Baby Party Activities

Finding the perfect activity to keep guests happy at your child’s first birthday party can be challenging. After all, a child that age is likely to have few BFFs. What’s more, the guest list for most 1-year-old’s birthday parties tends to include a huge age range, from elderly grandparents to infant cousins. Given the wide range of guests’ ages, it is nearly impossible to come up with a game or activity that the entire group can enjoy. At least that’s what I thought as I made my way to my friend’s house last weekend. Her baby boy was turning one, … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving Fun in the Kitchen with Kids

My mother banned kids from the kitchen during holiday parties. While I understand why she made the area off limits during Thanksgiving and Christmas (when hot dishes were being removed from even hotter ovens and sharp knives were out in full force carving turkeys and hams), it’s not a tradition I continue in my own home. My 5-year-old daughter loves to cook and I would never rob her of the chance to contribute to our holiday meals by booting her from the kitchen. I impose a set of safety rules, but other than that I allow my budding chef to … Continue reading →

Mommy Beach Party

Mother Nature decided to gift your daughter with torrential rains and hurricane-strength winds on her birthday–the day you planned to celebrate her special occasion at the beach. Now what? Instead of drowning your sorrows in pounds of pasta salad and soggy streamers, encourage your daughter turn off the indoor waterworks, and help you transform your home into Mommy Beach. The party can go on as planned with these simple projects: INDOOR SAND CASTLES Ingredients: 1 cup of cornstarch 2 cups of sand 11/2 cups of cold water 1 old pan (Use one that you can sacrifice for this project as … Continue reading →

Edible Sand Castle and Other Summer Fun for Kids

Can’t make it to the beach this summer? Don’t let the “Mom, I’m bored!” blues get you down. Instead, consider making your own summer fun at home with the following fun ideas: EDIBLE SAND CASTLE Ingredients: 1 package (18 1/4 ounces) banana cake mix plus ingredients to prepare mix as directed on box 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 package (6 serving size) instant butterscotch flavor pudding mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix as directed on box Clean small plastic beach pail and shovel 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, divided Beach-themed candy: Gummy fish, octopus, starfish, … Continue reading →

Fun With Mad Libs

Do you remember Mad Libs? You had to think of adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs and other parts of speech and at the end, you had a hilarious story that was sure to end in a fit of giggles. Not only is it lots of fun, but its one of those educational activities when they don’t actually realize they are learning something or enforcing something in their minds. Did you know that you don’t have to actually spend the money on the Mad Lib books from the store? You can actually create your very own using paper and a pen, or … Continue reading →

5 Fun Ways to Tell Your Child You Love Them

Building relationships is important, and keeping the lines of communication open is even more important. Reminding loved ones that they are loved is a great way to keep the lines of communication open. It is also an awesome way to keep families happy, relationships loving and just generally make people smile. So here are a few fun ways to say I love you in your family. Say It With Flowers I’m not talking about giving someone a bouquet, although that works too. But a really fun and exciting way to let someone you know you love them, is to plant … Continue reading →

Homemade Gummy Candies

Did you know you can make your own gummy candies? It’s really not hard. They aren’t as sweet, or as colorful as the ones you buy at the store, but they are still fun to make. And I feel like they are a bit healthier anyway. To make the candies all you need is a little juice, a packet of gelatin, a spoonful of sugar and some basic kitchen equipment. Spread waxed paper or parchment paper over a cookie sheet. Pour one quarter cup of apple or grape juice into a sauce pan. Bring it to a boil over medium … Continue reading →

Summer Drinks Kids Can Make

We had a hot day today, and the kids asked to make Line Cooler. And yes that is line with an ‘n’, not ‘lime’. Our recipe is adapted from the Line Cook Cooler in The Grit Cookbook. The Grit is a restaurant in Athens, Georgia and don’t you know that they know a thing or two about heat and humidity. I’ve sent this recipe to several people and no one ever tries it. I know the ingredients don’t sound like they could possibly add up to much, but I promise that it’s worth the try. The taste is so cooling … Continue reading →

Experimenting with Ice Cream Sandwiches

Valorie’s blog on Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches made me remember a fun ice cream place from my college days. It was called Serendipity. To get there you had to go down a tiny staircase. The store was actually below sidewalk level. And since serendipity means an accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful, I thought the name of this tiny little ice cream store fit perfectly. They sold all kinds of ice cream, but my favorite was their design– it –yourself ice cream sandwiches. First you picked from chocolate, sugar, oatmeal, or chocolate chip cookies. These were large fresh-baked … Continue reading →

No Cook Dinner

I’m almost embarrassed to tell you what I fed my family tonight for dinner. But since they thought it was great fun, I’ll tell you. We had a big, busy day with a trip to the movies, the health food store, the big warehouse store, and exercising at the YMCA. By the time we got home we were all tired, and the house was very hot. We don’t have air conditioning, and most of the time we don’t really need it here in Colorado. Today though, some cooling air would have been nice. The house was too hot to cook … Continue reading →