5 Tips to Protect Your Little Pyromaniacs This 4th of July

The 4th of July is one of the most exciting holidays we celebrate in the year. In my mind, it ranks Christmas is first, Thanksgiving is second, and 4th of July is third. The 4th activities can range from taking your families to watch a beautiful, professional fireworks display in a park or going rural and lighting off your own fireworks show.

No matter what your plans are, many of our kids are little pyromaniacs and love the thrill of being given PERMISSION to play with fire! Their excitement can sometimes cause them to be a little unsafe with the tamest of explosives. To keep your kids safe this 4th of July, follow these five tips.

 

1. Never let your kids light and then throw fireworks. Even smoke bombs can explode early if they get wet. I watched it happen to one of my friends when I was a kid and she still has the scars.
2. Watch out for the “cute” fireworks shaped like tanks or cars. Once lit, they can zoom unexpectedly and shoot sparks on your child. Make sure if your child lights one, they stand very far back from the firework.
3. It’s tempting to run away from a firework once you have lit it. Tell your kids to instead speed walk away from them. They could trip and, not only scrape their knees, but stay too close to the firework as it goes off.
4. Tell your kids to stay far away from adults lighting off big fireworks. Then can wander too close and sneak up behind an adult as they are lighting a mortor, risking injury.
5. Sparklers are regarded as a kid’s firework, but improper handling of fireworks can cause burns. Children should hold sparklers at arm’s length and never light more than one at a time. They should also stay a safe distance away from other kids with sparklers. Once the sparkler is done burning, have your kids place them in a bucket of water to cool them off. The metal of the sparklers stays hot for a long time after burning out.

 

There is definitely reason to be cautious. Children account for 30 percent of fireworks-related burns and injuries each year. This means an estimated 1,900 burns occur with children every Fourth! Following these tips will help your family stay safe and enjoy this spectacular holiday.

5 Ways to Take Back Control of Your Kid’s Clutter

Let’s face it – we love our kids and buy them a ton of toys. But it seems no matter what age they are, kids leave their toys EVERYWHERE in the house. Or the toys are coming to life like in Toy Story and we can’t stop stepping on them, moving them out of the way to sit, or sweeping them onto the floor so we can actually put dinner on the table. If you feel like toys are taking over the home, try these easy de-clutter life hacks to reclaim your living space.

Bath Toy Cleanup

Image and Idea via Heather Drive Blog

With a simple tension rod, you can create an organized system for all your kids bath toys. Hang baskets on the tension rod for your kids to dump all their toys in at the end of a bath. This teaches your kids good clean up skills as well.

Laundry Basket Sorter

Idea and Image via Being Brooke Blog

Laundry in a huge pile on your kids’ floor can be immensely overwhelming. That is why blogger Being Brooke took matters into her own hands and created a laundry sorting system from scratch! You can either follow her tutorial or repurpose old furniture to become a laundry basket holder.

Stuffed Animal Swing

Idea and Image via It’s Always Autumn Blog

Does your kid have a pile of stuffed animals in the corner of the room? Try making a stuffed animal swing, like the one from blogger It’s Always Autumn. Not only do the animals get organized, the swing doubles as an excellent way to display the collection!

Garage Organization

Idea and Image via I’m An Organizing Junkie Blog

Pulling into the garage can be a death sentence for toys that get thrown down after a day of playing outside. Create an easy way for kids to keep their garage toys organized with a simple crate system, like the one seen on the I’m An Organizing Junkie blog.

Hot Wheels Display and Storage

Idea and Image via A Lo and Behold Life Blog

When your kid stores all of their Hot Wheels in a bucket, they have to dump the entire bucket to find the one they want. Cars go in all directions, inevitably ending up under your foot and causing tears to spring to your eyes. To decrease the risk of Hot Wheel accidents, create this storage AND display shelving for the toy cars! Find the instructions at A Lo and Behold Life blog.