As parents, we all want our kids to be smart and healthy, that's no surprise. But with all the distractions now-a-days like Xbox and computer games, it can be hard to keep your children happy and entertained, while still having them learn something while they're doing it. But there is a very fun and simple thing you can do to keeps your kids happy and educated at the same time.

Crossword puzzles are a great place to start. Crosswords are a big hit among adults and most people think kids just don't like them. That's not the truth though, because most crosswords are made for adults so the clues and words are unfamiliar to younger kids. A great and easy way to solve this problem is to make your own crossword puzzles for your kids.

Of course it's not easy to spend a ton of time actually making your own crossword puzzle, it takes time and skill. But there are websites you can visit to do this for you instantly. All you do is enter in words, and clues to solve those words, and it makes the entire crossword puzzle for you.

You can put in words that your kids know and love, such as their favorite cartoon characters, their favorite color, their favorite food, etc. But don't make them all easy, you still want to challenge your child so put in 3-5 words that maybe they don't know and they'll have to do a little work to figure out. This will make them spend more time with the puzzle while still keeping their brain going.

The great thing about using words your kids know and love is it will keep them involved. They won't lose interested because of big words or because it's not fun, because each time they solve a word and they recognize it as something they like, they'll want to keep solving the rest of the crossword puzzle.