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Mommy/Daughter Quizzes for PJ Night: Part 1

Posted by on April 18, 2013 3 Comments

photo of mother and daughter

If there’s one thing my daughter thrives on, it’s time with mommy.

Do you have a little “quality-timer” in your house?

a free quiz for mommy and daughter

After a night of hot chocolate, painted toenails and green mud mask on smiling faces, all that’s missing is the great conversation. So today I’m launching a 3-Part series of PJ Night quizzes for you to download and print for FREE to do with your daughter.

All you need is a room with no brothers, a couple of pencils, and time to chat. What you’ll get in return is a night she’ll treasure forever.

Get your free printable by clicking HERE! You can also try clicking and dragging the image to your desktop and printing from there.

What’s your favorite way to spend time with your daughter?

 

Filed Under: Having fun with your kids, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Do We Give Our Kids Too Much?

Posted by on July 25, 2012 8 Comments

I’ve been contemplating this post for weeks, praying for the kind of clarity that yields tidy lists with titles like “3 Ways to Make Your Child More Grateful” or “How to Not Let Stuff Ruin Your Kid.”

Since Jesus decided not to appear in my living room with a handy how-to guide for parenting, I’m stuck with my own hamster-wheel of thoughts and frustrations.

Lucky you!

In all seriousness, my husband and I have been struggling (dare I say it? struggling?!) through a summer of TOO MUCH FUN that we fear has produced the slightest hint of entitlement and expectation in our children.

That’s right: too much fun + weeks + weeks + weeks = expectations and entitlement.

Can you relate?

It seems we have settled into a routine of swimming, drinking Arnold Palmer’s at lunch, building forts in the woods until dusk, blending copious amounts of milkshakes, and going to bed well into the double-digits of evening hours.

We have loosened our rules and resorted to empty threats so that we don’t miss out on more fun. (After all, we paid good money for those museum tickets!)

We have excused the attitudes and looked the other way at the messes that aren’t picked up. (As long as there’s no mold…)

What we have reaped is a household pressing against the seams of civility and leaning too hard into the walls of kindness that hold a home together.

Our cherubs, instead of waking up and asking “What’s for breakfast?” now wake up and excitedly interrogate pant, “What are we going to do today? Are we going anywhere? Is anyone coming over? Can I have a sleepover tonight??”

I’m starting to consider medication.

(Or at the very least, Benedryl at bedtime.)

Perhaps all this FUN has begun to distort reality for our children. Maybe I’ve mistakenly given the impression that we have an endless pocketbook. Or that driving to the other side of the country on vacation was merely a stopping point along the road to something bigger and better.

Could it be?

Could we be gravely out of balance and teaching our kids the wrong kind of priorities?

Could it be that we need a little discomfort? Even a small dose of pain?

What do you think?

Do you find it easy to spoil your kids during summer vacation? Do you ever wonder if you give your own kids too much?

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Character Training, Discipline, Having fun with your kids, Teaching Responsibility, Time Management | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How To Make Your Vacations Educational + FREEBIE

Posted by on June 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

Click photo for credit

I’m writing this post while sitting on the edge of our family’s vacation adventure.

We’re planning and dreaming, and the anticipation is definitely building. The West beckons us, and I’ve never been more excited to answer its call!

For the past four years I’ve made vacation binders for our kids, packed with educational pages and ideas for writing. Not only are they great for passing time in the car, they’re perfect for getting little minds working during the summer months.

This July, my FREE NEWSLETTER will outline  how I create these binders, what I include in them, how I integrate Scripture, AND you’ll get a FREE download with a fantastic sample page!

If you’ve not signed up yet for my monthly newsletter, please see the right margin of this page for instructions before July 1!

Don’t miss an opportunity this summer to be your child’s first, best teacher!

Filed Under: Enjoying Nature, Having fun with your kids, Teaching Earth/Resource Stewardship, Teaching Gratitude, Teaching History, Teaching Reading, Teaching Scripture, Vacation Activities | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

FREE Summer Goal Sheet

Posted by on May 18, 2012 2 Comments

When I think of summer I think of a wide expanse of minutes stretching into days that culminate in memories. Like so many moms, I want to make sure to be intentional about how I spend those minutes and days, so when autumn blows in I can look back without regrets.


Those of us who have the privilege of staying home with our kids have a unique opportunity to spend 90 days — 1/4 of the year! — being our kids’ teacher, taxi driver, nature discovery pointer-outer, adventure director, and spiritual guide.  Of course we’re always those things, but summer is a special time to be on the clock, ’round the clock.

That’s why we’re going into this summer with some goals. A goal sheet is not about deadlines and demands: it’s about dreams and doing life together. I’ve affectionately named our goal sheet a {beach} bucket list and I’d love for you to download your own!

Here’s your FREE DOWNLOADABLE CHART (.pdf) or simply click and drag the .jpg above!

What do you hope to do this summer with your family?

 

 

Filed Under: Enjoying Nature, Family Night, For Fun, goal-setting, Having fun with your kids, Idea Lists, Lists, Time Management, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

“Baseball” Homework

Posted by on February 15, 2012 2 Comments

One of my dear friends shared this idea with me as a way to engage the whole body while practicing something cognitive. She plays catch with her kids and with each toss practices states and capitals, but this morning we just stuck with the states…as in, “Can you name one?”

Sounds simple enough, but after this Superbowl my 6 year old thought that “New England” was a state.

I guess I can’t blame him.

We balled up a clean sock and headed to the living room where we started playing catch. With each toss the person throwing the sock had to name a state.

NOTE: Africa is not a state, either.

The point is, getting your child to work on the very basic concept of states vs. regions vs. continents can be fun and can be done in PJ’s before lunch.

Other ideas for catch:

  • MATH: with each toss, say a number and an operation, taking turns solving the problem. (6 + 3 = 9…toss each time you say each of those parts)
  • GEOGRAPHY: take a page out of my friend’s book and say a state, toss, then have your child catch and say the capital.
  • HISTORY: if you’re into the Presidents of the US, toss the ball each time you say a name, reciting all 44 in order.
  • SPELLING: say a word and with each toss, provide a letter to spell the word. OR, for older kids, say a letter without announcing the word, and have them add on until you’ve made a word together. See what you come up with!
  • SCIENCE: practice the components of the table of elements, geological time periods in order, examples of animals going up and down the food chain.
  • RANDOM: mom states a topic and tosses the ball. Each child who catches has to provide a fact about that topic.
  • BIBLE VERSES: mom or dad recite a verse, toss the ball, and the child who catches it provides the book/chapter/verse. OR, in reverse, mom says the book/chapter/verse, and the child recites the passage.
  • FOR VERY SMALL CHILDREN: say the alphabet with each toss. Mix it up and start somewhere in the middle to see if they can adjust. OR, do the same with counting: numbers, by 2′s, by 5′s, by 10′s.

The possibilities are endless! How can you see yourself using catch to make practice more fun at your house? I’d love your comment!

Filed Under: Checking for Understanding, Creativitiy, For Fun, Games, Having fun with your kids, Homework Helps, Teaching Geography, Teaching History, Teaching Letters & Numbers, Teaching Math, Teaching Science/Biology, Teaching Scripture, Teaching Spelling | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

A Pre-Practice “Name That Tune”

Posted by on January 11, 2012 Leave a Comment

credit: Minnesota Strings (click photo for link)

Christmas Fallout (Variation: Suzuki)  A lapse in dedicated violin practice during which time students neglect their instruments and assume that unrehearsed fingers will continue to work perfectly.

Known Side effects: Bickering (refer to chart above). Ears strain to detect sharps and flats; brains lose track of bowing patterns and rhythms. Mothers retreat to the bathroom to commence hair pulling.

Vacation was wonderful in its lazy, pajama-wearing, cookie-eating ways. But ever since St. Nick darkened our holiday door last month, our kids have been struggling to get their heads back in the game…er, into practice.

In times of peril such as this, we had to find some new ways to keep it fun and help the kids re-engage. Luckily, tonight was a winner!  Here’s what we did:

  1. Unearth your dollar store bells and hand them out to your kids (first featured HERE)
  2. Ready an iPhone, CD player, or iPod with your Suzuki book 1 recordings. Since it was handy, I grabbed my phone, found the music in my iTunes account and put it on speaker phone. Super easy.
  3. Scroll through the songs and surprise your kids with a selection. Don’t go in order.
  4. Have your kids ring their bells once they can “Name that Tune”
  5. Keep score and have a competition. Even my not-yet-violinist got 3 right from hearing the songs so often!
  6. Kids who play without bickering get a treat…and lots of hugs from their very appreciative mom.
What do you do to keep the grumpies away during music practice? I’d love your ideas!

 

 

 

Filed Under: For Fun, Games, Having fun with your kids, Study Break Ideas, Teaching Music | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,

Resolutions for Parents

Posted by on January 10, 2012 Leave a Comment

I subscribe to Jill Savage’s Hearts at Home Blog and got this in my inbox today. Such a simple thought, but one that reminds me to be sincere and free with my compliments and in connecting with our kids. While that alone sounds painfully obvious, it has actually been a bit of a struggle for me lately!

Two of our kids take music lessons and sometimes practicing can be like pulling teeth! (have you been there??)  Jill’s post reminded me that perhaps if I took the time to connect with them first by playing a game, coloring together, or enjoying something they like, then following up with practice wouldn’t feel like stepping into the Iron Maiden or Dante’s Inferno.

Ok, I’m exaggerating.

Mostly.

Click over to Jill’s blog for a short post about New Year’s Resolutions for Parents.

 

Filed Under: Games, goal-setting, Having fun with your kids, Holidays, Time with Mom, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,

Study Break!

Posted by on November 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

It turns out that never before was $3 so brilliantly spent.

The dollar store bells are a HUGE hit at our house! The other day my son and I set up a little challenge course to take a break from reading: we emptied a basket and put two bells inside, and then used dad’s chin-up bar for another challenge area, placing one bell inside of it.

Using a beach ball, my 6 year-old wound up and let loose, aiming for either the easier floor area or the more difficult basket on the chair.

If we heard the bell ring, he got a point! We used our trusty white boards to count how many bells we rung and celebrated together.

What an easy way to get up and get moving…the perfect study break for you  and your little ones!

What do you do at home to take a break together?

Filed Under: Games, Having fun with your kids, Study Break Ideas, Using Whiteboards | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,

Hello, Ice Cream. Meet Halloween.

Posted by on November 3, 2011 Leave a Comment

Let’s be frank: I’m not sure how much “learning” is happening with this activity, but it sure is tasty! Don’t let the fear of a short-lived sugar-overload stop you from getting out the blender; you’ll be a hero after the first sip!

The night after Halloween was a “Super-Fun Mom Night,” [more on those later...] and I decided to win points with my offspring by letting them choose FIVE, yes–that’s right–five mini candy bars from their Halloween stash to make into a shake. Drawing inspiration from Smashburger’s insanely delicious Butterfinger shake, we selected our favs and tossed them to their doom. The kids lined up their picks and waited their turns so I could blend each shake individually and to order. It’s 5-Star treatment on Super-Fun Mom Night!

Mmmm…nothing beats Hudsonville ice cream!

Follow up with sprinkles and snuggle time while you watch a great movie, and you’ll make a memory they won’t soon forget! DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE SHAKE CHART HERE to record your creations and get the kids writing in the kitchen!

Who knows…maybe you’ll raise a future restauranteur with a killer dessert menu! When Barbara Walters interviews them they’ll look deeply into the camera and say, “You know, it all started one night with my mom…”

 

Filed Under: Family Night, Having fun with your kids, Kids in the Kitchen, Lists, Teaching Culinary Skills, Time with Mom, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Leaf Stained Glass Windows

Posted by on October 28, 2011 1 Comment

>>Have you signed up yet for my Monthly(ish) Newsletter? Please do so before November 1 to receive two more fun applications of this craft to do with your family, plus a devotional! CLICK HERE to subscribe.<<

When I was little, my mother would take us outside hunting for leaves and would marvel with us at how different they all were. I love the memories I have of days with her, and thought this fall was the perfect time to resurrect an old craft with my kids. For Leaf Stained-Glass Windows you’ll need:

  • Waxed paper
  • Old crayons and a sharpener or knife
  • A collection of leaves
  • A leaf fandeck, or something to identify leaves
  • An iron
  • A Sharpie marker
1. Have your kids venture outside to collect the prettiest leaves they can find. Encourage them to pay attention to shapes and sizes, searching for a nice variety.
2. Making sure leaves are dry, arrange them flat on a piece of waxed paper and select crayons whose melted wax colors will produce a nice “stained-glass window.”
3. Using your sharpener or a knife, scrape small chunks of crayon onto your waxed paper.
4. Next, lay a second square of waxed paper over the first and plug in your iron.
 5. Carefully iron the two sheets of waxed paper together. The crayons will melt and adhere the sheets. TIP: make sure you have enough crayon shavings around the edges so they don’t peel apart.
6. Whallah!! Your stained glass window is created! Held up to the light, it is beautiful!
7. Next, locate your leaf identifying book or fandeck and pass out the Sharpies.
8. Your child’s job is now to reference the fandeck to identify their leaves, writing the name of the tree on their stained glass window.
9. Hang up your windows in a place where natural light can shine through, illuminating them for all to see!

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Filed Under: Creativitiy, Enjoying Nature, Having fun with your kids, Teaching Science/Biology, Uncategorized | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,
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