Even though we are heading into winter in the United States, you really need to think about sunscreen.  My husband would not listen to me yesterday when I told him to put on sunscreen before the Chicago Bears football game, and guess what?  He came home with a sunburn.  Once there is snow on the ground, it is even easier to get a sunburn even in the middle of winter. You always need to wear sunscreen no matter what the season is.

Now, my husband has a lotion issue.  He cannot stand touch lotion, having it on his skin, or applying it to our children.  No, he is not trying to get out of sunlotioning our children — it just really grosses him out.  That is why when I came across Kinesys I knew we had to try it.  What I found is that this is a winner in our house.  The microspray formula is super easy to apply.  You just spray it on your arm (or whatever body part you are applying it to), and that’s it!  You don’t have to rub it in at all.  However, it was easier for us to apply to our kids faces (since my kids are little) by spraying it on our hands first and then applying it.  It is super awesome for applying to their scalps, because it didn’t make their hair greasy (and I personally think that is the worst sunburn ever, because until that sunburn goes away, it hurt to even comb your hair).  It is free of four important things – oil, alcohol, preservatives, and PABA.  This won’t irritate your skin — even if you have sensitive skin.  It also is water and sweat resistant which is great for kids too!  It is also non-comedogenic (meaning it won’t clog your pores, so you don’t have to worry about acne breakouts).  It also gives you broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays.

I found that my kids could handle the few seconds it took to apply this.  There was no fighting, because it was so easy to apply.  It was on before they ever even knew it, and it recently won the Parent Tested, Parent Approved Award.  It was also chosen as the #1 spray sunscreen for high efficacy and low hazard ingredients by the watchdog group Environmental Working Group.  The bottles also come in awesome bright colors that make it much easier to find in your house and the kids love.  Make sure you check out Kinesys for your sunscreen needs!

Teddy Bear’s Fun to Learn First 1000 Words is book that is great for all little ones. My 4 year old enjoys it just as much as my 1 year old.  Each page in the book has a theme (like the beach). It lists the theme and a ton of items to go with it (for example, the beach pages show things like sunscreen, water wings, sailboat, beachball, etc). There is also a picture in the center of the page with all the miscellaneous items.  There is also a short poem asking you questions about the theme.  Will (my one year old) just likes to look at everything and go “ohhhh”.  Madison (my 4 year old) enjoys looking at the pictures and telling us what each thing is.  She likes to answer the questions for us too.  My only complaint is that the pages are paper which are a little to easy for Will to rip.

This book is great because your little ones can use it as they grow older.  I would definitely purchase it a birthday, baby shower, and/or Christmas gift.  The little ones who you are getting for will get a lot of use out of it!

A Day at the Beach is another book that works great for toddlers and babies. The pages are made out of thick cardboard, so you do not need to worry about tearing or then being eaten.  Dora also is usually a hit with the younger crowd, and this book is no exception.  The pictures are good enough that your kids can figure out what the words say without being able to read.  The plot of the story is obviously Boots, Dora, and backpack spending the day at the beach.  One of things that I love is that in the first couple of pages they apply sunscreen.  That is great attention to details.  The book is about ten pages long, so it is the right length for little ones.  If you need a great filler gift for a present or just need some more kid friendly books, then this is you choice.