Banish Kid Clutter with a Weekly Stash Box Challenge
One of the big drawbacks of a house without a designated toy room is that I’m forced to let my kids keep toys in their bedrooms. Unfortunately, because our entire house is essentially one level, the cars, dolls, trains, and other random plastic objects inevitably make their way from the bedrooms to the common rooms of the house. For the first few weeks, I would waste tons of time each night gathering up the various toys that had migrated from the bedrooms to the family room, kitchen, and hallways. I needed a quick fix solution...
read moreLucky Leprechaun Day – Fun Family Tradition
A few days ago my 4 year-old daughter ran into the kitchen of our new house begging me for a ziploc bag. When I asked her why, she enthusiastically declared that she had discovered a huge patch of clovers under our deck and needed to harvest them for Lucky Leprechaun Day. My kids have been counting down to St. Patrick’s Day for weeks now. They look forward to leprechaun visits the way other kids look forward to Easter baskets and tooth fairy quarters. Although it started completely by accident, it’s been one of my kid’s...
read moreHalloween Candy Overload Solution
After 3 Halloween parties, a ward trunk-or-treat, and a big night of trick-or-treating my house and my kids are in Candy Overload. Rather than watch my kids gorge themselves on junk food all week, I opted to try something new this year. We’re calling it our post-Halloween Sweets Swap. I spent $10 at Target and purchased a few small toys that I know my kids would like. I also made up a few coupons like “Trip to the McDonalds play land”, “Get out of chores pass”, and “Mom makes my bed”. Each item has a...
read moreThe Blanket Game
This classic, no set-up, game is a big hit with all age groups. I’ve used it for everything from family home evenings to combined mutual activities. It’s a classic. Set Up: Divide your group into two teams of any size (recommended minimum is 4 per team). Gather 5-10 blankets, sheets, or sleeping bags. You’ll need one neutral person to act as a referee and be the blanket coverer.Objective: To acquire the most points in a pre-determined number of rounds. Points are acquired by tricking the other team into thinking...
read more
