Matchy Patchy...

Hate doing laundry? So do I. Why not make it more fun by involving the kids? I called this activity matchy patchy because it involves matching socks.

Here is what you do: Ask your kids to put all the socks that are the same together for you. While they do this you fold the other pieces of laundry. Not only does this keep them busy and out of trouble while you do a chore, but I bet they will love being given a job to do also! And accomplishing a task that you gave them makes them feel great about themselves.

If they finish the socks too quickly, ask them to place daddy's clothes in one pile, mommy's clothes in another, and so on.  This will organize the clothes for you too.

My kids love helping with the grown up chores in any way possible, yours will too!

Tap the balloon...

Another way to practice numbers with your kiddos! Old school game, but still fun.
Here's what you do: buy a pack of cheap balloons (you can get 50-100 for around a dollar)
Blow up a balloon and tap the balloon back and forth with the kids and count how many times you hit it without it hitting the ground!
Have fun!!

Letter games...

It is no secret that kids love to learn, so why not take ten minutes to play a game and teach them.  They are little sponges and you will be amazed how much they will retain.

This game is one of my kids' favorites.  We use a magnadoodle to play it, but regular old paper and pencils work just fine as well.

Here is how it works: draw part of a letter on the magnadoodle or paper and ask your kids to finish it.  Here are some examples:

Finish the A

Finish drawing the H

Finish drawing the M

Another variation to this game is to draw a letter on the magnadoodle or paper when your kids are busy playing in another room, then yell "Help!!! Help!!!" and wait for them to run to you. When they get there, say "I don't know what this letter is!" They will think it is really funny and it will grab their attention enough to keep them wanting to practice letters with you.

Good luck and take ten!

Count your blessings..

Today, teach your children thankfulness while practicing numbers!

-First, explain what blessing means. (Things we have, given to us by God, that we are thankful for or people we are thankful for) I'm sure there are better definitions, but this is how I would explain it. :)
-Take a pad of paper and a marker for making tally marks that can be counted later.
-Tell your kids to name 3 people they consider to be blessings. (Tally them on the paper)
-Next, go around the house having your kids point out things that are blessings, all the while tallying up everything they point out.
-Count up all the tally marks together (great for practicing numbers!)
-Write the number you counted really big on the same tally paper and underneath write "Count your blessings!"
-Put this paper up somewhere it can be seen as a reminder to be thankful all of the time.

Memory lane..

Kids love seeing pictures of themselves and love talking about things they have done. Take pictures of everything you do in one day with your kids and load them onto your computer.  Make a quick slideshow.  The next day take 10 minutes to show your kids the pictures and talk about what you did together. (The activities you document with pictures can be as ordinary as the grocery store trip to something special, like a visit from an out of state cousin. We had our cousin Haley in town last May and recorded our day with her by taking lots of pictures.

(We did this activity in May 2011) Here are my kids looking at pictures of themselves at the park with my cousin Haley .

After seeing all the pictures and reminiscing, tell them to draw their favorite part of that day.

Melanie drew a picture of an echo---at least what she thinks an echo would look like. She went to the park bathroom and heard her echo that day and was intrigued with it.  So, that became her favorite part of the day. :)

"Echo"

I, of course, drew a frappuccino because my favorite part of that day was going to Starbucks!

Don't judge my artistic skills!

Easton, only 17 months old at the time drew a line on a piece of paper to show his favorite part of the day..lol.  Hey, he at least participated!

Do this with your kids...I promise they will love it!

When the moon hits your eyes...

like a big pizza pie, that's amore! Today, make a homemade pizza with your kids.  My favorite dough recipe is here: http://moneysavingmom.com/2009/02/homemade-pizza-in-less-than-30-minutes.html

Here's what you do...double the batch of dough so you have some extra to let your little ones have their own to roll or pat out. Then, chop up some veggies (broccoli, spinach, grated carrots are all things we've used around here), grate some cheese, set out some tomato sauce with a butter brush, and get out the pepperoni, cooked ground beef, or shredded chicken for toppings.

Now that everything is out, let your kids go to town on their "personal" pizzas while you make a big one.  Guess what? Your kids will be more likely to eat the veggies if they are making their dinner themselves. When I did this with my kids, they were so excited to be helping they were eating the veggies raw as they made their pizza.

Enjoy spending time with your kids tonight!

Jot it down for keeps...

Today do something your kids can look back on and laugh about.  Make up a story with them and write it down.
Make a book out of folded and stapled (or taped) paper.  No need to look professional or perfect..just needs to be fun!

We have not made our story yet..but I made the book so it's ready to be filled up with pictures and funny words! I just took two pieces of light tan construction paper and folded them "hamburger style", taped the top and bottom corners with scotch tape and it made an 8 page book counting from front cover to back.
Now...
You start the story and ask your kids to add to it.  For example you can say "Once upon a time there was a little boy and...________insert your child's addition to the story here. Keep the story going like this: you say something and they say something.  Keep it short or they will lose interest.
Once you are finished with the story, illustrate it!  Remind them what each page says and let them draw something to go with it.
Fun, easy, creative. This is also something you can keep pulling out to read and have fun with through out the years to come.
Enjoy!