Tagged with 'Family Fun'

This pandemic has touched every corner of our lives, from work to school to home – and now it’s messing with some of our most favorite holidays! Since many cities across the country may not be allowing trick-or-treating, we’re sharing some spooky ideas (six to be exact) for celebrating Halloween at home. Whether you’re gathering your small, COVID-careful pod of people together to party in your backyard or keeping the fun to family only, check out these ghoulishly great activities and make this Halloween one to remember!1. Carve A Pumpkin (or just decorate it)!Nothing says Halloween quite like carving a pumpkin. Younger kids can paint a spooky face using non-toxic tempera or acrylic paint or try a totally awesome drip design using glow-in-the-dark paint!  Older kids and grown-ups can use stencils, cookie cutters, lemon zesters, and pumpkin carving knives to carefully carve their own creepy creations. Need some inspiration? Check out these ideas for no-carve pumpkins or carving pumpkins– extra points if your pumpkin is wearing a mask!2. Bake Some Scary Snacks!Your kids may not be bringing home pillowcases of candy, but you can still make the day super sweet with Halloween-themed nummies including voodoo doll cookies, cupcake witches, Halloween candy bark, and more! We especially love these simple chocolate chip spider cookies ???? For more fun, check out these delicious Halloween spooky snack ideas on our Pinterest board.Photo credit: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/3. Play Some Ghoulish Games!Have an in-home scavenger hunt (find free, printable clues on PlayPartyPlan.com!), set up your own spider-and-straw races, and make a Witch Pitch out of goodies from the Dollar Store, and get gaming! Find tons of great Halloween-themed games to make and play at home, on our Pinterest board.Photo credit: onecrazyhouse.com4. Make Some Creepy Crafts!Crafts are perfect for a Halloween party! Set up a table with construction paper and paint and make handprint vampires and witches, make vanishing ghosts out of biodegradable packing peanuts, or construct your own haunted house out of toilet paper tubes. Or, for a less messy but totally tactile Halloween activity that doubles as a great guest gift, grab a 24-pack of Playfoam® Pals™ Surprise Party or a case of 64 Playfoam^® pods from educationalinsights.com. Order now and SAVE 50% for a limited time! WOW!  Each pod includes squishy, squashy Playfoam – perfect for sculpting everything from pumpkins to black cats, as well as a surprise, neon-colored Pal, and mystery party backdrop.Click to shop & SAVE 50%!5. Take It on Parade!Just because you’re not trick-or-treating doesn’t mean you can’t get out and about. Spread the word in your neighborhood that the kids are going to be on parade, dress them up as their favorite celeb or superhero (you can find some super fun DIY costume ideas on our blog and some fun make-your-own mask printables on our Pinterest board!), wait till dusk, then hit the sidewalk! Keep a socially distant six feet between families and leave an adult at home to wave and holler as the parade goes by.Photo credit: gigglesgalore.net6. Watch Some (Not-So) Scary Movies!Wrap up your Halloween-at-Home with some not-so-scary movies (and Halloween popcorn balls, of course!). Toddlers will love Room on the Broom; Toy Story of Terror and Goosebumps are good scary fun for little ones, while in-betweeners might be ready for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or The House With a Clock in Its Walls. Click for Good Housekeeping’s list of 40 Halloween Movies That Won’t Keep Them Up All Night.

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21, so we’re sharing some our favorite ideas for fun family activities, homemade gifts, and other ways to make dad feel like the superhero he is!

1. Nom Nom Nom – Start the day off right by making some of dad’s favorite dishes! Let the kids help -toddlers can press the button on the blender and help whip up a smoothie (this one’s our fave!); preschoolers can use a butter knife to slice a banana for oatmeal topping.[caption id="attachment_6163" align="alignnone" width="517"] Food Network: Frozen Fruit Smoothies[/caption]

2. Head Out for a Ride – Gather the scooters, bikes, and trikes and make the most of the gorgeous June weather! Take a trip around the block, to the park, or along the shore. Don’t forget your helmets![caption id="" align="alignnone" width="766"] Photo credit: parentmap.com[/caption]

3. Get Your Giggle On – Let your kids take turns filling out lines on this fun, Father’s Day mad lib,  then read it to dad together. Looking for more serious feels? Have each of your kids answer these 10 questions about dad, then share their responses.

4. Play a Game – Does dad love chess? Checkers? I she a sports lover? Let him choose a game to while away the afternoon! May we suggest this rowdy word game that is guaranteed family fun: Blurt!^® Sports Game!

5. Make a Print – Pick up a canvas and some paints, take off your kids’ socks and shoes, and make some prints! Find adorable ideas for toddler hand and footprint Father’s Day art on our Father’s Day Pinterest board, like this perfect-for-handy-dads footprint painting.

6. Color Him Happy –Older kids can color their own Father’s Day greeting cards using these free, downloadable templates from EI! Choose a card featuring one of your kiddo’s favorite EI characters in full-color or choose a DIY coloring card and let them get creative. There are even cards for Grandpa!  simply click images to print or visit our website for  more cute printable cards![caption id="attachment_6171" align="alignnone" width="1440"] [/caption]

7. Give a Gift – Your Father’s Day gift doesn’t need to be extravagant. A Mason jar filled with dad’s favorite nuts and a sweet, homemade tag, a hand-painted wooden spatula for the grill, or a boxed-up batch of his very favorite, ooey-gooey fudge brownies are enough to show dad how much you care.

8. Hit the Park – Grab the balls, bats, and a frisbee and head out to the park for an afternoon of family fun in the sun. Pack a picnic and take a break in the shade when you’ve worn all your wiggles out.[caption id="attachment_6179" align="alignnone" width="748"] Photo credit: Muse Academy[/caption]

9. Shoot for the Stars – Set up a telescope, like the GeoSafari® Omega Refractor, and soak up a stellar night of starry skies, complete with s'mores! Find four easy fire-free ways to cook up these sweet treats, here.[caption id="attachment_6180" align="alignnone" width="842"] GeoSafari® Omega Refractor Telescope[/caption]

10. Snuggle – Grab the blankets and pillows, let dad pick his favorite movie, and end this special day with a whole family snuggle fest![caption id="attachment_6181" align="alignnone" width="774"] Photo credit: https://www.lifehack.org[/caption]

No matter how you choose to celebrate dad, a day filled with family will always feel special! 

Hooray for Pinterest! Even though I think I use it wrong (as in I don’t follow anyone and have exactly 2 boards: arts & crafts ideas and pictures of bed frames I found online while shopping earlier this year and I’m always surprised when I get an email notice that one of these has been repinned…), I have found so many great craft ideas there!Check out the fingerprint and hand print turkeys Emma and I made as Thanksgiving cards for the grandparents – so cute!Our next project – and I might even go the extra mile and make it a Christmas arts & crafts play date for a few friends! – is painting these awesome Santa rocks…Have you done any awesome arts & crafts this year? Lemme’ see!

• Includes guitar-shaped box, 220 pick-shaped cards in limo holder, and 4 star-shaped playing pieces
• Based on common core state standards for grades 3+, for 2-4 players
• Teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, percentages, fractions, and more

Get your copy of Rockin' Math™ for only $14.99 from now until midnight tonight PST over at http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/rockin'+math--8482-.do Be a total savings rock star and save on shipping with promo code EIFREE!

Quick…name a vegetable that starts with the letter G! Today's Deal of the Day is an amazingly fun game that challenges all players to keep their cool against the racing clock.  Freeze up™ can be all yours for only $14.99. Don't forget about promo code EIFREE to get free shipping on your order! This deal is only good until midnight tonight PST, so don't wait! http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/freeze+up-trade-.do

This tricky letter game is sure to put your powers of deduction to the test! Today's Deal of the Day is TriTective™! This 3-letter mystery gameis great for anyone ages 8 to 99. Race to crack the case using only 3-letter words!Normally TriTective™ is $12.99 but you can get it today for just $8.99 -- that's a 31% discount! Hurry, this deal is only good until midnight tonight PST so don't wait! Get TriTective™ here: http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/tritective--8482-.do

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MraoZDItT4U&feature=youtu.be]If you find yourself inside this summer and you need to burn off some energy, here are some great recommendations that we have to get your kids moving and active inside.One thing that I used to do with my boys is that we would do a blanket fort! You get some cushions, you get some blankets, put them over the back of a chair, and make some tunnels. It was a lot of fun. They loved it! Another thing you can do is play indoor volleyball with a balloon! Just blow up a balloon about this size and try to keep it up in the air and the goal is to try and keep it from hitting the ground. It’s a lot of fun. Also, you can do freeze dance! Get your favorite music and play freeze dance. Kids love dancing and it’s a great way to keep them really active. If you want other ideas, we have something called Magic Moves. Now, this is great. It has 90 physical commands and it also has matching music. It’ll even expand their vocabulary with words like “prowl” and “soar”. Let’s not forget games! Board games are a great way to spend a summer afternoon with your little ones. We recommend BBQ Blitz and Sneaky, Snacky, Squirrel!

It's Wednesday August 22nd, 2012 and our Deal of the Day is on Ticks Tacks Toes!It's strategic tic-tac-toe with a clever twist! This 2009 NAPPA Gold Award winner is sure to keep your kids entertained. In this fun version of the classic game, players take turns placing 3D ticks, tacks and toes on the game board! Players try to get tic-tac-toe strings of three-in-a-row to earn tokens. Sounds easy, right? It isn’t, because other players can score off your moves, so watch out! Earn the most tokens and win! This game includes 36 ticks, tacks and toes plus a colorful game board, tokens and guide. Great for 2 to 4 players. Ticks Tacks Toes noramlly retails for $19.99, but today you can get it for only $9.99! Hurry, this offer ends at midnight PST, so get shopping here: http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/ticks+tacks+toes.do?from=Search#. Enter EIFREE to get free shipping with this DOD purchase!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_p0LO7Bl58&feature=youtu.be]Hello and welcome back to Backyard Bug Adventures! Brent Geppert here. I am the toys and games manager at Educational Insights. Okay so tonight we’re going to go on a bug adventure. We’re going to look for the elusive, the amazing, Brown Widow. Not the Black Widow—the Brown Widow Spider. Let’s go check ‘em out. I’ve got tons of them in my Backyard!So you might be wondering, why are we going to be looking for the Brown Widows? What about the Black Widows? Well, pretty much all of the Black Widows have been replaced by Brown Widows, basically a cousin of the Black Widow. They are similar to the Black Widow, but as you can see—here, we found one—they are a little bit different.They have the red hourglass, as you can see, on the bottom of the abdomen. Actually, their bite is not as venomous as the Black Widow, but we still want to keep our distance as much as possible.We’ve got a nice Brown Widow here. Check her out! You can see the red hourglass. You see how her legs are striped? That’s the telltale sign of a Brown Widow. Earlier I said that we should keep our distance, but you know what, I can’t help myself. I have to try to at least capture one for our bug viewer! I don’t recommend doing this at home for any kids that are watching. If you’re really careful, these are not too difficult to catch.Here is our Brown Widow Spider. Beautiful example, look at that perfect view of the hourglass abdomen and striped legs.Alright, well thanks for joining me on Backyard Bug Adventures. Hopefully you had a good time watching us explore my backyard for Brown Widows. Believe me, there’s all kinds of great spiders and other kinds of bugs that come out at night. So hopefully, you can have your very own nighttime bug adventure as well. So let’s return our lady-friend back to her home and we will see you next time! Take Care.