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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!
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]
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]
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.
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!
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.
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]
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.
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]
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]
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!
I love making memories with my family, so scheduling time to come together is essential. One of my favorite family traditions is our weekly family game night. It’s something fun we all look forward to every week. As a homeschool mom, I make sure we play educational games all through the week. But for family game nights, I like to step it up and add a few special touches. I have realized that adding things like snacks, fun prizes, and even a trophy will bring everyone to the table every week. Also, it is a wonderful way to get everyone off their electronic devices!
A regular family game night has a long list of benefits for you and your family, including:
• Reducing stress
• Increasing confidence
• Practicing problem-solving
• Enhancing vocabulary development
• Bonding family members
• Encouraging the use of imagination
• Reinforcing reading, writing and computation skills
• Improving communication skills
• Refining social skills
• Improving the brain’s ability to focus
• Applying life skills and good sportsmanship
• Adding positive memories through shared experiences
• Making more laughter, which has multiple emotional and physical benefits
Whenever we can combine learning with playing board games, I am all for it! That’s why I love using Educational Insights games in our homeschool as well as during our weekend family game nights. Your kids will not even realize that they’re learning at the same time. That’s a win-win in my book. We recently found three new games that incorporate learning with some of our favorite things like drawing, dice games, and word games. In this blog post, I have some fun and creative games to share that will have you and your family laughing, giggling, and enjoying the best time together. To add a little more excitement to the night, I created some fun snacks that correspond with each game. I cannot tell you how important it is to always have snacks at your family game nights. We will talk about that more later in the post.
The first game we played was Spindoodle™. I am always looking for games we can all play together and that is exactly what I found with Spindoodle! There were lots of laughs and excited screams while playing this game. To begin, the artist must roll the die to determine their drawing category. Then they draw a card and find the matching category item to draw. Next, they get to choose the speed setting for the spinning board. Bonus, the higher the speed setting, the more points the artist wins! Your team tries to guess what you’re doodling for points. The first team to earn 20 points and fill in their scorecard wins the game. Trying to draw while your surface is moving, and the timer is running out is more difficult than it sounds. I can see us playing this game at all our big family gatherings as well.
Reading the instructions and setting up this game are super easy. You just need 3 AA batteries, and you are good to go! It is a game for 4 or more players but can be adapted for fewer players if you choose. Storing this game is also simple, as everything fits easily back into the box after play.
I wanted to keep the spinning theme going, so I filled a spinning tray with tons of snacks I knew everyone would love. I started by adding our favorite hummus and pita bread, carrots, peppers, and almonds on one half of the tray. The other half I filled with licorice, popcorn, and chocolate candies. You could create a theme for your snack tray like a certain color food or different types of cookies or fruits. Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t overthink it. This should be fun and easy for you or the kids to throw together on game day!
The next game on our list was Dice of Fury™. This fast-paced game is math craziness – but in a good way! Each player must quickly complete each math challenge with their dice set and grab Steve (a large die with a face) first to win the round. There were lots of giggles and screams on this one. We all loved it!
To accompany this game, we snacked on a fun cheese and cracker tray. I cut cheese into cubes and added dots with a food marker to make them look like dice. They looked so good! I also added crackers, grapes, apple slices, and cookies. It took me only a few minutes to put this together with items we already had on hand.
The final game, and my favorite, is Wordical™. If you have word game lovers in your family, they will really enjoy this game. Each player receives five cards. Then you roll the vowel dice. You have to come up with a word using the vowels from the dice to try to score the biggest word. Player with the highest point word wins the round! The setup for this game takes seconds and will have you playing before the snacks hit the table. Wordical is a simple game, but once you start playing it is definitely addicting to keep going and making bigger words. I love that my kids are practicing their spelling, learning new words, and having fun all at the same time. We will definitely be adding this game to our weekday game-schooling line up.
For this game I made an Alphabet mix. I chose my kids favorite letter cookies, added chocolate-covered raisins, marshmallows, mini peanut butter cups, chocolate cereal squares, peanuts, and chocolate chips. Serve these in individual cups or bowls to make it easy to snack while playing. I try to grab cute baking cups from my local home-goods store to serve some of our treats in for game night or even a regular Tuesday afternoon for fun.
To help you get started with creating your own fabulous game nights, here are a few planning tips:
Make It a Priority
Get everyone excited with a digital or paper invitation. I like to leave ours on the kitchen table the morning of. Family night is valuable, but sometimes it can be difficult to get everyone to the table.
Set the Rules Before the Game
Games can bring out the best or worst in people. Create a few rules everyone can agree on and display them during the game. Help younger ones understand the importance of taking turns and being a good sport.
Let Everyone Participate
Plan on playing only one or two games. You don’t want the evening to become dull for anyone. We want all ages and levels to be able to participate every week.
Always Have Snacks
Have something ready or order from your favorite restaurant. When you stop playing to eat dinner or grab a snack, you can easily transition to the next game.
Give Away Some Prizes
I always try to have a few fun prizes or treats on hand for the winners and losers. Try to grab a few things the next time you’re at your local discount or dollar store. Gift cards, a favorite candy, or small toy can be good options for different age groups.
Always Plan Ahead
Make a list of board games, made-up games, and even video games so you always have ideas ready for your next family game night. Give each member of the family a turn to pick the game or games for the following week. You can also create a fun way to determine what game to play next.
Family game night creates lasting memories because it fosters a sense of belonging. In the busy hubbub of life, it is so nice to have tech-free, face-to-face time with your kids. Creating a family game night tradition won’t be something you’ll regret because the years you have with your kids at home go by in a flash. Laughing together strengthens the bonds. I am sure that once you start a regular family game night and incorporate the tips mentioned above, your kids will be asking you when the next one is!
Meet the Author
Diona lives in Ohio with her husband and three beautiful kids. She has homeschooled for 11 years so far and enjoys the freedom and creativity it allows her family to enjoy together. She enjoys crafting, dance parties in the kitchen, coffee, and winning on family game nights!
Fun Ways to Stay Connected to Nature – Outdoors and At Home! The leaves are changing and crisp fall air is upon us…the perfect time to head out into nature! Not only does time spent in nature promote exercise and fresh air (duh), but it has also been shown to build confidence, promote creativity and imagination, and reduce stress and fatigue (we’re all feeling a bit of both these days, no?). Since we’re all spending more time indoors now, getting out into nature is more important than ever before. (Not to panic you, but Nature Deficit Disorder is actually a real thing.)Fall is the perfect time to get outside and explore! The weather is brisk and cool and there are so many amazing things to discover and do, both on your walk and after, like:Count the Colors!On your walk: Colorful leaves are one of the most amazing things about fall. See if you can spot brown, yellow, orange, red, and multicolored leaves. Take a few of your favorites home with you and…At home: Try printing them in paper clay and painting them, turning them into autumn suncatchers, making crayon rubbings, and more. While your kids are creating, you can share this simple explanation for color-changing leaves (and find other awesome fall leaf activities), from the EI blog. Don’t forget the apple cider!Photo credit: artfulparent.comEI Tip: Leaf peeping is even more fun with the GeoSafari® Jr. Kidnoculars® Extreme™! Kids can magnify what they see AND hear with this set of kid-friendly binoculars featuring 3x magnification and built-in audio amplification.Watch for Critters!On your walk: Stop, stand still (a challenge, we know), stay quiet, and look around. The critters you could see depend on where you’re walking, but you just might spot furry friends like rabbits, groundhogs, and chipmunks. Turn your gaze toward the ground and you see if you can spy any ants (look for the mounded dirt that marks their colonies), stinkbugs, ladybugs, or beetles. Check the trees for woodpeckers, hawks, jays, and squirrels. Watch your heads though – squirrels are scavenging for nuts in the fall!To add to the fun try a scavenger hunt that allows you and your little ones to soak up the sights, sounds and smells of fall! You'll love these free scavenger hunt printables from teachingmama.org. Get out and explore!At home: Check your hunt list and talk about all the things you found, and what you'll be on the lookout for next time. This may help inspire more curious questions and learning fun! Here are 5 Random Fall Facts facts you can add to the mix!EI Tip: If your kids can’t get enough of the amazing, organized activity of ants, bring home the GeoSafari® Ant Factory, an escape-proof ant habitat perfect for observing ants in action. Comes complete with mail-in ant certificate.Scope Out the Spiders!On your walk: Get out into nature early enough on a cool, fall day, and you’ll be rewarded with a spooky spattering of silky spiderwebs! Covered in morning dew, they’re easy to spot in the trees, on the bushes, and suspended between upright objects. With more than 45,000 different species of spiders found around the world, you’re bound to see something pretty cool. (Interesting note – only about a dozen types of spiders can harm humans!) Take the time to inspect their webs and point out the different weaving patterns and…At home: Make your own spider web, using a paper plate, hole punch, kid-safe plastic needle, and yarn, following these simple instructions from JugglingWithKids.com.Photo Credit: jugglingwithkids.comEI Tip: If you find a special spider you’d like to see a little closer, use the GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat to take an up-close look! Built-in magnifiers reveal amazing details, while built-in air holes keep creepy crawlies safe until it’s time to release them back where they were caught.No matter where you walk or what you see, a trip into nature never disappoints! If your kids can’t get enough of nature, check out the brand new GeoSafari® Jr. Talking Wildlife Camera. The camera features 130 amazing wildlife images and speaks 200 fun animal facts in the voice of Robert Irwin. Kids choose between Fact and Quiz mode to test their memories and make nature even more fun. The perfect present for your little nature lover!
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5 Fun Ways to Stay Connected with Loved Ones As if it wasn’t hard enough to connect with loved ones before school started this year, in-person and online classes leave little time for kids to visit with relatives and friends (if they were even able to do so safely before!). But keeping kids connected with loved ones is more critical now than ever! Studies show that having a relationship with extended family provides kids with an extra layer of love, support, and security – who couldn’t use that right now? And spending time with grandparents impacts kids’ beliefs and values reduces stress and depression (on both sides!), and is even correlated with fewer behavioral and emotional problems in the teen years. All good, right?That’s why we’re sharing five fun and easy ways to help your kids stay connected with friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents even if they can’t get together in person. Why not…1. Play a Game!Despite distance, there are still lots of fun ways to play together virtually! Try using a video communication services, like Zoom or Skype, that can help make face-to face playtime possible. Enjoy capturing each other’s giggles and grins while spending some quality playtime together! We love these kid-friendly virtual play ideas from mommypoppins.com. A couple of our favorites include good old-fashioned charades and playing a virtual version of Pictionary using Zoom's cool whiteboard feature! To help keep the game flowing, try this fantastic word generator. It even allows you to choose between different style games and difficulty levels.[caption id="attachment_7034" align="alignnone" width="911"] Photo credit: www.thenational.ae[/caption]2. Send Snail Mail!Everyone loves getting mail! Little ones can surprise family and friends with a homemade drawing or painting or they can color and send one of our adorable friendship cards (download for FREE here!) to help everyone in the family feel a little bit more festive. Older kids can write real letters or start a back and forth story with relatives. Follow these simple instructions for an in-person back and forth story, but pop your kiddo’s addition in the mail and send it off to the next relative on the list to create a one-of-a-kind family tale!3. Read a Story!Storytime takes an extra special twist when it’s read by a far-away family member! Set up a time each day or evening and have Grandma or Grandpa read a story to your child over Zoom. Grandparents may choose to share their own childhood favorites with your kiddo or to pick up some fun new releases from the library (Many libraries are currently offering curbside pickup.). Helpful hint – placing the computer behind and slightly to the side of Grandpa lets your kids see the pictures, too!4. Share an Experience!Decide ahead of time to pick up the same crafting kit or order the same magazine subscription for your kiddo and their cousins or friends. Then set up a video call and let them explore, create, and discover – together! We found a great roundup of magazine subscriptions for kids of all ages and interests on Fatherly.com and Michaels is a great source for arts and crafts kits. Science-loving kids might like to conduct one of the at-home science experiments on our Science Experiments for Kids Pinterest board simultaneously with friends or family members. Try this colorful activity that mixes the fun of science and art using simple household items.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5utLXdx_45. Show and Tell!Kids love show and tell and it’s a great way to get them talking. Set up a Zoom or Facetime call with a family member and let your little one share a beloved stuffed animal, toy, book, or found object. Or ask Auntie to take your kiddo on a virtual tour of her home, introduce her pets, or tell a funny story about her own childhood. Take turns sharing and soon they’ll be asking for their next show and tell session.[caption id="attachment_7039" align="alignnone" width="686"] Photo credit: lifehacker.com.au[/caption]These are the days that build the foundation for lifelong relationships and memories, so make the time to keep your kids connected with their friends and family!
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Top 10 Ways to Celebrate Dad 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!
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]
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]
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.
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!
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.
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]
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.
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]
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]
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!
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