BOZ BUZZ eNewsletter

What’s on Your Mind?

Your Feedback and Ideas Help Us Look Ahead with BOZ

At Exclaim Entertainment, your feedback matters. We created BOZ not only to entertain preschoolers but also to help you as a parent reinforce the faith and educational lessons you are already teaching your preschool children.

What’s New Online?
Each month, Exclaim is offering new online material for you and your preschooler to enjoy together. And oftentimes, this new content will be exclusive to you — the BOZ Buzz reader — for the first month!

For instance, in June, you can click here to download an exclusive coloring and dot-to-dot page featuring BOZ, Drew, and Gracie! There are all kinds of shapes for kids to color on this fun page. And just like the friends discover in Thank You God for…Colors and Shapes, your preschooler will find all kinds of fun activities with triangles, circles, and squares!

In addition, there is a new video clip available online to all visitors at BozTheBear.com, “Hoop-de-Hoop”. This is your first opportunity to hear and see a song from the next BOZ DVD release, Thank You God for…Bananas, Bubbles, and Busy Bodies, which will be available this August!

We have a feeling your preschooler (and you!) will enjoy both the new song and the great activity!

We do that by understanding what is important to you and your preschoolers. That’s why we include feedback cards in BOZ DVDs; it’s why we have an area on the web where you can provide your thoughts or questions about BOZ; and it’s why we would like your thoughts on our BOZ Buzz poll this month.

“We’ve had great responses from parents whose kids love Thank You God for…Colors and Shapes and Thank You God for…Friends and Helpers. A lot of them have said they would like to see BOZ and his friends explore the impact of numbers and letters in God’s world,” says Nathan Vickroy, marketing director for Exclaim. “That’s a BOZ DVD you can expect to see down the line. As a parent of two preschoolers, I’m seeing the positive impact BOZ has on preschoolers.”

This month, please take a little time to answer our online poll questions. We especially want to hear from people like you — BOZ fans from the beginning! We’ll be sure to let you know results of the poll in a future edition of the Buzz.

We appreciate the thoughts you shared on your feedback card in Thank You God for… Friends and Helpers and Thank You God for… Colors and Shapes. And we look forward to hearing your online thoughts.

After all, BOZ is for you … and your preschooler!

Sign Up for the BOZ Buzz eNewsletter!

Summer Fun for Working Moms

Summer is a great season for extended family time. By planning ahead, Moms who work outside of the home can take advantage of extra daylight hours for more family fun. Here are some working-mom tested ways to have a great summer with your family.

For starters, be sure to make the most of the summer weather!

Join a pool or visit your community pool
Buy a “Slip and Slide” or kiddie pool for the backyard
Run through the sprinkler
Visit a nearby lake, creek, or beach
Plan suppertime picnics

With the sun out longer, enjoy the outdoors with your family.

Take family walks or bike rides after dinner
Have a family cookout
Go to the pool for an evening swim — especially on hot evenings
Treat your kids to a trip to the ice cream shop
Play Frisbee, catch, tennis, putt-putt golf, basketball, or any other sport your kids enjoy

And don’t forget to plan your vacation time. Whether it’s a weekend or a week, you deserve it!

Find a favorite vacation spot and start an annual summer tradition
Camping is inexpensive and fun — you can even stay in your backyard!
Visit family or friends to cut down costs and keep in touch
Check out the local sites: the zoo, museums, downtown, trains, mountains, beaches … whatever is close by

Summer is here … enjoy!

For great Mom-centered resources and tools, visit the MOPS International website.

Adding Grace to the Mix

Cooking has one simple rule: each ingredient matters. Leave one ingredient out and you end up with a different dish … perhaps one not really fit for eating or serving!

Godly parenting is the same way. So be sure you include one of the most important ingredients in your parenting: grace.

Let’s face it … none of our children are perfect. And outside of Jesus, none of God’s children are either. Remember, we are His children and we are not perfect. But His grace is abundant toward us.

Here are two things to help you remember the ingredient of grace.

Allow your children to be children
Children act in childish ways. That’s okay. Let them be silly, impulsive, and creative. They won’t act or think like you most of the time. Give them the grace necessary to act childishly.
Be patient with their development
God shows us tremendous patience in how quickly we mature. He gives us the grace to allow our maturity to take a lifetime. Share that same grace with your children.

As you allow the ingredient of grace to permeate your parenting, you will see joy and love abound both in you and your children.

Check out next month's BOZ Buzz for another great FamilyLife parenting tip. And if you'd like more parenting insights, go to FamilyLife’s website.