A-mazing! Kids can stay healthy learning about their blood.

This week’s post should have an extra “F” in it — for free! I’ve found some fun (oh, there’s another F) online resources that are definitely worth checking out.

• Children’s Vascular Health Activity Book. It’s hard to tell a teenager to eat right and avoid smoking. It’s easier to give a child a visual, and hope the lesson sticks with them into adulthood. The Society for Vascular Surgery has given parents a resource to do just that: A printable health activity book that helps kids understand how their veins and arteries work, and what smoking and not eating right can do to them.
• Mamapedia.com. Launched five months ago, Mamapedia is part search engine, part coffee klatch. Say you have a question about the first day of school or hiring a babysitter or your a funny bump on your child’s leg or anything that might keep you up at night. Go to the site, ask your question, and it will be answered by other moms — often in a matter of minutes. The site is broken up into categories — Behavior, Money, and Pregnancy, are a few — so if you don’t feel like asking your question, you can search past questions to see if someone else was stressing about when molars come in, for example. Part community, part resource. I wish I thought of this one.
• Rouxbe.com. I was looking for a recipe for this week’s CSA veggies (ok, I’ll admit it; I didn’t know if I was supposed to peel white turnips) and I came across this site. It’s a nice place to check into daily for a free video cooking lesson. Plus, you can browse past lessons to learn cooking basics like how to sharpen knives or choose the best cuts of meat. (Note: There is a paid membership, but there’s enough here that’s free to keep anyone busy.)
• BookMooch.com My writer friends are going to hate me for posting this, however my compulsion to save trees is just too great to let this one go unpromoted. BookMooch is a lot like last week’s Zwaggle. You go to the site, list the books you’ve already read, and you get points for them. Every book listed gives you 1/10th of a point. When you mail one out you get one to three points, depending on where it is going. “Mooching” a book will cost you one or two points. Leaving feedback gives you points, too. My office is overrun with books, so I’ll be posting plenty this weekend. Anyone want the Emily Griffin series?
• ScrapbookScrapbook.com. This isn’t going to be applicable to everyone, but if you’re a scrapbooker, you’re going to like it. The site features a ton of printable papers, letters, and whole page layouts. The site itself isn’t exactly perfectly designed, however it’s worth digging around in.

Next week: I’m going to be announcing my first big give-away on the site! A large baby vendor is donating a basket of items. Also, I’m going to add a news feed so I can keep all of my readers up-to-date on news that matters.