Author Archives: Michelle

About Michelle

Michelle has been the author of Fun on a Dime for two years. Through this creative blog Michelle encourages families to discover that fun does not have to cost a lot or be very complicated. Michelle received a degree in Recreation Management, which sparked her interest in finding ways to incorporate fun and learning into her own family’s life every day. She has two children, ages four and five, and loves experiencing the world through their eyes. Her motto: After years have gone by, the time you have spent playing with your family will be one of the things you will never regret.

Bubble Themed Day

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Bubble Paint

The weather is warming up and I am ready to have a little fun. I find myself scheming and planning our summer schedule already and have decided I just can not wait! So, we are going to celebrate our nice weather with some bubble fun and turned it into a Bubble Themed Day with a few activities and some great books.

Bubble Activities

Basic Bubble Fun

I don’t think I have ever met a child who does not enjoy bubbles, so keep it simple. Go outside and blow bubbles. Let them pop them, count them, step on them or anything else you can think of. I can still send my kiddos outside and they will keep blowing and playing with the bubbles as long as they have bubble solution available.

Advanced Bubble Fun

Have a little science fun by adding different objects with holes to a shallow dish of bubbles and see what happens. For older children, have them search for items on their own and see what they come up with. You can use string, plastic lids with holes cut into it, use your finger and thumb in a circle (the O.K. sign) or anything else you can think of. My personal favorite is a slightly open fist and if I immerse my hand in bubbles, I can blow bubbles out the other end of my hand.

Bubble Art

Create bubble paint by adding water, tempera paint and a couple squirts of dish soap to a pie tin or cup.  Take a straw and blow into the mixture to create bubbles. Then take a sheet of paper and touch it to the top of the bubbles to create a fun design. (Bubble paint = About 1/2-1 cup water, 1-2 T of paint per couple squirts of dish soap…not an exact science.)

Bubble Bath 

An easy activity to do to end a Bubble Themed Day is to have a bubble bath, of course! My kiddos are always excited for a good bubble bath!

Bubble Books

And you can not have a Bubble Themed Day without some good bubble books. We went to our local library to see what kind of bubble books they have and found a couple fun ones. What will you find? Tip: When searching for books using their catalog, use “bubble” instead of “bubbles”. We did not find any children’s books with “bubbles”, but had plenty of options without the “s”.

 

6 Ways to Celebrate World Creativity and Innovation Week {April 15-21}

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April 15-2, 2013

Have you heard about World Creativity and Innovation Week? Me either…that is until recently. I am always up for learning and doing something new and so I just had to find out what this was all about. It is a new event started in 2002 and according to the site dedicated to this week:

“It’s about spreading the word about how you and others are using their creativity – new ideas, new decisions, new actions – to make the world a better place and to make your place in the world better too.”

What a fun concept! What are you going to do? Here are six ideas to help get you thinking of something fun and creative you can do with your children:

Use your imagination

Where do your kiddos want to go? What would it be like? Put on costumes and pretend to go there. For instance, my children decided to visit the moon once. We made space helmets out of tinfoil and they created a rocket out of chairs. They had quite the adventure!

Get Messy

Experiment with your hands and get messy. Make homemade play-dough. Paint with finger-paint or pudding. Play in the mud. Some of the most creative time my kiddos have spent outside usually has to do with water and dirt. They make rivers, cities, and dams. Boy, do they come inside a mess, but they love it!

Eat Something New or Different

Create your own meal or make something new. Eat dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner. Trying something new to challenge your taste buds is always a fun experience.

Build Something

Try building using something new or different like marshmallows and toothpicks, sugar cubes, whatever is in your recycling bin (that could be fun!), refrigerator boxes, or keep it simple with something you already have on hand, like building blocks. I am always amazed at what my children can come up with when I pull out a box of blocks. All it takes is someone to egg on a “let’s see who can make the tallest tower” type of competition and they are off. Soon they are building cities, farms, bridges and more.

Visit an Art Exhibit or Museum

Experience creativity and innovation by visiting a local art exhibit or museum. In our case, we we have a Children’s Museum near us that encourages creativity and experimenting with simple art and science. It is a great way to get my kiddos thinking about how things work or try different types of art.

Solve a Problem

Ask your children for help with a household problem and see if they can help solve it. Try to implement the idea. This one kind of sounds scary to me, but I have been surprised with some of the ideas my kiddos have come up with before and maybe it will be one of these times!

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have fun and no matter what you do be creative!

 

5 Ways To De-stress With Children – Stress Awareness Month

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Stress Awareness Month

 

With life’s busy schedule it can be easy to forget the stress we put on ourselves and our children. In my own family, I know it can get pretty stressful to just get out of the house sometimes! With April being Stress Awareness Month I thought it would be fun to list some fun ways to de-stress for yourself and your children.

Yoga

My kiddos love to do yoga. I will admit, the first few times we only get to do 2-5 minutes of it or they may complain the whole time, but their endurance is increasing. I now have one child who asks for it all the time. She loves it and thus her brother tries to jump in and do it, too.

There are a bunch of resources available to help you teach the different poses, but I recently found a couple short, free videos via Hulu with a focus on children: AM Yoga for Kids and PM Yoga for Kids. You can also check out your local library for some books that may help demonstrate the different poses. The best experiences we have had are with books and videos that incorporate an animal or a story into the yoga pose/workout. For example, I found this book at our local library:

“You are a LION!: and other fun yoga poses”, by Taeeun Yoo

Coloring

Coloring is not just for fun but can be very relaxing, too (even for parents). It forces you to sit down and slow down. My children are tickled pink when I can color with them!

Singing

Oh, the magic of music! It can cause many emotions and can also relieve stress. Singing is definitely something that helps me de-stress. We have been experiencing some grumpy and stressed out kids in our carpool on the way home, so, I have incorporated the “Singing Rule” for these moments. If we want to say something, we have to sing it! It is amazing to see how quickly a change in mood can occur and soon we are all giggling.

Naps

Who doesn’t love a good nap? Probably a kiddo who really needs it! In our neck of the woods we call them “rests”. I try to teach my children that it is okay to take a nap when we are having a rough day. I’ll admit that most of the time a rest is the perfect answer for a stressed out child.

Play Dough and/or Rice Play

Get out your favorite play dough recipe and make some homemade play dough. Let your children beat, squish, and shape the dough all while getting out their stress in a healthy manner. Rice Play is similar to Play Dough. We usually used a 10 lb bag of rice and poured it into a large square container to allow the children plenty of space to dump, pour and bury. Rice Play is also a very calming activity.

 

Stress is always going to be a part of our lives, but that does not mean we have to keep it around. Take notice of it and do something fun to de-stress with your family!

*Image courtesy of Phaitoon (coloring photo) and Stuart Miles (play dough photo) / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Go Fish with a Math Twist

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Each year my son’s school throws together a night to celebrate math and play games. We always come home with a new handful of games that we love to play and that encourage him to practice math. The added perk is that his little sister gets a lesson in math, too, as she tries to join us in all the games. A game we have been playing recently is a version of Go Fish with a math twist.

What You Will Need:

  • Deck of cards with numbers (UNO, Phase 10, Regular face cards – remove any cards with letters because that may get a little confusing)
  • At least 2 players that know their numbers 1-10

Directions:

Go Fish

To be able to play this version of Go Fish you must know how to play Go Fish itself first. I would hate to assume everyone knows how to play and leave them hanging. So if you already know how to play, skip to the next section below. 

Object: Collect pairs of matching cards (two 4′s, two 9′s, etc. Having two spades or the same of any other character does not count. For this game the numbers matter)

How To Play Go Fish: Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are place in the middle face down for a draw pile. Each player takes a turn asking one other player for a card/number they currently have in their own hand. (The goal is to get matches, so if you have a 4 in your hand, you would ask one of your opponents, “Do you have a 4?”). If the player asked has the card, they must hand it over. If they do not have it, they respond “Go Fish” and the player who asked for the card must pick from the draw pile and their turn is over. Continue play until all matches are made. Common instructions say that a turn keeps going if a match is received, but for my sanity match or no match it is the next player’s turn.

Go Fish With a Math Twist

Object: Collect pairs pairs that differ by a certain number (i.e. if you choose that they differ by one, then a 2 and a 3 are now a match because 2+1=3).

How To Play Go Fish With a Math Twist: Choose what number you want your pairs to differ by. Follow the directions above for Go Fish except instead of each player asking their opponent for a card that matches one that is currently in their hand, they will ask for one that differs by the selected number (i.e. same as above: if you choose that they differ by one, then a 2 and a 3 are now a match because 2+1=3). Keep going until no more pairs can be made.Go Fish with a Math Twist

This is a great way to practice math and have some fun together. As I mentioned above, my soon to be Kindergartner loves to join in with her big brother and although she needs to ask for help, she catches on pretty quick. We have been practicing plus 1′s for now because she is playing with us, but as we get more comfortable or if it is just me and my son, we can start doing subtraction only or numbers differing by 3 (just for example). The sky is the limit on the amount of variations you can have with this fun and simple game.

A Family Challenge – Reading Together

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Family Reading

When my son was in preschool we discovered he had a love for these short chapter Scooby Doo Books. We could rarely get him to sit down for a simple book, but if we pulled out one of these Scooby Doo Books, he would sit for 10 minutes or more. It surprised us mainly because these books had very few pictures in them to hold his attention. Since then, we have had our own personal Family Challenge to read chapter books as a family. We try to aim for books they cannot read on their own and usually read a chapter or two each night. My children look forward to this time!

We have recently been reading the Percy Jackson series and the kiddos love it. I am constantly amazed at what they remember from previous chapters. Plus, it is so much fun to bring a feeling of adventure and excitement into our night time routine. It is better than watching a movie because we can drag on these feelings every night. And it is so much fun to have my children beg me to read one more chapter even though the one we just read is sixteen pages!

Another thing that has been helping our Family Challenge is if we choose a book every now and then that was made into a movie. Then we have some incentive to get through the book so we can watch the movie. That is all it took to help us get through the Percy Jackson book and now my children are hooked and have read through book four of the series with me. They have been begging for a second Percy Jackson movie and we are excited to find out that there are plans to release one later this year.

If you do pick a book that was made into a movie and watch the movie after, make sure you take the opportunity to talk about the differences between the book and the movie. It was fun to see what my children noticed. They caught details that I missed completely!

Other books that I am hoping to read to my children in the future are “Charlotte’s Web”, “How To Train Your Dragon”, “Ella Enchanted”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Eragon”, “Escape to Witch Mountain”, “The Night at the Museum” and more from the Nancy Drew series just to name a few. I am hoping to stay with the books/series, for the next few years, that have at least one movie just to motivate my children through the first book. Our reading together as a family has turned into a very special time for us and am so grateful for it.

If you have taken on your own Family Challenge to read together, what books have your family enjoyed?

Top photo courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Celebrate National Puzzle Day

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National Puzzle Day Activities

Break out those puzzles. It is time for some fun because this coming Tuesday, January 29th is National Puzzle Day!

There are many different types of puzzles: basic board puzzles, crossword puzzles, sudoku, and logic puzzles (my personal favorite in elementary school) just to name a few. Puzzles are a great way to help improve problem solving skills, eye hand coordination, and if doing them with another person, a great way to improve communication skills as your child has to describe what they are looking for to the other person they are working with. From my own observations, I love how board puzzles help teach my children how to focus, how to follow through and the joy of accomplishment when they stick with it and finish the puzzle.

Here is one fun puzzle activity that I have done with my children:

Create Your Own Puzzle

Help your children create their own puzzle using a picture you already have or a picture they have drawn/colored and cut it into a puzzle.

Step 1: Do a quick google search for “puzzle printable”. You will find a variety of blank puzzles. Pick the one with the desired amount of pieces and print it out. The more pieces there are the more difficult the puzzle.

Step 2: Either print out another picture for your children to color on the back of the puzzle you just printed or allow your children to create their own picture. Again, there are a ton of fun free coloring sheets that you can find with a quick search.

Step 3: Once the coloring is completed. Take a picture (optional) of the completed picture just in case you need a reference later. Then cut the picture into a puzzle using your template.

Step 4: Have your child recreate their picture. You can always save the puzzle to do again another day.

My children love this because it is something they have made themselves, but you can of course use any photo, not something they colored, to also make this puzzle.

Other fun activities:

Checkout Your Local Library

Make sure to checkout your local library, because they normally have a fun activity planned for National Puzzle Day. I know from my library’s website that they are trying to see how many pieces they can put together of a really large puzzle in one day.

Popsicle Stick Puzzle

Print your favorite picture or color your own design and make this fun Popsicle Stick Puzzle from Impress Your Kids. A fun alternative to your basic puzzle.

Block Puzzle

Make a personal Block Puzzle, like the one above from The Idea Room, using some blocks and family photos. I know my kiddos would love this, although it may be a little too hard if you use photos with the same coloring.

Happy Puzzle Day!

 

Top photo image courtesy of Janaka Dharmasena / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Encourage Reading and Writing with a Family Mailbox for Valentines

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Who doesn’t love to get mail? I know my kiddos love it! Since both my older children are getting excited about learning how to write and read, I thought it would be fun to incorporate their current desire of writing into a fun family Valentine’s Day craft by making a family Valentines mailbox. With our mailbox, we are not only encouraging writing but reading too! When we are all done, we are going to tape our homemade Valentine cards on the walls for us to read all month long.

What You Need:

  • A mailbox – a decorated box of some sort (i.e. cereal box, mailing box, brown paper bag, etc.)
  • Paper cut into hearts or other shapes to write on
  • Pens, pencils, crayons
Step 1: Create a mailbox out of supplies you already have on hand. We made ours out of a leftover box from Christmas and decorated it with the white side of some Christmas wrapping paper. It is simple, but the kids are loving it! We are still in the process of decorating it, and I am pretty sure it will be something my children will be adding stickers and hearts to all month.
There really is no wrong way to make your family mailbox, but here are some other ideas to get your children thinking:

Valentine Mailbox Craft made from a cereal box:

 

Lego Style Mailbox from The Pretty Poppy.

 

A mailbox made from a cereal box like this Cheerios Valentines Day Mailbox that was shared on the Cheerios Facebook page.

 

Step 2: Decide what you are going to use your mailbox for. Some ideas are:

  • Write notes/hearts with nice things about each family member and designate a “Mailman” to deliver them every couple of days
  • Do acts of secret love service for other individuals in your family and write down what you did in the mailbox.
  • Designate one person each day to read aloud what is put in the box and then display  your Valentine’s around the house.
  • Can’t forget the obvious: Make Valentine’s cards for each other
Step 3: Start writing! Once we decided how we were going to use our family mailbox for, my kiddos went crazy with wanting to write on their hearts and other shapes they made to go in the box for other family members.
I am so excited that they are excited to write more. Both are going to need help, one more than the other, but I am more than happy to help! For my older child, he is able to practice sounding out words and figuring out how they are spelled. For my younger child, I am writing out what she wants to say and then she is able to practice her letter writing. Best of all, every few days we are going to tape up our Valentine’s on the back of the front door so we can constantly see and read what other’s have written.

 

ENJOY!!!

 

Top image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

7 Easy Learning Activities for Bedtime Routines

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Learn before Bed

Bedtime routines are a great time to squeeze in a little learning. Here are 7 easy learning activities you can use with your own child:

Reading

There is nothing like reading a good book before bedtime. Making reading part of your bedtime routine can be a great way to settle the house down for the evening and have some special time together.

Counting

Most kindergarten children now are required to count to 100 before the end of the school year. Counting before bed is a great excuse to get a little practice in. You can use fingers and toes, toys, squares on a blanket, etc. Counting fingers and toes always seemed to motivate my son when he was practicing, especially if I let him use other family members, too. It was a great way to get us all involved and it got his younger sister interested in counting, too.

Sight Words

Create flash cards and practice sight words for a few minutes as your child is laying in bed. Sight word practice is sometimes a little rough for my child during the day, but I tend to get a willing subject for a few minutes just before I turn the lights out. You can use this

reading skills list
to get some ideas of sight words/”power words” to use for your cards.

Journal Writing

Writing in a journal is a great bedtime routine to not only capture memories from the day and/or week, but encourage your child to practice writing. Thanks to my own smart mom I have some now very cherished journal entries from when I was young. When I was four years old, she would ask me what I wanted to say about my day and would write a few sentences for me. With your own child, as they get more confident in writing, you can assist them in their own journal writing and even let them draw a picture. You can also use this journal writing idea jar to help give you some writing ideas.

Math Problems

Practice a few math problems before bedtime. Addition, subtraction and word problems are great options. I have discovered my son loves math, and he has surprised me with what he can answer. His little sister will even ask for her turn and use her fingers to help figure out the answers.

I spy

Make learning a game and play a little I Spy for a few minutes before bedtime. You can practice shapes, colors, words starting with certain letters or sounds, etc.

Building

I have discovered a little quiet playing before bedtime helps my children wind down for the evening and then they willingly go to bed. Using alphabet blocks, building blocks or LEGOs you can practice colors, create shapes, make letters and practice reading words.

Top Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Family Mottos for the New Year

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Family Mottos

I have New Year’s on the brain and have been thinking a lot about family mottos. Do you have a word or phrase that works a kind of “magic” in your home? Where all you have to do is say it or remind your children of it and POOF you can see a quick change in moods and/or behavior? Every family has a phrase they use to motivate whether they realize it or not. Thinking over the last year, I have discovered that we do. We actually have a few we use often! My favorite phrase is simple. It is:

I can do hard things

I l.o.v.e. the power that this little sentence has on my children. Whenever my children start to get frustrated about something they are trying to accomplish, I will ask them, “What does Mommy tell you?” And they will repeat, sometimes with some sass, “I can do hard things.” After a quick talk it does not take long before they have figured out a solution and are off to take care of it. This is a phrase we can use for millions of situations but I find I use it the most right now with my children when it comes to reading/writing, homework and chores. And do not think it is just for the kiddos either. I find that I use it often for myself, too. We all need a little motivation to clean up after our mini tornadoes or tackle our massive to do lists sometimes!

Other phrases that have been popular in our house over the last year are:

Just Try It

This phrase is also used to motivate with new activities or experiences. i.e. trying a new food, reading a new word, writing (not always loved here!), etc.

You Get What You Get and You Don’t Throw a Fit

Don’t you just love this one, too? Earlier this year, my son shared this phrase with his younger sister while playing with toys. A magical sentence his Kindergarten teacher started using in class. I loved that he understood it and it has melted many temper tantrums around here!

With the New Year coming, I would love to set a goal to have an official Family Motto. Since my family is young, I am sure it will change over time, but it would be nice to have a phrase that we can focus on together and will motivate us throughout the year.

What is your favorite family phrase or motto?

 

*Top Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5 Ways To Keep Christmas Simple With Young Children

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Let’s face it, some years we have the energy to do it all and some years the idea of the Christmas season overwhelms us. In our case, my children sound like they want to do it all BUT this poor mom is feeling something different. With the addition of our baby girl this past month, I am feeling the need to keep Christmas simple and just enjoy our little family. So, I have come up with a list of 5 ways to simplify the Christmas Season and some possible activity ideas for each.

1. Family Traditions

Make a list of traditions that you like to do each Christmas. If the list is a bit long, pick a few of the most important or the ones that are enjoyed the most to do this year.

Example of Activities:

In past years we have made an advent calendar with an activity to do each day. The activities could be super simple, but even setting up this calendar this year seems overwhelming. So, instead  I will fill the countdown bags with a goodie for each day (the kids love this) and pick 1 activity to do each weekend. Like, a favorite light display we like to go to or a Christmas concert as a family, etc.

2. Serving Others

As a family look for ways you can serve and help others outside of our family.

Example Idea:

This can be as easy as taking a plate of cookies to a neighbor or donating items to a needy cause. Pick something as a family and make sure everyone gets a chance to participate and get that “warm feeling” that comes from serving others.

3. Homemade Ornaments and Christmas Decor

This can be an ongoing activity throughout the month and my children love to make them. They even expect to see them when we pull out all the ornaments, even though, most of them are paper!

Example Idea:

Paper Gingerbread Men Ornaments made from card stock, hole punches, glue and ribbon. Or Homemade Snowflakes or Homemade Scented Holiday Decorations.

4. Thoughtful and Simple Homemade Gifts

I have learned that the gifts that my children make are the ones they are most excited to give others.

Example Idea:

Homemade notebooks: Stack a few sheets of colored and/or white paper together, fold in half and then staple them together creating a mini book. My young children love to make and give these, but they also love to receive them. My 3 year old made a few of these one year for her 5 year old brother and he took one to church every week to color in. He loved it!

Once you start thinking about it, it is easy to come up with more ideas, too.

5. Spend Time as a Family

I know this sounds silly to even list, but every year I find we are running around to do this and see that. Sometimes we just need a little reminder to stop and spend some time together without an agenda. Maybe this is just with your little family or maybe this is with your extended family.

Example Idea:

Have some hot chocolate and sit by the Christmas tree while listening to music.

OR

With go Christmas caroling to nearby neighbors. I will admit this is an activity with a slight agenda, but worked great to bring us together, especially for a larger family. We did this last year with all my extended family and had a blast. I am pretty sure hardly anyone in the neighborhood could hear us singing (we need to find a better way to amplify our voices), but none of us were complaining. It is the one time last year we all got together and was a very low stress activity.

5 ways to keep Christmas simple

 

Top photo courtesy of: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net