Did you know that the more your kids know about their family history… …they will have “higher levels of emotional well-being, and also higher levels of identity achievement.” They are also more resilient through tough times, according to a fanscinating study done by Emory University. Pretty cool, huh? Probably something worth taking the time to…
What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Do you have many? We have several at our house. This tradition came from my first grade teaching days. My cooperating teacher shared this idea with me. Each year at Thanksgiving our first grade class would reenact the first Thanksgiving dinner. We would weave place mats, make Pilgrim…
Hey, it’s Kristina from Mother’s Niche. If you’re anything like me, a ride in the car can either give you a little break, or it can make you want to pull your hair out…and it all depends on the behavior of the little rascals in the backseat. Sometimes there really is nothing better than a long drive when it means all of your children are strapped down and unable to tear the house apart. I especially appreciate long drives immediately after a thorough house cleaning.
However, there’s nothing that ruins a car ride faster than squabbling, whining and poking! Here are some fun family games that you can play in the car. Whip them out in desperate moments when you need to distract your children from hunger, bullying, boredom, or even from picking their nose:
Do you ever get together with your friends just to craft? Tackle DIY projects with your better half? Bake cookies with your kids? If you answered yes to any one of those questions, high five! If you answered no, then I urge you to try it sometime. You see, not only is it fun, but…
Besides raiding the fridge and climbing everything in sight, my daughter has started getting into imaginary play lately. Since she’s the oldest, I’ve tried to be creative about some things I can make for her. Last week it was a gas can for her cozy coupe car, and this week I took a stab at…
Having nine children in our family is crazy fun. But, as those little buggers grow up, they leave us! SO RUDE! 🙂 We have two in college and one who just recently left for a two year mission for our church in Salt Lake City. So, even though we have 6 kiddos left, it’s feeling very empty. (I know…it sounds crazy, but it’s true).
I decided that it was time to start sharing some fun ideas on care packages. Everyone has someone they know who would love to get a fun little treat in the mail. With technology being so advanced, it doesn’t seem to happen as often as it use to. So today, I thought I’d share a fun idea I first saw here. But, with having so many kids, I thought I’d make a few changes. We decided to send our son Israel a family hug from home.
Utah is known as the Beehive State because when Mormon pioneers settled the state, they strived to emulate the industry and perseverance of the honey bee. The state was originally named Deseret, which means “honey bee.” When Brigham Young pulled his wagon over the hill and declared “This is the right place,” he was probably not thinking about family entertainment. Over 160 years later, however, The Beehive State is one of the best places to find high-quality, family destinations.
Here are my top 10 family activities in Utah (that you can only find in the Beehive State):
Hello my friends!! Many of you are getting ready to start school, but here in Tennessee, school has been in session for two weeks. I know – CRAZY! So for us, the fun has begun. I think starting school is a mixed bag for most kids. It never seems to be the easiest transition for everyone. Some of my kids have not had the best beginning and have struggled for different reasons. Not everything has been school related. Some of it is just normal icky things that life throws your way. But a struggle is still a struggle. Needless to say, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. Watching them struggle has reminded me of the challenge of being a mom.
One of the hardest things about being a mom is knowing that we can’t fix EVERYTHING. We have to watch our kids face challenges, we see them struggle to make sense of things, we see their heartaches, and there’s only so much we can do. But, the key is that there ARE some things we can do.
So, we spent this past weekend with Dan’s family in Bear Lake, Utah/Idaho. Have you been there?? It’s soooo beautiful. A huge, amazingly turquoise lake, right in the middle of the desert. Every year, we rent a cabin up there and spend the time boating, swimming, eating raspberry shakes (they’re famous!), wrestling (tons of cousins!), and relaxing. After we got all the kids to bed, the adults stayed up late playing games …AND, I thought I would tell you about it. It’s called The Name Game and so much fun!
But, first …a handful of pictures from our trip…
Well, ready or not, school is just around the corner (a week from Tuesday for my boys- way too soon!). We just got back from a quick camping trip over the weekend. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who frantically rush out and try to fit in all the last-minute summer activities we can. It took us searching through four campgrounds to finally find a spot. It wasn’t our first choice, but ended up being the perfect little spot for our family!
I’m not sure if you’ve been counting down the days until school starts since the second week of June, or if you’re ignoring all the school supplies that are lining the shelves right now, and hoping the first day of school won’t happen. I have to say I’m a tad bit excited. I’ve LOVED every minute of our summer vacation, but there’s something rejuvenating about this time of year for me.
We are nearing the end of summer here in Tennessee, so my kids have been especially antsy. On a big “I’m SO Bored I’m Going to DIE” day, I came up with a fun drawing activity for kids. I asked each of my kids to draw three different pictures.
1. A picture of me.
2. A picture of Dad and Mom.
3. A picture of our family.
And they quickly went to work. My house became very quiet. They all found their own spaces and disappeared. After a while they all started emerging to show off their creations. They took time to point out little details, like the braid I sometimes wear in my hair, the brown spot I have in my eye, and details about each family member.
Hi, I’m Caz from A Little Learning For Two and I’d like to share a game idea with you that I hope your kids will enjoy as much as mine do! This egg timer seeking game is simple, fun and all you need to play the game is an egg timer.
The idea of this game is very easy; one player leaves the room while the others set the egg timer for 5 minutes (or less) and then hide it somewhere for them to find. The seeker has to find the egg timer before the time counts down and it rings.
For our youngest daughter (4) we use one timer but for our 6 year old we hide several at once and she loves to race around trying to find them before the time runs out and the bell sounds.