“May I have an ice lolly?” “Shall we take the lift or the stairs?” “Run along and find your blue trousers, lad.” Taking a pretend trip to England for the evening may be just what your family needs to brighten eyes and put smiles on faces. You can make it as simple as watching an […]
Meet Mozart
How can we expect our children to learn to love great music if we never introduce it? Here is a quick way to give your kids a splash of knowledge about Mozart and to give them a glimpse of the world’s more refined things: Meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart = Put a picture of Mozart on […]
Innovative Thinking Prompts
Sometimes it is fun to mix up the usual routine a bit and add something different. A question to promote innovative thinking may be what is needed to set a child’s imagination running. What if we didn’t have a cup or a water bottle? Idea #1: Instead of setting the table with a cup put […]
Learning Based Dinner Activity
Who’s Invited to Dinner? –a learning based dinner activity Dinner time is a family time. Talking around the table is instrumental in building relationships. Occasionally, it is fun to feed their minds and not just fill their bellies at the event. A five minute “splash” of knowledge about a person in history sparks questions and […]
Not Your Ordinary Fortune Cookies
Well, these aren’t the usual fortune cookies, but they cause chuckles at our house! We bake fortunes into some of our favorite cookies. The recipe I used in the pictures is Chewy Low Fat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies—of course, any one that knows me can be assured I used ½ cup chocolate chips instead of […]
Let’s Take a Pretend Trip to Italy
When are we going to Italy? It has been said that all roads lead to Rome. Let’s go! A pretend visit to Italy can be a magical night. Here is an outline of how to make it happen. Food ideas: Spaghetti Pizza – tradition states that the first pizza was made by a […]
Traveling the World at Home
Traveling is very expensive…but fun doesn’t have to be. We love to pretend to visit the countries of the world. Some of our most fond family memories have happened on those nights! Here is how we make the event happen: Decide where you want to visit. Check out simple books from the library or look […]
Silverware Swap!
Make dinner special and even a bit funny just by changing the place setting…here is how it works: Make dinner as usual except don’t put the utensils on the table. Get a box or a bin and fill it with all sorts of spoons, spatulas, measuring spoons, ice cream scoops ladles, tongs, etc. Let each […]
Ex-STRAW-ordinary Dinner
Would you like to add a little fun to dinner time? Try this ex-straw-ordinary idea. Since anticipating an event is half the fun, begin by posting an invitation sign on the table at breakfast that says: “Join Us for an Ex-STRAW-Ordinary Dinner Tonight at 6:00 pm” At dinner that night, sit down together. Have […]