Since today is our "Hodge podge" day where we post pretty much whatever we like (ha ha ha) I thought it might be a good time to post some ideas of fun things to do with your kids during the winter months, especially since we're in the thick of it right now. Hope you find some great tips from this list! 1. Explore tracks- take time to go outside and explore the different shaped animal tracks in the snow (or dirt) and see if you can figure out what they are. This adventure offers a few great things: a little science learning, quality time, and creative thinking. Photo courtesy of Five Elements Arts 2. Make a trail hunt- Go outside during their nap time (or a time when they can't see you) and make a trail throughout the yard, twisting and turning and jumping between steps. Have them go outside and follow the trail. Photo Courtesy of Log Like 3. Make a "headless snowman". We all know snowmen have three circles...well this snowman has only … [Read more...]
Marble Painting
My girls LOVE to paint! Sometimes, however, they get "bored" with the same-old paints over and over. That's when marble painting comes in! Marble painting is a TON of fun and creates some pretty unique pictures. None are alike! To do it with your kids, you'll need: paints marbles paper tape cookie sheet (or shoe box for smaller kids) Step 1) Tape the paper to the cookie sheet or the bottom of the shoe box. Step 2) Dip a marble in paint then roll it around the cookie sheet or the shoe box. Shoe boxes work better for younger kids because they have high sides. Younger kids may have trouble keeping the marble on the cookie sheet. For older kids, that's half the fun! That's really it! For some more fun, dip a few marbles in different color paints and roll them around at the same time. See what fun paintings your kids can make! What have you done to spice up your kid's painting fun? … [Read more...]
Hidden Apple Pancakes
Pancake covered apples...they sound kinda weird but my girls thought they so cool and yummy! Hidden apple pancakes were also a great way to add some fruit to breakfast without my girls really knowing! I have to admit, I got this idea from Pinterest but I tweeked the recipe a bit because I didn't have all the ingredients. My recipe is also a lot easier than the original. What you'll need for my version: Your favorite pancake mix Cinnamon Sugar Apples Topping of choice (apple syrup, maple syrup, butter, cool whip...) Step 1) Cut the apples into thin slices and cut the cores out. (I think I used Macintosh apples but any apple will do depending on your preference) Step 2) Prepare the pancake batter as directed on the box. Add cinnamon and sugar to taste. (I used Bisquick mix and made 1/2 a batch of pancakes. I added about 1 Tbsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.) Step 3) Coat the apples with the pancake batter. Step 4) Cook until the pancake part … [Read more...]
Make an indoor obstacle course
We live in the "frozen tundra" and winters here can be really long, especially when it's TOO cold to go outside and burn off a little extra energy. The other day my kids were telling me how bored they were bouncing off the walls with energy. So I made them all sit on the step (ha!!!) while I made a special surprise for them. What did we do? We did an indoor obstacle course. It was filled with items we already had in our house (making it FREE) and it was some really good fun! The kids were getting along great and helping and encouraging each other along the course. Here is how I laid out the course for them. Click on the photo to make it larger It was great to see them burning off the energy! Then a few minutes later the decided to get more creative! Here's what THEY decided the course was. click on the photo to make it larger Then even later the moved things around and redesigned the whole thing. I would say all in all it was a success! We … [Read more...]
Fun Stuff Fridays #7
Remember when Linkys were all the rage in blogging? They were a great way to find and get to know other bloggers before social media and Pinterest became mainstream. It didn't hurt that they brought a ton of traffic to your site too. Lindsi and I started our Fun Stuff Fridays linky back in 2011. We kept it going for 20 weeks before it fizzled out (or we got sick of doing it, I'm not sure which happened). It is now soon to be 2017 and at lot of the links in those linkies no longer exist. Plus, I've let my link up subscription lapse so you can't get to them anyway. Instead of deleting the Fun Stuff Fridays posts, however, I have decided to clean them up and make sure our featured links are still valid. After all, on a rare occasion I get traffic from one of these old posts. The linky may be gone but the featured posts are still valid as of December 2016... Welcome to Fun Stuff Fridays! It takes us a while to go through each entry and narrow it down to our top three. We wish we … [Read more...]
Shaving cream and glue
My kids LOVE playing with shaving cream! (I mean let's be real...you know you do too.) When they came home from preschool with these great puffy snowmen I had to investigate what they were made out of. Sure enough----shaving cream (and a little glue). Here is what you will need: Shaving cream (cheap Barbarsol works perfectly) School glue (ya know Elmer's) Construction paper Glitter, beads, buttons, or gems (optional) A bowl A paint brush (also optional) Squirt half (or all if you are having a blast) of the shaving cream into a plastic bowl. Next add the glue and mix. (There is no real recipe to this but half a can of shaving cream and a whole bottle of glue worked perfect for us) Have your child scoop out the shaving cream mixture and "paint" with it all over the paper. A little tip for you- the thicker they lay it on the better and the more puffy it will dry in the end. Paintbrushes work great....but hands are even better!!! (P.S. see that shirt my daughter is … [Read more...]
