Articles Archive for June 2007
Activities »
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 …
Activities »
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 …
Activities »
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 …
Parenting »
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 …
Activities »
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 …
Activities »
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
In the News »
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 …
In the News »
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 …
Parenting »
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 …
Activities »
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 …












