Family Activities
I wish I’d thought of this earlier but they had a blast and it was great to reminisce as a family as we look forward to 2012. Every family member contributed to the activity and making the memories that made 2011 such a fantastic year.
- Gather your materials. I originally thought of making a wreath but when I saw my tinsel tree I grabbed it. Either works. You will also need some ribbon – ours was sheer and HARD to write on, plain cotton strips would be the easiest to write on but sheer is so pretty. You will also need some small containers ( eggs work great) to hide the memories in , some paper to survey your family for their favorite events/memories and some pipe cleaners for the tree topper.
- Start by asking your family for the top 12 events of the year – we tried to do one per month but it was closer 3 per season. We went around the table at dinner letting everyone add whatever they wanted. Hearing every one’s proudest and most special moments was in itself a great activity.
- Using pipe cleaners make a 2011 tree topper. I admit I did 2012 first and had to fix my mistake. Pop it on the top.
- Cut 12 pieces of ribbon. Write the memories onto the ribbon. Hold the ribbon tight and writing is easier. Use a permanent fine tip marker.
- Pop them in your containers. I was going to use eggs but I have NO clue where they are. Luckily I had a package of 12 paper favor boxes. Putting these together took longer than the rest of the activity. I need to find th0se plastic eggs.
- Hide them – how many can you see?
- Find them!
Read the memories as they are found. 
- Tie them onto the tree and keep going until you find them all.
Happy New Year !
I hope you and your family are blessed with fantastic memories of 2011 and countless opportunities to make great ones in 2012.
Have fun burning off energy and learning about physics with this simple and earth friendly bowling game. We have had a cooler than normal summer in the Pacific North West , unfortunately my kids don’t have lower than average energy . Sometimes getting out of the house isn’t an option but you can still have fun and burn some energy without trashing your house . I love making things with family pictures but you could easily number the pins, label them with shapes or letters too.
- Gather your materials. You will need some paper towel rolls ( toilet paper will work but don’t topple over as easily. I highly suggest paper towel rolls), pictures of your family printed out on regular printer paper, tape, scissors and a ball.
- Print out pictures of your family. You will want pictures that are vertical .
- Tape and roll.
- And tape again.
- Make as many or as few as you want.
We didn’t play by real bowling rules , instead we just tried to knock as many down as possible.
- Then we set the pins up in a different formation to see if that would help knock more down .
In all we tried 4 different set ups, I was just looking to have fun and play and we ended up with a physics lesson! See learning through play people!!
- After we were done my daughter enjoyed talking to the pins while I cooked dinner. So it was a win with both kids. Perfect!
Books About Family
Snuggle Puppy 
Sometimes It’s Grandmas and Grandpas: Not Mommies and Daddies
Jazz Baby
We are a very outwardly affectionate family with lots of hugs, kisses and loving nick names , Stink Bug is loving right? But this activity isn’t so much about celebrating what we all love about eachother it’s about thanking , praising and even boosting self esteem. Although I wrote the specific awards my son dictated them and it was interesting to see what he valued most for both my husband and I as well as himself.
- Gather your materials. You will need some plastic ( metal will work too) lids, double stick tape ( glue is fine we are trying to keep glue to a minimum while we sell our house), card stock , a black permanent marker, colored markers , scissors, ribbon, glitter glue and strong tape.
- Start by tracing the lids on the card stock.
- Ask your child who they want to make medals for and what they want to write. If they can write have them do it. My son dictated them for me to write, his writing is too big and he would get very frustrated when it didn’t fit. Always ask though, don’t assume they want you to do it.
- Time to color the medals.
- Add some bling ( glitter glue). Let dry.
- Cut out.
- Add double stick tape to the lids.
- Stick the medals on.
- Add ribbon to the back with tape.
- Present to your family.
You may notice we didn’t make one for my daughter, she is simply too young to have anything around her neck even while supervised. Let that be your reminder to closely supervise kids when they have anything around their necks.
My son and I had a blast making this photo board book for my 9 month old daughter. Not only is the book entertaining for her , creating it was a lesson about emotions and giving to others for my son. All in all it was a family project that gets played with a lot.
- Gather your materials .To start you will need to take photos of different emotions . This is a great chance to talk about each of these feelings with your kids. I sat my son on the couch and we chatted between pictures. It was such a wonderful talk , we shared what makes us happy, sad, worried etc… and really listened to each other. We also made lots of silly faces!
- Now after printing out the pictures you will also need an old board book, contact paper, card stock , scissors, a marker and double stick tape. Let me explain why I used a book and paper instead of just laminating sleeves like I have before like for the Eye Spy Book. My daughter likes to put the book in her mouth. I don’t let her just chew on it but the laminated pages can be really sharp if you get it at the right angle on sensitive gums. So I opted for the board book. If you are making this for older kids a simple laminated book would be great.
- Next write out the emotions with marker on the card stock ( of course if you have a printer you can just use it). Cut.
- Time to do the layout. My son helped choose the paper from our stash and I taped pieces of card stock on each page to cover the existing illustrations. Add the photo and emotion.
- Cover with contact paper . I cut mine so it covered the paper but didn’t go all the way to the edge .
- Fill the whole book.
- Make a cover page, I tried to get my son to help but he was busy playing pretend spy( Oh and that is my art closet packed up behind him… we are down to the basics until we move).
- Let your baby explore! She lit up and unlike most books she didn’t immediately try to eat it. She gently explored touching her brother’s photos. Success!
** Safety Notice : Only you can decide what is safe for your baby. This book is made to be used with an adult caregiver , it is not a baby toy. **
All I wanted was to make a keepsake plate for Santa’s cookies! Ever get an idea in your head and you HAVE to do it? Yeah I get like that during the holidays a lot. I had the idea of my son painting a plate for Santa for ages. I was planning on getting a kit and doing it at home , but all the kits were sold out . We drove around to 4 stores, with both kids, in the rain. I ended up close to tears, with no plates. So instead Monday we packed up and went to a paint your own pottery place and should have just done that to start with. It was the perfect day!
We picked our plate . My son chose a small one saying ” Santa eats a lot of cookies all night, let’s only give him 1 or 2.” 
We painted it however we wanted. I did a mug, since Santa needs milk too. 
The back was an homage to Ichiro and Tatupu my son’s 2 favorite athletes who share the number 51 . We both thought Santa might like them too.
We even used the numbered bottles for a fun ” Find the number game” . Hey I can’t help it , I see lessons everywhere, as long as he is into it I play. He loves numbers so he was way into it. 
Baby girl slept the whole time. It was precious and I will post the final product when we get it back next week, but wanted to share the idea in time for others to find a local pottery studio before Christmas. More than once my son proclaimed ” This is the best day ever Mama!” and it was, truly a holiday memory I will cherish.
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