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

Chocolate Marshmallow Popcorn Balls Recipe

When our daughter was younger, she used to love various homemade snacks that we used to make using popcorn and this recipe was one of her favorites.

Chocolate Marshmallow Popcorn Balls

5 qts. popped Pop Corn
1 jar (7 ounce) marshmallow creme
1 pkg. (12 ounce) Chocolate Chips
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place popped corn in a large greased pan. Melt marshmallow creme and chocolate chips in top of double boiler, stir in water and vanilla extract. Pour chocolate mixture over pop corn, mixing thoroughly. Shape into balls and place on a nonstick silicone baking mat or parchment paper until they set up. Makes 10 – 12 balls.

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

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

How To Make Felt Valentine’s Day Refrigerator Magnets

When it comes to making Valentine’s Day crafts with older kids, this is a quick and easy project that will cost less than $1.50 to make. I recently made this project with a group of girls that range in age from 8 to 11 years old.

Here is what you will need:

red and pink craft felt
red embroidery floss with blunt tip sewing needle
2″ wide piece (strip) of magnet
scissors
paper patterned heart measuring 3 1/4″ wide by 2 3/4″ tall
disappearing ink marker
all-purpose craft glue

Pattern: You can just free-hand a heart pattern by folding a piece of paper in half and cutting it into a heart shape that measures approximately 3 1/4″ wide by 2 3/4″ tall.

Trace your heart pattern onto a piece of red felt. Using scissors, cut off 1/4″ around the edges of your paper pattern and then trace the smaller heart that you just made onto a piece of pink felt using a disappearing marker.

Using a blunt tip sewing needle and three strands of red embroidery floss, hand stitch the word LOVE onto the pink heart. Once that has been completed, use three strands of red embroidery floss to blanket stitch or simple whip stitch the pink felt heart to the red felt heart. You will want to stitch around all of the edges to attach the pink heart to the red heart.

Cut an 8″ long by 1/4″ wide strip from red felt. Using the photo for reference, make an arrow from the strips and hand sew them to the back side of the red felt heart. Once completed, use all-purpose craft glue to attach a magnet strip onto the back of the red heart. Let dry for 1 hour and then your new refrigerator magnet is ready to use!

This craft project idea is copyright 2010 by Work At Home Business Options, All Rights Reserved. Please do not reprint this project, instructions or photo without our permission.

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