Fun Ways to Cool Off

The summer heat wave continues to burn the East Coast of the United States, and things are not much cooler here in the Midwest. On the bright side, my home has never been so clean thanks to the fact that my daughter has spent so much time playing outside. Still, staying cool in the great outdoors is challenging when the mercury tops the century mark. If you are looking for ways to keep your kids cool during the current heat wave, then consider the following ideas: BODY PAINTING Have your kids dress in swimsuits and place finger paints or watercolors … Continue reading →

Dessert Fun with Kids

My 5-year-old loves to lend a hand in the kitchen, but because I’m normally in such a rush to get dinner made and served, my young daughter doesn’t always get to participate in meal preparation as much as she would like to. Recently, her daily pleas to help out more at dinnertime prompted me to set aside a couple days whereby she took control of the dessert making. The following recipes are easy enough for a kindergartner to make (with a little bit of help from mom or dad). What’s more, they’re the perfect project for budding chefs to work … Continue reading →

Winter Break Sanity-Savers: Indoor Fun

School’s out for winter break, more than half of the country is still digging out from the Christmas Storm of ’09 and your kids are beginning to bore of their new toys from Santa… now what? If you are desperately looking for ways to preserve your sanity while the kids climb the walls, you are in luck. Forget about sending each child to his room to sulk; rather, consider gathering the entire clan in the kitchen to make the following edible projects. After all, nothing says winter warm-up better than a cup of Snowflake Hot Chocolate and spicy Gingerbread Cookies. … Continue reading →

Having Fun When the Temperature Plummets

The Weather Channel is predicting snow for parts of Georgia today. I guess no one is being spared from this nasty winter weather. Of course, a little snow is nothing compared to the 40 below temps other parts of the country dealt with last week. Still, it’s a sign that Old Man Winter is far from packing up and moving out. This might be good news to kids who are itching for another snow day, but for most parents winter has already overstayed its welcome. If you are looking for new ways to beat cabin fever, consider the following: Freeze … Continue reading →

Fun Ideas for Family Night

Family nights are an important part of childhood. With our busy schedules, many families find less and less time to spend together. It is important to make time for your family, so plan something fun to do with everyone a couple of times a month. You will be surprised at how quickly your kids will build memories from these family nights. Game Night – This is always a fun time for all members in the family. Either try out a new game or simply find a few family favorites, make up some pizza or subs and have a fun family … Continue reading →

Fun With Laundry and Towels

When I cleaned out our linen closet the other day I ended up making a huge pile of towels and sheets in the hallway. The kids laughed at the mountain of linens. I told them it used to be one of their favorite games, but they didn’t believe me. Truly though, if you have a toddler in the house, pile all the cushions, blankets, and towels together to make a mountain. They will have great fun climbing up the pile and rolling down. You can even sing mountain songs like “She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain” and “The Bear Climbed … Continue reading →

Fun With Morse Code

Morse code has a very interesting history, in many ways this simple code led to modern day communications. In Morse code, the letters of the alphabet are represented by dots and dashes. It’s also one of the few codes that can be communicated by light or sound. It can even be done with flags (a flag to the left is a dash, to the right it represents a dot. It’s fun thing to know, but it’s also saved a lot of lives. Morse code was what telegraph operators used. It’s still used on ships and in other emergency situations where … Continue reading →

Pig Latin

Remember “Pig Latin”? It really doesn’t have anything to do with Latin, but it is a fun language game. You can either share these language skills with the kids or use it as a way to talk around them if they’ve already learned to spell. Some “Pig Latin” words have actually become regular scram words. Does “amscray” for “scram” sound familiar? To play at Pig Latin, take away the initial consonant sound of a word, and put it at the end of the word followed by the “ay” sound. So “boy” becomes “oy-bay”, “door” becomes “oor-day”, and so on. If … Continue reading →

Keeping Toddlers Busy in the Kitchen

There is something about late afternoon and toddlers. I’ve even heard it called the witching hour. Everyone is tired and cranky. I remember trying to fix dinner and the kids didn’t want to stay in the kitchen where I could see them. Or they wanted to help. And some nights we just didn’t have time for them to “help”. My own children are now way past the toddler stage, but I thought I’d share my favorite fun tricks from back in the day. All my boys loved stirring a handful of cheerios in a large mixing bowl. Sometimes I even … Continue reading →

Sidewalk Chalk Games

Break out the sidewalk chalk and think big! With a yard stick, or a board to use for a straight edge, your kids can use the chalk to draw a giant checkerboard or chess game on the driveway or patio. As a plus, it takes a while to color in all those squares! And it’s a good lesson in measuring and parallel lines. For checkers you can use different colors of paper plates. For chess pieces, you could draw pictures on the plates, or even use stuffed animals. I’m thinking the kids could even be markers themselves and play a … Continue reading →