Category: Mommy Matters

35 Fit, Fun and Mostly Free Activities for Kids
Posted on by Caryn Sullivan Posted in Features, Active Lifestyle, Kid Fitness, Mommy Matters

35 Fit, Fun and Mostly Free Activities for Kids

Growing up in the 80’s, it wasn’t hard to be active. Because social media didn’t exist and phones didn’t have call waiting, if I wanted to see my friends, I ran around the neighborhood to find them. If I couldn’t wait to share a big girly secret, I would walk miles to tell my gal pals or show up at their camp activities.

Today, kids of all ages (and I’m speaking of myself, too) often use technology as their main tool to socialize and communicate. As a result, we don’t have as many opportunities to be active as we once did. While I do enjoy the conveniences and pizzazz of our multi-media lives, I want to be sure to instill a love of activities filled with personal interaction for my son. In an effort to practice what I preach, here is a list of activities to keep a kid (and his mother) fit while having fun. We’ve updated this list from a few years ago, knowing that with COVID-19 restrictions, many families are still looking for interactive activities to enjoy together.

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15 Health Inspired Tween and Teen Books
Posted on by Caryn Sullivan Posted in Mommy Matters, Kid Fitness

15 Health Inspired Tween and Teen Books

As an adolescent social-butterfly, believe it or not, I adored the library. I seldom read teen books or investigated research. However, I craved connections. In addition to my childhood adventures with friends, I found other dynamic connections through books and magazines. I used to walk up the rows of the local library, likely procrastinating doing my homework, but also amazed at all the knowledge within those shelves. I grew from a kid that liked fictional stories to one that loved inspirational words and non-fiction information.

Now, as an adult, I enjoy going to the library to be inspired to write, connect to my passions and learn more. While tweens and teens today have so much data at their finger tips, I believe that they can connect to themselves, find their voices and learn healthy habits through a good book. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin, so we’ve created another healthy kids book list in hopes of inspiring your kids to enjoy healthy habits. We started with 50 Children’s Books that Promote Fitness and now we’re excited to have added 15 Health Inspired Tween and Teen Books below.

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A DIY Herb Garden Encourages Kids to Eat Veggies
Posted on by Caryn Sullivan Posted in As Seen On, Mommy Matters, Clean Living, Non-Toxic Home, YouTube

A DIY Herb Garden Encourages Kids to Eat Veggies

In many areas of life, I believe we will all look and feel better if we eat more veggies…especially for our kids. While growing tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and carrots truly drives home the message to eat more vegetables…we always start out small and take baby steps. So, to celebrate spring and Earth Day we set out to create our own easy indoor herb garden. I’m lucky to have a creative friend that loves to rally around wellness activities. Together with her kids and my son, we made shopping and planting our own herb garden a fun, family activity.

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Easy Healthy Summer Snacks
Posted on by Caryn Sullivan Posted in Mommy Matters, Features, Clean Eating, Tips, TV & Other, As Seen On

Easy Healthy Summer Snacks

Picnics, beach days, adventures in the park and vacations often = a bad eating day or two or three. While, I do believe in “sometimes foods,” “sometimes snacks” and “sometimes days,” I still think a little bit of planning is key. Rather than feeling bloated and fatigued from eating tons of processed and sugar-laden foods, eating well nourishes your body providing energy and a feeling of being toned. Recently, I spoke about eating clean and being active on vacation, and now with school out I’m focused on healthy living with staycations and adventures near home.

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Inspire Kids to Eat Veggies with Gardening Fun
Posted on by Caryn Sullivan Posted in Uncategorized, Mommy Matters, Clean Living CT, Features, Clean Eating, Tips

Inspire Kids to Eat Veggies with Gardening Fun

When I was a little girl I used to garden aka pick weeds out of our vegetable patch. The constant swarming of mosquitos around my head on humid days in the garden made me less than a fan. It took years for me to ever consider growing my own plants, let alone food. Almost three years ago, I started researching the role nutrition plays in healing and preventing disease and found that my clean eating role models all garden. I wanted to try it again. However, I knew I needed to figure out growing food on my terms. My goal was to make it fun and not time-consuming so that my son would be inspired to eat more vegetables. 

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