This activity in ‘Have Fun with Your Kids’ by Marilee LeBon reminded me of the several times we made these, except we pretended they were guitars.
How To Make a Homemade Banjo
You will need;
A Paper-Towel Tube
A Tissue Box (one of the rectangular ones)
Three Rubber Bands
Paint or other materials for decoration
1. Staple the paper towel tube to the back of the tissue box lengthways.
2. Cut three notches on each end of the tube. Stretch the rubber bands from one end of the tube to the other and let them rest in the notches.
3. Paint/decorate your banjo.
Hunt For Treasure
Party games as kids get older get a little more difficult. Here are three ideas for a pirate-themed party, although they can be easily adjusted for other themes. The first idea is probably better for younger children, perhaps aged 3-5, the second is most suitable for ages 5-8, and the third for kids 8 and upwards.
Sand-pit Style
Cut out prize discs from cardboard, paint and number them. Have each winning token correspond to a prize. Bury the ‘treasure’ in a large sandpit and send your mini pirates to work.
Scavenger Style
Hide chocolate gold coins around the house or garden. Have some gold coins marked out for a prize, the rest can be eaten. Let your medium sized pirates scavenge for treasure.
Treasure Hunt Style
Write clues to lead your pirates to each destination where they will find a penny. Pennies can be cashed in at the end for prizes. This style works well for teams.
More Pirate Stuff
Pirate Party Goods via Design Mom
Pirate Party Favor Kit via Amazon
Pirate Party Cookie Cutters via Amazon
Photo by flickr user Muffet
Heads ‘n’ Volleys is a football game, or soccer to my American readers.
Heads ‘n’ Volleys requires 3 people or more. One goal, which can be mocked up with jackets or trees as goal posts. One football.
One person is elected as goalkeeper, and the rest of the players play with each other. The aim of the game is to score a goal by heading it into the goal or volleying it. A volley is when a player passes the ball through the air to another player, and that player makes contact with the ball before it touches the ground. To make the game a little easier we would include half-volleys whereby the ball may bounce once before contact is made.
This game is more for fun, you can keep goal score but the real aim is to help other players (and for them to help you) make amazing pele-esque goals. Running around, celebrating the goal in star footballer fashion is mandatory!
Photo by flickr user fabbio
What makes her happy and how to go after those things…
The most important thing in life is to be happy, we spend quite a few years here (on earth) and I want Erin to be as happy as possible for as much of that time as possible. My next two things should help, along with teaching her how to look after herself well, what it means to be in a fulfilling relationship and the importance of family and friendship.
A parent/s that can offer a sound and safe base from which their children can explore is offering a very special thing. Being able to live life knowing that if something goes wrong that sound and safe base will still be there is very reassuring.
The value of money and how to manage it…
In my opinion financial stress is one of the worst types of stress I know. I want to teach Erin the value of money early on, the value of spending it and the value of saving/investing it. How to earn money, and how to live within your means will also be high up on the agenda.
Learning doesn’t have to end when school does…
Finally, like the value of money I’d like to teach Erin the value of lifelong learning. Continuing to learn and not being afraid to go back to education or retrain will be a valuable skill when Erin is older, with an everchanging workforce, flexibility and a plethora of skills are surely high on any employer’s wish list. Of course, I will also be showing Erin that you do not need to work for someonelse and it is equally viable to start your own business or income streams.
What would you like your child to learn before 18?
Mammablogga Group Writing Project
This quick activity idea comes from ‘Have Fun with Your Kids’ by Marilee LeBon.
You will need;
Marbles
Shoe Box
Markers (I heart sharpies)
1. Take your shoe box, and, on one of the longer sides cut out five doors of differing sizes.
2. Above each door give a points value, the smaller the door the higher the points value should be.
Playing the Game
1. Youngest player goes first (because that’s always what happens, right, pfff I was the eldest, not bitter….much)
2. Players take turns to roll a marble through the door, if a marble goes through the points value for that door is awarded.
3. Highest score wins (because it’s ok to have a winner !)
Photo by flickr user van Ort
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You will need;
Pencil/Pen
Paper
1. Draw a scribble onto paper. Get your partner to make a drawing out of that scribble, it could be an animal, a mode of transport, an object. Take turns of being the scribbler and then the drawer. Alternatively the parent makes the scribbles, and the kids spend hours doing the drawings (hours is perhaps wishful thinking!)
Photo by flickr user prettywar-stl
Torrential rain has seen our roof leak….again. Not to worry it’s fixed now. I hope.
I’ve also handed my notice into my part time work at home job, it was proving a little too much to work around with Erin so I think I’m going to get a weekend job instead.
The Carnival of Family Life is online at Everyday Disasters.
I’m really enjoying the Blog Mastermind programme it’s providing me with lots of new ideas for littlemummy.com. In fact I’ve listened to about six hours of audio over the weekend, it’s like a good book you can’t put down!
Alex and I went out to a pub for a bite to eat on Wednesday night, which just so happened to be quiz night, the £1 entry fee included a raffle ticket. And guess what!! Little us, who never win anything, won a bottle of fizzy wine masquerading as champagne yippee. We gave it to our babysitter (Granny) and told her that we’d bought a special gift for her efforts. Haha, needless to say she didn’t believe us, so the truth was outed but the thought still counted.
Tip for other mums to try – Pesto. Yes, that herby, nutty, oily, parmesany stuff is going down a TREAT in the Douglas household. So far, successful dishes have included pesto linguine with toasted pine nuts, red onion and extra parmesan and pesto rice which had leftover sweetcorn, baby tomatoes and spring onions through it. It would seem that the most unusual combinations can be a real hit. I’m not complaining though, there was like, three vegetables and about the same amount of food groups in that dish, it’s got to be better than bread (which is Erin’s favourite, brown, white, cranberry, naan, garlic, they all have a special place in Erin’s diet) I don’t think she’s going to be a low-carber when she grows up anyway!
We took Erin for her first visit to the library earlier in the week. She really enjoyed it. There was an area with soft flooring, toddler books, plus some toys and even a kitchen. I thought of several reasons why the library would be a regular visit for us.
Free Books
Toddler books are so short it’s easy to become bored with them, with the libraries seemingly endless supply it will be a nice change from what we have at home.
Interaction
Erin ended up chatting and playing alongside another little girl, it was nice for her as she is an only child and any extra kid interaction she gets is gratefully received.
Community Hub
I found out from the message board that there was a playgroup Erin will be old enough for come February next year which would give us somethingelse to do and another chance to meet other children.
Readings
There was another notice advertising a monthly story reading, Erin would love this, and of course there is the added advantage that it’s free.
I spent about two years when I was younger living with my Nan, one activity I really enjoyed at that age (11/12) was cooking. We would make bolognese, curry, onion bhaji’s, sausage roll, vol-a-vents, cakes etc….
When I moved back to my mum’s my brother and I would play ‘ready, steady, cook’, this game was based on a popular cookery programme (UK readers will know what I’m talking about). We would find a range of ingredients and have a cook-off to see who would come up with the best recipe.
This summer why not buy some fresh produce, or better still, take your children to a farmers market with a budget, let them choose the ingredients and provide the family meal. You could even have a vote to see who’s dish was the best – because competition is ok!
The winner could receive a special prize, perhaps a super-indulgent desert??
Photo by flickr user avlxyz
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Activities
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activity, banjo, craft 
I've been blogging for four years and write about anything and everything that takes my fancy.
Above is me with my beloved Ernie in Port Aventura and left with our love child in Florida.
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