around. Rent a comedy, read a joke book, or call a friend who always makes you giggle. You may even be able to find a laughter therapy group. No kidding! They really do exist.

Give yourself a nutritional boost with vitamins D and B and a bit of Saint John’s Wort. Your body may need the supplemental boost. All of these vitamins enhance your emotional health. Be careful with Saint John’s Wort if you have allergies, though; talk to your doctor first.

Find a therapist. A therapist is trained to help people navigate the choppy waters of emotional distress. Try it out; you may find even one session helps you map out a plan, and your insurance will most likely cover it.

Prioritize your emotional health. How you are doing emotionally affects your body physically, and it affects the people around you as well. Take care of yourself!

A bee sting is certainly no fun to find as part of your day, as it not only can cause you pain, but it can also put poison in your blood stream that makes you feel sick (and of course, it is even worse for those who are allergic to bee stings!), but even though you will be hopeful that you (or your children) will not have to deal with bee stings, it is wise – especially during the summer – to know what you should do in case a bee sting occurs. Taking care of bee stings is easy to do, after all, but if you do not know what you are doing, you will not be able to take the proper steps!

The first thing for you to do is check the area of the sting to see if the stinger is embedded in the skin; if the stinger is not in the skin, you will be in much better shape, as this will mean there was little to no poison emitted, but if the stinger is embedded in the skin, you will need to use tweezers and pull it out.

You will need to mix a little concoction to go over the area of the sting after you have removed (and safely disposed of) the stinger; in a bowl, stir a little bit of water into baking soda until it creates a paste-like substance, then cover the area with this paste and allow it to dry.

The paste you make out of baking soda and water will go a long way in minimizing the effect of the sting and the poison, but you will also need to make sure that no air is getting to the spot of the sting, and that the paste is not crumbling off; you can do this by putting a bandage over the paste and leaving it on for several hours.

If an allergic reaction occurs in spite of these measures, you should immediately visit a doctor – but as long as you take these steps, you will greatly minimize the possibility of any further damage!