2. Visit Playgroups USA Wow! what a fabulous amount of information and ideas about creating, joining and keeping your playgroup interesting! See this massive list of activities.
3. Rainy Day activity ideas for kids ages 6-10... I love the Family Education site for great kid fun ideas!
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Anything with water! Bubbles in the sink, giving Barbies a bath, 'painting' the doors or any other hard surface with a paintbrush and a small cup of water... you get the idea...
5.
Build a Fort.. let the kids imaginations run wild... spaceships, camping tents, or just plain playing 'house'... help them out by suggesting wacky items from the kitcen as impliments for their adventure... a spaghetti spoon becomes the magic wand that drives the UFO, a rolling pin is the steering mechinism...
What rainy day or WAY too hot day indoor activity do your kids love.. feel free to share with us!
Jennifer from Savor The Thyme has provided an excellent post about creating fabulous Quesadillas with the kids! Jennifer is a Stay at home mom and fun foodie blogger!
"We have all been told to let our children ‘help’ in the kitchen and I have found that not only is it a great way to teach them about cooking, it is also a great way to empower them. What kid does not love the ideas of getting to make their own choices or ‘do what they want’? One way we let our kids have their free rein is when it comes to making Quesadillas. I simply place all of our favorite ingredients (and sometimes throw in new one) out and let them choose and assemble it.
This is truly a great way to entertain the children, use up leftovers, AND create a frugal and healthy meal."
I love how Jen created a buffet of options for the kids to 'try'... mine are always willing to try something once! They don't always like it, but I think it's really important to keep them trying!
See the rest of her post and ideas for Lil' Kid Quesadilla options! 1. For Mom! I have been looking for a swim suit for.. well the whole summer! What do you think? Will this one work? I found a new althetic store called Athleta.com.. cool stuff huh?
3.
For tweener girls. GirlzLikeMe! An intriguing site where girls can safely upload pictures of themselves and talk with other girls. There's a place to upload artwork and other creative ways to express themselves. Plus check out the blog. I like that this site is run by a young girl!
Today's GoodNCrazy series is brought to you by the two hip dads of TodayIsFun! Take it away guys!
It's the middle of July. Your kids have been out of school for some time now, and – uh-oh – the novelty of summer break has begun to wear off. The kids have played with all their toys quite thoroughly. They've settled into something of a routine with camps and summer classes. They're beginning to know the backyard like the back of their hands. With the "newness" of summer break gone, the children in your house need some new ways to keep busy and have fun.
At our site, TodayIsFun.com, we think having a number of kids activities ready to go at all times will save a parent's day (and a parent's sanity.)
We offer below ten fun-filled ideas for keeping your kids busy during the summer doldrums. The kids' activities here are pretty much geared towards ages six through eleven (roughly the ages of Carissa's two older kids), and they're designed for young ones to be able to do without a lot of parental involvement (because children playing happily on their own can contribute to parental sanity. And we all could use a healthy dose of that.)
(1) Ice Cube Experimentation. With just a couple ice cubes and tupperware bowls, your children can transform into temperature scientists! Watching ice melt might sound as thrilling as watching paint dry . . . but kids really do enjoy this simple experiment.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/218/
(2) Miscellaneous Squiggle. You draw a line and your child "fills in the rest" to create an art masterpiece. Gets the kids' creativity a-churnin.'
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/248/
(3) Monster Names. Another entry from our arts and crafts department, this is a fun way for kids to 'decorate' their own names. A big-time crowd-pleaser among the kids in our house.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/367/
(4) Leaf Rubbings. Send the kids out back to grab some leaves (but please, no hacking down trees or butchering the bushes). Then, they come back in, grab some crayons, and make beautiful, natural leaf rubbing art!
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/443/
(5) Sidewalk Chalk Maze. This is generally time consuming and therefore good for kids who can stick with a project for a while. They create their own maze on the pavement outside, and then a hapless parent has to come out and try to find a way out.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/220/
(6) Structural Problems. Using blocks or Tinker Toys or something similar the kids build a structure with a big problem: a planned flaw that will lead to the (fun) downfall of the whole shebang.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/435/
(7) A map of the house. You (or the kids) make a map of the house. Once that's done, you can "track" people and objects anywhere inside. Really, woudn't your family benefit fromn a homemade GPS for your house?
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/102
(8) No-Cut Kite. A simple flying contraption . . . a perfect (and perfectly fun) way to keep the kids quite busy. They'll be folding and then out back flying! (Some wind required.)
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/444/
(9) Chalk painting. Get the kids outside. Give them chalk and water and mix all the preceding ingredients together. Messy, goopy, and vaguely arty fun.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/496/
(10) Photo walk. Great for older kids who can be trusted with a digital camera. This one gets them outside and looking at the world. Then they come back inside for some artistic achievement.
Link: http://todayisfun.com/blog/readmore/319/
With the ideas listed above, you should be in good shape for the rest of the mid-summer blues. If you'd like suggestions for more kids activities along this vein, please swing by TodayIsFun.com, where we post a new keep-the-kids-busy idea every day.
And thank you to Carissa for inviting us to participate in GoodNCrazy.com. (A life that is "good and crazy" is a great goal for families of kids to have!)
Steve and Paul are the two Dads over at TodayIsFun.com. Their website offers free, fun and educational activities for keeping kids entertained and out of their parents' hair. Between their two families they have four kids that keep them quite busy. TodayIsFun.com aims to be the premier resource for parents asking, "What can I do with the kids now?"
In case you are wondering: my blog's disclosure.
One of my earliest blogging pals is my feature today! Her name is Arizona. I know, AWEsome name huh?? She writes a blog titled Travel Bugs. And lately her specialty has been GeoCaching. Geo-What? Believe me, you are going to love this! And talk about perfect for the summer-time boredom doldrums!
"Geocaching is a high-tech game of hide-and-go-seek using a hand-held GPS device. It may sound difficult, but it isn't. It's a great way to get the whole family outdoors. It's also a wonderful way to bond as a family since you all have to work together to find the "hidden treasure".
A geocache is a hidden container. The container can be a simple, small magnetic key holder with a simple logbook inside or it can be as large as a 5 gallon bucket. A fellow geocacher hides it in a location and provides the GPS coordinates so others can locate it with their GPS devices. That's the whole idea behind geocaching; find the cache! Then, go online to log your find and share your experience."
And since we got that GPS for daddy for Father's day... think he'll mind if we try it out this week!!?
Feel free to share your geocaching ideas!
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Speaking of LOOONG Road Trips! How about these? A block of topics for family discussions! Including things like: What's your favorite family tradition? Or What family or school rule would you most like to change? From TableTopics.com
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What a terrific summer series! check out CAMP wanna-laffa-lotta! Great ideas, Great fun! From the creator of LifeAsMom Thanks to Katie for the submission!
3. Give Kids a Camera! What a great idea from Bonnie of BonnieLovesPhotography! She suggests handing kids a disposable (or inexpensive digital) camera to play with while YOU take pictures of them! Great chances for fun shots and keeps them busy and entertained too! Bonus... often the pictures they take turn out better than you'd think!
I'm super excited to introduce Wendy Toone (@MobiMom on Twitter)! She is part of the Husband/Wife team behind MobiStories.com. They create and sell movie-like children's books and once purchased, you download directly to your computer... or even better(!)straight to your iPhone (or iPod or iTouch)!! The books range in price from $3.99 to $7.99 and are perfect for younger children and simply amazing for kids just learning to read!
I first saw her site when I was looking for ways to entertain my kids on a couple CRAZY loooong road trips coming up this summer. And yeah... I can download another 30 minute TV show to my iTouch, but how much better would my 5yrold be with 3 books read to him in that same amount of time!? When I approached Wendy about doing a GoodNCrazy feature she offered me a few titles to try out! Awesome of her huh?!
I counted over 20 book titles on their site, and I had a hard time deciding which ones to download! Even with the preview feature to help me decide! I chose Big Rig Daddy, and Mike and the Bike for my little boy. He's listened to both titles on the computer and on the iTouch, wow he totally loves them... and he's super close to reading on his own, so it's great to watch him with these.
PLUS** how cool is this? Wendy is offering a 30% discount to any GoodNCrazy readers who purchase thru the website MobiStories.com during the month of July!
Wendy has put together some really fabulous ideas to keep your kids reading this summer, here's what she said on her blog:
"What??!!?? Oh yeah, here we go again. The kids will be thrilled to wake up late, laze around in front of the TV for a day, and completely decompress. {For – a – day!} Then what?? Camps, classes, & playdates can fill up the days and keep them active and occupied. But my fear is always that their brains will turn to mush by mid-July, leaving them (and in turn, me) frustrated and floundering come mid-September when they’re back in school with flabby grey matter that hasn’t been exercised in way too long.
*Warning: statistics approaching*
According to Kent State Graduate School of Education’s Dr. Timothy Rasinski, professor of literacy education, students can lose as much as 3 month’s worth of reading level over the summer. This means during the course of elementary education, a 6th grader could wind up as much as a year-and-a-half behind his/her peers. I know, it sounds rather drastic. But research shows that younger elementary school students rarely make up deficits in reading once they fall behind. Conversely, students who read (practice) during the summer could end up 3 months ahead, too.
So, why not be even just a little pro-active in keeping your kids reading. That doesn’t mean they need to plow through “War and Peace” by August 24th. Here are just a few FUN ways reading can become part of your family’s summer fun activities:
And then she lists 10 different terrific ideas. Including my favorite: Turning the sound down on your TV and turning the closed captioning on! I love this. We've been trying it.. maybe even try it in another language!! You can read the other summer reading ideas on her blog, enjoy!
If you have any questions about the discount code please tweet @mobimom to talk to Wendy!
2.
This summer 'Be Creative @ Your Library'! Nationwide the library in YOUR town takes part in a theme summer reading program: Summer Library Reading Program or SLRP... have you checked out your local library? What activities and free events are they holding! See what the Rochester Hills Library is doing!
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I am all over this book! Great idea for older kids?? The Kids' Book Club Book! My tweeners are totally ready for this sort of thing.. would be awesome for a summer time plan, with all these road trips!!
How to get your kids to eat healthier without pulling your hair out.. {or theirs!}
I want to introduce a fabulous woman, mom and Doctor! Dr. Joanna Dolgoff has created a weight loss program especially for children. You can find more information about her work at DrWeigh. She also hosts a weekly Twitter chat on Tuesdays at 1PM Eastern, #kidsweigh. Follow her @JoannaDolgoffMD.
~~~~~~~
I recently was reading the blog attached to Dr. Dolgoff's website. And I came across her post about how to get kids to eat their veggies.. you know I was all over that! Here's what she has to say...
"Mothers continually struggle with trying to get their kids to eat more vegetables. The question arises, should moms sneak veggies into their children’s food? Or should they spend their energy convincing their kids to eat vegetables on their own?
It is clear to me that it is worth the extra effort to get your children to eat vegetables knowingly and willingly. Sure, you can spend your time mashing up carrots and chopping up spinach to sneak into your daughter’s pancakes. But what will happen five or ten years from now when she is living on her own? She won’t be used to the true taste of a veggie and she certainly won’t have the time (or patience) to julienne her own greens. Your victory will be short-lived.
You are much better off teaching your sons and daughters to enjoy the taste and the crunch of a vegetable. It may seem easier said than done but there are some strategies you can use to make the process easier."
I especially like number 10. She has come up with a fabulous way to sneak veggies in even while at a restaurant. I am sooo trying this out the next time we are out for dinner! Check out the other great ideas and let me know which one you are going to try?
1. "Eat, Play, and Be Healthy" shows you how to feed your children to ensure that their young bodies and minds enjoy full and healthy growth at every stage of development. Written by W. Allan Walker.
2. Do you have any Looooong road trips coming up? I do. So what's a mom to do to find a healthy fast food restaurant on the go? Yup. Subway. AND they have a contest going on right now to win $1,000!
3. My fellow blogger and friend Elizabeth Donovan has created ParentingPink.com, a resource for parents of girls. This is an article revealing The Truth About Soda and children.
My Featured Foodie today is Kate of Cooking During Stolen Moments! She comes up with fabulous baking ideas and I'm excited to share her Breakfast Pizza!? What... you ask, is that?
Well lately my kids have been GaGa over biscuits and gravy. We've been eating 'em for dinner for pete's sake! So when I saw her breakfast pizza idea... I WENT Yippee!
Here's What Kate said about her recipe:
"Breakfast pizza has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I’ve eaten it a few times at restaurants and really enjoyed. So I’ve always wanted to tackle making it myself. However, all of the recipes I’ve seen for it have seemed like they would be too dry.
Today I finally figured out a creative solution and decided to have some fun experimenting. I’m so glad I did because the results were delicious. This recipe is somewhere between a cross of sausage and gravy with biscuits and breakfast pizza. It’s a perfect any-time-of-day meal.
For the recipe and instructions please click over to Kate's Cooking Blog.. we plan to make it this weekend, and she assures me we can cheat and use store-bought biscuits or crescent rolls to speed up the meal and make it easy for my kids to make it!
And totally check out her other site when you have a chance: A Simple Walk
This is more for me than the kids. I HEART banana...ANYthing. So when I saw banana cakewith chocolate cream frosting? Okay? Sold. Please meet my friend Mary Beth and her icebox banana cake! I will forever know her as @Cupcakes5... and I mean.. isn't that better??
3.
Since you can never be too early or too prepared for Halloween... here's a fabulous Ghosts-On-A-Stick recipe to get you prepared... I love basically EVERYthing from Noble Pig... you will too! Plus here's the link to her whole Halloween series!
4. My pal and goto guy for the hard cooking questions like brining a turkey (!)- Mr. Chris Perrin of BlogWellDone fame, has created a terrific kid friendly TACO recipe, including great tips for teaching kids in the kitchen, and safety!
6. One of my newest BFFs on Twitter is @SavorTheThyme, please check out Jennifer's Egg and Ham Sandwich! Wow... my kids are all over anything eggy lately! I think this is for lunch!
Please contact me if you have a great Kid Friendly Recipe to add!
We had a total blast putting this together! The directions were simple and easy and especially my little boy was in heaven 'helping' assemble the little pieces. (I totally recommend watching the video on the Sunwind.ca site though... that part about actually USING the sandpaper would have helped out a lot! duh.)
Here my little girl is attempting to screw in the little eyehooks that eventually will be the holders for the front axles... turns out it was a 'Mommy' job.. but she felt all big for trying!
How cute is this thing? And does it work? Totally on solar power?
Oh Yeah ya'betcha baby. Talk about the perfect playtoy? No batteries to run out. And they have to get creative with how to run the thing... cuz as soon as it hits shade? It stops. So they rigged up several ways to set up the photo cells on top so it could be turned around and run in another direction.
Bonus: Great lessons on mechanics, engineering, solar power...and yeah... FUN!
Oh my crazy cuteness. This one isn't a project, but sheesh do we just LOVE the designs on this Monkey See, Monkey Do clothing line? The materials are all organic. And when lined up the images tell a story!
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Here's a whole series of great children's activities from ConniesView.com I love the swimming ideas!
Would you like to add your summer activity idea to this list? Email me your suggestions!
I'm excited to introduce Katie from Good Life {Eats}! She is quite the foodie extraordinaire, and once upon a time was the winner of a little BuildABear! I routinely drool over her recipesand her photos!
But today... She is sharing a special treat... A fabulous Kid Friendly Craft!
Please meet Logan. Logan is home from school for the summer. Logan is bored. Logan is Katie's little boy...
Since my 4 year old, Logan, doesn’t nap anymore, many afternoons find us in the kitchen working on some food related project. I love this special time together. Fun memories are made. Skills are learned. Conversations are shared. The kitchen is a great place to bond with your child and an inexpensive way to ease that afternoon boredom (which too often results in cranky kiddos!). He is particularly a fan of helping me bake. This time it is something a little different than our usual because it isn’t an edible project, but it most definitely involves food and the kitchen.
Click on over to Katie's amazing website to see more of this project and all the What's and How-To's! My kids can't wait to try out this project.
A little tip: You'll need to stock up on a bunch of rubbing alcohol! But wow, look at those amazing colors?!
Would you like to add your summer Kid Friendly Craft to this list? I'd love to share it!
Oh my crazy FUN! Does this look amazing or what? A giant cardboard box of rocket fun that will entertain the kiddos all summer long! See the details at ColorMeHouse.com. And follow April, the owner @colormehouse on twitter!
You know how your kids wander into the kitchen every summer afternoon and go.. hey mom I'm hungry. What can I eat?! And you want to answer... 'Go make yerself some dang quesaDILLas!'
Well here's your new answer:
Go Make yerself some dang Monkey Bread!
This Recipe is courtesy of the fabulous, the seriously funny, the shoe lovin', and the always amazing foodie:
We made a kid friendly test kitchen out of this recipe. I handed Sadie (11) and Sassy (8) the recipe, made sure they knew where all the ingredients were, and walked away....
I give you:
Quite possibly the easiest Kid Friendly Recipe in the world. Maybe the Universe!
Take it away Rachel!
Does this picture make your mouth water? Rachel says Monkey Bread is one of her favorite breakfasts because it’s easy, tonguegasmically delectable, has a fun name and it’s so versatile.
She serve this with Milk, Coffee and Fresh Fruit. It’s fabulous for Brunches, Holiday Breakfasts, Bible Studies, Baby Showers, you get the idea.~~~~~~~~ Want to check out how easy these are to make? {HINT: you start with store bought biscuits!} Please click on over to Rachel's House and she will SHOW you the recipe! Oh my gosh ours are in the oven right now and they smell soooooo good!
A big thanks to Rachel. I think she is amazing.. and... so are these treats!
More Kid Friendly Recipes:
Cake Mix Cookies. My kids make these about once a week. I keep the pantry Betty Crocker stocked precisely for this purpose!
Frozen YogoNana Bites. I am so all over these... I'm thinking I should try this with some sort of chocolate variation, what do you think?
Kid Friendly Gingersnaps from CandH Sugar. These totally bring me back to my childhood. My mom made cookies a lot like this! I heart molasses in anything!
Have you heard of a Tall Giraffe? Well you have now! Check out Joy's Submission!
Do you have a kid friendly recipe you would like added to this list? Leave me a comment or email me, I'll be happy to add a small picture and your link!
Are your kids driving you crazy? Are they bored stiff? Tired of pulling your hair out, trying to come up with great ideas?
Ready for some awesome solutions?
Or hey... do you have some great summer-time fabulous suggestions to share?
Welcome to the GoodNCrazy summer series where we will:
A. Beat the Heat with your Kids
B. Stop the Whining
C. Save Mom's Sanity
D. All of the Above!
How you ask?
Once a week, I'll be listing kid friendly—help a mom out— ideas!
Kid Friendly Cuisine.. and I don't mean 'you make it they eat it.' I mean Kid COOKING friendly cuisine... I've roped a few of my favorite foodie bloggers into helping me out. My kids will try the recipes out first. So I promise they will be good!
Kid Friendly Crafts.. yes.. the kind they can do basically on their own! (The best kind huh?)
Kid Activities... ideas, places, stuff to do with kids this summer!
and
Mom Crazy Finds for your Kids... fun kid stuff, creative solutions for kid problems, and more!
Let's Kick It Off!
FIRST: I want to introduce you to an outdoor active campaign sponsored by Grandparents.com!
Called Go Play OutSide! You don't have to be a grandparent to log your kids' outdoor hours.. I've logged mine this week— have you? Need some outdoor ideas? No Problem!
There are 97 outdoor fun ideas to get you outdoors. (YES I Said Ninety-Seven! Wow!) In easy to download PDF format. I'm looking at making a sundial, playing flashlight tag under the stars, playing frisbee and making a grass leaf whistle.. great ideas and most of them are free, time spent with kids, time spent outdoors... perfect to save this mom's sanity, how 'bout yours?
SECOND: I know they shouldn't watch too much TV. But sometimes (admit it) it's a necessary evil to help stop the whining! Here's my favorite solution: When it's mid afternoon siesta time, send them downstairs to watch a video, or play some video games. And I'm totally grooving on these amazing YogiPoof Bean Bags? I might have to join them!
THIRD: I mentioned video games... here's one to counteract the afternoon siesta.
We are loving using it as a family activity! Watch my kids play, they are so intense... and even my 4yrold straps on the leg strap and gets his little work out on! Take the 30 day challenge!
Does a long summer with your kids make you feel (and sometimes look) like this?
Would you rather everyone looked like this?
Then Help a Mom Out! —Please share your ideas for a happy kid friendly summer.
Include recipes, activities, crafts and outings!
Leave a link to a post you've written that will help us all keep the GOOD and lose the CRAZY! (I'll hotlink directly to your posts in the next week's issue, thanks!) YES. Click where it says You're next! Then come back and leave me a comment!
...And I'm not the only one. There are all these other zombie mommies walking around PathMark with a toddler in tow and no groceries in the cart, talking or attempting to talk on their cell phones. We keep looking at each other with these questioning stares, wondering...
3.
