Parenting Children

The official start of summer is here for us and I know how hard it is to keep kids entertained all summer long. I found that making a list on my calendar helped me pick a fun thing to do every day. Here are 45 cheap or better yet free, great ideas for summer fun for you and the kids:

Catch fireflies

Decorate t-shirts outside with paint or dye

Have a tea party outside

Make a birdhouse

Make your own ice pops

Bake a pie or cookies

Feed the ducks

Go swimming

Plant a garden or a herb garden

Play with water balloons

Play with water guns

Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood

Play hide and go seek in the dark

Find a new playground

Have a picnic

Make S’mores

Learn how to knit and teach your kids, maybe even take a class

Visit the zoo

Visit a museum or children’s museum

Let your children play outside in the rain

Make a theme day, like a “red day” wear red eat only red foods (tomato, apples, strawberries, polish your nails red) or “dinosaur day” (read about dinosaurs, color dinosaur pictures, eat only veggies that day)

Write a letter to a grandparent or friend

Have a lemonade stand

Pick fruits or veggies at your local farms

Make an indoor sand or (Rice!) box
Find free movies in your town

Play hopscotch

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Make a tent indoors with blankets

Play with bubbles, have a biggest bubble contest

Race some bug you find on the ground

Join a reading club for grades 1-6

Have a “day of beauty” paint nails, have masks, give your kids a massage

Go to a free reading time

Buy a hammock and take a nap together

Play with a remote controlled RV or boat

Visit a day fair or carnival

Go for a hike

Can berries for the winter

Grab your sleeping bags and sleep on the floor together

Do some arts & crafts

Grow butterflies (My kids LOVE this!)

Visit a neighbor

Make a bubble pool in your backyard

Make ice cream

Check out free classes at Lowes or Home Depot

Make a trip to a board walk

Bowling!

Have movie day at home complete with popcorn and candy

What are your favorite family summer fun ideas?

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Moving from New Jersey to New Hampshire in the middle of winter wasn’t the best idea. It has been all snow all the time here. We are just catching some reasonable weather and the snow has been melting (finally!) and now there is rain!
I can’t complain because I would rather have rain than snow any day! Rainy days can be fun for the whole family!

If it is warm enough, go ahead and let the kids get wet. My kids love when I let them go outside in their clothes and just run in the rain and splash in puddles. Go out there and get wet with them, I promise they will remember it always.
Bring your bath toys outside and play in the puddles or collect the rain water in your buckets. Find a “stream” and race a light toy in it. Use your outside chalk and “paint” in the rain.
Here are ideas for fun with water inside or out like making your own little boats.
See who can collect the most worms.

Here are great indoor fun ideas for kids of all ages, and some of these ideas will maybe let you get some things done around the house while the kids are busy too!
Make a tiara

Lastly here are some fun craft ideas for Easter or Spring.

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Electronic Arts has partnered with board game and toy company Hasbro, announcing Hasbro Family Game Night, a collection of classic board games for the Wii and PlayStation 2. This game debuted late in 2008, and includes a wide assortment of your favorite Hasbro games you know and love. Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Sorry, Connect Four and the newest game: Sorry! Sliders.

You get to play the classic games just like you remember or play the new version if you want a different way to play.
This isn’t just about teh games, you can also build and decorate a virtual game room, earn trophies, and play various mini-games, perfect for younger players.

Even though my kids are just starting out playing video games, we really enjoyed this game. This is a great game for some family time and you will never not be able to play because you are missing pieces!

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Let’s face it, after moms have their babies all they want to do is get back into their pre-baby shape. I don’t care what any celebrity says, it is a hard thing to do and takes time and commitment. I can take any help I can get and maybe Stroller Strides is my answer.

Stroller Strides is a total fitness program that is designed for moms to get their pre-baby shape back while making new friends for herself and her baby. They help moms make strides in fitness, motherhood, and life. Stroller Strides also co-sponsors LUNA Moms club which offers play dates, moms nights out, and community initiatives.

The way classes benefit babies? Children are learning at a young about exercise and see that it is fun. Stroller Strides also adds an educational component to classes for kids by learning about a letter of the week, number of the month, and topics like seasons, shapes, colors. And don’t worry if you children get restless, they’ll also introduce musical instruments.

If you are like me and want to meet other moms or you want to kick start your New Year’s resolution into high gear, you can check out Stroller Strides. They have over 800 locations all around the U.S. and Canada.

I would like to try these classes when we move to NH, has anyone used Stroller Strides? What do you think about the workout you get with their classes?

stroller strides, pregnancy, post natal workouts, moms, SAHM, post baby body, excersise for moms

Are you looking for a easy to make appetizer for your next holiday party?
Heinz and Ocean Spray have a great, easy recipe that you should try, The Ultimate Party Meatball. This quick recipe is super simple and fool-proof, it has only three ingredients and two steps!

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1 12-ounce bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce
1 2-pound bag frozen, pre-cooked, cocktail-size meatballs

Directions:
Combine sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.
Makes 30 appetizer servings.
You can also cook in a crock pot just cover and cook 4 hours on high.

I made this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it.
Thanks to Mom Central for the chance to try this out!

Heinz and Ocean Spray have also created the Ultimate Party Meatballs website which is filled with additional recipes, entertaining tips, and a sweepstakes with a grand prize of $3,000 to throw the ultimate party!

appetizers, holiday cooking, Heinz, ultimate meatballs, cooking on a budget

My kids have been into making books lately. they started making small books at school and now want to make them at home. I think it is a great idea to get their creative juice flowing, a great way to introduce reading and spelling and it makes a great gift or keepsake.
Make your own books at home:

Easy Peasy Book: Just fold a few sheets of paper like a greeting card. Staple down the crease. Let your kids do the rest.

Advanced Book making: Do the same as above but dion’t use a stapler, instead punch two holes along the edge and thread a ribbon or old shoe lace through each hole and tie!

A Shape Book: Stack several sheets of paper and cut into a simple shape (heart, cat, egg, tree, cloud,) and just staple the left edge.

You can also laminate each page at Staples and then punch a hole through it to make a more durable book.
If you want to go high tech, scan your children’s artwork and add the story line text to a make your own book at shutterfly or ofoto.com, where small soft cover books start at around $6.00 or you can go to blurb.com and their books start about $13.00. Make sure you add your child’s name and date to the back.
Check out this website for more book making ideas!
Check out my other ideas for indoor fun this winter.

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Halloween is today. If that catches you of guard, that may mean you are a procrastinator. I understand, holidays can sneak up on you. I have some last minute costume ideas and fun games and things to do with your kids before it is time to go out and collect all that candy.

Do it yourself last minute costume ideas:

Tourist: Get a hat, sunglasses and hang a camera around your neck

Cookie: Dress in all brown and pin felt colored circles all over to look like M&Ms

Mummy: wrap your self in toilet paper. Enough said!

Athlete: dress up in a old jersey or uniform. Bring along a ball.

If all else fails call up family members, or neighbors and ask if they have a costume that you can borrow.

How about you make masks of everyone in your family and then trade them. Be your husband or daughter for Halloween and have them be you or their brother. This could be fun all year long!

This is a great site for simulating a pumpkin carving. It kept my kids fascinated for hours. Here is another one that is better for older kids.
Ben and Jerry’s has not only recipes and crafts ideas but also print outs and games.

Remember to go over safety tips with your kids and be safe out there!
What is your favorite last minute costume idea?

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I know so many parents who procrastinate when it comes to Halloween. I know I am guilty of procrastination too. This year I am safe because my kids already have their costumes as hand me downs from their cousins. Whew. If you are not as lucky or have kids who just can’t come up with a costume, here are some ideas for easy costumes to make at home.

Do it yourself last minute costume ideas:

Tourist: Get a hat, sunglasses and hang a camera around your neck

Cookie: Dress in all brown and pin felt colored circles all over to look like M&Ms

Mummy: wrap your self in toilet paper. Enough said!

Athlete: dress up in a old jersey or uniform. Bring along a ball.

If all else fails call up family members, or neighbors and ask if they have a costume that you can borrow.

How about you make masks of everyone in your family and then trade them. Be your husband or daughter for Halloween and have them be you or their brother. This could be fun all year long!

This is a great site for simulating a pumpkin carving. It kept my kids fascinated for hours. Here is another one that is better for older kids.
Ben and Jerry’s has not only recipes and crafts ideas but also print outs and games.

Remember to go over safety tips with your kids and be safe out there!
Here are some infant costume ideas too.
What is your favorite last minute costume idea?

last minute costume ideas, costume ideas, Halloween crafts, virtual jack o lanterns, kids, parenting, teens, craft ideas

My husband and I sing- a lot. By telling you we sing loud and often, doesn’t man we are good singers by any means. Sometimes we think we are but we in reality, we are not. We don’t just sing, we sing popular songs, jingles, nursery rhymes mostly in opera form.
Don’t you wish you were our neighbors?

This opera singing has off on our children. My kids sing everything and everything all day long. They will sing the months of the year songs, hits they hear on the radio, kid songs or even Christmas carols (my favorite) all the time. My favorite is when I am in my office and my daughter uses the bathroom next door, she will sing at the top of her lungs whatever song she has in her head at that moment while she is doing her business.
How can it get better than that? Yesterday she was singing an Ace of Base song.
The only bad part of my kid’s singing is that sometimes they only know a line or two of the song. The same two lines over and over again is enough to drive a sane man wild. Perhaps we should send my kids to Afghanistan, they will flush Bin Laden out of any cave he is hiding in!

This post was brought to you by Bush’s Beans and the Parent Bloggers. Bush’s Beans has issued a challenge to all budding lyricists: Rewrite the chant that begins, “Beans, beans” to spread the word that beans are a vegetable. Enter your video now!

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We are right in the middle of the summer heat and humidity here in New Jersey. It is hard to find ways to keep cool outside and cool places to play the day away inside. I can’t keep the kids inside the house all day, like I would like to do, because they will just end up watching TV and we limit that time. We do crafts, bake and do some free activities, but the entire family’s favorite thing to do is play with water. We keep cool and have a ton of fun at the same time.
Here are some fun water activities for your family from GNM parents:

The Relay
Number of Players: 2+
You Need: filled water balloons and a marker
Object: To pop all of the balloons before your opponent.

How: Each team gets a pile of balloons. They must run to the midway marker and sit on their balloon to pop it and return to the starting point. Multiple team members will take turns. Individual teams will repeat until the balloons are all popped.

You can do variations like using different parts of their bodies to pop the balloons or players can also hop, skip, or walk backwards to switch things up.

Towel Toss
Number of Players: 4+
Needed: 1 towel for each team of 2, filled up water balloons, if you have a large group of kids you can use a sheet

Object: To use the towel to toss the balloon to the other team (each player holds 2 corners of the towel), and to catch the balloon when it is tossed to you.

When my kids are home all summer long they are constantly eating. I think it has to do with all the fresh air and energy they are expending. I am always trying to keep healthy, fun snacks in the house for them. We even sometimes make them together and that gives us something to do inside and gets them to experiment with cooking and baking! Here are some great snack ideas and recipes for you and your family:

Peanut Butter Snack Mix

3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons peanut butter
4 cups Chex cereal assorted
2 cups mini pretzels
1/3 cup peanuts or any kind of nuts you would like

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 175F.

2. Combine honey, butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until smooth. Combine cereal, pretzels and peanuts in a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture and toss to coat. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Watermelon-Cucumber SalsaI

1 1/2 cups diced and seeded watermelon
1 cup diced, peeled cucumber
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve!

Apple Chips

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of nutmeg
1 large crisp apple, such as Braeburn or Granny Smith
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1)Stir together the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then sprinkle half the mixture onto the baking sheet.

2)Cut the apple into slices as thin as possible, up to 1/8 inch. (You don’t need to peel or core it; the seeds will just fall off.) If you have a mandoline, cut the apple vertically into rounds.

3)Arrange the slices on the baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over the apples, then bake in the middle of the oven for 11/2 hours. Rotate the pan and bake for another hour, or until the apples are crisp. (If yours aren’t getting crisp enough, try turning off the heat and leaving them in the oven overnight.)

4)Loosen the chips with a spatula, then cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the parchment. They’ll keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

What are you kid’s favorite snacks?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway by 12 midnight tonight for a great organic tote bag!

[tags[ snacks, snacks for kids, parenting, family, cooking with kids, SAHM [/tags]

My children love fruit, especially berries! We go and pick them in the summertime at our local farm and I hope we have any by the time we get home with my kids in the backseat with them. Strawberries are my favorite and there are so many things you can do with them!

Did you know that California provides 88% of the nation’s strawberries, and the region is experiencing an incredibly bountiful harvest this year? With over 35,000 acres of fields across California, the growers will be picking nearly 6 million crates of delicious, ripe strawberries this week to deliver to grocery stores nationwide. Yum!

Did you also know that: strawberries contain powerful antioxidants and rank second among the top ten fruits in antioxidant capacity: one serving of strawberries contains more Vitamin C than an orange. Who knew?
* Strawberries may help reduce the risk of heart disease, fight some types of cancer and lower blood pressure. Not bad for a little delicious red berry!
* Don’t forget! The antioxidants in strawberries also aid in memory performance and may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, two key factors that can cause age-related diminished brain function.

Now here is the fun part you can go to www.calstrawberry.com for information or recipes including this amazing sounding strawberry shrimp ceviche or www.strawberryville.com for games and facts for kids.

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Something parents never tell you before you have kids is “say goodbye to your vacations”. Sure, you can take vacations with kids, but finding a kid or family friendly place to go is the tough part. If this is a problem for you too, than say hello to Sandals Beaches all -inclusive resorts.

Not only is Beaches a family friendly resort with four amazing destinations, but they are having a terrific WonderFALL celebration this fall only! Not only do you get to enjoy everything Beaches offers year-round, but you can SAVE up to 45% off published rates and get 2 Nights Free (on stays of 7 nights)! The WonderFALL celebration is taking place during the off-peak season months of September and October.

As part of this WonderFALL Celebration, Beaches has a great fall line up of special events and activities. From even more Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street® that includes the premiere of a brand new stage show and a new activity with Abby Cadabby, exclusive Gordon and Elmo live performances and special parenting workshops hosted by Sesame educators, to Dive In Movies, “Baby You’re A Star Photo Contest�? ( where your little one could win the chance to be featured in the next Beaches brochure) and even a celebration for Grandparents, it’s all happening ONLY this FALL at Beaches family resorts!

Wondering what there is to do for the adults? Beaches offers amazing fun activities like: tennis, golf, state-of-the art fitness centers,
snorkeling and scuba diving with all equipment and instruction included (lessons are extra but equipment is free to use), nannys for the kids, swim-up bars and nightly entertainment and stage shows.
Need I say more?

Go here to book your WonderFALL celebration trip at up to 45% off and remember to send me a postcard!

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The official start of summer is just days away and I know how hard it is to keep kids entertained all summer long. I found making a list on my calendar helped me pick a fun thing to do every day. Here are 45 cheap or better yet free, great ideas for summer fun for you and the kids:

Catch firelies

Decorate t-shirts outside with paint or dye

Have a tea party outside

Make a birdhouse

Make your own ice popsBake a pie or cookies

Feed the ducks

Go swimming

Plant a garden or a herb garden

Play with water balloons

Play with water guns

Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood

Play hide and go seek in the dark

Find a new playground

Have a picnic

Make S’mores

Learn how to knit and teach your kids, maybe even take a class

Visit the zoo

Visit a museum or children’s museum

Let your children play outside in the rain

Make a theme day, like a “red day” wear red eat only red foods (tomato, apples, strawberries, polish your nails red) or “dinosaur day” (read about dinosaurs, color dinosaur pictures, eat only veggies that day)

Write a letter to a grandparent or friend

Have a lemonade stand

Pick fruits or veggies at your local farms

Make an indoor sand or (Rice!) box

Find free movies in your town
Play hopscotch

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Play with bubbles, have a biggest bubble contest

Race some bug you find on the ground

Join a reading club for grades 1-6

Have a “day of beauty” paint nails, have masks, give your kids a massage

Go to a free reading time

Buy a hammock and take a nap together

Play with a remote controlled RV or boat

Visit a day fair or carnival

Go for a hike

Can berries for the winter

Grab your sleeping bags and sleep on the floor together

Do some arts & crafts

Grow butterflies (My kids LOVE this!)

Visit a neighbor

Make a bubble pool in your backyard

Make ice cream

Make a trip to a board walk

Bowling!

Just be together

What are your favorite family summer fun ideas?

Now that schools are letting out for the year and summer vacations are upon us, I am always looking for some family friendly things to do. At the end of the day when the kids are worn out from their fun, television is a great go to activity for our family. I try to watch TV with my kids and monitor what they watch as well. During the summer, the networks will all have on reruns and reality TV that is not appropriate for little ones, and there is only so many times I am willing to watch Finding Nemo.

Starting this month, TCM is launching TCM Essentials Jr., bringing families together by making moving watching a family experience. TCM Essentials Jr. will have classic must see movies every Sunday night suitable for the whole family. Abigail Breslin and Chris O’Donnell host these great weekly movies. This week don’t miss The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Check out the web site for the rundown of all the great movies including Meet Me in St. Louis, Mutiny on the Bounty and Yours, Mine and Ours. Remember to also enter to win the American Girl Sweepstakes for a chance to win a private screening of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl!

Also check out this great book for your family movies: The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together By Ty Burr. A guide to family friendly movies from three years to adult. A great summer read!
What are your family’s favorite movies?

family movies, summer fun, family fun, movies for kids