Christmas Lights Fun

A family tradition of ours around Christmas time is to drive around and look at the Christmas lights in the nearby neighborhoods.

 

I put this invite on the door in the morning.  Everyone saw it as they left for work and school.

{Click here to print your own Christmas lights invitation}

We have a few favorites of people who really know how to "deck the halls" each year and have the lights timed to music and everything.

We turn on Christmas music (it plays on several different radio stations) and we sing along, caroling in the car while we scour the town for lights.  It is exciting to try and find as many light displays as we can!  

{Tuesday's Tip} Appreciate the Arts

Recently I took my daughter to a local Christmas talent presentation.  It was relaxing and enjoyable to be together.  I think it is important to expose our children to different arts.  It does not have to be expensive Broadway plays, operas, and ballets.

At this time of year there are many different inexpensive performances happening in the community.  Why not try taking your family to a local showing of the Nutcracker, Christmas carol, or other musical performances.

In my town, there is a small Christmas opera that is playing this weekend at a local church, a ballet that is coming up, and a symphony rendition of The Messiah playing just before Christmas.  Each of these events are $5 or less and they all sound like perfectly fun events! 

So be sure to check out the local arts events that are going on in your community so that you help encourage your children to appreciate the arts.  Also, it can help to demonstrate to your children the proper manners and respect that is appropriate when attending such events.

{Tuesday's Tip} Fun Things to Do in the Snow

It snowed at our house a couple weeks ago and hopefully we will get more snow throughout the winter months. I know that not everyone loves winter and snow as much as I do. It takes effort to get those kiddos in all their winter gear and then they are back inside after only a few minutes.  But I love all of the fun snow activities, and if you enjoy the snow with your children they will stay outside and play longer because they love being with you!

Here are 21 super ideas that you can play in the snow to enjoy your time together:

{1} Build a snowman.  Have items on hand to dress your snowman (hat, scarf, carrot, rocks, leaves, twigs, etc.)

{2} Snow ball fight

{3} Build forts to hide behind

{4} Play "Fox and Geese."  You stamp down the snow in a large circle.  Then stamp two lines across the middle of the circle making an "X."    After you have a nice path in the snow, it is time to play.  Your fox is "it."  The fox stands in the middle of the X, closes his/her eyes, and counts while all the geese move around the circle.  The fox opens his eyes when he is done counting and chases the geese.  They can only run on the paths you created.  If the fox tags one of the geese, then that person becomes the fox.

{5} Snowshoe on trails or in the mountains.  Hiking trails are like a different world in the winter than during the summer.  My favorite is snowshoeing by rivers, they are so pretty in the snow!

{6} Sledding

{7} Cross country or down hill skiing

{8} Make a pretend house in the snow by stomping pathways for hallways, bedrooms, etc. all over the yard

{9} Fill spray bottles or squeeze bottles with water and food coloring to color the snow or make a picture

{10} Make a big snow hill to sled down

{11} Shovel.  Have shovels that are kid-sized

{12} Use sand toys in the snow.  Pails, shovels, mods and make snow castles, or just practice digging

{13} Make an igloo using bread pans it make your bricks

{14} Ice skating

{15} Ice fishing

{16} Make snow ice cream. Use fresh snow, of course. ;)

{17} Find ice cycles

{18} Make snow angels

{19} Play "Follow the Leader"

{20} Blow bubbles see what happens in cold weather

{21}  Build snow sculptors

Then, when you are done playing in the snow, you can warm up together inside with some yummy hot chocolate or hot apple cider!

Thankful Chain

Beginning November 1st, my family and I started a thankful chain.

I cut strips of construction paper from several different autumn colors.  Every night before bed time we gather as a family and write something on a slip of paper we are thankful for that day.  Then we loop and staple the paper strips together to form a paper chain. The paper chain is decorating my banister and grows each day as we add to it. By Thanksgiving we hope to have a long chain of the many things we are thankful for.

 

My plan is to read all the paper strips together as a family on Thanksgiving day.  It is nice to be reminded of simple things we take for granted on a regular basis.

To give you an example of what things we are thankful for at our house, here are some of the things we have added to the thankful chain so far:

• Glad to have a car
• I like music class at school
• Thankful for my job
• I have good friends
• Enjoy watching movies as a family
• My monster high doll
• Safety in traveling
• I am thankful for heat in our home
• I LOVE my bed at night!  (I am grateful for this every busy day!!). (Haha!!)

{10 Days of Halloween} Pumpkin Family Night

For this activity we went to a local pumpkin patch and everyone got to pick their perfect pumpkin to carve.I wanted to make it special, so I made this invite for my family and posted it on the front door for everyone to see as we left in the morning for work and school.

{click here to print your own Pumpkin Family Night invite} 

After we went to the pumpkin patch, we took our pumpkins home and had fun carving them.

It is a little slimy digging out all those seeds but that is the fun part right?  We didn't throw them all away so that we could use them as part our treat for later.

The kids had fun helping to design the pumpkin faces and the older ones even got to help do some carving this year.

Some turned out more scary or goofy.

But each one was a little different.

After the pumpkins were carved we placed a candle inside each one--they looked so good!

Then we washed off the seeds and set them out on a cookie sheet.  We covered the seeds with a little butter and salt them put them in the oven until they were roasted brown.  Mmm, so yummy!

We decided to eat our pumpkin seeds while we watched Charlie Brown a the Great Pumpkin.  What a fun night! By the time the movie was over, we were all ready for bed.

-------------------------------------------------------

Day eight of

 

{10 Days of Halloween} Monster Movie Night

Welcome to day two of...

Last night we went to see the movie Hotel Transylvania as a family.  It is a cute Halloween movie, and a simple way to get in the spirit of Halloween.

Because Hotel Transylvania is all about monsters, it would be fun to play the Monster Drawing Game while you're waiting in the theater for the movie.  All you will need to play the game is a pencil and paper and your imagination, of course!

To play the game, fold your paper into thirds.

On the top section, one person draws a monster head.  When the head is finished, the person folds the paper over so the next draw-er cannot see it.  Then, without looking at what was drawn before, the next person draws a neck, body, and arms (if any).

Again, the draw-er folds the paper so only the last blank section is showing.  Then the last person draws the legs and tail (if any).  When everyone is finished drawing, unfold your paper and see the funny monsters you created!

You could have several drawings all going at the same time as they get passed around.  Then you don't have to wait while only one person is drawing.

When you are done with the monsters, you'll be ready to sit back and enjoy the movie.

If you don't want to venture out to the movie theater, you can always do this same activity with a favorite Halloween movie of your choice.  One of my favorites for Halloween is Ghost Busters. It's an oldie...but still fun to watch about once a year. :)

What is your favorite Halloween movie?

Letterboxing

Letterboxing is a fun family activity.  It is really similar to geocaching except you are given clues to find the hidden item instead of GPS coordinates. 

Also, letterboxing is about collecting stamps--like the kind you use ink and notepad.  Each letterbox has clues that lead to a hidden container that should contain a stamp and a little notepad.

{A letterbox we found.}

 The idea is that once you find a letterbox you leave your stamp in the letterbox book (indicating that you actually found it) and then use the letterbox stamp in your own stamp book for you to keep and remember.  (If you're a little confused by my explanation, visit the links below for more detailed instructions.)  

To start letterboxing, you will first need a stamp book.  This is for collecting the stamps that you will find at each letterbox.  You can have one stamp book for the whole family or you can have one for each child, whatever works best for you.  I like to use sketch pads (the stamps look really nice on the blank paper) and then cut them in half so I really get two stamp books from each sketch pad.

Next, you will need to buy or make a stamp.  This stamp is going to be your "signature" that you use when you find a letterbox.  Here again you can either have a family stamp or individual stamps.  There are los of tutorials available online that show how to make your own stamp.  This can be fun because then you're stamp will truly be unique and one of a kind.  

You will also need to buy an ink pad so that you actually use the stamps (most letterboxes don't include an ink pad, plus you don't know how used the ink will be once you find it).

Once you have those three things--stamp book, stamp, and ink pad--you ready to find your first letterbox!

You will find the clues for the letterboxes on these websites:

www.letterboxing.org  

and

atlasquest.com.

 When you go to these websites, simply enter where you live or where you are going to see if there are letterboxes in that area.

Once you pick a letterbox and have the clues, you are ready for the search!

I love letterboxing because sometimes they are hidden in locations you've never explored before.

{A beautiful waterfall we found while letterboxing}

Plus, it feels like a treasure hunt as you try to decipher the clues. 

If you like geocaching or outdoor activities, then you are sure to love letterboxing!

{Tuesday's Tip} 20 Fun Things To Do on a Walk

The weather is getting a bit cooler and it's time to enjoy evening walks together as a family.  There are always fun things to discover on your walk.

For instance, we saw this tree with hundreds of birds all talking together (at least that's what it sounded like!).  I didn't have my best camera with me while we were out on our walk, so this is the best I could get.  It was cool to see and fun to watch them.

{birds in the tree}

We also found a tree with seeds like long beans that we used to sword fight.  We also pretended they were light sabers and fought off the bad guys on our way home.  There are always fun things to do, see, and pretend.

To make your walks enjoyable for the entire family, I came up with 20 more idea's to use the next time you go on a walk with your family!

{20 Fun Things to do on a Walk}

{Helicopter seeds}

              Find "helicopter seeds" and make them fly
(I learned you have to break them in half and then throw in the air and watch them twirl down)  

 Jump over cracks

Find sprinklers to run through.
Make a scavenger hunt and see what you can find

{coin toss}

Bring a coin and toss it when you get to a corner. Go left on heads and right on tails.
 Have a race to the corner

Play follow the leader
Play "I Spy"

{skipping}

Play "Paper, Rock, Scissors" and the winner decides how to cross the road (like skipping, jumping, galloping, tip-toeing, etc.). Be sure to watch for cars.

Roller-skate

Find a pine cone to throw and see who can throw it the farthest
Go to the park or other nearby trail to walk

See how many animals or bugs you find

Find a rock to kick and see who can kick it the farthest

Balance on the curb

Collect leaves

{beautiful sunset}

Go at sunset
Take pictures doing funny things
If there are farm animals in your area take grain, carrots, or apples to feed the animals

Sing a song like The Ants Go Marching or The Princess Pat

You can add to this list with your own ideas, it's easy.  Enjoy your walks before it becomes too cold!

Zucchini Boats

Ever wonder what to do with all that zucchini from your garden? If your garden is anything like mine, the zucchini grows like crazy (and the cucumbers too)! We try to eat as much as we can by cooking, baking, and freezing it. I've even given some zucchini away to neighbors, friends, and co-workers. But even then, I still have left overs.  So the Zucchini Boats were born.

To make a zucchini boat, all you will need is 1 large zucchini (or cucumbers work great too), a sharp knife, a spoon, and any materials you want to use to decorate your boat.  I used a skewer stick and scrapbook paper.

We had enough zucchini and cucumbers for everyone in our family to have one.

First, we cut a hole in the top large enough for Barbie dolls to sit in.  You can skip this first step if you don't have any dolls or toys that you want to ride on your boat.

Next, carve out the zucchini out like you would carvie a pumpkin.  Use the spoon to remove the seeds.  Then we used skewer sticks and scrapbook paper to make a mast.  You can decorate your boats any way you want.

When our boats were ready, we took them up a nearby canyon and raced them down a little stream to see whose was the fastest.  The barbies made the boats a little top heavy so we raced them again without the dolls.

The kids had fun watching their boats float in the stream, fixing them when they go stuck and wading in the stream.  I packed a light picnic dinner which we ate on the bank of the stream.

If you did not want to go to the mountains you could use a kiddie pool, a gutter filled with water, or even a bathtub to watch your boats float or race.

Enjoy being creative!

Rewarding Ideas

Figuring out the right reward system for your child can be challenging.

Every parent would love their children to be perfectly obedient or always complete their homework on time without being asked.  But we all know that that's just not how we learn and sometimes our kids need a little extra reinforcement to do the right thing or to choose work over play. 

So here are a few reward system ideas that I've tried in the past.

{Rock Bowl}

One  thateward systems we have used is filling a bowl (or jar) with rocks.  You can either place one rock in the jar for every "good" day or for a specific good behavior.  You can even let your child put in the rock to help motivate him/her a little more and get them more excited about their progress.  When the jar is filled with rocks, the child earns a reward. 

{Life Saver Bucket}
 
When I worked with an after school program we had a bucket with life savers.  If the kids were found doing something good or doing their homework, they earned a life saver from the bucket.  When the life savers were all gone, the entire group earned an activity.  This reward system worked really well because it included instant gratification for their personal accomplishments and an opportunity to work towards something bigger.

{Sticker Chart}

Sticker charts are a really common reward system, you can even find some cute free printables out there.  When I first started rewarding my kids I used a sticker chart and made sure that they were rewarded very quickly.  For instance, after earning only 5 stickers on their chart they could choose a small toy out of a basket.  Now that they are older and under the the concept I have extended it and it takes awhile for them to fill their sticker chart and earn their reward.

{Rewards}

Personally, I like having my kids earn activities rather than toys or treats.  For us, we already have a lot of toys and I don't really need more clutter, and we have treats fairly often as a family anyway so an activity is more unique.  Plus, an activity gives me a chance to spend some special one-on-one time with that child or to do something fun with the whole family.  Some of the activities that my kids enjoy working towards are: trip to McDonald's, swimming, having a friend sleepover, trip to the zoo, going out for ice cream, going to a park, and playing games together.  Most of these activities are pretty simple, so you can see that they don't have to be pricy or complicated.

You can also offer a reward in parts.  For instance, if your child likes crafts, they could earn beads for a bracelet or other craft that you will do together when they have earned all of the parts.

Another really great incentive is a hand-written note from you to your child.  You'll be amazed how excited they get to receive their own personalized "mail"--and you can express how proud you are of their accomplishments, which is another great positive reinforcement for their good behavior.

This is not an all-inclusive list, so fill free to be creative with your rewards and do things for them that they will really enjoy--after all, as their parent, you probably know your kid better than anyone.

Have you tried reward systems in the past??  Please share with us your experience and what you tried.  We're all learning together here, so any feedback you have would be great!

Rewarding Summer Homework

This summer I had the kids doing homework so they did not get too far behind for school in fall by forgetting everything they had been learning.  I didn't assign a lot of homework.  The math, reading, and handwriting worksheets only took them about 30 minutes to complete.  But it was still good to keep them in learning mode.

For the math portion, I used the Khanacademy.com website which is a great online resource for learning and practicing math skills because the problems progressively get a little harder as you improve.  This website also provides hints and solutions to make sure that your kids understand the answers.  It is also a great way for your school kids to practice their computer skills.  Just click on "Practice" at the top of the page and you'll lots of different math topics to choose from.  I also included my own timed math tests as part of the homework.

For reading, I had my kids choose a book and read it out loud with me.  Then to practice their handwriting, they had lined paper to practice.  We're working on cursive letters, so I gave them a writing sample they had to copy to have them practice the different letters.

As an incentive for completing all of their summer homework, my kids earned a tickets.  

I made my own tickets by putting stickers on some small rectangular pieces of card stock.  You can also purchase a large amount of tickets at Michaels or other general store.

Then the weekend before school started they were able to "cash in" their tickets at our own homemade movie theater.  I simple displayed some movies that we already had (because, let's me honest, we have quite a few that we don't watch very often).  I also made a "Show Times" schedule to make our movie theater more realistic.

I had a small concession stand available where they could use their to purchase Pizza, candy, popcorn, drinks, and cotton candy.  I made sure to get my kids' favorite treats and drinks for them to buy at the concession stand.

You can decide how many tickets each movie or treat is worth, you can see my "prices" for the concessions in the picture above. 

Even though school has just started for many school-aged kids, you can still reward them for a summer of hard work.  Or, now as they complete their real homework, this could be a good reward/incentive to work towards--a fun movie night with the family!

Tea Party

Today was just a day for my daughter and I.  I considering going out somewhere to do something.  But then I thought, why not relax today.  It feels like we are always going places, rushing from place to place to do things and get things done.  Sometimes my daughter just needs to be home together--and we both enjoy it.  So we kept it simple and played at home.

So, instead of going out...

we hosted a tea party.  A baby doll tea party.

Together we got out the easy bake oven (that my daughter has wanted to use for awhile), found a recipe and baked a mini cake.  We also made some graham cracker cookies with chocolate frosting (one of my favorite treats growing up).  We got out her little card table, spread a table cloth, and then set the table with my nice china dishes.  Instead of tea we filled the tea pot with milk and I sliced a few plums to balance out the sweets.

After the table was set, my daughter collected her baby dolls and we all gathered around the table for the tea party.

After we were done eating we played one UNO--a fun, family card game.  We both had so much fun today--talking, pretending, and laughing together!

{Tuesday's Tip} S-L-O-W Down

Last week I decided to play in the back yard.

We had a relaxing BBQ for dinner--fish and veggies.

{Ladder Golf}

Then I set up our ladder golf game. As we were playing and having fun, the thought came to me, "I need to slow down!"

 I don't need to go somewhere else to be entertained. There are lots of things we can do right here at home and we can have just as much fun (if not more fun) together!

Sometimes I get it in my head that we need to go somewhere to have fun.  We are always going and rushing places.  Instead, I need to slow down and enjoy activities at home.

Here are a few other games we like to play in the back yard:

{Bocci Ball}

bocci ball, soccer, frisbee, 

{Croquet}

croquet, volleyball, and badminton. 

Pick one and have a stay-at-home, slow-down evening!

Oodles of Noodles

Today I'm sharing a few fun games my family likes to play in the backyard using swim noodles.  If you like swimming, then you probably have a few of these noodles just lying around.  If not, you can get some pretty cheap at the dollar store or Walmart.

Foam swim noodles are fun because you can hit each other pretty hard with them but not get hurt...usually.  You may still want to set a few ground rules before playing these games, like avoid the face, etc.    

Oodles of Noodles games:

{1} Use the noodles as swords (or light sabers) and fight! 

{2} Cut one noodle in half and use it to play tag.  For instance, you can only tag the other person by tapping them with the noodle.

{3} Play "lawn hockey" by setting goals on either side of the yard and using the noodles and a ball.

{4} Make your own croquet game using noodles instead of mallets.  The balls just need to touch different places in that yard rather than going through hoops.

{5} Blow up a balloon and hit the balloon back and forth to each other without letting it hit the ground.  You can set up a net to make this game more challenging.

{6} Put the noodles on the trampoline and pretend they are poison.  If a noodle touches you while jumping, you are out.

{7} Make an obstacle course using noodles.  For instance, you may have to jump over them, limbo under them, etc.

{8} Throw the noodles like javelins to see who can throw them the farthest.

{9} Play the Name Game. Everyone sits in a circle while one person with a noodle is "it" stands in the middle of the circle.  Someone sitting in the circle starts the game by calling out another player's name.  Then the player who is called must call out another player's name before getting wacked by the "it" person in middle For instance, if I yell..."Brian," then Brian has to hurry and call someone else's name.  If Brian gets hit by the "it" person, then he is now "it."  Players cannot call on the person who just called you and cannot call on the person standing in the middle.

If you like the idea of using swim noodles, checkout this book for more involved or team building activities: 50 Ways to Use Your Noodle.

 

{Tuesday Tip} Happy Harvesting

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to harvest fresh produce from the garden!

Early in the spring we posted about gardening and how gardens not only promote good well-being and health, but they are also a great way to create family bonding time. 

This is my first year gardening in my own backyard and it has been a bit of an adventure.  Our garden is far from perfect.  Our soil is mostly hard clay and super rocky.  Plus we almost planted (or transplanted) too late in the spring.  But miraculously, despite these odds, our garden has started to produce, and it's fabulous!

This year we were able to plant a few onions,

squash and zucchini,

peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, 2 cucumber plants, and 1 bean plant (that's all that survived).  We also planted a few marigolds along the front (they seem like a traditional garden flower) and we were lucky enough to inherit a raspberry bush from the previous owners. 

We haven't harvested everything, and we have yet to find out if all of our plants will continue growing and producing.  But so far we have harvested lots of squash and zucchini plus some cheery tomatoes, peas, and...

 raspberries (my favorite!).

Even if we don't yield as much as we anticipated, harvesting is still so rewarding because you have a great feeling of accomplishment AND you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors, literally! Yum!

Even if you don't have your own garden, you may know friends or neighbors that are willing to share their abundant produce with you.  Or you can always stop by the local gardeners market.  

A couple other fun ways to create the "harvesting" feel for you and your family is to find a local farm that allows you to pick your own fresh produce before you buy it, like this local U-Pick farm.  It's a great way to get the kids involved, and is way more yummy than buying produce from the grocery store!

Another way to get your fresh produce is to find out about local co-ops in your area.  One great website is Bountiful Baskets.  This organization is largely volunteer-based and seems to keep growing and adding new locations.

Whichever way you get your fresh produce, we wish you a Happy Harvest!