The Popcorn Olympics ~ Fun Activity for Kids! (she: Veronica)

There are many things I love about being a mom. So many, I don’t think I could name them. But, there are many things that are challenging as well. Lately I have been on Pinterest and have started feeling overwhelmed at all the GREAT ideas I’ve seen. There are so many ideas that I would love to do, and I do a great job of convincing myself that in order to be “Supermom”, I need to do them all! 🙂 So I start making plans, and then realize that in MY reality, it just isn’t happening. I sometimes find myself feeling a bit discouraged that I can’t do it all. And sometimes I even fall into the mode of comparing myself with all the “perfect moms” out there. I know someone out there can relate! 🙂

That leads me to this month’s post. I’ve had to set myself straight and remind myself that we don’t have to do it all, we just have to do our best. My kids won’t remember all the things I didn’t do, but they WILL remember those little moments of fun that I did create for them. Plus, our kids aren’t expecting us to do big and glorious things all the time. They just want our time. I think it’s important to remember that FUN doesn’t mean complicated. Sometimes the simple things are the most fun!

So, I wanted to share one of my favorite ideas with you.  My kids are into anything competitive. So we look for anything that can be a quick competition.  I found this idea online years ago and we have had a blast with it. It has literally kicked off many family competitions. And the best thing is that the main thing you need is POPCORN! EASY!!

Here are the games we did, but feel free to tweak it for your own family:

POPCORN MOUTH TOSS: Two players stand a certain distance apart from each other and take turns throwing popcorn into each other’s mouths. Take 1 step back after each successful toss. The team that gets the furthest without dropping any popcorn on the ground wins.

POPCORN TOOTHPICK SWAP: Place popcorn in a bowl. Place an empty bowl about 12″ away. Each player has 1 minute to move the popcorn to the empty bowl, ONE piece at a time, using two toothpicks. Player with the most pieces wins.

POPCORN STRAW BLOW: Place a piece of popcorn at the end of a table for each player. Using a drinking straw, blow the popcorn to the other end of the table. The first popcorn to arrive wins.

POPCORN CUP DROP: Stand on a chair and drop pieces of popcorn into a cup on the ground. Try to get as many pieces as possible into the target. Player with the most pieces in the cup wins.

POPCORN TOSS UP: Each player has one minute to toss popcorn into the air and catch it with their mouth, one piece at a time. The person who catches the most pieces wins.

POPCORN DISTANCE THROW: Throw a piece of popcorn as far as you can. Farthest throw wins. This was one of our favorites! You’ll be surprised how hard it is to throw a piece of popcorn very far!

POPCORN CUP CATCH: Give each player a cup or bowl. Toss each player twenty pieces of popcorn one piece at a time and see how many they can catch. Player who catches the most wins.

Don’t have time for a full-blown Popcorn Olympics? Just choose one of the competitions and do just one. Adjust it to what works.  Most important…HAVE FUN! Remember that what you can give is enough. You already are Supermom…you just need to remind yourself.