Tickets Please

Looking for a cheap idea to add to your pretend play? Buy a roll of tickets from the office store. We have had rolls of these in the house through the years and the kids love them. They create some lovely open ended creative play. Here is what my kids have used them for without any adult suggestions:

1.  Admission to dance shows they put on. 

2.  Admission to art museum they created. 

3.  Pretend money. 

4.  Tickets to use at homemade spa.

5.  Tickets to redeem for prizes at homemade carnival. 

6.  Homemade raffle type games or to pick names out of a hat. 

Great "toy" to add for imaginative play for various ages. 

Thanksgiving Challenge Game

Since we are not heading out for Thanksgiving dinner until later this year, I created a simple group game for us to play in the morning to help celebrate the day.  My family loves healthy competition where we team up against each other.  Sometimes it is a game of poker, a cook off or other simple challenges, so this is a just a twist with a Thanksgiving theme.  You can print this Thanksgiving game from GrowingPlay at http://www.growingplay.com/freethanksgiving.html

Tips for Supporting Risk Taking During Childhood

Do you allow your children to explore enough?  Risk taking is so important in childhood. This generation of children is so shielded from many risks that we were allowed to overcome as we grew up.  Taking a risk and achieving your goal provides a child with a strong sense of accomplishment.  Remember back to when you were young when you climbed a tall tree or rode your bicycle down a steep hill.  It feels exhilarating that you did it by yourself.  So next time your child is trying a new skill that might be a bit risky try some of the tips before you say "stop":

1. Observe the situation closely. See if they can do the task safely without you interfering. 
2. If you need to interfere to ensure safety can you offer verbal suggestions instead of physical prompts?  
3. It is the same theory when children are learning any new skill assist as little as possible. Even in situations where it may be easier for you to help in terms of speeding up the task or peace of mind. 
4. Can someone else supervise or be the teacher for the skill?  For example, my daughter loves to climb across the top of the swing set where there are ladder rungs. It makes me terribly nervous although she can do it. It challenges her balance and coordination. She has shown me she can do it but I truly can not watch. Which is not safe. My solution...  Daddy needs to be here. Dad is much better suited to watch her and cheer her on than I am in that situation. When it comes to riding a bike though I am much more patient than he is. I can repeat the skill over and over until she gets it right. Whereas after two trials he is done. Bottom line is sometimes your child will succeed better if someone else is the teacher.
5. Stop and make sure that you are not saying "no" due to your own fears.  I remember the first time I had my children go into a grocery store by themselves to buy a few items.  They were so excited to be allowed to do it on their own.  They did a great job and afterwards I wondered why had I waited so long to let them shop on their own?    I think I was 5-6 years old when I was allowed to go and buy candy by myself.  I think I said "no" to them shopping alone due to my own fears from things I have seen on the news of horrible things happening to children when alone.  We can not live in fear. 

What do you do to support risky exploration in your children? 

Foamy Soap Play

When I saw this activity at  http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/08/rainbow-soap-foam-bubbles-sensory-play.html?m=1. I knew it would be a hit. We have made foamy soap before but it was with shredded ivory soap. This recipe is much easier!  Just mix 2 tbsp Dawn dish detergent with 1/4 cup water. Turn on the mixer and whip it up. 

My little one adding the food coloring and  started mixing. She loved just stirring it up and spreading it all over her hands. She added some small toys to the mix to hide and find them. This was loads of fun and my three year old preferred it to shaving cream for sure. 

Outdoor Letter Match Up

My three year old loves to play this game outdoors matching up the letter cards to the sidewalk chalk letters. This is super simple and she repeats it over and over again. 

1.  Write a few letters on index cards. One letter per card. I only use four letters at a time right now to reinforce the letters. 

2.  Draw matching letters scattered all over the driveway using sidewalk chalk. 

3.  Place the index cards on an outdoor table. 

4.  Ask the child to pick an index card, find the sidewalk chalk letter that matches and put the card next to the big letter.  Ask your child to say the letter and the sound of the letter. 

5.  Head back to the table to get the next index card. Repeat finding each letter. 

Super simple, cheap, educational and encourages physical activity. 

Kid Made Grill Cheese Biscuits

The kids helped make some delicious "grilled" cheese biscuits. I found the idea on Pinterest from OhBiteIt blog. 

We modified the recipe though. She called for one stick of melted butter which was not needed (too many calories and too much grease for me). 

The kids basically made this entirely on their own. They opened the store bought biscuit dough, split each biscuit and then put 1-2" cubes of Velveeta cheese inside each biscuit forming it all into a ball. Into the 9" cake pan they went and we cooked them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

While the kids made those I made some homemade tomato soup. This was a super simple meal to make and a nice change from traditional grill cheeses. 

Ghost Hunters

Here is a simple ghost game using stuff from around the house. Make some tissue ghosts - three cotton balls under tissue, twist tie close and draw eyes and mouth. 

Hide the ghosts indoors or outdoors. On go see how quickly you can find them. We made two teams and whoever found three first was the winner.   The winner hid the ghosts for the next round. 

Simple game for a wide age range. We played with 3-9 year olds.  Also, a good short burst of much needed physical activity after a long school day. 

Have fun being a ghost hunter!