Get Outdoors For A Family Picnic

Now that summer is in full swing, do you and your family enjoy outdoor picnics? I am not talking about big family reunions & gatherings, what I am specifically talking about is some family time with just your spouse and kids?

One of the things we enjoy doing as a family is going out to remote areas, public parks, etc. and planing an afternoon picnic.

Now if you have never done this for your family, here is a list of things you will need:

Picnic Blanket or Picnic Table
Picnic Table Cloth (if using a table)
Plates, Napkins, Plastic Utensils and Cups
Picnic Basket and/or a Cooler with ice
Trash Bags (for clean up)

You don’t need to get all elaborate with your food choices…you can plan simple sandwiches/subs, macaroni or potato salad, some chopped up fresh fruit, potato chips & pretzels and perhaps a few pickled eggs.

While out on your picnic, you will want to bring along a few things to keep the kids busy or activities that the entire family can enjoy such as: a ball, kites, fishing poles (if near water), bubble blowing machines, bocci ball, frisbee or any other small & portable outdoor activity that you can think of.

The most important thing is to keep it simple so that you don’t stress yourself out. Remember, this is family time so you will want to plan ahead for a stress-free afternoon outdoors!

Shelly

Kite Flying – A Great Family Activity

Now that it’s the middle of the summertime season, what kind of family activities do you enjoy doing outdoors? One of the things we have always enjoyed doing as a family in the summertime has been kite flying.

Kite flying is an inexpensive family activity because all you really need is a kite! You can buy inexpensive ones at your local dollar type of store or you can go for more expensive ones at a kite shop.

If you have small children, I recommend getting the cheap and easy kites. If you have older children, you can purchase the more expensive kites…but either way, kite flying is a lot of fun!

When we plan kite flying family days, we also pack a picnic style lunch. All you need are some sandwiches, fruit, a snack and a few drinks. While you are at it, don’t forget to pack a blanket!

So this summer when you are thinking about a good family activity to do outdoors…consider going out and flying a few kites!

Shelly

Kids Crafts – Tie Dye T-shirts

If you are looking to keep older kids busy this summer, how about letting them tie-dye their own T-shirts? You can go out to your local craft store and buy kids T-shirts for about $3.00 a piece or better yet, dig some out of your child’s closet and use those!

I recently did a product review for a company called Simply Spray which has these awesome spray fabric paints. Sort of like traditional spray paint but made for fabrics! These were really easy to use and it only took me 90 minutes to make a tie-dye tshirt for my nephew (allowing for drying time).

Here is what you will need to make one:

100% cotton T-shirt
Simply Spray Fabric Paints (3-5 colors)
Newspaper

You will want to do this project outdoors during a nice weather day. Lay down several sheets of newspaper. Take your cotton short and scrunch it up. Stand back about a foot or two and lightly spray your T-shirt. I left mine dry for 10-15 minutes, rearranged the shirt by scrunching it again and then sprayed on another color. Repeat that process until your shirt is done.

Note: You do not need to heat set the paint! I left mine dry for 72 hours before washing it.

Pretty easy and fast! A great little summer craft project for the kids to keep them busy.

Shelly

Kids Birthday Party Ideas

When it comes to hosting a birthday party for your child, what kind of things do you like to do? Are you the type of parent that does the same old thing every year by just having a sleep over party or do you get creative and look for alternative ideas?

I raised a daughter so I have hosted a lot of birthday parties and been to hundreds of kids birthday parties over the years. I have seen some common theme’d ones and some really over the top parties.

Here are some that I have attended over the years.

Bowling Alley
Circus
Spa Salon
Backyard Pool
Backyard Carnival with Games
Public or Private Park
Outdoor Wilderness – Camping
Backyard Camping
Roller Skating
Ice Skating
Game Night Slumber Party (board & card games)
Movie Slumber Party
Movie Theater Party
Horseback Riding
Miniature Golf
Game Arcades
Arts & Crafts Party
etc. etc. etc.

So my blog question today deals with kids Birthday Parties. What kind of parties have you hosted for your children?

Shelly

Kids and Summer Vacation Day Programs

It’s May and it means another school year is wrapping up in the States, but here in Canada our school year ends in June…the end of June. But with the weeks flying by, what do you have in store for this year’s summer vacation for your kids?

Just because it’s summer vacation for the kids, it doesn’t mean it’s summer vacation for the parents unless you’re a school teacher. So if both parents are at work, what are your kids going to do that will keep them busy, but out of trouble?

Here’s a look at some day programs, but it will cost a fair amount of money. This could be for a number of selected weeks only…maybe for the month of July or August. You may even get a deal if you have more than one child…it just depends.

Some after school care offers summer day programs. These are day trips where one day they will go the beach, amusement park, swimming, movies, shopping mall, museum etc. Spots are limited and they will probably fill fast, so speak with your after school care teacher and ask what they have going.

You can check in your community centers and other public organizations for other types of programs like a musical theatre program, arts & crafts, sports and summer camp programs etc. Look now as space is limited and the school year is nearing. If all else fails, Shelly wrote a fantastic blog post Summer Vacation – Ideas To Keep The Kids Busy! with some really fun ideas for you and the kids to do and the best part it won’t break your bank account.

~Sophia

Summer Vacation – Ideas To Keep The Kids Busy!

In just a few short weeks, the children will be out of school for the summer vacations. Once that happens, many parents will be scrambling for ways to keep the children busy.

As a mother and grandmother myself, I am not fond of letting kids sit in front of a television all day long or allowing them to play video games for hours on end.

So, my blog post today is to give you some ideas that you can utilize to help keep the children busy this summer.

* Invest in some new board games that are appropriate for their age, including puzzles.
* Plan to have mini arts and crafts days a few times a week.
* Exchange babysitting services with another local mom for 2 afternoons a week. (play dates).
* Invest in some new reading books that are appropriate for the childs age.
* Invest in some outdoor games such as Bocce Ball, Volleyball, Badminton, Croquet, etc.
* Plan to take your children to the neighborhood park 1-2 times a week.
* Visit your local library 1-2 times a week.
* Plan afternoon trips to: the museum, the zoo, rollerskating and ice skating rinks, amusement parks, swimming parks, movie theater, etc.
* Volunteer this summer in your community. There are many organizations that will accept an entire family to do some volunteer work for them.

As you can see from this ’short’ list, there are many things you can do that don’t cost a fortune to keep your children busy this summer. If you ask me, these ideas are so much better for them than letting them sit all day long in front of the tv or video game console!

How do you plan on keeping your children busy this summer?

Shelly

Classic Children’s Books For Toddlers

We all know as parents how important it is to start reading to our children when they are small. As a new grandmother to an 11 month old grandbaby, I am building a book collection for her and was thinking about all of the classic books that I used to read to my daughter when she was a little girl.

Here are some of the classic books that I think every small child needs in their library book collection.

Clifford The Big Red Dog – Norman Bridwell
Dr. Seuss ABC – Dr. Seuss
Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown
Pat the Bunny – Dorothy Kunhardt
The Little Engine That Could – Watty Piper
The Poky Little Puppy – Janette Sebring Lowrey
The Owl and the Pussycat – Edward Lear
The Real Mother Goose – Blanche Fisher Wright
Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams

Do you have a small child? What are some of your children’s favorite books? Do you have any favorite books that you can remember from your own childhood?

Shelly

Alternate Birthday Goodie Bag Ideas

Over the years, how many goodie bags has your child brought home from birthday parties only for you to find it stashed way back in your cupboard or that annoying plastic whistle you found in a coat you haven’t worn in years?

I had a few of those…stashed in the back of my cupboard and threw them out along with the Halloween candies.

Many younger kids’ goodie bags include candy and the odd toy…something you would find in a Kinder Surprise. Candy was the most hated thing I found in the loot bag because I didn’t allow my toddler to eat candy or other sugary snack foods.

Here are some alternate birthday goodie bag ideas.

For younger kids instead of the giving out individual goodie bags, buy one item for each child such as a colouring book, a story book, small tic-tac-toe game, a fun deck of cards, activity book etc. Keep in mind the child’s interest so what you buy is a personalized gift.

For tweens usually the ages from 10 to 12, you can also give individual gifts or have a party where they can make their own gift to take home such as a craft party. They can make photo frames from popsicle sticks and decorate them or they can paint flower pots and you can include seed packets. You can have a swim party and give out inexpensive swim towels. The ideas are endless.

You can use different receptacles to hold the goodies like treasure chests, travel or make-up bag, pencil case or other interesting container and fill it with things the child can use. You can keep with the theme of the party and include goodies related to the theme.

For boys and girls you can include pencils, erasers, funky pens, sticky notes, small notepad, mini lava lamp, keychain, and other fun trinkets. For girls, give lip gloss or lip balm, mini scented lotion, nail polish, nail decorations, hair accessories or other girlie things you can think of.

What are your ideas when it comes to goodie bags?

~Sophia

Kids Craft – Mini Felt Play Cookies Project

I love making play felt food items for my little grand daughter and you can easily make them too. With this particular project, older children can easily make them or you can make them for them. Please use adult supervision while making this craft project.

This mini felt cookie project is quick, easy and very inexpensive. Here is what you will need:

Dark Brown, Medium Brown, Tan & Vanilla Colored Craft Felt
Embroidery Floss to match felt colors
Blunt Tip Embroidery Needle
Scissors

For my pattern: On a piece of paper, I drew 2 1/2″ diameter circle and cut it out. This will serve as your cookie pattern.

From desired colored of felt, cut out 2 felt circles. From a different color of felt, cut out little circles that are about 1/4″ in diameter, these will serve as your chocolate chips.

Using 2 strands of embroidery floss in your sewing needle, use little hand stitches and attach the ‘chocolate chip’ circles to one side of one piece of cookie felt. Fasten Off.

Pick up your second piece of cookie felt and place it wrong sides together with your first circle. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, whip stitch the 2 circles together. Fasten floss off.

You have now made a little felt cookie.

You can glue magnets on the back side of them to make them into refrigerator magnets or the smaller children can use them in their kitchen playsets.

Have fun!

Shelly

Fun Easter Craft Projects

I know this is late since Easter is among us, but I figure you can use these ideas for the following years.

Here are some really cute Easter craft projects you and your kids can do.

Here are some Easter craft projects from Shelly’s Passionate About Crafting blog. For those who know her she’s an exceptional crafter.

Upcycled Easter Eggs Craft Project From Air Freshener Containers
These are so pretty and of course you can decorate them any way you want. You can put pot pourri in these decorative eggs as Shelly suggested or any other item or nothing at all.

Crochet Duck and Easter Bunny Pins
For the crocheter these are adorable.

Decoupage – Easter Dessert Plates Project
This is one my favourites and Shelly did a beautiful job on this plate. The colours are absolutely gorgeous and so perfect for Easter.

Have a Happy and Safe Easter weekend!

~Sophia

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