If I had Kids...

   Okay, so I know that a bunch of my readers (the ones who I know read it for sure) have kids. Spending so much time on pinterest, I see a ton of awesome things that I would do for kids if I had them (on a totally separate note. I want a day babysitting job for 2 or 3 weekdays a week)  So I thought I would write about all the cool things that there are to do for kids that someday I hope to do.


Summer (Outdoor):
   
Sprite and Gummy Bear Pops. Freeze them. Great summer time treat. 

The Giant Ice Cube: Freeze little happy meal toys or other small toys into a colored water blog. Hand over toy tools and let them chip away at the block until they get their favorite toys out. This is a great way to keep them outside and busy when you want to be outside.

Holidays:


Birthday: 
Sign up for all of the freebie birthday clubs. (There are TONS of lists on the web.) For their birthday, plan a free day around all of the clubs you signed up for. They will love the treats (Ice cream!) and your pocket will love you for it!

Pack your kids lunch in the morning and individually wrap each item with wrapping paper. (Elementary School kids would LOVE this, well I would have at that age)

Any:
Decorate Sugar cookies: Make sugar cookies in the shape (respective holidays) and let the kids decorate them in any way that they want. Give sprinkles, frosting, and cookie crumbs)




Winter(Indoor):

Painting is such a mess, but kids always love the special treat of getting to paint. Save glue bottles at the end of the school year and wash them out really good. Then pour the paint into the glue bottles and let kids draw away.  (Also paint recipe : 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water, food coloring of your choice. HOW AWESOME because you never have to worry about littler ones sticking their hands in their mouth during painting. Yeah. It's not going to taste good, but there are no toxins!)


Sponge Finger painting: Cut up a sponge and soak up paint.  Makes finger painting 10x easier.



Colored Spaghetti: Fill Ziploc bags with 1/4 cup of water and food coloring. Add spaghetti and let it soak up the color! What a cool change  to lunch time.


Puzzle Bags: Getting new games and puzzles can be extremely exciting for kids. Buy a pencil bag for each puzzle or game and put all of the pieces into the bag and never worry about the box falling apart again. This is great for puzzles. Take a picture of the more complicated ones and put it in front of the pieces so kids can see which puzzle they are putting together.


"Messless Makeup:" Take old makeup containers and pour fingernail polish into the containers. Little girls think it is real, but you don't have to worry about cleaning it off their faces.



Dollar Store Heaven: Give the kids 5 dollars and they can get whatever they want. (Cover their tax or teach them about taxes.)

Moon Sand: 8 Cups of Flour, 1 Cup of Baby Oil, Big Tub for playing in and little cups. It's a great alternative for the beach during the winter.

This website has a ton of activities to do with books. Great for a rainy or snowy day home from school
100 Activities to do with children books



Uh-OH moments: Now, I know children are not always innocent and cute and sometimes they need a consequence for some of their actions. Many parents have a hard time figuring out those consequences and I know that someday I will have to try to figure out how I will do it. Here are some ideas that aren't too harsh.


Time Bottles: Fill a bottle with 3/4 water and a ton of glitter. When they get put into time out, let them shake the bottle as hard as they can, then have them sit and watch the glitter settle. When it is completely settled, time is up!

Oh No Bucket!: Teaching kids to pick up their toys off the floor can be hard. Getting a bucket and write "You left it out, I picked it up. I've got your stuff , you're out of luck! To get it back must do a chore, and again it is yours just like before! What a great way to teach them to pick up after themselves. This sounds like such a cool idea to get your kids to learn the importance of picking up their toys out of the living area.