A Little Christmas Tree For The Little Ones

When this writer was a child, there was a little artificial Christmas tree that sat in regal splendor, on a miniature table in my bedroom. It had its own set of white lights, a red and green skirt and a lovely plaid bow at the top – standing in for a star. When my family would take vacations, I would be allowed to search out and purchase a few ornaments for the little tree. By the time I as a young man, my tree was fully decorated with shiny red balls featuring the Detroit Red Wings logo (my favorite team) … Continue reading →

Pretend credit cards – Bank of Mom and Dad

Credit card offers flood our mail boxes year round, yet the volume seems especially heavy around the holidays when banks know that many of us are hastily purchasing goodies for friends and family. The flow of these offers does not let up in the New Year either, as balance transfer and deferred payment offers seems as attractive as the diamond necklace you received on the 25th. Instead of discarding these offers straightaway, give the envelope a good once-over, feeling for something rectangular and a bit hard. A good plenty of the envelopes that arrive in the Post come with fun … Continue reading →

Hallway Football Fun

The little ones love football, but there is no way you are going to allow a game to breakout in the middle of the house! Plus, the equipment is packed away for the winter and there is nothing lying around but some little nerf-esque plush balls. Here is a game that allows you to use those balls you already have inside and enables your family to safely play indoors, a hallway tends to be best, without fear of major injury or shattered mementos (assuming you do not display your cherished keepsakes in the hall). Here is what you will need, … Continue reading →

Surviving Snow Days

Who doesn’t love snow days? (Actually I do know some people, but they don’t live at my house!) We actually don’t get a lot of snow days here in Colorado. It’s not that we don’t get snow, but that people here have chains and snow tires and four-wheel drive. We don’t let the snow slow us down too much. I love when we do have a snow day, when I don’t have to drive, when we can stay all day in our sweats and pajamas. I like to sprinkle a tiny bit of powdered sugar over the kids’ waffles or … Continue reading →

Make Resting Fun

It is important to get plenty of rest in order to stay healthy and fit. We all know this, but it is much easier to talk about than it is to put into practice. This is especially true when we have a lot going on like now, during the holidays. So, what can we do to make sure we and our family members are getting enough rest? We can try to make it fun. Most kids would and some grown ups would much rather play than rest. However, rest doesn’t always have to mean sleeping more hours or taking a … Continue reading →

Puzzles, Puzzles, Puzzles

We like puzzles in this family. When I was growing up, I remember vividly sitting at a table with my grandmother working on the latest 5,000-piece masterpiece. She loved doing puzzles, any kind of puzzles. We did puzzles that featured works by Monet, Matisse and even Picasso. Once or twice we did some crazy twisting puzzles by abstract artists. We also did puzzles on the sea, on horses, on dogs and in the early 1980s, I remember doing puzzles that included the engagement pictures of Charles and Diana and one of a photograph of their wedding. 10 Piece Puzzles When … Continue reading →

Fun with History – The White House

My daughter came home from school today and told me that the President lived in the White House. She wanted to know why it was called that. So we trotted off into my office to pull up the web page on the White House and to read about it. Let me preface this whole story with the caveat that when all was said and done, she wanted to know why the President got to live there and I told her it was pretty simple – the house was built to be a home for the President – whomever he or … Continue reading →

More Fun Science Experiments

Here are two more fun science experiments that your kids will enjoy doing. You will enjoy watching their faces as they are awed by science. Egg In A Bottle This experiment wows me every time I do it. It still amazes me how the egg can just slip into the bottle. Your kids will be wowed too. You will need: Large hard-boiled egg with the shell removed Glass bottle/jar with an opening just smaller than the egg Matches Small piece of paper Directions: Drop the piece of paper into the bottle. Then light the match and drop the match onto … Continue reading →

Building a Baby Clothes Quilt

Have you ever made a baby clothes quilt? I’ve got one in progress that I’ve been working on for several years. It started with my daughter’s baby clothes. I kept out several of the better items that I remember her wearing with love and cut out a 6”x 6” squares from each of them. Over the years, I have taken out 6” x 6” squares from all kinds of her clothes that she’s worn. I have about 30 separate squares at the moment. Those 30 squares are sewn into 5 nine-patch blocks. While those 5 blocks are hardly enough to … Continue reading →

Leaf Creatures – A New Way to Save Leaves

When I was kid, I used to wander around and find loose, colorful leaves that fell from the trees during autumn and put them in wax paper and press them so I could save them in my little fall collector books. I did this a great deal and over the years, the practice gradually faded out as many of the things we do as children do. This year, I’m going to teach my daughter about the joy of leaf collecting, only we’re not just going to press them into wax paper. We’re going to take the different leaves with their … Continue reading →