I am thinking of an animal

I suppose it's your typical guessing game but I never thought about playing it with my 3 year old until I heard my good friend, Serena, playing with her 4 year old the other day.

Mommy:"I am thinking of an animal that is black and white and lives where it is cold"
Child: Zebra!
Mommy: No, remember it is so cold and this animal eats fish and walks funny.
Child: A penguin!
Mommy: Yep! Your turn!

Child: I am thinking of an animal that lives in the jungle with stripes
Mommy: A tiger?
Child: Yep! Your turn!

You will be amazed at how quickly a car ride goes by. And I think it teaches great deduction skills. Great pre-reading skills as well. Visualizing things, putting things together in your mind. It is simple, but so great. You will be surprised at how well this works. Since our friend was over visiting we have played it in every car ride -- no fail. It is now a family favorite.

Cost: FREE

Variations: With younger ones say the sound of the animal and have them guess it. You could do different categories as well. I am thinking of a food, I am thinking of a person, I am thinking of a toy, I am thinking of a color, I am thinking of something in the room....(I guess that is kind of like I spy, but oh well, that is fun too). For the older kids you can make it harder -- I am thinking of an animal that begins with the letter R and ends with the letter S and it is not plural. Or I am thinking of an animal that would live in Brazil, or florida or Asia.

And SNAP! The Job's a Game!

While folding two loads of laundry I found myself frustrated trying to keep my toddler from constantly un-piling my piles. It finally dawned on me to take my own advice and get him to help out.

I made a pile for each person in our family: Mommy, Daddy, Max, Oliver

I held up an item - (let's say it's Daddy's shirt) and asked him "Is this baby Oliver's shirt?" He would answer "No" but really it was more like, "NoooooooooooOO!" with a dip of inflection in the middle and a punch of an "O" at the end. I would follow up by saying, "Then whose shirt is it?" "Daddy's Shirt!!!!!!" he would reply. Then I would fold it and he would put it in the right pile.

We played that game through the ENTIRE two loads of laundry. It was magic. He thought it was so funny when I would say that the baby's shirt was my shirt. I even pretended I was trying to put it on, and that really cracked him up. Did it take three times as long? Yes. But did I teach my child something in the process? I think so.

It's all about a switch in perspective. I was almost to the point that I wanted to give him a timeout but I just made a simple change in my outlook, seeing an opportunity to have fun and learn, and it turned out to be a grand time.

That Mary Poppins was onto something.

Cost: FREE, unless you pay your kiddos for helping with the chores
VARIATIONS: Have your child sort the laundry. I sorted my own laundry in elementary school. You can start them as a toddler sorting whites and darks and towels and colors and by the time they hit school age, they are doing it on their own. I also knew a family where they put a basketball hoop over the hamper in their boy's room, inviting dirty duds to make their way into the hamper in a fun way.

A Little Jam in the Morning

Aunt Linda gave us the greatest Christmas present a few years back - A Family Band set from Restoration Hardware. Totally retro and totally me. We love it and use it at least weekly, if not much more. The set came with a tambourine, some maracas, some bongos, a rattle type instrument and a couple other percussion instruments.
Over the years we have been adding to our collection. It started off with some normal things like a harmonica and a cowbell (more cowbell! - anyone?) but I have since added some peculiar noisemakers.

After breaking two cosmetic jars and looking at the two metal lids headed for the trash I clanged them together and decided they would make great cymbals. I added two mismatched potlids - free from a yard sale and they are great additions to the bongo drum set.

"Everyting is music!"

- Bjork parody on SNL (remember that one?).

Get funky in the morning and pump up some music --Let the little ones bang bang away creating sound. It may not be lovely sound just yet, but with a little practice... well, a lot of practice....

Tickle Contests

I grew up with a father who hosted tickle contests on Sunday afternoons. It is a great activity if you need the kids to stop running around the house and just be still. A great transition from noisy, busy activity to quieter...

How it works:

Have your child/children lay on the ground all in a row on their backs. Tell them that the two rules are that they have to stay still and they can't laugh.

Start at the feet. Tickle the bottom of the feet for about 3 seconds. Do the next kid's feet, and the next until all the feet are done. Next do the knees. Tell them to bend them and then you start at the top and run your spreading fingers around their kneecap. Do one knee at a time and then move to the next victim. Next - thighs (that was always my worst) Next tummies. Next armpit. Next neck. I think we may have done ear every once in a while, maybe he blew in it or tickled it with a feather. Do them all for about 3 seconds. Don't do it until they laugh - that's not fair.

You will be surprised at how much kids get into this. Every kid I have ever played this with has loved it.

If you really want to make it a contest then you can say the first one who laughs is out or you can award points for passing a "level". They didn't laugh on knees, armpits and neck so they get 3 points. Highest points win.

It's fun to do it with a lot of anticipation. Start wiggling your fingers and saying "here I come" much before you actually do tickle. Sometimes they will bust out laughing even before you tickle them. It's so funny to see them writhing and squirming and tight lipped to suppress the inevitable laughter.

You can make it last longer by starting at the feet and going up and then working your way down until you lastly come to the feet again. You could also pull out a body part out of a hat and do whatever you pull. Put them in back again after they are picked. Some child may get feet over and over. You could even have the children write the little papers or have them draw a picture of the body part to be tickled.

With a younger child you can even practice body parts wen you tickle. Command at your child - "Tickle mommy's arm" "Tickle mommy's foot" "Tickle mommy's hair" you can also say to them - "I am going to tickle your nose!" "I am going to tickle your tummy!"

Twilight Pillow Fights

During my summers in Idaho as a child we had such fun adventures. One of our absolute favorite memories at Grandma's house was our twilight pillow fights. My siblings (there were four of us) and I would all get our nightshirts on and each get handed an old pillow. After the sun went down my mother and grandmother would just sit on the front porch and watch us go at it out in the yard. We would just nail each other over and over again and surprisingly enough, there were very little tears shed over the course of the years. There were a few rules and there were set boundaries (you had to stay on the grass), but there weren't too many restrictions. We would hit each other so hard we would fall over and once you had fallen you would get attacked by everyone. My mother and grandmother would just laugh and laugh and occasionally they would throw a pillow or two.

We would have our pillow fight for a good twenty minutes to half an hour. Until we were nice and exhausted. Then we would brush our teeth, say our prayers and go to bed.

You might need to set some more ground rules for your families/cousins/friends like no hitting in the head and maybe there could be an optional safe zone where you could go and not get hit.

Gosh, just thinking about this again makes me want to go out right now and nail my brother Travis in the head with a pillow.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Do you have a dumpster a yard sale or a thrift store near your house???

Do you want to keep a handful of kids busy and get a project or two done while you are at it?Do you have an "oops" section at your local hardware store paint department?Do you have a swatch of upholstery fabric lying around?

We summoned up a couple helper friends and painted up a storm. Carianne painted a wooden crate I picked up for $5 at Jo-ann's craft while her younger brother, David, and my Max helped paint the chair I found on the side of the road (read about that here). Just make sure the kiddos have small brushes and you'll need to be on the lookout for big drip marks.

You have to get in the frame of mind to just let them go for it. After they finish, you can go over it yourself and give it a good finishing coat.

I used paint that I found at Home Depot for $5 for the gallon (oops paint) and a sample swatch of fabric that I picked up at a going out of business sale at Storehouse. Check your local furniture/reupholstering stores for old out of date sample swatches. Mine cost me $2, but many times they are free.

The point of this is not to get them painting something completely random and clutter-y but something useful and practical. Think about painting projects you already want to do and just get the kids involved somehow.

COST: depends on how much you have around the house...
VARIATIONS: Check behind your local thrift store for things they are throwing away. I found a sewing machine table there once. free. Also, you could do something more simple, like a frame or a small wooden box. If you are painting a room, don't make your kids stay out. Just give them a very small brush and their own very small cup of paint. Lay major drop cloths down, but let them in on the fun. Encourage them to help with your projects.