Archive for the 'Sites to visit' Category
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April 22nd, 2011
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| This is a guest post by Sally . If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. |
10 Tips for a Fun Family Evening That Won’t Break the Bank
In a tough economy, one of the smartest choices a family can make is to stay in and have fun at home. Here is a list of my favorite money saving ideas for an evening with the family that won’t break the bank.
1. Make Hot Fudge Sundaes
Rather than spending a fortune going out to a restaurant, why not make dinner at home and then enjoy some homemade hot fudge sundaes? All it takes is some ice cream and a few toppings, and your kids will think they have died and gone to heaven. Special Note: This can also serve as a great reward children can earn for good grades or behavior.
2. Make Up Funny Stories
Kids really seem to love it when parents join in on this one. One person simply starts a story, and the next one adds a line, and so on, and so on, until everyone is laughing too hard to even finish the story. This can make for one hilarious evening.
3. Sock Puppets
Sock puppet performances are always a hit, no matter what. All you need are a few old socks(or new ones if you wish) and some random craft supplies. Have each member of the family create their own character and then act out a story involving them all. This is a fun activity for everyone in the family, especially when everyone really gets into it.
4. Draw Family Portraits
Drawing family portraits together can be a fun way to get the artistic juices flowing in the home. Kids will love this time to be creative, and it is always interesting to see how each person perceives the family as a whole. Besides, whose refrigerator couldn’t use a few more masterpieces?
5. Sing Karaoke
Singing karaoke is something that any family can enjoy. All you need is a radio and a makeshift microphone.(I find a wooden spoon or a hair brush works great for this!) And the best part is, it doesn’t matter how great a person is at singing, because this simply makes for a more memorable evening. Usually, the worse one is at singing . . . the better!
6. Act Out Family Stories
Retelling some of your favorite family stories is always hilarious, but acting them out is even better. Kids enjoy the ability to relive their favorite stories, and everyone gets a chance to work together while acting out the scenes. A nice twist is to allow the person telling the story to act as the “director”. This can make for some pretty hilarious moments, and it always makes for one incredible evening.
7. Dress Up in Halloween Costumes
Dressing up in Halloween costumes is a hilarious activity to do as a family, no matter what time of the year it is. It is so much fun to have a contest as well, to see who can come up with the best costume. As a spin-off into more family fun, the person that wins the costume contest then gets to pick the next game for the family to enjoy together. Kids love playing this game, and it can get quite competitive.
8. Paint a Room Together
I know it seems a bit like it may violate some sort of child labor laws, but it can be an amazing experience to paint a room together as a family. If you have a room where you can spare a wall, one of the best things to do is allow your kids to paint whatever they want on a wall. This can be a fun way to get a job done and also make kids feel like they are truly contributing to the family as a whole. Kids get to leave their mark on the family home, a task gets completed, and everyone enjoys an evening of laughter and bonding.
9. Have a Tea Party
Although it’s primarily a great game choice for families with young girls, families with boys shouldn’t count out the idea of a tea party. It doesn’t have to be all dresses and dolls, and it provides a great way for kids of all ages to learn proper manners. Girls go nuts over this, and if there are snacks involved, your boys will love it too!
10. Organize Family Photos or Scrapbook
If your family has a lot of random unorganized photos laying around, consider working together as a family to get them arranged in a photo album. Another option would be to create a scrapbook that highlights family events or specific memories. Either option will provide everyone with an enjoyable evening of reminiscing about the memories captured in the photographs.
These are ten things that any family can do at home and that don’t cost a lot of money. My family has enjoyed these activities for years, and hopefully, now your family can enjoy them too.
Byline: Sally is an avid guest blogger who enjoys informing and educating parents about cost effective ways to spend their family leisure time. When she’s not busy writing, she enjoys bonding with her husband and prepping her home for their soon to be newborn child.
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March 31st, 2011
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What’s family dinner like in your home? Probably pretty busy. Anytime for play activities?
Family meal times can be a really chaotic time of day with the bewitching hour close by/ clubs and activities/ and the general hustle and bustle of preparing a meal with children underfoot. By the time we make it to the table we’re all a little frazzled. Once we start eating we try a conversation and get mixed results.
Read More…
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March 29th, 2011
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When you look through your books do you see a diversity?
Do you have a range of many different types of books?
I had an opportunity this week to look at my bookshelf and share some of them with my children. Yes lots of ladybird books and Mr. Men books. I never had though many non fiction books. What’s on your children’s shelf? Sure enough the books we buy are usually fiction. The books we borrow are often non fiction.
Let’s look wider. Do the books I have available show a diverse world? How do I share cultural hertigages from around the world or talk about friends in my neighbourhood who are different?
Read More…
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March 11th, 2011
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| This is a guest post by Victoria Crowdell . If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. |
These days, fewer and fewer children are engaging in crafty activities than ever before. In part that is because many families have fewer financial resources to take their children to expensive classes, and in part it is because many kids think that nothing is fun unless it is a video game. In reality, however, creating crafts with your kids can be incredibly affordable and fun, and it creates an excellent opportunity for your child to learn, grow and develop valuable skills. Enjoy these five fun-filled crafts together with your kids!
5. Paper making. This crafty idea may not sound like something kids would love, but kids really enjoy getting their hands dirty! Best of all, this fun-filled activity is a great opportunity for children to learn about recycling as well. With some old newspapers, water and a blender, you and quickly make some recycled paper with your kids. Tear the old papers up into small pieces, put them into the blender with some water, and then turn the blender on to create a grey slushy substance. Pour that substances out onto a flat surface and let it dry to create sheets of paper.
4. Once your newly made paper has dried, you can use it to create a book with your kids. Continuing along the recycling theme, you can cut old cereal boxes apart to use their cardboard as covers for the books. Use a hole-punch and yarn to tie the paper into the cover of the book, and your children can then come up with plenty of creative stories and illustrations to fill the book with.
3. Friendship bracelets. With some cheap pieces of colorful string, your kids can create wild bracelets for themselves or their friends. All theyâ ll have to learn how to do is to tie knots in various sequences in order to create beautiful patterned bracelets. Find all kinds of patterns online that you can access for free so you can help explain the process to your children. To tell their friends that they care about them, your kids can give these fun bracelets away as small gifts.
2. Eggshell mosaics. Start saving your egg shells, which you can use to create beautiful mosaics with your children. You can either die the eggshells first or paint them once you have affixed them onto their final material. Whichever you choose to do, break the eggshells up into small pieces. If you need help breaking the shells up, place them in a Ziploc bag and then hit the bag with your fist. Glue the small eggshell pieces onto another surface like a box, coasters, or a greeting card and arrange them into pictures to create beautiful works of art.
1. Make Your Own Play-Dough. With flour, salt, water and food coloring, you can help your child create their own play dough. It takes only a few minutes to mix those basic ingredients together, but it gives your child an introduction to what cooking and baking are like, and it leaves them with a fun toy that they can continue to play with while you work.
 
About the Author: Victoria Crowdell writes articles on family, home & garden and crafting is her passion is decorative candles.
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January 26th, 2011
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It’s been almost a month now since you got your shiny new smartphone/ipad/ipod. You’ve got to grips with some features but you know it can do so much more.
You’ll be wanting to listen to shows that help you as a parent or maybe you need some light relief.
How to find shows?
- Download iTunes it’s a free piece of software that holds a vast directory of podcasts, as well as music, movies and radio.
- Once you have downloaded iTunes visit the podcast section in the iTunes store. There’s a search bar in the top right corner.
- Look at your favourite radio shows most have a podcast version so you never miss them again.
Smartphones
- Blackberry has a podcast directory where you can find shows.
- Stitcher is a free application you install on your smartphone. You can listen to content right from your phone without needing to be syncing your computer and ipod.
Podcasts to try
The (Over)thinking Mom
This is a recent find for me and I’m loving digging into the archives as Meredith has some great topics.Meredith talks about interesting and topical subjects around parenting. She loves researching and investigating- which is good for us as she shares it all in this podcast. I’ve really enjoyed her range of episodes and just like “MPR” ( NPR), I found myself listening to topics I didn’t think I would be interested in and totally got hooked. Cost : Free
Tweet with The (Over)thinking Mom on Twitter | Like The (Over)thinking Mom on Facebook
BAM- Body, Mind and Child
BAM is a radio network of many channels that caters to parents, educators and leaders in Education. The show I listen to the format is the host, Rae Pica putting questions to two or more guests with opposing opinions. It often makes for a lively discussion. Deborah of Teachpreschool.org was a recent guest. These shows are 10- 15 minutes long and are packed with lots of information and background on children. It’s the one that plays in the right sidebar of this site. Cost: Free
Like BAM- Body, Mind and Child on Facebook
Apple Juice Radio
This a fun husband and wife podcasting duo talking about the parents guide to children’s books and films. This show is based in the UK. I really enjoy the reviews as they are not sugar coated and always with a positive spin neither do the couple always agree so the discussion is spirited and you can totally get the point the view. There’s a lot of laughter and you really feel like you’re listening into a conversation in their 15-25 minute show. They are show notes that give more information about the book and the film. Cost: Free
Tweet with Apple Juice Radio on Twitter | Like Apple Juice Radio on Facebook
Classics for Kids podcast
All the previous podcasts were for parents to listen for themselves or to learn for the children. This podcast is one that was recommended to me by a homeschooling mom who uses the podcast as part of her curriculum. It’s a short podcast that illustrates a classic composer and is full of music. At 6 minutes it’s perfect “setting the table” listening in our house to keep everything moving along. Each composer lasts 3-5 podcasts but with the bite sized child friendly language and chunks it is totally accessible as an easy listen. Cost: Free.
Parents’ Perspective
One of the first podcasts I subscribed to in the mid Naughties and still a favourite today. This is a co-hosted show where the topics are on parenting and offer a wie range of material, not just focused on the Early years. The host starts with a senario and ends with the interview of a special guest expert that attempts to answer the question. With each show approximately 27 mintues long the time goes really quickly as you listen to stories and information. Cost: Free
Like Parents’ Perspective on Facebook
The Because Show
All the previous shows were information about development or parenting ideas whereas these three women from Los Angeles talk about a subject each week. It’s not a parenting show and it is a parenting show as all three are parents. They have occasional guest but usually we have girlfriends answering questions, sharing stories and commenting on life. It’s a refreshing to listen to parents who can talk about and experience other things other than children and perfect listening during the day. They do have an explicit tag to some of their material which is useful when you have little ears who would love nothing better than to repeat what they hear. You can check each show and they usually say beforehand in the intro. They really are like a magazine with the diversity of subjects and views. They have long and short shows. Cost: Free
Tweet with TheBecauseShow | Like TheBecauseShow
Raising Playful Tots
My show.
Raising Playful Tots (RPT) is a weekly podcast and Internet Radio show for mums who want to make the most of Early Childhood playtime. We offer tips, suggestions, guest interviews and conversation about how to keep appropriate play central in the under 5s in our care. Time: between 20 and 30 minutes. Cost: Free
Tweet |Facebook
Carnival of Parenting Podcasts
Why Podcasts?
What do you do once the children go to bed of an evening? Slump in front of the TV, grab a book, watch a movie, study for school, go to club, Facebook or Tweet? We all have our things we do. There’s a podcast out there for you too.
::Ones for parents to learn and grow
::Once for parents to be transported
::Ones for parents to laugh and groan.
So many different types.
As a parent who is interested in playing with their child there’s got to be time for the parents to play. Fun for your ears.
What’s a recent podcast you’ve subscribed to?
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