Your Children Want YOU!

I came across this article today and thought I would share. It's titled Your Children Want YOU!

Personally I think it is a good reminder that of all the great things a parent can do, giving your children time and attention are ranked right up on the top of the list. There are a lot of cool things to learn and ways to improve your crafty and homemaking skills and that is great! Learning is a good thing. As long as you take it all in moderation. The world will tell you all about how to be the perfect parent and what you should be doing for yourself. It's also easy to get caught in the trap of comparing yourselves to other parents. I like what President Uchtdorf said a in his talk titled Forget Me Not, "We spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others--usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does."

Anyway, the thing that really stuck out to me from Your Children Want YOU is your kids will appreciate the time you have spent with them and the memories you have made together more than anything. Think about some of your childhood memories. What did they include? A lot of them were probably super simple and maybe even mundane. One for me was being able to talk to my mom one-on-one after I would come home from hanging out with friends on the weekend. She would always stay up for me and during those little moments, we grew closer together.

The Intentional Family

 If you are looking for a great book to help you and your family, check out The Intentional Family by William J. Doherty.

He talks about the importance of family rituals and being more intentional about our family time. A lot of the rituals he refers to would be equivalent to what you may consider family traditions. He offers great information and helpful tips on how to improve those rituals or traditions.

Regardless of your current family situation (married with no kids, married with kids, divorced, or a single parent), there is something in here for you.

For an overview of the book click here.

Spin the Bottle

This game gives Spin the Bottle a GOOD name :)

Find a can, water bottle, or some other object you can use to spin on the ground.

Sit in a circle as a family and take turns spinning the bottle. The person who spinned the bottle will say something they love about the person the bottle is pointing to when it stops.

Other ideas:
-To make it a little more meaningful, you can keep an extra pop/water bottle and decorate it as a family so it is the designated bottle for this game.
-You can also use different variations like telling the other family member something they admire, appreciate, good works they have seen him or do, a question they don't know about the family member etc.rather than something they love (either way, make it positive!).

Make Playdough

Making playdough is a great indoor activity to do with your kids. There are several different ways to make it, and most of them are pretty simple.

Here are three recipes found at
http://www.kiddinaround.com/pages/3-Easy-Recipes-for-Making-Homemade-Play-Dough.html

Recipe 1
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp. cream of tarter
3 tbsp. oil
3 cups water
Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Stir constantly over medium heat until a dough ball forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead dough until the texture matches play dough (1-2 minutes). Store in plastic container. Should last for at least 3 months.

Recipe 2
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 cup water
Have your child mix the baking soda and corn starch in a pot. Use hands to make sure all the lumps are broken up. Add water. The adult should put the pan on the stove over medium heat and stir constantly. As soon as the mixture gathers together, remove from the heat. When it cools, have your child knead it into a smooth dough. Don't over cook this dough or it will crumble.

Recipe 3
1/4 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/4 cup water
Have your child mix the flour and salt in a bowl then add water. Knead and squeeze the dough to make a clay consistency. You may need to add more water. Note: This dough doesn't last as long as the cooked recipes.
The dough can be stored in air tight containers or left to air dry to save a finished creation

Other ideas: divide into sections, then knead in food coloring (liquid or paste). Kids love making the white play dough change colors. Use unsweetened Kool-Aid for color and scent. Add glitter for sparkly play dough.

For some creative playdough recipes, check these out:

Kool-Aid Playdough

Nutty Butter Playdough

Oatmeal Playdough

Just Like the Real Playdough (so they say)

Alum Playdough

Rubbery Playdough 

Nature's Playdough

  Playing with playdough is great to get the creative juices flowing. Feel free to also use the playdough for organized games like "Sculptionary."

"Don't Eat Pete!"

This game is perfect for really young kids--they will love it! 

We used to play it for Family Home Evening all the time when I was younger and it was a big hit. 

What You Will Need:-"Don't Eat Pete" game board
-a bag of M&Ms or other snack food (we always used chocolate chips)

How to Play:
Put a piece of candy (such as an M&M) on each of the squares on the game card. Choose one person from your group to leave the room. Have the remaining players choose which one of the squares on the game board will be "Pete" for the round. Have the first player come back and begin picking and eating M&Ms from the game board. As soon as the player tries to pick "Pete" everyone yells "Don't Eat Pete!" and their turn is over. Refill the game board and play again with the next player.

Notes:
-You can use cereal, other small snack foods, or any type of small candy for this game.
-To add a little bit more to the game, you can refer to the person who leaves and then eats the candy as the "M&M Monster"
-To get a "Don't Eat Pete" board you can Google it and find several options and places where you can download one OR even better is make your own family "Don't Eat Pete" board--feel free to get creative! The board can be 3x3, 3x4, 4x4, or as big as you want.

"The Sing-Off"

Not to be confused with the TV show, this is a fun, easy and versatile game that can be played in teams or individuals adapted for a variety of settings and themes.

For:
-Small or large groups!

How to Play:
One person is the host/score keeper. This person chooses a word and says it aloud to the group of people. In order to get a point, the first person (or team) to come up with a song that contains that word, raises their hand and must sing the section of the song that says the word.

For example, if the word is "walk" then the person who first thinks of a song must raise their hand and then sing the song they thought of like "walk like a man, talk like a man..." or "these boots were made for walkin' and that's just what they'll do..." That person or team the person is on gets a point.

Decide before how many points you want to go to before someone wins (depending on the amount of time you have).

Variation:
-You can mix things up by limiting the songs to a certain genre like "Christmas songs" for a seasonal party or "Hymns" for a church activity.
-If you are playing in teams, you can require the teams to come up with a song together (rather than just needing one person from the team). They have to all agree on the song and be able to sing it together when one of them raises their hand.

Note: Making up your own song is creative, but not allowed. At least one other person playing must know what song you are singing.

"Sculptionary"

This is a really fun game that can be played with nearly any age. The younger kids may need a little help. However, don't be surprised if they are better than you are!

For:
-At least four people (five is the preferred minimum number)
-The more the merrier!

What you will need:
-A ball of playdough for each team of two to have a piece, pen, and paper

How to Play:
Have the group sit in two lines facing each other. The person across from you is your partner. If there is an odd number of people, the extra person is the judge. If not, then the end team can switch being the judge.

The judge writes down a word and passes it down one side of the line. This side of the line will be the sculptor. When the judge says go, the sculptors try to sculpt that word and their partners try to guess what the word is. The team to guess the word first wins.

Switch sides and the other side sculpts a new word from the judge. After both partners have sculpted, have everyone rotate one spot to their left (as though the two lines form a circle). Everyone will have a new partner and there will be a new judge/judges.

Rules:
The sculptors cannot say words, make noises, use actions, or anything else that is not sculpting. They must only use the playdough. The playdough can only act on itself, not on the sculptor. For example if the word is "soda" the sculptor cannot drink from a playdough can themselves. They can make a person and a can and have the playdough person drink from the playdough can.