Daily Idea #166: Dots and Boxes

For today’s daily idea I am going back to my childhood. Dots and Boxes was a game that would make an appearance at any and all opportunities. As long as we had a pen and a piece of paper, we were ready to play.

Game Set Up

Set up rows and rows of dots (I usually start with a 10X10 square)

How to Play

Take turns drawing vertical and horizontal lines connecting 2 dots at a time.

Create your Boxes

The whole point of the game is to amass the most boxes. When you are able to “close” a box with a final line, mark that box with your initial. Whomever closes the most boxes wins.

Daily Idea #165: Balloon Ping Pong

Yesterday we broke open a new bag of balloons for our pool noodle pom pom rocket so for today’s daily idea I thought we’d blow up a balloon for the kids to play “ping pong”.

You can make it super formal and set up a “net” on the table or just let the room be the “table”. All you’ll need is a balloon and some paper plates. This can be a multiplier player game in that every player gets a paper plate. The object is to not let the balloon touch the ground by using the paper plate as a paddle to keep the balloon in the air.

Daily Idea #164: Pom Pom Rocket

We got pool noodles for the backyard blow up pool this summer and since we have since put away the pool the noodles are now sitting doing nothing (except for the rare occasion for when the kids use them as swords). So for today’s daily idea we are up cycling the pool noodles to Pom Pom rockets.

ITEMS NEEDED:

1) pool noodle

2) 9” balloons

3) duct tape

4) pom poms

Have an adult cut the pool noodle into 3” sections with a sharp knife. Tie the balloon (without blowing it up). Cut the top of the balloon— about 1 inch worth (the opposite end that you just tied). Stretch the balloon over one end of the pool noodle and wrap duct tape around it to keep it in place. Put the pom poms in the open hole, pull the end of the balloon back, let go, and watch the pom poms fly!

Daily Idea #163: Perler Bead Bowl

My kids have trinkets and knick knacks all over the house. We are always looking for ways to keep them stored and organized so when I stumbled upon this idea I knew we had to try it!

For today’s daily idea we are going to make bowls out of perler beads— if you don’t have some, invest in some. They are inexpensive, you can find them at crafting stores (IKEA has a big container of them as well), and they bring out some incredible design ideas.

ITEMS NEEDED:

1) oven safe bowl

2) cooking spray

3) perler beads

4) baking sheet

5) a preheated oven to 375 degrees

To start, spray the insides of your bowl with the cooking spray (this will not only help insure that the beads don’t stick to the bowl once they melt but the beads will stick to the spray beforehand so they can be built up on the walls of the bowl). Have your kids pour a handful or two of beads into the bowl and then gently spread them out so they cover the as much of the bowl as possible in one layer. Place your bowl on the baking sheet and carefully place it in the oven. Let it is sit for 15-20 minutes. CAREFULLY remove the bowl from the oven. While it’s hot, you can use a spoon to spread any beads out on the bottom of the bowl that may not be sitting flush and then let your bowl cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the oven safe bowl. Wipe the outside of the bowl to remove any residue from the cooking spray and you have a beautiful handmade nick knack bowl!

Daily Idea #162: Balance Battle

My 9 year old is my inspiration for today’s daily idea. Yesterday she came walking down our hallway with a book on her head and wanted to see how long she could balance it there! So, for today we are going to have a balancing battle to see who can balance a book on their head the longest.

It’s simple— find a book (not too heavy, but hard cover), balance it on your head, and challenge your kids to do different simple activities (walk down the hallway or across a room, take a bite of an apple, sit on the couch or at the kitchen table…) to see who can balance it longer. For younger kids who may have a problem with the book, give them a plastic spoon and light ball (think ping pong ball or something like it) and have them hold the spoon in their mouth with the ball on the spoon.

Daily Idea #161: Forgiveness

The Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur begins this Sunday night. The tradition is that we are to ask for forgiveness from those we may have hurt inadvertently or on purpose and to grant forgiveness to those who may have hurt us. But for children the idea of apologizing is a bit foreign. Sure, they know we tell them to say sorry when they may have taken a toy from a friend, or when they have used words that hurt someone else, but what does that mean?

For today’s daily idea we are going to learn how our actions effect others and how we can try to correct those actions and maybe change a future reaction. You will need a piece of paper, a marker, and some small bandages. Draw a person on the paper as best you can. Ask your child to tell you some words that could describe a friend in a positive way— kind, smart, pretty, handsome… Write them on the person you just drew. Then ask your child to say words that are not kind about this same friend and write them on the person as well— bossy, mean, ugly outfit…

Discuss how the words cannot be erased; once words are said you cannot take them back. Place bandages over the mean words and explain that even with apologizing the words are still there and can effect the person. Talk about how the next time they may want to use their words or actions in a negative way to remember how it may effect the other person and how to curb their words to be kinder.

Daily Idea #160: T-shirt Teamwork

There are times when my kids get along so well that it brings a tear to my eye, and then there are times when they can’t get far enough away from each other. With the last 6 months of being together non-stop these moments have become the everyday norm of the rollercoaster of Covid-19.

For today’s daily idea we are going to have an overload of teamwork. I had seen a post like this years ago for siblings who weren’t working together and I knew one day we’d implement the same activity. And if you have an only child, try doing this with your child— it’ll bring on a tons of laughs!

Take an overly large t-shirt. The first person puts the shirt on (over their clothes) with one arm through an arm hole and the other arm inside the main part of the shirt. The second person then has to also get into the shirt with their head in the head hole and the opposite arm in the empty arm hole. Once the shirt is on, have them do different activities like brushing their teeth, or picking up puzzle pieces off the floor. Some of it can be a little frustrating to figure out how to work together but other activities bring on the giggles immediately.

Daily Idea #159: Backwards Day

I remember one summer with my camp friends trying to figure out how to say every word we could think of backwards. Book became Koob, drink became knird, dance became ecnad… you get the point.

Today’s daily idea plays off of turning words backwards by having a backwards day. Let your kids put on their clothing backwards, try walking backwards around the house, make dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner, and see what other words you can say backwards throughout the day!

Daily Idea #158: Pressed Flower Bookmark

I know it seems like it was forever ago, but remember those flowers we put aside for pressing? For today’s daily idea we are turning those flowers into bookmarks!

Items you’ll need:

1) pressed flowers

2) rectangular thick paper (card stock or water color paper is best) cut to about 2”X4”

3) a liquid glue of some sort (ModPodge or Elmer’s)

4) small paint brush

Warning— Handle the pressed flowers with care as they like to crumble when handled too roughly.

Take your pressed flowers out and carefully arrange them on the blank bookmark. When you are satisfied with the way it looks, remove each flower one by one and paint glue on the book mark in the place of the flower. Then replace the flower on that spot in the glue. Once you have all your flowers replaced and glued down wait for it to dry. Once that first set has dried use the paint brush to carefully cover the whole bookmark with a thin layer of glue and let it dry. And of course, enjoy using your bookmark!

Daily Idea #157: Staring Contest

When my daughter asked me what today’s daily idea was as I was writing it down, I heard in my head, “I’m still staring, yeah yeah yeah” (I am taking liberties with the words here and I hope you sang it as you read it).

Anyway… We are having staring contests today. We will take turns with two different kinds of contests: 1) staring at each other without blinking— whomever lasts the longest without blinking is the winner 2) staring at each other without laughing— you can make silly faces or noises but no touching the other person and no looking away.

Daily Idea #156: Apple Prints

Between trying to finish getting ready for the holiday tonight and still keeping everyone on track, I have very little bandwidth for anything extra today. So I am setting up a station for my kids to make apple prints (and this way they can double as table decorations).

Set up 3 paper or plastic plates with paint (something washable in case it gets all over the place). One plate will have green, one yellow, and one red. Take 2 apples and slice them across the middle so you separate the top with the stem from the bottom. One apple goes to each color and the kids can take each apple, dip them in paint, and press them onto a blank kitchen hand towel, a blank table cloth, or just paper that you can then turn into cards for display.

Easy set up, easy activity, easy clean up! Enjoy! For everyone celebrating, Shana Tova. May your best day last year be your worst day this coming year. May we be inscribed in the book of life.

Daily Idea #155: Bobbing for Apples

For those who don’t know, tomorrow night is the start of the Jewish New Year. We are continuing to honor the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah by exploring more traditional foods that we eat during this time. One thing we definitely need on our table and wouldn’t feel like Rosh Hashanah without apples.

For today’s daily idea, we are going to bob for apples! Set up a small bucket (like the one you get at hospital from the postpartum rooms) with water. For older kids you can just put a few apples directly into the water. For the younger children, cut the apples into slices. You can either place the bucket on the ground or on a table. If on the ground, go down on your knees and using your mouth (without using your hands at all) try getting the apples out of the bucket. If the bucket is on the table, sit at the table and just lean into the bucket again using your mouth to bob for apples.

Daily Idea #154: Honey, Bees

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah is fast approaching and a custom that goes hand in hand with the head of the Jewish New Year is to consume copious amounts of honey; we dip apples in honey, we drizzle honey on challah, we make dressings for salad with honey, and have a plethora of dishes that have honey in the recipe. So, to celebrate the insects that work hard all year to make honey, we are learning about bees!

In this link I found interesting facts about bees, like did you know that bees are found everywhere in the world except for Antarctica?As well as this incredible print out.

And in this link I found this fun craft to make beehive cards to send to our family to wish them a happy new Jewish year!

Daily Idea #153: Balloon Waddle

Since we used balloons yesterday for Balloon Tap, and I love reusing items, for today’s daily idea we are going to take those balloons that were hung in the doorway and place them in between our knees and waddle around the house like a penguin! Try waddling with your arms at different heights and different positions to see if your balance is affected at all. For older kids have them waddle around obstacles for more of a challenge.

Daily Idea #152: Balloon Tap

Balloons are a great item to keep in the house for a boredom buster so if you don’t have a pack of balloons, do yourself a favor a get one from CVS or the supermarket, or a party store.

With that said, for today’s daily idea we are blowing up 2 balloons and hanging them each from 2 different doorways. Their heights will be no more than 5 inches from the top of your child’s head. The game is to see how many times they can go up on their tiptoes and tap the balloon with their head. See if they can do it for a minute or 5 minutes! When they feel like they can’t do anymore of those switch to frog leaps. Crouch down like a frog and spring up to touch the balloon again with their head.

Daily Idea #151: Toilet Paper Fashion

At the beginning of lock down toilet paper was flying off the shelves! Fortunately most people have either stocked up or aren’t buying it in bulk. So, now that toilet paper isn’t such a commodity anymore, we are going to have some fun with a roll or two. For today’s daily idea we are taking a roll of toilet paper and making mummies and when they tire of just wrapping each other up we are going to take the scraps from the mummy and make some sort of fashion wear.

Have one child volunteer (or you yourself can be the mummy) to be wrapped in toilet paper first. Once they are sufficiently wrapped up let them figure out a way to break free. If they are really stuck, of course help them out!

Once that child is free (and if no one else wants to be mummified) take all the toilet paper that you just used with some painters tape or masking tape and use it to decorate another child’s outfit.

We’d love to see your mummies so post pics of your creations! 🧻

Daily Idea #150: Remembering 9/11

It’s been 19 years; kids entering college this year were born after 9/11/2001. Every single adult I know can remember the exact details of this day and it’s impossible to imagine that there is a world in which people don’t know what happened.

For some kids learning about the full details of 9/11 can be overwhelming. For others, they need to hear how the exact events unfolded. As a parent, it is your choice as to how to honor the memories of those killed today 19 years ago. For today’s daily idea I am honoring the heroes of September 11th, 2001.

We will be discussing what makes a hero. What characteristics does a hero have? Can a hero be strictly human or can animals be heroes as well? How can we be everyday heroes? Does a hero wear something special?

And of course— all “super heroes” need a mask and accessories for their uniform. I am attaching a sheet for you to print out so your super heroes can color in and create their own uniforms.

Daily Idea #149: Create a Treasure Map

My kids love to hide things, all things; I have found some pretty strange things stuffed into corners and under beds. Today, I am asking them to purposefully hide something and then to create a treasure map for the rest of us to be able to find it. The map should have special points recognizable in the house to know if you are on the right path (but not too obvious as to lead directly to the treasure). For older kids, they can give instructions like, “After 5 paces turn right. Then go 10 paces straight”.

As always, have fun and enjoy!

Daily Idea #148: Bird Feeder

It may still be hot where we are, but it’s also September and fall is coming (sooner for some than others). That means leaf hunts and pine cone searches! For today’s daily idea we are making bird feeders, which means we need a pine cone or two! We also need string, some sort of “peanut” butter (we have nut allergies so we use soy nut butter or sunflower butter), and bird seed.

Go for a walk and find a pine cone (or if you can’t see a pine cone, an empty toilet paper roll will also work). Tie a 10” piece of string around the pointy area of the pine cone (or make a hole in the toilet paper roll and tie a string through that). Take a butter knife and smear on a good layer of your choice of “peanut” butter. Roll your “peanut” butter covered pine cone or toilet paper roll in bird seed. Hang your bird feeder outside from the string— in a back yard, on a front porch, outside a window…

Daily Idea #147: States and Capitals

Last year, as part of our home school curriculum, we learned about each state in the United States. We had a fun facts sheet and we would print out a picture of the state and color it in. While we were in the car, we’d play the license plate game and see if we could get all 50 states checked off (we only missed one state!).

To help build on all of that we are going to learn states and capitals this year; who can learn (and memorize) all 50 of these without learning the States and Capitals song from Animaniacs?