It’s the 20th anniversary year of Pokémon! Do you have someone on your holiday gift list who would love the new Pokémon Sun and/or Pokémon Moon games for Nintendo 3DS? If so, GameStop is offering a great Power Trade offer that could be used towards the purchase of Pokémon Sun or Moon for less! It is […]
Teaching Kids About Fire Safety
October 10, 2014 by
I am so excited to share a new free app with you that is designed to make teaching kids about fire safety a fun and engaging process! Sparky and the Case of the Missing Smoke Alarms app is available for both iOS and Andriod devices. It’s free, easy to install, and super fun for the kids […]
Summer Fun with Kids — Water Pistol Target Range
May 28, 2012 by
Here’s another activity to add to the list of things to do with the kids this Summer — Make your own water pistol target range! Emily and Clara had such a GREAT time with this, and it’s super easy to set up. Start by stacking some paper cups into a pyramid shape, as shown below. […]
Connect with Your Kids – 10 Easy Tips for Family Game Time
April 11, 2012 by
For an easy and FUN way to connect with your kids, try setting aside a little time to play some games together as a family. To help get you started, Joyce from Childhood Beckons and I got together to share some of our best tips to turn game time into cherished family memories. We hope […]
How to Make Sponge Bombs
July 23, 2011 by
Here is a quick and easy tutorial to show how to make sponge bombs! Sponge Bombs are a great alternative to water balloons. There are no messy balloon bits to clean up, and the sponge bombs can be used again and again. These sponge bombs are great for active playtime fun all Summer long! How […]
Our Favorite Picnic Games
May 30, 2011 by
Know what’s LOTS of fun?? Grabbing the kiddos, packing up some lunches (or better yet, breakfasts), and whisking them away for an impromptu picnic!!! Whether you go to a local park, or just enjoy the time in your own backyard, here are some of our favorite picnic games to make things even more fun! […]
Flip Flop Fun
May 11, 2011 by
Do you like to kick off your shoes at the end of a long day?? Grab a pair of flip flops or other loose fitting shoes, add a hula hoop for a target and voilá — instant lawn game FUN!! Emily loved this excuse to kick off her shoes over….. ….and over….. …and over again! Great active […]
Giveaway — Melissa & Doug Kids Travel Games
April 1, 2011 by
Recently our family returned from a very extensive road trip — all the way to Florida!! It was a fun and memorable adventure! To help keep the kiddos happy during the long car ride, Melissa & Doug sent us some kids travel games to review, and they generously offered to sponsor a giveaway here on […]
Easy Fishing Game
July 30, 2010 by
We went fishing in our foyer this afternoon — it was so much fun! I made up some fish out of pipe cleaners, attached a magnet to the end of the string on the fishing pole (a stick from our backyard), and we had an instant fishing game! Merlin wanted to play too! For the […]
Jumping Bean Races
July 23, 2010 by
The girls and I made Jumping Beans this afternoon, and then had lots of fun racing them! They loved it!! Print out the template onto heavy cardstock paper. We used the print-out template found at Having Fun at Home, and it worked beautifully! The girls enjoyed decorating their jumping beans…. They used lots of color! I […]
Kid-Made Wooden Word Blocks
February 22, 2010 by
Ever since I first saw these blocks, I knew Emily would love to make a more kid-friendly version of them for her little sister. We had so much fun working on these while Clara was napping, and now both of the girls are enjoying this adorable new set of blocks! To make your own set […]
Weekend Rewind — Homemade Hockey Table
January 9, 2010 by
Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend! Here’s a fun post from our archives. Our entire family enjoyed many memories of hockey tournaments on our homemade table, and when we were done it was so simple to convert back to our regular coffee table. Be sure to check back tomorrow for a great giveaway from […]
Pumpkin Ring Toss Game
September 22, 2009 by
If you have a couple of pumpkins and some canning rings, you can put together your own pumpkin ring toss game! Emily enjoyed playing this, and it is challenging. When we played, each canning ring that hit a pumpkin was 1 point, but if we got a ringer around the pumpkin stem, it was worth […]
Bottle Cap Tic-Tac-Toe
June 18, 2009 by
Emily has been playing lots of Tic-Tac-Toe with Mark lately, and they have been using up quite a bit of our scrap paper to play. This bottle cap version uses just one half of an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper and 10 bottle caps (5 of each kind). Be careful to make sure […]
$5 Friday — Bean Bag Toss
April 10, 2009 by
For $5 Friday, we made our own bean bag toss game and spent some time playing it outdoors. I indulged Emily’s love for outer space and made it a throw-the-star-into-the black-hole game. To make your own, use a star-shaped cookie cutter for a pattern and trace onto pieces of felt. Cut out the shapes. Sew […]
Slacker Saturday — Easy Phonics Game
April 4, 2009 by
The idea behind this phonics game is simple: separate cards into two piles (one with categories and one with letters). Have your child pick one card from each pile. For example, “Animal” and “G” means she must name an animal that starts with the letter G. Emily seemed to enjoy this game, and afterwards asked […]
Fun with Juice Lids — Size Matching Game
January 15, 2009 by
Emily had fun playing this matching game this afternoon. To make your own size matching game, you will need: several lids from frozen juice concentrate white paper double sided tape or glue dots stickers of similar objects in different sizes Trace the juice lids on the white paper and cut out to attach using double […]
New — From PBS Kids
January 2, 2009 by
Emily alerted me to a new find on the PBS Kids website, one of her personal favorites. PBS Kids.org just released a new online learning tool called PBS Kids Play, an interactive virtual activity center that adjusts to your child’s individual level and tracks development with custom progress reports! It is primarily geared towards kids […]
