NWA Kids Guide

Thurs. Feb. 19 to Sun. Feb. 22 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers

Open: Thurs. 4:00pm-8:00pm, Fri. & Sat. 9:00am-8:00pm, Sun. 10:00am-5:00pm

Benefit for The Children’s House

The 2009 NWA Premier Boat & Sport Expo will have even more exhibitors, more boats and more things to do this year.

We have some fantastic door prizes this year - like a Caribbean Cruise, a 50cc scooter, wakeboard lessons and much more. You must enter to win but you need not be present when we draw the lucky winners. Check out all the prizes here.

This year, we’ll have entertainment for kids with a roaming magician, clowns making balloon animals and free face painting on Saturday from 11:00am - 3:00pm. We’re also proud to offer the M.I.L.K. program with our partners the Czapliskie/Mills Agency - Farmers Insurance. M.I.L.K. is the Managing Information on Lost Kids and you can have your child registered FREE at the NWA Boat Expo this year - see more info here.

Don’t miss all the fun and games in the Grand Lake Fun Zone. Video games, putting contests, register to win great prizes, lots of giveaways and more.

This year, we’ve added a great attraction to the expo - helicopter rides. Thanks to Windwalker Air, if you’ve ever wanted to fly in a copter this is your chance. Even better, Windwalker is donating a portion of each ride ticket to Children’s House. See more info here.

Andrew Adkinson from CWB Wakeboards will be in the Ski & Sports exhibit. Andrew is one of the top 3 wakeboarders in the world. Have your picture taken with Andrew and get some tips on how to improve your wakeboard skills.

We’ll have food, beer, wine and kids meals so come make a day of it. Remember half the proceeds benefits Children’s House. Learn more about our favorite charity.

Tickets are still only $4.00 for adults or $6 for a weekend pass, $1.00 for kids 6-16 and under 6 get in FREE.

Tues. Feb.3rd - 17th

Jones Center Room #112
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Presented by Dee Austin, Arkansas State PIRC

This is a three-part mini-series that will teach building skills to help form your child’s foundation for life.  It is designed specifically for parents of children from birth to two years of age.

Parenting classes are FREE, but are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive early. For more information (479)751-3463.

Thurs. Jan. 29th

Jones Center Room #112
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Presented by Shannon Randolph, SARPA (Sexual Assault Recovery & Prevention Agency)

Learn how to identify the 17 signs of an abuser; participants to examine current relationships and needs.

Parenting classes are FREE, but are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive early. For more information (479)751-3463.

The children are running around the kitchen. The dog is barking it at the door and dinner should have been on the table thirty minutes ago. It’s a common scenario in many households come dinner time.The reason that most meal times don’t always go smoothly may because dinner the last thing on your mind and when it’s time to get food on the table, everything else goes haywire in your house.

We have all been there, but with a little bit of meal-planning, you can be serving up delicious meals the family will be glad to gather around the table for.

Meal planning can make it easy to get dinner on the table in no time on a busy night. Not only do you save time, but it’s economical too. You buy only what you need, avoid the drive-through line up and you can concentrate on using fresh ingredients – instead of prepackages items from the grocery store. Every mother should have a set way to plan all of their meals in advance for the week…it’s a true life-saver.

The first step to successful meal planning is to sit down before you head out to the grocery store for the week (or sign up for the affordable Dine Without Whine Menu Planning Service & they’ll make that plan for you) .

It is best to plan what food you will need to have on had before you head to the grocery store when planning the week’s meals. Meal planning will make good use of a well stocked pantry and will only need a regular amount of grocery shopping. By having your meals for the week planned out, you will be able to write a grocery list that you can stick to (Dine Without Whine actually puts your grocery list together for you too). This will help you to save money by keeping you from not buying extra food that you will not use.

As you plan your week’s meals, make sure that you think about ways you can cook once and make two meals out of it. It’s easy to do a lot of cooking on the weekends so that you can do minimum cooking on busy week days. You can grill up chicken breasts on Sunday and use them in pasta on one night and then in fajitas another night. There are many ways that you can reuse the cooking from one night to make the next meal that much easier.

Meal planning can also help to cut down on your prep time in the kitchen when you are cooking. By knowing the meals that you are going to cook in advance, you can wash and cut vegetables when you bring them home from the grocery store. The simple act of pre-measuring the vegetables that you would need for a meal will cut out a lot of additional cooking time.

To be successful with your meal planning, you will want to take into account a lot of factors when you plan your meals for the week. One of the most important things to keep in mind is your weekly schedule of evening activities. The nights when your family has many activities planned are not the evenings to make meals that take along time to prepare. It will be those nights that you will want to use the meals that use the food that you already prepared on the weekends.

Meal planning is a skill that will take some getting used to. The first couple of times that you attempt to plan out your meals for the week, you will have some missteps along the way. After awhile it will become second nature to plan all of your meals in advance and you will wonder why you did not start to do it sooner.

To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your hungry family will be glad you did.

Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation Eleventh Annual Youth Run
on May 2, 2009

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

Contest end date: February 5, 2009
Eligibility: students ages 6-13
Prizes For Winner:
• $100 cash to student
• $50 Best Sports gift certificate to the school Physical Education program
• Recognition in the newspaper and the day of the run
• Free t-shirts to the student and student’s parents

Contest Guidelines/rules:
Create an original design that will be used on the front of the T-shirt to be given to all participants and volunteers at the Kendrick Fincher Youth Run in Rogers on May 2, 2009. Approximately 1,000 T-shirts will be printed. The design may be a maximum of four colors and should be drawn on a sheet of plain white paper size 8 1⁄2 X 11. The entry form below should be taped to the back of each entry.
Judging will be based on creativity and tie in to the Youth Run or the Foundation’s mission to promote proper hydration and prevent heat illness (for example: themes related to proper hydration, exercise, keeping cool).

A minimum of six finalists will be chosen for community voting.

The finalists will be published in The Morning News in March for the community to vote on the winner. The voting process is a fundraiser for the youth run with votes .25 per vote. All entries become the property of the Foundation and will not be returned.

Go to www.kendrickfincher.com to download the t-shirt form.

Tricycle Theatre for Youth is offering an Intersession Break Camp for all students in 2nd-4th grades during the week of February 9-13, 2009. 

The Magic Tree House: The Musical performance based camp will occur each day from 8:30am-3:00pm at 120 S. Main St. in downtown Bentonville. 

The cost is $190 plus a $10 registration fee. 

Registration is available online at www.triketheatre.org. 

Thurs. Jan. 22nd
Jones Center Room #112
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Presented by Dr. Carolene Thornton, Arkansas State PIRC

More than half of all marriages end in divorce, and the majority of these involve children.  Conflict between parents, both before and after divorce, is associated with many negative outcomes in children.  The purpose of this workshop is to help parents learn how to nurture and support their children during and after their divorce.  Come get sound, sensible information on how to help children handle the divorce of their parents.  Learn how to tell your children the marriage is over, prepare them for changes, communicate positively with your children and your ex-spouse, and develop a parenting plan that will minimize the trauma to your child.

Parenting classes are FREE, but are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive early. For more information (479)751-3463.

Drug-free Approach to Treating Learning and Behavioral Problems - The Foundation for Wellness Professionals

Thurs. Jan. 15th at The Jones Center Room #112 6:00pm - 8:00pm

This presentation educates the audience on the true causes of learning and behavioral problems.  Learn whether A.D.H.D. is an actual “mental” condition and what the symptoms are.  Statistics showing the potential dangers of using drugs to treat these conditions.  Learn what the benefits of natural healthcare treatment and how natural healthcare can give parents and their children healthier lives.

Parenting classes are FREE, but on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please arrive early.  For more information call (479)751-3463

Thurs. January 8

The Jones Center for Families - Springdale

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Presented by Michelle Wynn, Child Care Resource and Referral

What’s a parent to do when your child has a melt down at Walmart?  Are you frustrated with your child’s behavior and are you struggling with skills to respond positively to their negative behaviors?  Mrs. Wynn will share techniques and ideas to corral tempermental children.

Parenting classes are FREE, but are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please arrive early.  For more information (479)751-3463

Tues. January 6 - Tues. January 27

The Jones Center for Families Room #112

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Presented by Dee Austin, Arkansas State PIRC

This is a four part series to be presented consecutively.  Each session, six specific parenting skills that are problem areas for all parents with children of any age will be presented.  You may attend any or all four sessions.  Attending all four sessions will give parents new ways of coping with a variety of problems pertaining to everyday parenting issues.

Parenting classes are FREE, but are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please arrive early.  For more information (479)751-3463