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November 18, 2016

Thanksgiving Table Talk: Expressing Gratitude DIY

Sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table is the perfect time to ask open-ended questions that can help your children practice gratitude. Answering the basic question, “What are you thankful for?” might be hard for kids at first. Creating a conversation jar can be a fun way to break the ice. These questions make it easy for kids to identify and discover the things and people they really appreciate. In turn, a conversation jar also gives you the chance to inspire by example and express your own gratitude.

Use these questions as an example or write your own.

Who was the best teacher you ever had?
What is the best part of being a part of our family?
What is one of your favorite memories from a family vacation?
What is one thing you couldn’t live without?
What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend or after school?
What’s your favorite thing to do with your grandparents, aunts or uncles?
What is something someone did to help you today?
What’s your favorite thing about dinner tonight?
What is your favorite part about living in our town?
Who is your best friend in school? Why?
What book is your favorite to read before bed?
Who is the most generous person you know? Why?

Creating a conversation jar is a fun DIY to craft with your family. Turn these questions into conversations. When your child responds, make sure to point out how lucky they are to have those experiences, items and family members. Point out that not everyone in the world has access those things.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to get kids to talk about what they are thankful for, and help them acknowledge and cultivate a feeling of gratitude and gratefulness.

CREATE YOUR GRATITUDE CONVERSATION JAR

Supplies:

Glass Jar
Wooden Sticks
Sharpies
Ribbon
Burlap
Super Glue or Hot Glue
Scissors
#TableTalk printable
Puffy Paint (optional)

Step 1:

Cut a 4” wide piece of burlap to wrap around the jar.

Use a hot glue gun or super glue to attach the burlap to the jar.

Cut a 2” wide piece of ribbon to wrap over the burlap. Glue to fasten.

Step 2:

Print out the tabletalks-printable.

Cut out and glue to center of the jar.

Or use puffy paint and markers to decorate ribbon.

Step 3:

Write your “Gratitude” questions onto the wooden sticks with a marker.

Step 4:

Insert sticks into jar, and enjoy engaging Thanksgiving conversation starters with your family!

October 24, 2016October 24, 2016

Trick or Track Your Teen on Halloween

What is your family’s solution for keeping track of your children during this fun Halloween holiday?

Fall is in the air. Everything from lattes and candles to church yards has turned into a pumpkin. It’s time to plan for your Halloween parties, costumes, and trick-or-treat routes. Activities will vary based upon the age of your child. For those of you with teenagers, it’s the time of year where they are between childhood and adulthood. Are they trick-or-treating or attending a Halloween party?

Regardless of which activity they choose, parents are not always with their children. Teens especially will want to be with a group of friends. This may leave parents wondering is their child safe and are they located where they are supposed to be. Do you Trick or Track?

KNOW THE STATISTICS

Although mostly a ton of fun, Halloween can pose dangers for teenagers. This is the time of year when teens start attending parties. They are likely to be exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sexual behavior. Underage drinking is very common among teenagers. According to SADD, nearly three quarters of high school students will consume alcohol by the time they finish their senior year. Being on the road is also a hazardous place to be during Halloween. “In 2015, over half (52%) of all highway fatalities across the nation occurred on Halloween night between 6 p.m. Oct. 31 to 5:59 a.m. Nov. 1 and involved a driver or a motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 or higher (Traffic Safety Marketing.gov).” Knowing these statistics, it’s hard to let your teenager go off by themselves.

GET A SAFETY TOOL

Luckily, there is a solution to help your family. With a location services application like the MamaBear App, you can give your teen the freedom they need, and have the peace of mind you deserve. The MamaBear app gives parents the ability to set up places so they will know when their child arrives or leaves a location. The app also allows you to watch photo uploads on your child’s Instagram and other social media platforms. Be sure to turn on your location sharing to offer your child the security of nearby response time.

Talk to your teen about Halloween safety. To feel good about giving the MamaBear treat of independence, there isn’t any need to trick your teen. Encourage them to share photos and communicate with you via MamaBear to get them comfortable using the app. Make it fun!

ABOUT: The MamaBear App is a leading-edge, mobile, all-in one parenting app that creates a private family communication hub. MamaBear allows you to track your teen’s location, set up boundaries of safe and restricted areas, know how fast they are driving, and monitor their social media messaging.

September 22, 2016September 22, 2016

Grom + MamaBear = :)

BIG NEWS!

We’re excited to share that MamaBear App is now under new ownership! Grom Social has acquired the company with big plans ahead. You’ll be hearing from us more with fast response to customer support inquiries, attention on app updates and inclusion of features you’ve requested.

To help us celebrate, we’re giving you 30 days of premium service for FREE with promo code MamaGroms. If you already have a MamaBear account, click here (existing users) to add your free 30 days. If you closed your account and you’d like to give it another try, register for a new account.

Grom Social is the safe social network created by kids for kids. Launched in 2012 by then 12 year-old Zach Marks, Grom Social is quickly becoming the leading safe social media platform for children worldwide. With more than 3 million users, Grom Social provides a positive, fun, and safe social media environment for children to network, discover original content and play games, all while allowing parents to monitor their activity through the parent portal.

Grom Social and MamaBear’s shared common values of bringing greater awareness of social responsibility and promoting good digital citizenship made this a perfect match. Our commitment to connecting your family and protecting your children is stronger than ever. You can stay in touch with us by contacting us at Support@MamaBearApp.com.

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016

Hidden Apps and How to Find Them On Your Child’s Phone

You’re doing your job as a parent. You’re regularly checking your child’s phone to make sure they are using it appropriately, and you’re reviewing their app list to ensure they are only using apps you have approved.

But this may not be enough.

Kids have found a way around their parent’s smartphone checks and are now storing secret, hidden apps that hide the true contents of their phone.

What Is Your Teen Hiding on Their Phone?

A new type of smartphone application looks like regular, harmless app, but is actually designed to hide information.

These ghost, secret, or vault apps store information that your child or teen doesn’t want you to see such as:

Photos
Text Messages
Contact Lists
Internet Browsing History

You Might Also Like: Parental Text Message Monitoring Isn’t Snooping, It’s About Safety

What Hidden Apps Are Kids Using?

A few of the most popular ghost, secret, and vault apps include the following.

Private Photo (Calculator%) — This app looks like a standard calculator app, but once you enter the password, you can access a secret folder where you can store images and files.

Private Browser and Photo (calculator%) — This vault app also looks like a calculator. Once you enter the passcode, you can browse the web and your internet history will only be visible in the app.

Calculator + Secret Photos App — Another app that appears to be a calculator, this ghost application allows users to store secret photos, passwords, notes, contacts, and browser history.

Best Secret Folder — This app claims to be, “Extremely Hard to Notice.” It stores videos and photos in a secret folder that will lock or activate an alarm if an intruder tries to log in.

CoverMe (Private Texting & Anonymous Messaging with Secure Phone Calls App) — Designed as a “secure messaging app,” CoverMe provides a private vault that hides personal contacts, messages, call logs, notes, photos, and videos.

These are just a few of the hidden apps that are available today, and it is likely that new versions will continue to enter the market. So, what should parents do about it?

What Can Parents Do About Hidden Apps?

The first thing parents need to do is become aware of the situation.

Knowing about these apps is the first step in prohibiting their use.

“We realize that kids are not one, but ten steps ahead of their parents in term of technology, so parents have to be on guard and become familiar with what is going on,” explained Rania Mankarious of Crime Stoppers of Houston in an interview with ABC Eyewitness News.

Next, parents need to take action to stop their children from using these hidden apps. While you may not be able to tell which apps are secretive by browsing the app lists on your child’s phone (as some apps look harmless or may not show on the main screen), you can look at their recent download list.

Parents need to regularly review the apps their child has downloaded, and then research the apps so they understand their purpose and function.

Being proactive and staying connected to your child in their digital world will always be one of the best ways to prevent your child from making dangerous mistakes online.

Connecting with your child online is easy with the MamaBear Peace of Mind Parenting™ app that enables you to check your child’s social media activity and texting habits from your phone. The free app which is available for both iPhones and Androids helps you stay in the know about your child’s smartphone habits.