Flip for Family Fun!
August 24, 2008 by Christine - From Dates to Diapers
Filed under W. $ Saving Moms, Walmart, giveaway
In anticipation of the launch of Wal-Mart’s Money Saving Community and their BIG video contest, Pure Digital and Wal-Mart have given each of us Money Saving Moms a sleek Flip Ultra to give to our readers. I thought it would be fun to ask you all to help me in exchange for a chance to win, in hopes that your ideas inspire some new and creative things to do, with my kiddos, without breaking the bank!
You see, family nights around here are always so much fun… Sometimes we go out to dinner with the kiddos, or we’ll just stay in and play games or watch a movie. Keeping costs low is a must when you have a big family, and I fear that we have run out of fresh ideas of things to do on our special family nights. I need your help!
So, this is what you’ll need to do to be entered to win the Flip video camera:
Leave a comment with a creatively unique idea for a Young family fun night. Ideas must include a yummy after-dinner snack and an activity to keep us busy for at least 1 hour. Remember that all of our six children are under the age of 8.
Ideas may include in or outside activities, but you must provide a detailed description of your snack and activity. If I don’t get a clear picture of what you are telling me we should munch on and do, your entry will be disqualified.
Ready for the hard part? The materials for our family fun night, including snacks, must not cost us any more than $20 and must be available at Wal-Mart stores. A list of needed material would be helpful, but is not required in your entry.
Just a few more details:
- The winner of the Flip will be notified via email, so make sure you leave a valid email address in your comment.
- Multiple entries will be accepted, but each entry must be a new idea!
- Only US residents are eligible to win.
The one to post the most unique family fun night activity idea, by following the above guidelines, will win the Flip Ultra! The winner and winning idea will be announced in a very fun way on September 3rd 5th…. You won’t want to miss it!
No more entries are being accepted. I must now choose a winner. You’ve made it all very hard for me!
I think one of the things that my kids love to do, and if you don’t MIND the mess, you can all participate. We love to make cupcakes together, each child helps in the making and mixing, they help with the scooping and cupping. We use a tart pan (hopefully you have one so it doesn’t drive over the $20), so they are tenny little cupcakes, easy for little hands to manipulate.
Then we put out cups of icing that have been food colored within an inch of their lives and we get busy with all sort of icing, sprinkles, and candies.
Then we set up a line of each other’s cupcakes, the kids choose the “best” out of each person’s finished cupcakes and that one is gifted to someone in the family.
I think a dessert art session would be fun. Have little bowls of cut-up fruit and candy pieces set up on a table and have everyone “draw” pictures on sugar cookies or baked puff pastry sheets spread with a bit of custard or pudding. You could put syrup in squirt bottles or use paintbrushes if you want to get super fancy. If the kids are into it, you could even use Pictionary cards for inspiration…
My kids love to make homemade smores in the microwave. They get to assemble: 1 graham cracker broken in two squares, one square of Hershey’s chocolate and one large marshmallow. After assembly microwave 15-45 seconds depending on the microwave (I watch this closely) then let cool and check before giving to the kids so they don’t get burned.
An activity that we like to do outside is sidewalk chalk. You can have picture drawing contests, practice writing (numbers/letters), draw shapes, draw hopscotch squares, draw treasure maps or a race track, the possibilities are endless.
Hi, Our family enjoys camping out in our own backyard! we put our tent up and enjoys some of the same activities just as if we loaded up the car and headed to a camp site or park. We tell ghost stories, have a fire in our fire pit, here we cook our hot dogs and s’mores. We play board game with the light in the tent and card games are fun. Of course, various chips, fruit and snacks are always necessary. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
My kids used to enjoy making sundaes like an assembly line. Little did they know it was yogurt and nuts and berries that they were making it with at the time. ANd they we would sit around and watch home movies from when I was a kid.
wow how cool i love to try and win this it well would be some thing realy grate to have so that you can get a lot of funny things to show off from years from now as to well family thanks
Have a dessert picnic in the family room ( on the floor) have each child help with one aspect of the picnic. One helps prepare the dessert, someone sets up the floor (blanket, napkins etc). Gather to have your dessert and while eating it you can play a board game, or read a story together.
It is possible to prepare and hide beforehand plates, napkins, spoons for the dessert. And to think up game for children with their search under helps. And at the end of game to prompt, where children can find a dessert.
I like to have a tootsie rool hunt in the basement for the children. After they are all found a snack of hot chocolate or chocolate milk (depending on the season) with brownies is served.
Here’s a fun and inexpensive evening activity and snack idea that’s perfect for summer, fall or spring. Try a game of Backyard Blackout Bingo! Beforehand, on a large sheet of paper, draw a large Bingo grid: 5 squares across and 5 squares down. Put a “Free” space in the very center. Now in each square, write down something that can be found in your backyard: a blade of grass, a rock, dirt, a leaf, a tree, a bug, a worm, a vegetable plant, a bird, a plant in a container, water hose, a fence, a toy, a weed, etc. If you like, you can list a certain kind of tree, a specific plant, etc. Depending on the ages of your children you can make this as easy or as difficult as you want! Fill all the squares with an item to search for.
When it’s time for fun, everyone goes out to the back yard and you take the bingo card and a marker with you. Everyone searches for items on the one card – it’s a team effort! As you find items, mark them off your card. When you have found all the items, you have marked off all the squares and you have black-out bingo. Have everyone yell ” Backyard Blackout Bingo!” ( it’s always fun to be encouraged to yell!) and then head back inside.
Now it is time for a snack that’s healthy and seasonal. Ahead of time at the store, purchase fresh seasonal fruit – maybe choose at least one that your children haven’t tried before like kiwi or starfruit. Prepare the fruit with the kids watching and helping (if age appropriate). You can discuss the name of the fruit, where it grows geographically, how it grows (tree, bush, etc). Discuss the skin (Is it edible?), the seeds (how a new plant grows) and the part of the fruit that you eat. How about the qualities of the fruit – does it come in 1 color or many colors (like apples and pears)? Is it large or small? Hard or soft? Does it crunch when you eat it or is it very soft?
Be sure to take some photos of your backyard adventure.(You’re making memories here!) Depending on the number of people you are feeding, I estimate you can do this evening activity for $5 with regular fruit and under $10 if you pick some exotic and unusual fruits. Have fun!
Nancy
allibrary at aol dot com
well, sometimes we hide clues thru the house (ok I do because hubs helps too much) and they hunt for things that put togethermake or do something and see if the can solve the hunt..Sometime we will do games but that gets boring, we do scrapbooking making a memory page of whats going on in our lives- with handprints, print out digital pictures, the most fun though is making individual tshirts withpaints- whther handprints or letting them design- you can also get paint a plates to do and take them bake to be fired (can do tiles, etc)Yes we love movies but we would rather be doing things together even if its a campout in the backyard and watching the stars…You can just have them make cards for family bdays coming up..doing things together thats all that matters..even paint ornaments for the holidays even if itsJuly, the point is you are doing something, anything, can glitter and glue an ornament- whatever you have- let your mind go wild
for snacks we make it so easy making homemade pizzas or pizza pockets- anything that you have english muffins, pita bread (can use it for pizza pockets too) or french bread,or bagels- anything works- we take premade spaghttie sauce and drop on cheese- maybe add some pepperoni if we have the slices or whatever vegies and bake till melted – can even microwave- but its something the kids can do- they can spread cheese,sauce- etc- they can make faces with olives foreyes and a pepperonismile- The point is together and its not a sugary snack. We can make 3 minute fudge but its not good for the bellies and this is a real snack that will satisfy the hunger.
You could host a mini Olympics. Get the kids competing in running and wheelbarrow races, obstacle courses, water balloon tosses and jumping competitions. Finish off the fun with a mini-Olympic awards ceremony to honor all of the “athletes”. Buy medals at the local dollar store or make your own with construction paper, colored pencils and string!!
For a snack, Sandwich on a Stick
bread
cheese
lunch meat
grape tomatoes
lettuce
pickles
olive
1. Cut up cubes of bread, cheese, and lunch meat (we ordered 1/2-inch-thick slices of ham and turkey at the deli counter).
2. Slide the cubes onto a skewer with other foods your child likes, such as a grape tomato, a piece of lettuce, a pickle, or an olive.
3. Set out a side of mayo or mustard for dippin’.
lori at thecowboyshack dot com
A fun activity that my children love is “Tent Storytime”. We drape a large sheet over the clothesline (or you could use a real tent) in our back yard, usually in the early evening, but we have done this in the daytime, too. We spend and hour or so reading aloud from a favorite book, then we make a fun snack like S’mores, toasting the marshmallows over the grill. If it’s a warm day, we might make ice-cream sundaes instead. If it’s getting dark, we bring out some flashlights to read by. Even as the kids get older, they love this special time.
Scavenger Hunt
Your child can do this activity alone, with a friend or in teams. Give your child a list of items to find in nature, such as a rock, dandelion, leaf or something a bird would eat. Have the kids draw pictures of what they find and finish the hunt by tallying up how many things they ticked off the list.
Snack part–In a medium bowl, mash together the banana and the peanut butter.
Stir in the wheat germ. Roll individual tablespoons of the mixture into balls, then roll the balls in one, or a mix, of the coatings listed above. Chill until firm.
Variation: For a peanut-free version, substitute sunflower-seed or soy-nut butter for the peanut butter, and omit the peanuts and chocolate chips (which can contain traces of peanut).
Milly
bbentle (at) charter (dot) net
set up a blanket or chairs in the backyard, sit outside and watch the stars. it’s relaxing and the kids can run arond if they get restless. for a snack. if you have a grill, roast marshmallows on the grill, and add graham crackers and chocolate for smores. kindof like a camping trip. total cost $5 or maybe just some popcorn 2.99
balleshauser at yahoo dot com
you could have art time. have everyone sit around the table and draw a picture of what family time means to them or what they’d like to do. (get ideas for the next family day) then end with a family friendly movie. (the new the little mermaid movie, or the new transformers)
as a snack have some crunch n munch, walmart for 3.00, and some bagel bites. 18 pack for 4.00
I am thinking making dessert Parfaits would be awesome! You can make them healthy, but adding Yogurt, Granola, & Fruit. OR naughty by adding fun things like Candy & whatever toppings you & your children like. Then Maybe have a kids choice movie night & enjoy your Parfaits!
hermashaw@Gmail.com
We do board game nights alternate fridays. Food can be jello with fresh fruits and pop corn. Even chutes and ladders keep us busy for 30 minutes.
herry123_us@live.com
Great prize!!.
Scavenger Hunts are so much fun and any age can play. Have the adults make lists of items to hunt for the children. The children make a list of items for the adults to find. You can play indoors or out or a combination of the two. For a snack, how about frozen chocolate covered bananas.
traymona[at]aol.com
One snack that is REALLY fun is to take an air popper (popcorn popper..available at WalMart)and place it on the floor on top of a large bedsheet. Then turn it on and watched the popcorn go all over the place (contained on the bed sheet). Mix fun things with the popcorn like m&m's or chocolate chips, or savory seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, and Parmesan cheese. YUM! You could have the different mix-ins in compartments of a muffin tin, and allow the children to select their own, spooning it into a small bowl with their popcorn that they gathered up.
There is also an easy, no-prep game called "Popcorn":
Everyone mills around in the playing area, you could be moving to music, or whatever, so long as people are mixing around.
The leader then calls out a number and an object. Participants quickly form groups of that number, then use their bodies to make the object. For example, "2, rocking chair!" and you'll suddenly see pairs forming themselves into rocking chairs.
Once everyone's made their object and have been suitably congratulated, then it's time for more mingling and the next object!
Some guaranteed hits:
* washing machine
* toaster
* car
* piano
* waterfall
* old oak tree
* eagle
* elephant
You can always end with "Everyone, roller coaster!"
If you want to get a little more complex with the popcorn snack, you could make popcorn balls. Here is an easy recipe:
Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup popping corn or microwave popcorn
* 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
* 1 cup maple syrup
* 1 1/2 teaspoons butter
* 1/2 cup chocolate syrup or caramel (optional)
Directions:
1. Pop corn according to instructions. If using microwave popcorn, be certain it's not pre-buttered (i.e. use plain popcorn).
2. Salt popcorn, if desired.
3. Heat maple syrup and butter in saucepan over medium-high heat.Stir constantly.
4. When temperature reaches 250 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, or when a few drops form soft balls when dropped in cold water, the syrup and butter mixture is ready.
5. Mix in the caramel (optional).
6. Remove pan from heat and pour maple syrup butter mixture over popcorn.
7. When mixture is cool enough (approx. 5-7 minutes, use judgment), toss popcorn with syrup and mold into balls.
8. Cool maple syrup popcorn balls on a buttered baking sheet or wax paper.
9. Drizzle chocolate syrup on the balls (optional).
10. Store cooled popcorn balls in an airtight container.
And that's it!
Children have a fun time molding the maple syrup popcorn mixture into balls.
It might be easiest to pick a "theme" for the night, even if it is something as simple as "popcorn"!
onlycancan at hotmail dot com
You could do a hippie night and make some tie-dyed shirts. Pick up a yellow, red and blue packages of RIT dye ($2.25 each and you can combine a little of each color together to create green, orange and purple), and use rubber bands and old tee-shirts (100% cotton one work best).
Serve some “hippie” food like granola, fruit, veggies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and this:
Brown Rice Salad:
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Everyone could dress up in hippie clothes (read: sandals, braided yarn headbands, flowers in the hair) for dinner too. You could play some 60s music and maybe watch Forrest Gump, since there are quite a few hippie scenes in that (not sure how old or how mature your kids are).
This was a fun idea for a contest entry! I’ve enjoyed reading other people’s ideas.
Swimming and homemade ice cream. I am assuming you have either a slip n slide or a inflatable pool and an ice cream maker, if not then these will cost more than $20. The pool itself can provide hours of entertainment for the kiddos. Here is the homemade ice cream recipe.
Aunt Sue Sue's Vanilla Ice Cream
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 pint (16 oz.) whipping cream
1 quart (32 oz.) half & half
1 Tbls. vanilla
Whole milk (about 2 cups)
Beat eggs, sugar and salt together. Add can milks and half & half. Mix well. Add vanilla. Slowly stir in whipping cream. Pour into a one
gallon ice cream container. Add milk to fill line.
Camp out in the living room by making homeade forts and eat fake SMoRES!!! (Fireplace them or microwave them!)
Our family ranges in ages and one of the best times we have is either camping outside when the weather is nice or camping inside when it’s raining or cold. All the kids love this. We bring books and take turns reading. We bring all sorts of games and we always make smores and have popcorn. This is one of the best times our family has. thanks for this giveaway.
This is harder than I thought! I say, if it’s still warm out by you, a fun obstacle course in your yard would be fun- just using what you probably already have like big wheels/bikes, hula hoops, set up different stations they have to do and maybe have teams with one person from each team going at a time. Of course the perfect snack to eat then is popsicles (and lately I totally prefer the Jello pudding pops! Mmmm!)
Steph
Wow read some great Ideas, My idea would be to go on a nature walk around your neighborhood, You could ask each of the kids to look for different things like(birds, insects and leaves. Talk about the differnt things of nature. For a yummy after dinner snack I would have the kids help fix trailmix.
Okay, here it goes:
Family Fun Fort Night!
Throw all neatness out the window and gather all blankets, pillows, chairs and tables together to make the ultimate fun fort…this can be an indoor or outdoor activity(outdoors may utilize a clothesline).
As a snack:
Lay tortilla chips out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with your favorite kind of cheese. We usually do 2 layers so that some people can have the crunchy cheese and some the gooey.
Broil in the oven until cheese is melted.
Adults may want to eat them with salsa and guacamole!
bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
play hide and seak on a nice warm summer evening out on the lawn
the best thing to do is go to one of the places that has mini golf/putt putt and the bumper cars…and then you can just grab a snowball afterwards!
We play light-up frisbee (available at many sporting goods stores) when it gets dark. We break into teams and wear matching colored glow-bands (you can get them at Oriental Trading-cheap). I try to mimic the frisbee shape by serving cheese, pepperoni, and crackers for our snack. It is always great fun and its a super workout as well.
(I thought I submitted this – I apologize if it went through twice)
Hi! How about “Dinner and a Movie”? We do this about once a month with our five kids – ages 10 and under – and they really enjoy it.
We sometimes get a movie from the library (free), watch one we already have(no extra $) or use our free rental at the local movie store.
I have printed up some fake $1 and $5 bills and some movie tickets off of the computer.
We make a sign with the nights dinner written down and the prices for dinner, the movie tickets and the snacks. My oldest usually does this and they are fun to keep and look back on. He likes to illustrate them for the younger kids who aren’t reading yet.
I give each of the kids $11. Dinner costs $5, movie tickets are $2 and movie snacks are $1. Water is free
but slushies or juice is $1.
We eat dinner together and each child “pays” for their meal. Dinner is not negotiable – meaning you can’t skip dinner and have an extra $5 for treats.
Each child also has to buy a movie ticket.
Then, after dinner, we place out the movie snacks. These are usually fun-size candy bars in a bowl, popcorn in bowls or plastic cups, small cups of jelly beans (or whatever your favorite snacks are) You could also do fruit snacks or granola bars. Each child lines up and goes “shopping”. Mom or Dad runs the store and gives out the snacks and collects the money.
The kids then sit on the living room floor and get ready for the show. After everyone is sitting down, the lights are dimmed and the movie tickets are collected.
Then the show starts. It’s fun to do it after dark and have minimal lighting (sometimes I walk through with my flashlight – like at the theater
)
Then we watch our movie together. We also sometimes stop in the middle for an intermission. Anyone with $ left over can make further purchases.
The kids really enjoy this. It’s fun to see how they spend their money. Some of them like to only buy one thing at a time and others spend it all right away. Also, I give each child an envelope with their “money” in it a little while before dinner. It’s their responsibility not to lose it before dinner. Although we all help look for lost money
Have fun!
C. Smith
smithschool@hotmail.com
Sunsets & hot cocoa!
Find a nice spot near your house where you can have a nice view of the sunset–walk or drive a short distance if you need to. Pop up some popcorn, make a few thermoses of hot cocoa, grab your kids and some to-go cups and go enjoy the beauty of nature!
ignoramoose (at) gmail (dot) com
We are lucky enough to live pretty much in the middle of now where. Now that the bugs are starting to slow down and the evenings are cooler, we’ve started doing scavenger hunts with the kids. I draw out what they need to find since they aren’t reading yet…rocks, leaves, frogs, flowers, feathers, etc. all make the list. My kids get to bring their dessert along and their bug houses to hold their treasures. Even if they don’t find everything, they love being outside trampling thought the swamp and woods!
Instead of spending the time making a snack, buy some animal crackers at Wal-mart. Have a puppet theatre night! Buy some contruction paper and markers and the older children can make some puppets. The younger kids can scavenger the house for stuffed animals or any other creative character. Then, make teams of 2 or 3 making sure each team has one older child. Each team makes up a puppet show and takes turns showing it to the other kids (animal cracker and juice snacks). Don’t need puppet theater, can use back of couch for hiding bodies and hold up arms with puppets. This activity goes on for much longer than an hour in my house and is not only good fun, but teaches creativity through story building and teamwork.
tvollowitz at aol dot com
Keep a box with old Halloween costumes for dress up play. When you clean out your old clothes or jewelry let your kids use it for dress up. Old hats, belts, jewelry or shirts are great for this. We have a family fashion show or dress up for a tea party. We all dress up and have iced tea or water and a snack around the table which we set up special just for the occasion!
For a snakc for our fashion show tea party we usually have kebobs. Our Kids love to dip anything, so we put fruit chunks on popsicle sticks and lt them dip their “kebobs” into yogurt or melted chocolate!
tuesdayef (at)aol(dot)com
Go to a nearby park or arboretum. Take along some elementary botany books from your local library and try to identify as many plants as you can. Take a blanket and cookies for a picnic snack. Have fun!
I am a mom of 4, this contest is right up my alley! First, buy a few boxes of Fruit Loops and Cheerios, and some red string licorice. Place the cereals into bowls, and give each child a piece of licorice (knot one end). Have the kids string cereal necklaces and bracelets. Even adults have fun with this.
I’d serve a fun snack mix of pretzels, goldfish, Cheerios, and mini crackers, all mixed together, and a nice fruit punch. cdziuba@aol.com
My friend did this with her kids, she made a nest shaped dessert out of golden grahams cereal. She made it like you would rice krispies treats, but used more butter and peanut butter. Then she put a few blue peanut M&M's in the nest to look like little robin's eggs. She gave a little lesson about nature and caring for animals. Then went on a walk to look at birds. It was fun and YUMMY!
We have “pizza and a movie” nights here.
For the pizzas, we make tiny pizzas using English muffins, pizza sauce, pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, Canadian bacon and cheese. Everyone gets to make their own so there’s no fighting over who wants what on their pizza. They love putting their own toppings on.
For the movie, our local Wal-Mart has a great selection of movies for $5. We’ve bought Big Daddy, My Cousin Vinny, Secret of Nimh. I’ve found some great movies from my childhood and teen years on that rack and its fun to watch them with my kids and introduce them to what they consider “old” movies.
This is one that our whole family loves. We do a outside scavenger hunt. We break up into teams and make up clues-you can make it age appropiate-since your children are all under 8 you can do picture clues. You can hide 2 prizes. It can be as little as some jelly beans/ We get them from the walmart here 2 bags for a dollar. That way that both teams win and you dont have any upset kidos.It keeps them on the move in a postive way and the hour will fly away.
A great snack that I love to make is rice cripsy treats. it is easy to make the kids can help and you can add anything into that you want. We have made bowl for each person and it is so fun to see what the person or child next to you will add
I would make and bake your own play dough. Flour, salt, and water will make play dough, and then you just have to add food coloring for different colors. You and all the children can then make fun shapes, and bake them so you can keep permanent reminders of the evening’s fun. I would make and play with the dough (making it is half the fun!), and then when you put things in to bake, clean up. While they are baking, have a berry salad with whipped cream (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries). Just laugh and enjoy dessert, and when you are done the baking should be over.
urchiken at gmail dot com
What you need:
Flour
Salt
Water
Food coloring
Strawberries
Blueberries
Other berries or fruit
Whipped cream.
A fun and cheap activity is making homemade ice cream, what could be better than that. Besides, it’s an activity and treat in one!
INGREDIENTS
• 1 pasteurized egg
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup rock salt
• 1 pound crushed ice
DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, instant pudding, milk, half and half and vanilla. Pour the mixture into a 12 ounce size coffee can. Cover the top with plastic wrap, and then the plastic lid. Place the filled coffee can into an empty 34.5 ounce coffee can (the big ones). Fill the empty space with crushed ice, sprinkle generously with rock salt, and cover with the plastic lid.
2. Roll the cans around on the floor for about 20 minutes. If the center of the ice cream is still soft, place the containers in the freezer to harden.
You can try different recipes too which is fun and you can of course do this multiple times. Afterwards you can always have a sunday bar with it too. Yum!
jeepcutie82 at msn dot com
Use a “Sorry” game as your starting point. Either use a regular game (taking out the evil 11′s – these “knocking out” cards can be hard on little ones), or draw your own similar one on cardboard. Even young children can be helped to count and recognize the numbers on the cards. For playing pieces, each player gets 4 of the same color of gum drops, or small cookies, or jelly beans. This game doesn’t take a long time. It moves quickly. It is brightly colored. It improves counting, etc. The extra “playing pieces” are snacks.
Sheila
chiliburger@icehouse.net
Buy 2 cans of white frosting, or make your own with powdered sugar/butter/milk. Divide one can of the frosting into small containers, and color each with a
different food coloring. Thin frosting is better for the art. Give each person a sheet of paper, and let them make art with the frosting. Use your 2nd can of frosting to let them frost graham crackers for their snack with milk.
Sheila
chiliburger@icehouse.net
My kids are still too little for this one(23 mo. & 6 mo.), but the game that my family loved when I was little was – Candy Spider Web.
Set it up in a room that the kids are not in, or send them outside, or whatever.
You will need –
a sandwich baggie for each child
A different candy topping in each baggie
a lot of string
Different colors of string will make it easier for the younger children
Tie a baggie to the end of your string & hide it.
Then "spider web" the string all over the room. Once you are satisfied with it, cut the string & leave at the edge of the room. This will be the starting point for everyone.
Now just tie another baggie on to the string and add to the web.
End the string at the same point as your first string.
Repeat again & again for each child.
Using the same color string for the whole web will make it the hardest. You can use different colors, to make is easier.
Once all the baggies are found, everyone shares the candy topping they found with each other.
Make ice cream sundaes together
Eat!
This is a fun AND advantageous thing to do. With summer vacations all but over, if you’re like me, you now have lots of photos strewn all over. Heck, even if they’re holiday pictures , it’s still fun and it promotes lots of fond memory conversation.
All the supplies CAN be had at Wal Mart for less than $20. You’ve probably got some supplies on hand already!
Here’s what to do:
Get out your family photos and let each person create a scrapbook layout of their very own special memories. We take turns picking out the pictures to avoid conflicts. Naturally, everyone seems to want that one picture in a million!
Get out your cardstock , patterned paper, pens, adhesives and blings like stickers or die cuts for the little ones. Remember? That’s what you’ll get at Walmart AND you’ll have money left!
Each scrapbook becomes so much special because it was created with loving hands that fondly remembered that special day AND they’ll remember the night you all had fun scrapbooking!
We love to play flashlight tag. It’s simple, play when it is dark enough to see the lights, but not so dark the kids might get spooked. You simply turn the light on and shine it on the person to “tag” them. Make a homebase for the tagged and when someone runs around them and says “Lights Out” They are all free to play in the game again.
When we’re done we usually light up a small campfire and make some s’mores. Who can resist a gooey marshmallow, sweet melted chocolate and crunchy grahmn cracker creation. And who can eat just one!
mom2maria at hotmail dot com
We go to a local park where they show movies under the stars…for free!
My kids love to put on puppet shows. Materials are easily under $20 depending on what kind of puppet you want to make. “Splurge” on a spring-loaded curtain rod to put in the doorway (hand a blanket/towel over it to create a screen).
Material ideas: paper bags, socks, sequins, markers, feathers, yarn, pipe cleaners, glue, googly eyes, fabric scraps, construction paper
Make your own story to tell or use a familiar story like the Three Little Pigs (or tell your own variation of a familiar story).
Snack: Pigs in A Blanket
For a family night – we once carved watermelons in the summer time. You basically do the same thing that you do with pumpkins but the rind is a little thicker and it’s fun to eat while you carve and dig the fruit out. It’s best if you do this outside and put out a tarp or lots of newspaper since it’s messy! But I’ve never had so much fun or laughed so hard at his adventure. We carved and then put candles in them and took pictures. Dessert can be the watermelon or another summery treat like watermelon sorbet or something similar.
We just attended a birthday party with this activity and it was a big hit with all ages!
Gather all the musical instruments you can find in your house and have a rock and roll party. The kids can decorate shirts to wear as the members of the band (can buy plain tees and make stencils to spell out words or make images) Buy a few fabric markers for this. Turn on a microphone and let the kids go wild making music!
A cheap and fun snack for your party would be to buy ingredients to make cookies from scratch, make the cookies in the shapes of instruments or music notes. The kids can decorate cookies with frosting or sprinkles.
Thanks!
foxsquirrelrabbit(at)gmail(dot)com
This is probably too simple but we like the have a night just to play board games or work a puzzle. It’s just nice to turn off the TV for awhile.
Popcorn is our healthy snack.
We love dessert pizza! All of the kids can participate. You either use sugar cookie mix or buy the pre-made tubes that you roll out. Make a “pizza crust” out of cookie dough for each person (or just a couple big ones). Bake the dough, cool, and cover in your choice of cake frosting.
Once frosted you can decorate the pizzas with fresh fruit (berries, sliced kiwi, etc.). Add a bit of pretend play by setting up a pizza parlor, taking orders, providing table settings with shakers of chopped nuts, coconut or sprinkles.
You could parlay the activity into a lesson in basic math or dining etiquette.
We’ve been digging into my old board games. The kids are amazed!
Tae a hike around thee block. Make it like a real hike with backpacks, homemade maps, flashlights, walking sticks, compasses, water bottles and of course homemade trail mix.
Trail mix ideas: let each person customize their own. Ingredients can include a variety of dried fruits, coconut, nuts, dark chocolate pieces, mini marshmallows, pretzels, sunflower seeds, etc.
You could all go on a treasure hunt for them to find objects. That would be extremely fun.
Nora
neneelynn@yahoo.com
Have a theme night! Pick a movie to watch, then create a theme around it.
Ex. rent The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything (Veggietales), make pirate costumes, eat Pirates Booty (a snack sold in most grocery stores and probably walmart), serve goldfish crackers or swedish fish candies.
Our family has a campfire in the backyard with smores and scary stories once a month. It’s nice to get away from the tv for a night and just talk! Thanks russellkids6@gmail.com
Our family favorite is to play with sidewalk chalk on our back deck. We work on colors and shapes and staying in the lines!
Snack – I would recommend making rice krispy bars together – it’s so cheap and easy – and kids love to get sticky
For your fun – our family LOVED to play either croquet or bocce ball outside in the nice weather. Now… both of these lawn games are available at Walmart, however, I think you would want a set that’s nicer than $20. I would think that you could maybe “splurge” and then divide the $$ by the amount of times you use the game…
Maybe because we’re approaching fall and football season, this came to mind, but I thought a Family Tailgate Party would be fun. Just cook out on the grill for dinner like you would if you were tailgating. You could play an alcohol-free game of beer pong-just put some sand in the bottom of the plastic cups and have the kids try to bounce the ping pong ball into those. You could come up with your own scoring system. You could also play touch football and if there happens to be a game on TV, that everyone would be interested in, you could watch it. I think you could be really creative with it and make it fun for everyone.
For a snack maybe you could make football shaped brownies. I did some for Super Bowl this year. You just cut them into diamond shapes instead of squares and then melt white chocolate and put it into a ziplock bag. Then you cut a corner off and squeeze out the chocolate to make the lines of the footballs on the brownie-the kids could even help!
It shouldn’t really cost much to do beyond the dinner. Basically just the brownies, cups, sand, a ping pong. I guess if you didn’t have a football, you’d need to pick one of those up or just use a kickball to improvise
khmorgan_00 [at] yahoo [dot] com
Free concerts in the park is one of our fav summertime activities !
Make your own pizza, camp out in the backyard, tell ghost stories and roast marshmellows.
We make rice Peaunut Butter Krispy Treats. Then I put together a little scavenger hunt for my two childrem to find things in the yard. If it not raining or if it is raining I adjust inside or outside. The one with the most finds gets to pick a prize out of my goody bag.
How about a Health and Fitness night?
Activities:
1. Time how many times can you hop or jump in 20 seconds.
2. Relay race – Give each team a teddy bear. Put the children and adults on teams. Have a relay race to a tree and back. Each member hands the bear off to the next member
3. Limbo time – Get a broom stick and see how low all the kids (and you and hubby) can go
4. A game of red, light green light is always fun.
3. Again with the two teams have a short scavenger hunt either inside or outside. Give them a paper with these five items (or pictures of five items in the house or yard):
* Something green
* Something that begins with the letter “R” (or whatever you have a lot of in your house or yard)
* Something round
* Something shiny
* Something old
* Something with a handle
For Dinner:
Build a salad funny face- Put out bowls with lettuce, cubes of chicken, cut up veggies that your kids like (tomato, cucumbers, carrots, etc) or that you want them to try (tiny broccoli trees,etc.) . Put out some salad dressing (lite ranch or lite thousand island). Give everyone a plate and have them build a salad with a face for dinner.
Dessert – fruit salad and a scoop of frozen yogurt
After dinner take individual pictures of all of the Healthy Athletes posing (group pics too).
I would give all of the kids glow necklaces and send them outside to stargaze and watch/catch fireflies. Snacks include chocolate milk and smores warmed up by the grownups inside. Thanks for a great contest!
My sister gave me this great idea and we have since had fun doing it as a family. After dinner we have a milk shake night. We let each person decide what kind of special things they would like to add to make their own personal yummy shake. Then we all get to eat and share/sample each others goodness.
Abby
ajcmeyer AT go DOT com
Oh I forgot to add the activity even though I think the process of making the milk shakes alone is an activity. But lately my girls have kept us busy with their puppet shows they have put on for us.
Abby
oh this is easy greasy peasy. Do you remember Bozo the clown? Ever heard of Cornhole? well make it yourself! all you need is buckets, or plastic baskets and small balls, or beans bags (prefered!) and try and get each child to throw them in in a line, start with the closest then work their way back. it is fun and funny to watch as they try and move forward. Snack is EASIER, FRUIT! it is summer, get some cantaloupe and cut and snack a way. see I saved you money.
We have 7 children and hubby once found some burlap sacks and the kids loved to do sack races We also did wagon and wheel barrow races We do alot of of water balloon fights but keep the kids out of the chicken coops cause sometimes they throw eggs instead of balloons and we also do allot of popcorn
Because we have a 2-yo, we have to do something at his level. We buy a huge multi-pack of Play-Doh and get out the cookie cutters. He could do that for hours!
Thanks!
ashleyalexis[at]gmail[dot]com
In the summer our family fun nights are camping in the Idaho mountains. It is so nice to get away from all the electronics and just sit around the fire and talk.
We get the Home Depot Idea book and do crafts…….our latest is makeing stepping stones with cement and the sea shells we collect at the beach. Each child makes his/her unique design. Oh, and of course homemade ice cream for a treat.
silly but fun. we have an annual tradition…usually on mothers day, where we sit around and eat chocolate covered strawberries, the boys serve us wine or sparkling grape juice for the kids..you know, anything fancy… and then we all howl at the moon. see who can howl the longest/loudest. very silly, but fun tradition.
We have family coloring nights. My husband and I each color with one of kids in the book of their choice. Once everyone has colored one page, we switch kiddos.
My kids love the 88 cent toys from Walmart. We lick up a variety of them and some Jello. I make the Jello ahead of time on cookie sheets. The kids just enjoy playing with all the cool new toys (like the paddles with the ball, light up squishy balls, etc.) We like to get ones that at least 2 of use can play. After we play for awhile, we whip out the Jello sheets and cookie cutters. The girls make their own jigglers and it’s tons of fun.
With back to school, I think themed evenings would be fun. I read this idea on a blog (I think on dandee), so I cant take original credit!
Let the kids pick a topic they want to learn about or understand better, and you can do this over a months time, so you have them pick 4 topics for 4 weeks in the month. It can also be a way to create more than one activity night during the week.
For example: 1st topic is 'presidents'.
Monday night- Have an early dinner and go to the library on a field trip for an hour to rent 1-2 books about presidents. Or go to the library after school and rent the books. In that case, I would just talk about the books they found and what interested them in the books that night, so you are stretching your activities. Snack: string cheese (good for on the go!).
Tuesday night- Read the book/s you rented at the library and discuss what the kids learned from the books. Snack: presidential muffins (recipe here: http://dineanddish.net/2008/07/table-talk-food-family-love/)
Wednesday night: Go online to learn about the flag, and pledge of allegiance. Who created them, when, why? Then have a team trivia game about the information from Monday night and the flag. It doesnt have to be hard trivia, each person can actually create 2-3 questions on their own and put them in a hat for someone to draw from. Snack: crackers with a slice of cheese on top and a dot of mustard (for fun!)
Thursday: Have a presidential fashion show. Everyone creates then shows off their best presidential costume. Provide old t-shirts, ties, puffy paint, pre-cut stars or designs with fabric glue, 1-2 hats from goodwill, etc. Snack: yogurt parfaits (granola, low-fat vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit). Be sure to have a prize for best costume!
Friday: Find a movie or cartoon to rent that is related to presidents. Snack: finger sandwiches cut out with star cookie cutters (PB&J, cream cheese and cucumber, peanutbutter fluff, etc) OR popcorn.
You dont really have to do something every night, but you get the idea. A general topic can lead to multiple ideas or activities and give you/the kids lots to do.
laurachilton {at} hotmail {dot} com
Another idea would be finding a letterbox… it’s a scavenger hunt for a hidden prize in your area. You can find out how many and which letterboxes are hidden in your neighborhood by clicking here:
http://www.letterboxing.org/
Try to choose a recent letterbox though, as some have turned up empty.
Would be a good weekend late afternoon/evening activity (but more so in the summer, when there is a lot of light until late). Usually there is a stamp in the letterbox, so be sure to bring a piece of paper, OR have the kids make themselves ‘passports’ and stamp them with each letterbox you find. Can do this activity all summer long!
Snack to bring along: Rice krispie treats (why not, if it’s the weekend?!) or for a healthier option, try these sweet potato bars (not just for breakfast):
http://www.parents.com/recipe/bars/sweet-potato-breakfast-bar/
laurachilton {at} hotmail {dot} com
My son loves to cook so I am always looking for fun things we can make together. A few ideas include rice crispy treats, monkey balls, and sugar cookies. I know that sugar cookies are usually a holiday recipe but why not make them anytime of year. If there is a holiday approaching you can decorate the cookies for that holiday. Get cookie cutters in various shapes including letters. The kids can spell their name in cookies and decorate them any way they choose. The making of the cookies will definitely keep them busy for an hour then they can try a couple of cookies once they are cooked. This is a messy activity but they are only little once.
My email address is phyllis_eiring1@verizon.net.
S’mores and camping in the backyard. Roasting marshmallows on the bbq or fire pit, put up the tent, and tell stories. Family Fun!
We like to have Celebrate Summer nights. We set up the slip and slide in our backyard and let the kids play until they are tired of the water. We like to cookout over our firepit. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows which the kids love to do. Then when it starts to get dark, we grab our bug catching kits and hunt for lightening bugs. When it really gets dark, we start playing a game of flashlight tag. After all this activity, the kids are pooped and ready for a good nights rest.
ok…i’m gonna try to explain this one well.
you need: two big hershey’s bar. wrap them individually in a lot of newspaper so they look like they are different shapes.
each “package” needs a pile of random dress up clothes, two random cooking utensils (like a beater and a spatula) and a pair of dice.
to play: the family sits in a circle with the piles in the center. one set of dice goes around the circle one way and the other set heads the other way.
roll the dice. if you get random numbers pass the dice along. if you get doubles you run up to the corresponding pile of clothes and try to put them all on. then you use the random utensils to try to open the package. meanwhile the dice are continuing to pass. if someone else rolls doubles the person wearing the clothes needs to take them off and give them to the next double roller and they have to put them all on and try to get the package open.
the object is to get to the candy bar.
it is really fun and makes some great pictures.
for a small family you can have just one package and one pair of dice.
elkesten at yahoo dot com
We have two favorite activities that help with the nighttime wind down. One is crafting, we all sit at the table and each can do what they like and are able to do (color, glue, fold, sculpt, place stickers, etc…) The other is story time where we all cuddle in bed and I read a chapter or two of whichever book we are working our way through before lights out. It is great for memory development to talk about what happened in the book the night before in the morning at breakfast.
One of the best inexpensive family nights we would do is a service night. It teaches your kids to help others, something that can be lacking in this world.
You could make plates of goodies and then ding dong ditch them to neighbors or people in need. Also, you could go through their clothes with them, or toys, and pick some to give away to someone in need. Then you either deliver them to someone you know who might not have much, or a homeless shelter, or a women’s and children’s center. You could even go and visit a nursing home, and have your kids sing, or put on a skit for the residents there. A lot of them love to see little ones and love to have company, no matter what they do! Maybe they could draw pictures and leave them there with the patients. I’m sure it will be something they would treasure. Then there is always a free car wash that they could do, all that it needs is soap, water, buckets, and towels. All could be found super inexpensive at WalMart. There are plenty of other ideas out there of service, like a service scavenger hunt, or making letters or cards to mail to the troops in Iraq. the list goes on and on.
I bet a service night would be a big hit, and your kids would get the wonderful feeling of helping someone else.
As for a treat, we loved fruit pizza. What you do is take your favorite sugar cookie dough (either hand made or store bought, but hand made is cheaper!) Roll this out like a pizza crust on a pizza pan, or a cookie sheet. Bake it at 400 Degrees for 10 minutes. Let it cool, then top with the “sauce” (1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, 1 8 oz container of cool whip, 1/2 c sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla- mix till everything is blended together) then add pieces of fruit. Right now fresh fruit is pretty cheap, especially peaches, or nectarines. You can let each kid have their own section of the pizza and let them put their favorite fruit on there, and decorate it however they want, or you could just do it yourself beforehand. It’s fun to make flowers using the peach slices as petals with a grape in the center, or that works with mandarin oranges. Be creative!
OK, I think my comment is long enough, and I hope you get the idea! cutiecoversnmore(at)yahoo(dot)com
Well, here’s another idea, if you don’t want to do a service night. How about a family olympics. You could divide up into two or three teams, create names for yourselves, and do all sorts of fun relay races.
Some could be having to carry an egg on a spoon from one side to another, then trade off so everyone on the team gets a chance. The team to finish first wins. (Use a hard boiled egg!)
Then there is the Gold fish cracker stick game, where you take a garbage bag (which I assume you already have!) cut a hole at the bottom that would then slip over the head so it becomes like a protective shield for the clothes! Then take some swim goggles (can be bought super cheap at WalMart right now if you don’t already have them!) Put them on one person, and cover their face with whip cream (we did shaving cream, but i think whip cream would be safer for little kids) get the kind in the can it’s easier to apply. Then have them sit a certain distance away from their team, and each person on that team has 10 goldfish, or those small oyster crackers would work great too, and they have to throw them and try to get them to stick in the whip cream. The team that has the most crackers stuck in the whip cream wins.
Then there are water games- have a full bucket of water on side and an empty one on the other (or you could use mixing bowls that you already have to save money) take a plastic cup that has a hole in the bottom and they have to dip the cup in the water, run to the other side, and dump that into the empty container. Then run back and hand the cup off to the next person (Or have them stand by the empty container, run across to get the water, run back to dump it in the empty one and hand off the cup to the next teammate) continue until everyone has had a chance, and the team with the most water in the bucket wins.
Another water game would be the over under one, where each team stands in a row with a container of water at the front of the line, and an empty one at the back. Each person has a cup of water. The person in the front dips their cup in the water, and then proceeds to pour it over his head to the person behind them. They have to try to catch as much water as they can in their cup, and then they proceed to take their cup through their legs and pour it while the person behind them catches as much as they can. Continue this over and under till the last person dumps it into the empty container. Do this for a set time, like 30 seconds, or 1 minutes, and the person with the most water in the bucket at the end wins.
Frisbee golf is another fun one where you can put a hula hoop on the ground (or even just a circle of rope) and have each team take turns throwing a frisbee (or plastic plate) trying to get it into the circle. Keep track of how many throws it takes to get it into the circle, just like golf, and have a “course” set up where they move from “hole” to “hole” (the circles) the team with the least amount of throws to finish the course wins.
Then, at the end, you could have “metals” for the teams-gold, silver, bronze made out of cardboard circles painted that color, with a ribbon attached. Have a ceremony with them standing on stairs, with the gold on the highest step, etc. Then play each teams favorite song while they stand there and sing.
Or you could skip the entire ceremony and just have the winning team get to pick dessert first.
Speaking of dessert. We always liked no bake oatmeal cookies.
2 c sugar, 1 cube butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 c milk. Bring to a boil add 1 c chocolate chips or 1/2 c peanut butter and 3 c oatmeal. Drop spoon sized amounts onto wax paper and let cool. Super easy to make and yummy too.
What about a great night of dress up/fashion show! Halloween is just around the corner and kids LOVE to dress up…during intermission your six youngins’ can enjoy a light snack:
Rocky Roads
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 medium eggs
* 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups peanuts, salted cocktail
* 2 cups marshmallows, mini
Preparation:
Melt chocolate pieces, chocolate and butter in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs until foamy. Mix in sugar, salt and vanilla. Blend in chocolate mixture. Stir in peanuts and marshmallows.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Store in refrigerator; remove just before serving. Makes about 4 dozen.
Thanks for an AMAZING giveaway!
jen@poshpointofview.com
OK! We start out by making mini chocolate chip muffins together. Our son is only 2 so we make them straight from a Krusteaz box that we get at Wal-Mart. These muffins taste exactly like chocolate chip cookies, and if you make the mini muffins they only take 12 minutes to cook. Then we load up the muffins and plenty of water into the wagon, along with an assortment of balls, shovels, and buckets, and head down the street to the park. Our activity night isn’t very complicated but we cook together, play, and exercise together. The snack isn’t outrageously healthy, but not too bad. All the balls and things we bring to the park keep us there for quite a while. Would love to win this giveaway, thanks for the chance!
we have an early dinner, eat outside and then take a walk into town to Dad’s Diner to get the kids ice cream cones (can’t bet $1 for a kiddie cone)!!!! It’s a great summer evening
A Treasure hunt! It was always fun when I was a kid. I think it would have to have clues to what the dessert would be. Either cake, brownies, or an ice cream mountain.
It could be done in under an hour and under $20. 
You and your kids are about to embark on a video scavenger hunt! The idea is to gather the items from your neighbors to make themselves an evening treat – Festive Jell-O Popcorn Balls. Part of the fun for the kids would be to keep that part a surprise, they won’t know why they are collecting these items/ingredients until you get home and tell them what you are making.
Moms role: Write down the following check off list to bring on the hunt
Keep time, telling the kids they have to hurry (pre-set the time limit depending on the skill of your kids)
Have these items on hand in your cupboard just in case, all of which are available at Wal Mart.
Dads role: Video tape the hunt.
Encourage the kids to hurry (but remember to be polite)
Children’s role: The goal is to get one item from each neighbor. Knock on the door, tell the neighbor you are on a Scavenger hunt, show them the list asking if they have one item on the list that they can please give to you.
List:
1. 1/2 stick of butter
2. One packages marshmallows (10 1/12 oz.) Might only get a few cups here and there from different neighbors
3. One box of Jell-O brand gelatin (3 oz.) any brand
4. 1 bag of microwave popcorn (unbuttered) (each bag equals about 7 cups therefor needing 2)
5. 1 bag of microwave popcorn (unbuttered)
6. A few tablespoons of any kind of candy sprinkles
7. About one 10 inch strip of wax paper (for each child) This is optional
Make the FESTIVE JELL-O POPCORN BALLS according to the following recipe as a family while daddy is still recording:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 pkg. (10-1/2 oz.) JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Brand Gelatin, any flavor
3 qt. (12 cups) popped popcorn
A few tablespoons of candy sprinkles
MICROWAVE butter and marshmallows in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until marshmallows are puffed. Stir in gelatin mix until well blended.
Pop popcorn according to package directions.
ADD to popped popcorn in large bowl; toss to coat.
SHAPE into 16 balls with greased or moistened hands over waxed paper.
ROLE in sprinkles
Enjoy the treat while watching the video together!!
Cost of materials: $4 (IF you purchase all the ingredients)
Coffee for mom and dad from Starbucks: $6
Clean up cost: $0
See the smiling faces while the kids watch themselves on T.V.: PRICELESS!
Have a fantastic family night!
Sara
marriedroses@yahoo.com
I always think making brownies or cookies is a blast and while they are cooking, play tic tac toe and practice writing letters and numbers with chalk on the driveway. when the brownies are done, you can decorate and eat.
The biggest thing in our family is sharing. So each week one person gets to choose what we will do for family night. It works great and each person gets to plan and look forward to their special night.
The biggest thing in our family is sharing. So each week one person gets to choose what we will do for family night. It works great and each person gets to plan and look forward to their special night.
A big snack hit in my house are frozen yogurt cups. Take a yogurt cup and remove the lid. Place them in the freezer for one hour. After one hour, remove the yogurt cup and place a popsicle stick in the middle, like those available at Wal-Mart in the craft section. Freeze the yogurt cups for another 5-6 hours. I usually do them in the morning and by nighttime you have a healthy and delicious treat that my kids love!!!
An activity that my children love is going outside and collecting insects. I know this sounds weird but they have contests as to who can collect the most bugs, the biggest bug, the smallest bug etc. Mom and Dad are usually the ones responsible for holding the jars that the bugs are kept in. Summertime is great for fire flies and they are not the easiest to catch!
I think a good family night activity is putting on kids music channel on cable and having a dance contest. You can bake chocolate chip cookies while you are dancing away.
Make homemade icecream. We do this all of the time. Let the kids pick the flavor and let them help put the ice and salt in the maker. They love that they helped make it and when they are done, you have a snack.
rebbi511 at peoplepc.com
we make the tubes of cookies (3 or 4 kinds) and play fun games like twister!
One of our favorite snacks in the summer is frozen grapes. The kids and I pick the grapes apart and freeze them early in the week to use later. We then grab our bag of grapes and head outside to look at the starry night. We like to make up silly names for stars and see if we can find any designs on a clear night. The best family activities, in my opinion, are free and encourage creativity and conversation.
FOOOOOD FIIIIIGHT!!!!!!
Finally! The kids get to make a mess with our blessing…. they LOVE it! The only ingredients you’ll need are as many tubs of cool whip topping as you’re willing to pay for, and little foil tart tins, or cupcake cups. Oh, and some food coloring… because it HAS to be colorful for the great photo op that this presents – (Pull out the Flip!!!)
Put a couple drops of food coloring the the various Cool Whip tubs, stir it up, plop the whipped cream into your chosen “vehicle”. And lay them all out on cookie sheets in preparation for the frenzy.
Mood music is great for the impending battle, the more dramatic the better… think Rocky or William Tell overature. Make sure to begin the mayhem with plenty of drama and build up….then get the camera ready and let her fly! The bonus is that dessert is literally at your fingertips, just give ‘em a lick.
This is definately an outdoor summertime activity so squeeze in this family free-for-all while the weather allows. Clean up is as easy as the garden hose… it will be as if the battle never happened! yet safe for the environment and safe for injestion by kidlin’s. The kids will reminisce about these food fights with their own kids at Christmas’ far in the future,”Remember when Mom?…”
(Again,get the Flip ready!)
We like to have popcorn and sugar free kool-aid. Inexpensive but good. We also like to play Twister which everyone loves.
adr1001025[at]msn.com