Family Fun

Spring Break Treasure Trove

by Stacy on March 14, 2011

I find so many fabulous things in my reader (psst, my recent favorites are always linked in the little tan box on my right sidebar), on Twitter and on Pinterest, it would be selfish to keep them all to myself. I’ll be posting Treasure Troves every so often of all the goodness I find – today’s goodness is all about fun things to do with your kids (yay!)… which I thought might come in handy for those of you with kids on for Spring Break.

First up, is this awesome DIY Lava Lamp project my friend Steph made with her kids last summer – Awesome!!

Image via Flickr
Then there’s the Psychadelic Milk Magic (everyone will LOVE this one)
Thanks to Eva Marie of Couturier Mommy

Homemade Slime from New Nostalgia (love the colors Amy)

Rainbow Shaving Cream Paint for bathtime (Jill is a mom after my own ♥)

Create your own little play world on some kraft or butcher paper like Tokketok

See what I mean? Truly fabulous stuff out there that can be done for little to no cost and the whole family will enjoy doing. After you’re done playing, the kids might be a tad hungry so …

I’ll leave you with this fun little snack from Thoughtfully Simple
to make for your little Leprechauns for St. Paddy’s Day

Hope you enjoy your break and let me know if you end up doing any of these!

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Family Friendly New Years Ideas

by Stacy on December 31, 2010

1. Take turns hanging handwritten notes for 2011 on a Wishing Tree – if you still have your Christmas tree up or even a table top version that would be perfect. Otherwise, use a branch from outside or even a tree in your yard, neighborhood or local park.

2. Make a family photo album for the year – Let the kids pick the pictures or at least put them in the pages. If you are just reading this and didn’t have a chance to print a year’s worth of pictures in advance, create a digital one online and let the kids help.

Image via She Knows
3. Have your Countdown at Noon

or better yet …

4. Throw a New Years Eve Party for the kids
complete with cupcakes, garland & glitter like Super Momma Kellie did

5. Let them make Poppers via Makes & Takes

6. Or Shiny Hats – use this template or craft one of your own

7. Edible Party Horns for snacks- via Cooking With My Kid

8. Bake Your Own Fortune Cookies – also from Cooking With My Kid by way of Daily Candy

9. Bury a Time Capsule. Gather your favorite pictures and little mementos from the past year. Put them in a plastic container and bury in the backyard (even more fun if you do it by flashlight). Pull up last year’s and reminisce. Idea from my sweet friend Amanda

10. Make your own Glitter Fireworks – Also from Calm Crazy, is that little guy adorable or what?

Image via The Little Foodie
11. Set up a kids Sparkling Drinks Bar: Who says grown ups should have all the fun. Sparkling cider, sparkling grape juice or even Izze drinks are super easy ready to go options. Or, jazz things up a bit with a Soda Stream of bottles of sparkling water and various fruit juices – grape, cranberry, pomegranate. Cut slices of citrus and strawberries to add as garnish and set out a bowl of colored sugar for sugaring rims of glasses (you probably have plenty from all those left over christmas cookies).

And on on New Years Day, don’t forget to try our favorite tradition: Eat Lucky Foods!

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Every Day is a Holiday Pt II

by Stacy on December 14, 2010

Last year, I started a family advent tradition at our house consisting of crafts, activities, outings and more to be done each day in December leading up to Christmas. I wanted to focus on family, fun, the spirit of giving and more importantly, the real reason for the season. Also, I hoped to take some of the focus off all merchandising schemes & marketing campaigns that have weaseled their way in to our holidays and keep my kids oblivious to all that hoopla for at least a few more years.

And you know what?

It was hands down my favorite part of the holidays, so of course, I revived it this year. Some of the activities from last year we have chosen to do again, some are new, many we borrowed from a sweet friend, Katherine Marie, who is acting out her very own list of activities you won’t want to miss. (<- The Random Acts of Kindness Advent)

I’m sharing our list with you in hopes that you may find something fun to do with your family this holiday season. I’ll try and post updates along the way, but in case we’re too busy having fun, here’s what we’re up to.

Dec 1: Sweet’s Mommy & Me Day - A Royal Tea Party
Dec 2: Happy’s Mommy & Me Day – Superhero Showdown
Dec 3: Christmas Gifts for the Birds
Dec 4: Christmas Celebration at Sea World San Antonio
Dec 5: Pick out & Decorate our Tree
Dec 6: Gifts to the Teachers at the YMCA
Dec 7: Fresh Mulled Cider & A Christmas Light Spectacular Car Ride
Dec 8: Cocoa for Troops & Army Mens (aka men in uniform)
Dec 9: Kids Christmas Craft Party at our house
Dec 10: Donate to local Children’s Shelter
Dec 11: San Antonio Tamale Festival
Dec 12: First NBA Game
Dec 13: Build Gingerbread house w/ Nana
Dec 14: Kids Shopping Day (mainly $1 store stuff)
Dec 15: Candy Cane Drop Off
Dec 16: Handprint Reindeer Ornaments & a surprise trip to Build A Bear
(I purchased each kid a 50% off coupon during a recent Group On event)
Dec 17: Take Cookies to Employees at the Library
Dec 18: Date with Santa
Dec 19: Happy’s 5th Birthday!!
Dec 20: Kids Wrapping Party
Dec 21: Make Snowman Ornaments (like these)
Dec 22: Donate to Food Pantry ($10 = 100 lbs of food) & Make Gifts for the Neighbors
Dec 23: River Boat Ride
Dec 24: Family in Jammies Party *
Dec 25: Christmas Day!!! Or Jesus’ Birthday, as we like to call it

For a complete list of last year’s activities, click here.
(psst, you’ll want to click. There’s a link to a pretty awesome printable advent calendar)

Um, apparently I need to start counting down sooner (or adding regular Random Act of Kindness events throughout the year) cause I just checked last years list and there were a lot of fun things on there I wanted to do again this year.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

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Super Simple Dump Truck Cake

by Stacy on May 3, 2010

I’m terribly behind on posting all the fun things we did in April. Tons of outdoor play, my big news, and some green endeavors but before I get to any of that … I just had to share a snippet from my Little Man’s 1st Birthday party. I called it a Little Digger party and I kept it super simple – a kiddie pool full of buckets, shovels and beans (easier to clean up indoors than sand), construction hats, super sized dump trucks and more. It was just the perfect chance for me to create the dump truck cake I’ve been dreaming of for years now. Literally … TWO YEARS! I tried to make it once before using brownies but my brownies always turn out flat and crusty and well the effect just wasn’t what I had in mind.

This time, however, I choose Devil’s Food Cake (and one butter yellow just for good measure). Followed the directions on the box and then cut it all up into cubes.

{Two Devil’s Food Cakes cut into cubes}

Taa Daa!! Coolest Boy’s Birthday Cake Ever!

I served it up in these super cute dump trucks I picked up from Target (in the pool toys aisle) for $1.99. A few cubes of cake, some Sugar Free chocolate pudding, lite whip cream and sprinkles = A BIG HIT!

I stuck some pinwheels and cute candles in the mix that I snagged from the Dollar store.

PARTY TOTAL: UNDER $40
The most expensive part of the party was the beans (I bought over 22 lbs of them). If I did it again I would probably just buy a bag or two of sand (I heard they are $3 at Walmart) and put the kiddie pool outside.

BEANS – $22
Buckets, Shovels and Construction Hats – $5 (Target Dollar Store & Goodwill)
Mini Dump Trucks – $6 for 3
Dump Truck Cake – $3.75 (Borrowed the Dump Truck from Big Brother)

Little Digger approves and I’ll bet your Little Digger will too.

{ 32 comments }

Setting Up Shop

by Stacy on November 18, 2009

KSW_Eat_Local

Looking for some fun activities to keep your little ones busy this Thanksgiving Holiday? We’ll be featuring some fun for everyone ideas to keep the wee ones occupied and get them excited about Thanksgiving at the same time!

Our first activity is setting up a pretend grocery store ~ talk about Eating Local! The only limit is your imagination and if you’re a recycler, than chances are you have everything you need in your recycling bins {Empty juice bottles, cereal boxes or any boxes for that mater, yogurt or butter containers, etc}. Anything your kids will have fun sorting, stacking, and putting in their carts.

If you have toys or toy bins with wheels (dump trucks, strollers, toy boxes, etc) use these as makeshift shopping carts. Give your kids a few reusable shopping bags for toting their goods after they pay.

I taught my kids to pick out the items they wanted and wheel them to the checkout ( 2 x Ikea Lack Tables and a fisher price piano). Next, we emptied the shopping carts, scanned all the items (complete with beeping sound and everything) and packed them into the shopping bags. We used junk mail as our currency but given more time, I’ll probably make some life like versions out of felt.

The kids had a blast with this activity and the best part was watching them interact with one another with no adult participation. Anytime there’s a chance to see the world through the eyes of a child, I encourage you to stop and take a moment to enjoy it. More than likely, you will learn something yourself.

Note: Children will vary, but this activity provided 45 minutes of pure entertainment for my 2 & 3 year old. This activity inspired from the Bo’s November curriculum Yr II from Itty Bitty Bookworm (more on this amazing resource coming soon)

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