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A great list of ways to have fun with your family at the park | TheBusyMom.com

10 Things to Do At the Park

One of my favorite places to hang out with my boys is the park. Living in Florida means that it’s usually warm enough to go outside all the time.  While the playground equipment provides a lot of fun for my boys, I have found that there are many other things to do at the park that are just as fun {and sometimes educational}.

A great list of ways to have fun with your family at the park | TheBusyMom.com

10 Things to Do with Your Kids at the Park

1. Have a picnic: On a really nice day pack up lunch and head to the park.  I have an old comforter in my trunk that we use for our picnics at the park. One days when we just need to get out and get some fresh air a picnic can be just what we need.

2. Read a book: This one goes well with #1. When we have a picnic at the park I always take something to read. I will read to my boys while they eat their lunches. Sometimes it’s something for school (a history book) and sometimes it’s whatever read aloud we are working on.  I also take something to read by myself while my boys play.

3. Take a nature walk: My boys love to explore and this year we are taking more time for nature walks.  When we are at a park I try to take a 10-15 minutes when we first get there or right before we leave to go on a nature walk.  We walk around the park and observe nature. We look for plants and animals. One year we visited the same park every week and we got to watch as ducklings hatched and grew. My boys also found a tadpole pond and we were able to watch the transformation from tadpole to frog.

4. Art: My boys love to paint and create and make messes. The park is a great place for this because there’s no mess in your house to clean up.   My boys love watercolors and chalk pastels so these are usually what we take with us to the park. They get to draw or paint things that they see at the park or whatever pops into their heads.  This can also be a great tie in with nature walks. Sometimes my boys will draw something that we found on our walk.

5.  Fly a kite: My boys love to fly kites! Sadly I take after Charlie Brown when it comes to kite flying. But the park is a great place for kite flying. There’s lots of open space and grass to run. And if you need some help there’s usually someone there to help you out.

6. Target practice: My boys love to shoot things. We have cap guns, swords, nerf guns and archery sets everywhere. There really isn’t much room in our tiny apartment for my boys to really have fun with these toys so from time to time we take our armory to the playground.

7. Games: Re-live your childhood by playing some of your favorite games  (hide-n-seek, red rover, tag,  etc).  My boys love to play hide and seek at the park because there are so many places to hide. If you have a big group of people red rover can be a lot of fun. My boys are always asking me for new games to play with kids at the park.

8.  Ball Game: Grab those soccer balls, footballs and baseballs when you head to the park.  Take advantage of the extra space to run and play and the extra kids to add to the fun!

9.  Climb Trees: My boys love to climb trees. Every time that we go to a new park they run around looking for trees to climb.  I love watching them climb like monkeys. Our favorite park has many trees and I love watching as my boys get older and are able to climb more trees.

10. Have fun: Get out there and play with your kids! My boys love it when I slide and climb and run around with them at the park.

What are some of your favorite things to do at the park?

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Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

40+ Dr. Seuss Inspired Activities, Crafts, and Learning Resources

40+ Dr. Seuss Inspired Activities, Crafts, and Learning Resources

The birthday of Dr. Seuss (aka: Theodore Geisel) is coming up soon! March 2nd to be exact! And it’s a wonderful opportunity to share some wonderful Dr. Seuss inspired activities, crafts, recipes, and learning resources!

I hope you’re inspired by list of 40+ Dr. Seuss inspired ideas!

Food

  1. Dr Seuss All About Me & Cat In The Hat Snacks from Fancy Frugal Life
  2. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Inspired Food Ideas from Cute Food For Kids
  3. Cat in the Hat Marshmallow pops from Mega Crafty
  4. Green “Eggs” Breakfast from Tutus and Tea Parties
  5. Green Eggs… and blueberries? from I Can Teach My Child
  6. Grinch Punch Recipe from Taste of Home

Activities and crafts

  1. 1 Fish 2 Fish Interactive Printable Placemat from obSEUSSed
  2. A “Seusstastic” Day: Activities to Celebrate Dr. Seuss from Motherhood on a Dime
  3. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Craft: Make Truffula Trees from Craft Jr.
  4. Making patterns with Dr Seuss’s hat! from Teach Preschool
  5. Dr. Seuss Activity: Make a Fox in Socks Tweetle Beetle Battle Bottle from Mad in Crafts
  6. Free Printable – Dr. Seuss Hat from A to Z Teacher Stuff
  7. Make Your Own Truffula Trees Tutorial from Dr. Seuss The Lorax from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary
  8. Lorax Moustach Straws from Madtown Macs
  9. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Party Mask from Babble
  10. “Sam I Am” Dr. Seuss Kids Craft from Classified: Mom
  11. Craft Project: Thing 1 & Thing 2 (with clothes pins) from Zakka Life
  12. Cat In The Hat Hats TP (pop ups) from Stuff by Ash 
  13. Thing 1 & Thing 2 Popsicle stick puppets from Toddler Approved
  14. Toilet Paper Roll Dr. Seuss Characters from Lovely Lula
  15. Get Creative with The Lorax: Truffula Tree Pencils from Zaaka Life
  16. A Fun Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Truffula Tree Craft (in a picture frame) from Babble
  17. Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Craft ~ Finger Puppets from Craft Jr.
  18. Green Eggs and Ham activity and a recipe from Inspiration Laboratories
  19. Huge list of Dr Seuss Games from Apples 4 Teacher
  20. Lorax paper bag Puppet from Frist Class teacher
  21. Green Eggs and Ham Activities and Free Printable from obSEUSSed
  22. Free Printables Horton Games & Activities from Early Moments
  23. Video Tutorial One Fish Two Fish activity/craft from eHow Arts & Crafts
  24. Horton Hears a Who Elephant Project from Mrs. Lirette’s Learning Detectives
  25. Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss Activities from Coffee Cups and Crayons
  26. Authors read Dr. Seuss’ One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish from BookLounge
  27. Read Aloud of Oh The Places You’ll Go! from YouTube

Learning

  1. Dr. Seuss Inspired Rhyming Game from Sweet Rose Studio
  2. Seussical Learning Pack from 123 Homeschool 4 me
  3. The Foot Book (math activities) from Putti’s World 
  4. Dr. Seuss Rhyming cards from The Activity Mom
  5. Dr. Seuss  in Middle School from Our Journey Westward
  6. Analyzing Theme with Dr. Seuss Picture Books from Jimmies Collage
  7. 20 Fun Dr. Seuss Themed Writing Prompts! from Minds in Bloom
  8. Name that Dr. Seuss Book Printable from Minds in Bloom
  9. S is for Seuss! {Mommy School Unit} from Oopsey Daisy
  10. Dr. Seuss Busy Bag from Second Story Window
  11. Dr. Seuss Worksheets from Have Fun Teaching 
  12. Thinking Maps with Dr. Seuss and Printables from Joyful Learning In Kc
  13. Learning Monkeys: Dr. Seuss Inspired One Fish Two Fish Counting Game from Mama Miss
  14. For older kids – Dr. Seuss Biography. It includes text and a couple of videos.  from Biography

I would love for you to share in the comments any fun activities you do with your kiddos to celebrate Dr. Seuss!

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

Three Resolutions You Can Cross Off Your List Today

Three Resolutions You Can Cross Off Your List Today

Honestly, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions anymore. What seems like a great idea on December 30th (when real life is on pause for a week) often loses its do-ability around the sixth of January.

Or sooner.

But I love the time of reflection and resolve that naturally occurs with the beginning of a new year.  As I think about what I want to do differently, it helps to focus on things that I can put into motion right away.  

Things I can put in place while life is slow that will change how we live when it speeds back up.

Resolutions/Goals/Whatever-You-Want-to-Call-Them

#1: Be More Hospitable

This one is always on my list. We’re social people, energized by connections with friends. But life gets going, the house gets “lived in” and too much time passes without bringing others into our home. There is one thing, however, that is guaranteed to light my fire, get the house clean, and ensure there’s a hot meal ready to serve.

A doorbell.

If I know the time when my doorbell will ring, things happen. Friends come over, we laugh, and I’m always glad I went through whatever it took to be willing to open my front door.

So what can do today that will make all this happen? Look at my calendar and pick up my phone. It takes five minutes to text (or even call!) two or three of those people we’ve been meaning to have over for dinner. Mark down some dates, and this resolution is well on its way to being met.

#2: Be a Fun Mom

I love it when my kids get crafty. I just don’t love it when their bursts of creativity happen in a moment when we don’t have time to unearth the stack of recycled paper or the package of popsicle sticks I know I stuffed somewhere.

Filling a kid-accessible shelf with scissors, markers, glue and duct tape means my kids know just where to go when inspiration strikes. (It also creates a home for those random items.)

An hour of fun-and-focused supply-gathering today means hours of spontaneous creativity can happen in the future.

#3: Feed My Family Home-Cooked Meals

Oh, the guilt that creeps into my Mommy Soul when life gets crazy and the drive thru starts to feel way too familiar. I’m passionate about eating together as a family every night, but sometimes gymnastics and baseball and church activities combine to make it almost impossible to spend any leisurely time in the kitchen.

I’ve found my own version of freezer cooking to be the solution that allows me to get home-cooked meals on the table in minutes. We aren’t casserole-a-holics around our house, but if I will take an hour or three to brown a jumbo pack of ground beef or bake two cookie-sheets full of chicken breasts, future meal-prep is significantly simpler. Once the meat has cooled, I bag it in meal-sized portions to freeze. This lets me skip the time-consuming and messy step of cooking the meat for most meals.

A few hours (or less) of work today, and my big, daunting resolutions seem significantly more realistic. What resolutions can you check off your list today?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

New Year’s Eve Family Activities

I am always trying to come up with activities that everyone in our family would enjoy. Our kids range from almost 2 to 11, so finding one specific activity that appeals to all of them is difficult.

New Year’s Eve is no exception. We like to let our kids stay up late to bring in the New Year with us. We watch the ball drop on TV, but we also like to throw in some activities to make it a full-on celebration and create memories that our family will cherish for years to come.

New Years Eve Family Activities

Here are a few ideas that we’ve enjoyed over the years and hopefully you’ll enjoy along with your family too!!

1-Fortune Balloons! All you need is some balloons, a few strips of paper, and a few activity ideas (think board games, conversation starts, and crafts). Write out each activity or craft on a strip of paper and gently slip them into a deflated balloon. Blow the balloon up and write a time of day on it. When that time rolls around, POP it! And do that activity! Tip: Blow up all of the balloons before writing the time on them, this way you don’t know which is which.

2-Make your own New Year’s Eve Ball! You will need a large Styrofoam ball, small craft mirrors, a thin piece of wire, and glue. Before you glue the mirrors onto the Styrofoam, gently press them into it to create an indentation. Then add some glue into that indentation and add the mirror. Next gently push the wire right through the center Styrofoam ball until it comes out the other side. Make a small loop at one end of the wire, and secure the other end so that it holds the ball on the wire. Grab a push pin or thumb tack and hang from the ceiling. When midnight rolls in, drop the ball! Tip: You should be able to find all of these materials at your local dollar store.

3- Make your own noise makers! All you need is a few small gift boxes, something probably smaller than the length of your hand (you should be able to find these at the dollar store). Fill them up with rice, dry pasta, dry beans, or anything small and hard. Close the boxes up, decorate them, and tape the tip of a popsicle stick on the bottom. You now have your very own, homemade noise makers!

4-Create a time capsule jar. Choose any jar or container that you have in the house. A mason jar will do. Fill it up with memories from the year, even if it’s notes written by all of you of what you loved most from this past year. We like to keep movie ticket stubs, so this would be something that we would put in our time capsule. Was your kiddo obsessed with silly bands, or collecting rocks this year? Throw something in the time capsule that represents that, or one of the items from their collection. Open the jar next year and enjoy the memories.

5-Family Interview! The first year we did this, we put all of our answers inside of our Time Capsule Jar. The next year, it was SO much fun reading over our responses, and especially seeing what the kids handwriting was like, or when the answered questions with drawings. You can create your own family questions, but I’ve put together some really simple questions that everyone can answer. You can download the PDF printable HERE.

6-Don’t underestimate simple! New Year’s Eve activities don’t have to be filled with glitter, sparkles, noise, and crafts. Playing a few board games with your family, while watching a few family favorite movies is a great option if you are looking to keep things simple this year.

What are some of your favorite family activities for New Year’s Eve?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

5 Tips for Creating Family Christmas Memories

5 Ideas for Creating Family Christmas Memories

Some of my favorite Christmas memories are embedded in not one particular event, but a tradition. From as early as I can remember (and I’m told I was about 3 when one of the memories I have described to my mom took place) until my grandparents passed away, we had Christmas Eve dinner at my grandparents’ house.

The event included dozens of cousins, aunt and uncles, and even my great-grandmother and great aunt. It always started at 7 p.m. My grandmother was never ready – always still wearing her messy “cooking clothes” – and the gifts she was giving were never wrapped, just stacked up in her bedroom. My mom and my aunt usually wound up wrapping them while my grandmother got ready.

She always had a gift for everyone – even unexpected guests. She always bought extra for just that reason. The adults never ate quickly enough for the kids and we, the kids, asked “Is it time to open presents yet” no less than a dozen times.

I love those memories.

I think it’s important to create family memories. They provide ties for families as they grow and change. I rarely see some of those cousins of mine anymore, but we have those shared connections when we do get together.

How can you create shared memories for your family?

Special Holiday Meals

I could probably name off at least half of the items on the menu at my grandmother’s house. They weren’t elaborate, but they were family favorites. Some families have a special breakfast Christmas morning – breakfast casserole or cinnamon rolls, anyone? Others may have a special lunch or dinner. It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular. It’s the consistency that’s important.

Of course, the extra special meals may create their own memories. I still remember the year that my step-dad’s grandmother visited with us at Christmas. We ate Cornish hens and wild rice on the good China.

Special Traditions

The traditions can be big – like the family dinner at my grandmother’s – but they can be small, too. My mom used to let my sister and I open one gift on Christmas Eve. It was always PJs. I always let my sister sleep in my room on Christmas Eve. Okay, okay. It was so she wouldn’t sneak in to see what Santa left before I woke up, but still.

Now that I’m the mom, I try to make sure we have eggnog when we decorate the Christmas tree. My youngest usually puts the angel on top of the tree – a job handed down from her older sister.

Special Ornaments

Ornaments can create memories of their own. We have the applesauce/cinnamon/glue ornaments that my oldest made with her American Girls troop years ago. Then there are the new Hallmark ornaments that we purchase every year – a special one that I choose for our family and the one the my mom gives us.

We have homemade ornaments that bring back memories for all of us. There are those that the kids made, the one I made in elementary school, the one that one of my best friends made for me in high school, and the one that my 5th grade teacher gave me. My kids may roll their eyes a bit when they hear these stories again and again, but I think they secretly enjoy them.

Seasonal Events

My family never really went to Christmas Eve services when I was growing up. (We were probably on our way to my grandmother’s house!) However, for the last several years, my family has enjoyed our church’s Christmas Eve service. I hope we’re creating memories for our kids. Other families enjoy Advent calendar activities throughout the Christmas season.

Serve Together

Finally, a great way to create memories with your family is to look for opportunities to serve together as a family. This may mean spending time serving at a soup kitchen, making meals for neighbors or shut-ins, or singing Christmas carols at a nursing home. What you do depends on the personality of your family, but whatever you choose, serving others is a wonderful way to spend time together as a family – any time of year!

What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

Budget Friendly Christmas Game

Inexpensive Christmas Game
Entertaining during the Christmas season can be fun, exciting and…expensive. The budget can easily be broken by extra goodies to bake and (the big one) presents!

I love to GIVE!  It’s exciting to see the joy on a child’s face when you say “I have something special for you”. However, I come from a large, mixed family.  Entertaining only my siblings’ immediate families means I’m hosting 25 people at a minimum. So I’ve had to get creative with the budget.

There was a time when I happily broke the budget to get everyone “at least a little something” — racking up debt.  Since then I’ve learned that while God calls us to be giving, He also calls us to be responsible with what we’ve been given. I don’t believe God wants us to go into debt giving trinkets at Christmas time.

So, in an effort to honor what God has given us, and my husband who works so hard, I’ve implemented some budget friendly rules for when we entertain like:

  • Guests contribute (whether it’s a dish, paper products or a bottle of soda)
  • No store bought decorations
  • No party favors
  • GAMES instead of gifts

The last one is my favorite!  Not only because it saves a ton of money, but because it builds so many memories.  And that’s what the holidays should be about.  Children will likely forget that little trinket you bought them; but they will remember the warm, loving, fun time they had.

My favorite budget friendly Christmas game is Yankee Trader.  This game is also known as White Elephant…but we’re below the Mason-Dixon, so around here it’s Yankee Trader.

How To Play

  1. Every guest brings a wrapped gift (we set a dollar limit)
  2. Gifts are randomly placed under the tree (or designated spot)
  3. Every guest draws a number
  4. Player 1 picks and unwraps a gift
  5. Players 2 and up have the option of choosing a gift from the pile or “stealing” a gift from any previous player
  6. If someone has their gift stolen, they either steal another gift (not the one taken from them in that turn) or unwrap another gift
  7. This continues (with hilarity) until every player has had their turn
  8. Items may only be stolen 3 (or set your own number) times – this cuts down on gifts going back and forth between two people for “hours”

In order to play Yankee Trader, guests must know to bring a gift ahead of time.  You may want to buy a few extra, inexpensive gifts to have on hand in case someone forgets.  This game might be a little upsetting for young children who don’t like to have their gift “stolen”, or if there are only adult gifts.  Encourage guests to bring fun, goofy gifts kids will enjoy.  Have fun, Yankee Trader always brings a TON of laughs and happy memories to our gatherings!

Do you play games at your Christmas parties?  What’s your favorite?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

How to Be Christ to Others at Christmas

Christ to Others

“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28, ESV)

Christmas time. A time of celebration of Christ the newborn King. A joyous time of year for many, but also a very difficult time of year for many. Whether emotional, physical or spiritual, we will always know someone who struggles to keep going. And it’s our responsibility and great privilege to meet their needs.

While we should always be on the lookout for those who are in need, being ready and willing to help and ease the burden, Christmas is a fantastic time of year to really get into it. And it’s the perfect opportunity to involve your family, as you take time off for the holidays.

Over the last couple of years, we have relaxed our school schedule during the month of December. Each year before that Christmas approached, I felt stressed out as there were so many projects and things we wanted to be involved in, but just weren’t able to for lack of time. When we planned for a release of our expectations for school during the month of Advent, we were able to accomplish so much in the way of blessing and serving others.

If you homeschool, I would encourage you to examine your schedule throughout the year, and work in a way to have a few weeks off during December (including BEFORE Christmas) to serve. That is part of the beauty of homeschooling now, isn’t it? To have the flexibility to set our own schedules, and most importantly, to be involved in the lives of others, as a family.

If you are not homeschooling, I would encourage you to find ways as a family that you can serve just over the time your kids may have off school. But this isn’t just about being all rosy and glowy servants during Christmas. This is about desiring and exhibiting a heart for serving ALL year round. Christmas is a fantastic time to start though!

As a family, we have come up with a list of ways we can be serving and caring for others on a regular basis, but also specific projects to tackle during Christmas. This list is certainly far from finished, but I hope it sparks some ideas for your own family and enables you to find a starting point of serving.

Visit a nursing home or hospital ward.

Bethany Lodge

This has to be one of my FAVOURITE ideas of all time. We did it growing up as a homeschool group, and now my kids are doing it with our co-op group. They work hard to put on a program for the seniors, and everyone loves every minute of it! After we socialize with some homemade goodies and put together gingerbread houses. Contact a seniors/nursing or retirement home in your area and ask about coming in, as individuals or a group, to bring a light.

Bethany gingerbread houses

 

The same could be done at a hospital ward, though you may be limited to coming and singing songs throughout, delivering goodies to rooms, and visiting for a few moments. Though it may be uncomfortable and it will definitely be stretching, all these people are probably not thrilled to be in a hospital for Christmas, so think of how much of a blessing it would be to them.

RACK’ed.

RACKed

Last year we started doing Random Acts of Christmas Kindness – or RACK. I originally got the idea from Tracie Stier in her post here. We’ve come up with a list of ideas we will keep adding to, but for each one we leave behind a candy cane with this message on it:

Our ideas so far include:

  • shovel driveways
  • pay for the person behind in the drive thru
  • make cookies for firemen and library workers
  • bring hot coffee / chocolate to construction workers
  • make someone a meal
  • make ornaments and hand them out to people
  • give goody bags to grocery store cashiers
  • visit neighbours with goodies

 

Meet a family’s needs.

food for families

We often have no idea what other people are going through. That’s why I love small groups so much, because it helps you to stay connected with people you may not normally “hang out” with, while building each other up in your walk with Christ. But most importantly, it makes a way for you to meet the needs of others. Though you may not know what everyone’s needs are, someone knows! And the question begs to be asked, especially at Christmas when the money gets tighter.

Ask your small group leaders or elders if there are any families that have needs to be met. Whether it be financial or physical, do your utmost to fulfill them. Make some meals, offer transportation, buy gifts or Christmas dinner, be there to comfort them or invite them to your home if they have gone through the loss of a loved one. Often a few months after, they fall to the wayside, but now especially need to be surrounded by love and encouragement. Offer babysitting to parents (especially single parents!), so they can get shopping done or just have some time to breathe and relax.

Another way that you can meet a family’s needs is through organizations like Gospel for Asia. I’m talking about buying cows, bicycles, sewing machines and wells. Each year we choose gifts from the Gospel for Asia Christmas catalogue to help a family in need. This is something the kids look forward to so much, and we have been so blessed to see the sacrificial way they give. What an amazing opportunity to change the entire livelihood of a whole family in need!

 

Contribute to your local food bank.

Food bank

Our church organizes a food drive donation each year, and the kids REALLY get behind this. Though surprisingly, this year they said “There aren’t any poor people in our town.” And they’re sort of right, to the naked eye, you can’t SEE those who are suffering in our town. But when you go to the food bank and hear about the people who use it, you realize things aren’t always as they seem. So go, bring some goodies, ask some questions, go for a tour, and help your children to see that things aren’t always as they seem, and we often need to look past appearances to see the hurt.

 

Give of your time.

There are SO many opportunity and areas to volunteer in, it makes me giddy! Unfortunately in our area, a lot of them you have to be over 18 for. So I’m waiting excitedly until that day! (Only 9 years to go :D) Food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, crisis centers, homes for women and children, churches, Operation Christmas Child packaging facilities – if you Google it, you will find it.

 

Host a shoe-cutting party.

Jeans for Sole Hope

This is a new idea we’ve had this year, and are so excited to be involved in! Many kids in Africa have sores and infection on their feet because of sand fleas that burrow in and lay eggs. All because they have no shoes! Sole Hope came up with a way to help, and it involves taking your old jeans and cutting them into shoes. It’s a really easy way to give back ANY time of the year, not just at Christmas. The kids are making cards and handing out letters to their friends asking for their old jeans to make new shoes.

 

In reality, any of these ideas are things you can do year-round. But especially at Christmas, when the message of Christ coming to serve and to save is so prevalent – what better way can you be like Christ than to serve others in His Name?

What fun ways of serving do you take on during the month of Christmas to serve and bless others?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight