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Family activity of the week: Play a brain teaser puzzle
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Need something to do this week with your family? Play a brain teaser puzzle. - photo by Herb Scribner
Theres a new way to play Tic Tac Toe.

Its called Stick Tac Toe, and its created by the Varsity math team at The Wall Street Journal.

In this new version of the game, the Xs and Os now represent two spaces and look almost like a domino, of which players have four. They are played on a four-by-four board, according to the WSJ.

The first player plays an X, but will use the domino that includes the O, too, taking up two spaces on the board, WSJ reported.

The goal remains the same: to get three of your marks in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, WSJ reported.

But this version of the game doesnt have to end in a tie.

If a player lays down a domino that simultaneously completes both a row of three Xs and three Os, she or he is still considered to have won, WSJ wrote. On the other hand, if a player completes a row of the opponents marks without making one of his or her own, the opponent wins.

This isnt the only puzzle WSJ has available in its Varsity Math page. There are various games introduced every week for users to engage in something that families may want to participate in, too.

Puzzles, aside from being a fun family activity, can help children with their early development, according to The Huffington Post. Games like crossword, word search and logic puzzles can often improve a childs cognitive skills, motor development, hand-eye coordination and even social skills.

Research shows puzzles are educational, especially in the area of mathematics, and they offer developmental support for both children and adults, The Huffington Post reported. When any child or adult works with puzzles, the right brain and left-brain are both engaged, which is when our brains are most active."

Families can find myriad puzzles online and in stores. Games.com offers a variety of puzzles that can be played online.

For puzzles that can be bought in stores, families will want to check out Amazons best-seller lists, which includes Rubiks Cubes, Blokes and other brain teasers.

There are also some good puzzles at Momdot, a parenting advice and information website. Puzzles such as Body Magnet, which is a mix and match style of puzzle, and T.S. Shure Wooden Magnetic World Map Puzzle will help children learn through brain teasers.

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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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