"Brain Quest" Dinner Game

I bought these brain quest cards for my kids.  There are like a thousand questions on them and it's a great way to learn new facts.  So I decided test all of our brain smarts by having a Brain Quest Dinner Game.

We took turns asking each other questions.  The person asking got to pick which question to ask (each card has several questions to choose from).  The guessers raced to be the first one to answer the question correctly.  The guessers had to raise their hands, so whoever raised their hand first got to try answering the question first.  If the guesser got the answer right, he/she received a point.  The person with the most points at the end of dinner got to pick the family activity we did together after dinner.

 

We actually had a lot fun asking each other questions from these cards during dinner--it was a simpe, fun family competition!  Brain Quest cards are available for all different grade levels, so you can even get your younger children involved.

To make this dinner even more fun, give everyone a special invitation before hand!

{Click here to print your own Brain Quest dinner invite}

Wacky Wednesday Dinner Night

Sometimes I feel like my family can be so silly.  So they inspired me to have a "Wacky Wednesday" night at dinner time.

On Wednesday morning I gave everyone an invitation to our Wacky Wednesday Dinner Night.  On the invite it specified some of the dinner details.

{Click here to print your own Wacky Wednesday Dinner Night invitations}
The day, time, and place are left blank for you to fill in.

On the invitation it specified to wear "wacky" clothes.  For example, wearing mismatched socks, backwards pants, inside-out shirt, one pant leg rolled up high and the other down, multiple layers, mixing clothing styles, etc.  Everyone came up with their own wacky ensembles then came to dinner.

We each took turns modeling and presenting our wacky outfits.

Some were pretty funny!

Then we read a Dr. Suess classic called Wacky Wednesday.  It's a quick read, so we read it before dinner. 

At dinner, I wanted to make things "wacky" so I set the table by putting things in weird places.  Some things were upside down (including the pictures on the walls) and some were in odd containers (like the blender for holding sugar and the Halloween bowl for the casserole).

I hung a few items from the ceiling and light fixture that weren't normally hanging there and used different objects as our seats instead of our regular kitchen chairs (like an exercise ball).

I also added some unusual silverware to the place settings (like using a measuring cup instead of regular drinking glass).

All this wackiness made for lots of laughing during dinner time.  My kids loved discovering all of the wacky things I had set at the table and we all had fun trying to eat dinner in such a wacky way!

Just Keep Swimming

When was the last time you went swimming??

During the winter months it is hard to bundle up and go out sometimes.  But, now that Spring is here why not celebrate by swimming!!

First, check out the pool scheduled near you and any possible discounts.  Our local indoor swimming pool has a discount family night once a week.  Also, make sure to check the pool schedule at your local high school, gyms, or rec center that also have a pool.  They may have specific hours when the pool is open to the public like nights or weekends.

{As your finding more summertime activities, print out this cute Summer 2012 Calendar over at Brown Paper Packages. What a time saver -- thanks Kierste!}

So I planned a day for our family swimming activity and the morning of I posted this note on the inside of our front door.

It says, "Why don't you grab your fins and We'll go swimming Tonight!!!"

Everyone saw the note as they were leaving in the morning for work or school so they knew we had something fun to look forward to later.

*You could also use this swimming activity as a family incentive or reward for being obedient, being helpful, being kind, etc.

Print your own "Grab Your Fins" swim sign:

{click here to print 5 x 7" sign}

{click here to print 8.5 x 11" sign}

For my family, I purchased a couple of small toys to take along with us to the pool.  I found a little beach ball and some diving rings, just a little something to make it different!  This made it fun and easy to include everyone while swimming in the pool.  The diving rings worked well in the shallower end.  We had fun having diving races, pretending to be dolphins, and playing hot potato.