Treasure Hunt!

Yo ho ye who be reading the blog!  This week be all about me hearties, those seafaring scavengers, PIRATES!  Arrgh!  (this all must be read with a Pirate accent or I sound ridiculous)

At first we were just going to have a quick little family time with a snack and a movie, but, this theme just offers TOO MUCH FUN!  So, while little E took her afternoon nap I put together this treasure map, which I made on some brown construction paper and then “aged” by crumpling and singing some of the edges with a match. 

I made our map based off our house, and when E woke up we put on her pirate hat (I made hers) and we unrolled her map.

 

We followed the directions to her treasure, which happened to be a copy of Veggie Tales: The Pirates who Don’t Do Anything.

           

Based on photographic evidence I think its safe to say it kept her attention! 

As a family we also snacked on these cute pirate themed snacks that I found over at Little Page Turners.  All you need to put them together are some bananas, a couple of strawberries, some chocolate chips and some cookie icing.  Easy peasy and super cute, (tasty, too!)

If you would like to have your own pirate fun, and you aren’t too crafty, you can download this pirate hat template and let the kiddos make their own before you watch your movie as a family!  

Have a great family night!

Family Theme Night- Baseball

Take me out to the ballgame!  Woo Hoo! I don’t know about you, but baseball is one of my favorite sports.  I played it (well softball too) all the way through high school. 

Below you will find a list of suggestions and choices to create your own unique Family Theme Night.  Pick and choose as you please…remember this isn’t about all the stuff it is about spending time with your family. 

Meal: (Dinner, Desert or Both!)

• Concession stand favorites (hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, cracker jacks etc.) 
• Tiny Prints has an assortment of suggestions for Baseball Party Snacks, Desserts & More.

Activity/Game:

• Baseball Game- If you’re lucky enough to have a baseball team (college, minor league, little league, major league) then get out and enjoy the spring weather by taking in a game.

• Play Catch- Get outside and throw a baseball around or just practice hitting a few off a T.  

Watch a Movie:

 

Have a great time enjoying your family and making new memories.

Remember: These movies are merely suggestions and you should read and consider reviews of these movies before watching them.

Family Theme Night- Basketball

Now that the field is set and the danced cards are punched, it is time to make March Madness a family affair!  Yes, that is right it is time for a Basketball family theme night.  Can I hear your cheer?

Dribble it (clap, clap)
Pass it (clap, clap)
We made a basket! (clap, clap)

Below you will find a list of suggestions and choices to create your own unique Family Theme Night.  Pick and choose as you please…remember this isn’t about all the stuff it is about spending time with your family. 

Meal: (Dinner, Desert or Both!)

• Concession stand favorites (hot dogs, nachos, hamburgers, etc.)
  
• Basketball Cupcakes from Family Fun- You’ll probably want to make these ahead of time, but wouldn’t your kiddos love them.  Of course to make life easier all you need is sugar cookies and orange frosty.

Activity/Game:

• Basketball Drills- Get outside or head to an indoor basketball court.  Take some time to teach your kiddo some of your dribbling moves! 
• Basketball Game- Watching basketball on TV can be fun too.  Make sure to support your favorite college team by dressing in team colors or logo wear.
• Indoor Basketball- Place a wastebasket on the floor and use masking tape to mark distances from the basket. Get the kids to toss in balls made with scrunched up newspapers. See who can get the ball in from the furthest distance away. 

 

Craft:

I couldn’t find a lot of fun craft ideas. So, if you have any basketball crafts that you’d recommend please share in the comments!

Read a Book or Watch a Movie:

Have a great time enjoying your family and making new memories.

Remember: These movies are merely suggestions and you should read and consider reviews of these movies before watching them.

Family Theme Night- St. Patrick’s Day

We have been distracted with family happenings, so I haven’t been able to gather a variety of ideas for you, but below you will see our St. Patrick’s Day Family Theme Night from last year.  Hopefully, it will spark some ideas for you. 

Game: Pot of Gold Hunt.  For this activity we purchased the chocolate coins and “hid” them around the house.  I use the term hid loosely because in reality they were just lying around.  We did hide a small “pot” with lots of coins.

Art-n-Craft: M&M Rainbow (found my inspiration here). First we sorted out the colors then Lil’man glued them on to the corresponding color in the rainbow.

Music & Dance:  Irish Jig!  After striking it rich, we had to celebrate by doing an Irish Jig.  So, we popped in some Celtic music and got jiggy with it.
Food: Mint Chip Ice Cream. I am not a big fan of some of the Irish main dishes, so we settled for something green for dessert!
For Fun: To end the evening we enjoyed a green bubble bath.  (Not the best picture, but you get the idea. 

 

Valentine’s Ideas!

Here are some ideas that may help you put together a night for your family to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Some of them we used last year, and others are some favorites from the web.  We hope they spark your imagination!

 Arts and Crafts Ideas:
I used tempera paint and water to make these heart ice paints last year with E.  As the  ice melts it paints on the paper.  It was a cold activity, but the result was really fantastic.  I seriously kept this and want to frame it.  It turned out great.  You could do one sheet, cut it into hearts, and send it to grandparents as a long distance Valentine!

Last year Madonna also made some fantastic Valentines with Lil’Man. She used tissue paper and some glue applied with a paint brush, which helped keep the glue layer thin and worked on fine motor skills.  She let him make this for his daddy, and I’m sure that your kiddos would love to make one for someone special, too. 

Learning Ideas:
You’ve probably been scouring the dollar spot at Target for a while now.  You can put those heart shapes you found to good use!  Let your kiddo make some patterns, or you can let them sort the hearts by color.

  

You could also use the holiday as an excuse for a tea party.  We use tea parties in our house as a way to work on manners and practice service.

 

 

Snack Ideas:

Cookie Lollies: Grab a pack of the break and bake sugar cookies and a tub of  icing.  Take the sugar cookies and lay them out on your cookie sheet.  Before putting them in the oven, insert a popsicle stick into each cookie.  Bake as directed.  When they come out of the oven let them cool and then decorate with the icing and candy sprinkles.  Its just a spin on a fun treat!  This treat is from Pillsbury.com.

  Twinkie Sushi: Ok, I admit it.  We like sushi in this house.  You can make this Twinkie sushi by cutting a Twinkie in 1-inch pieces and wrapping it in a fruit roll-up cut to the same width.  You can put a Valentine spin on this snack by using red fruit roll-ups instead of green, and filling the middle with some Valentine candy.  Its sushi your kiddo will probably try!  You can find more Twinkie recipes on the Hostess website. 

Have a great Valentines Family Night! 

Theme Night-People Who Keep us Healthy!

Ok, I ain’t gonna lie.  This is a HARD thing to do a theme night on.  That, dear mommies, is why we are here.  We aim to please!  Our theme night had two stations, one for the doctor and the other for the dentist.   

Our Living room was the “doctor’s office” and we played this Doctor Game.  Here is what you need:

• Download and print off these kiddos and the color dice.  Laminate them if you think you might use them again!! 

            

• Mommy, Daddy, and the kiddos each take a “patient”. 
• In the middle of the table, put a pile of band-aids. 
• Each person rolls the color dice.  You have to match the color on the dice to one of your patients “boo-boos”.  If you have a “boo boo” that matches the color rolled, you take a band-aid and cover one of your patients “boo-boos”.  If you don’t have that color anymore than the next person takes their turn.
• The first person to cover all of their patients “boo-boos” wins!  

I will tell you that E loved playing with band-aids.  Like most kids, she is a sucker for band-aids, so this was a fun game!

Our kitchen was our “dentist’s office” and we made a dentist snack.  I don’t think that a dentist would really recommend this snack, but it turned out cute.  You’ll need:

• an apple
• some mini marshmallows
• some peanut butter

Directions: Cut the apple into slices.  Spread some peanut butter on two slices of the apple.  Put the mini marshmallows between the two slices and make a “mouth”.  You then get to eat this weird little combo, which E enjoyed!

Here are a couple more ideas you might want to try!

• Cut a large tooth shape out of a yellow piece of construction paper.  Using an old toothbrush and some white paint, let your child “brush” on the white paint to make it clean.  (no pics available, but the idea comes from childfun.com)
• Give your child a couple of chocolate cookies (like Oreo’s) and then let them look at their teeth.  Talk about how some foods stick to your teeth more than others, especially sweet and sticky foods, which is why we need to make sure and brush our teeth each night.  (This idea was also on childfun.com)

If you have any ideas that you would be willing to share with the rest of us, please do in the comments!  We would love to know what you all do on your family nights!

Questions?  Post questions or comments on our Facebook Page.  You may have the same question as someone else.  If you don’t have a Facebook account, feel free to email us.

Family Theme Night- Winter

I had a really great intro, but that was before Windows Live Writer crashed and took my whole post with it.  So, since I don’t remember what I wrote let’s just get right down to all the great ideas I found on the world wide web.

Below you will find a list of suggestions and choices to create your own unique Family Theme Night.  Pick and choose as you please…remember this isn’t about all the stuff it is about spending time with your family. 

Meal: (Dinner, Desert or Both!)

Make your family’s favorite soup.  We love Betty Crocker’s Slow Cooker Meatball Stone Soup.

Make hot chocolate and add your favorite toppings- marshmallows, peppermint candy cane, cinnamon, or whip cream.

 

Activities/Games:

Indoor Ice Skating- Frugal Family Fun Blog brought ice skating indoors by attaching a little wax paper to her kiddos feet.  This activity is sure to wear out your kiddos.

Play in the Snow- Get outside and have fun in the snow.  Pull out all the stops by creating snow angels, building snowmen and having a good old fashion snowball fight.  This is also a great time to talk about articles of winter clothing.

 

Homemade Hockey Table- Another great and inexpensive activity from Frugal Family Fun Blog.  With a little bit or prep work, your family will be entertained for hours!

Indoor Snowball Fight- Crumple up some white scratch paper and then take aim.  Your kids will love this activity.

 

Crafts:

Craft Stick Snowflake from Preschool Rock- Bring the snow inside by creating your very own unique snowflakes.

Snowy Handprint Tree from Kaboose- All you need is 3 things to create this wintery scene- brown paint, construction paper and sugar.

 

Design Mittens from All Kids Network- Not only is this craft simple to do, but you can teach your child symmetry as well!

 

 

Watch a Movie:

 

Have a great time enjoying your family and making new memories.

Remember: These movies are merely suggestions and you should read and consider reviews of these movies before watching them.