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Adventures in Playful Family Living

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A Year of Dates {2013}

Happy last weekend of 2012! As you may remember, one of the Christmas gifts we gave our girls last year was A Year of Dates – 12 one-on-one date coupons with either Mom or Dad, one for each month. Our parent/child date coupons were downloaded over 10,000 times – wow! Were you one of the families that gave this a try in 2012?

Our girls have told us numerous times that, hands-down, this was the best gift they received. There was so much anticipation and excitement as we opened our envelopes throughout the year!

During these dates we’ve sewed teddy bear blankets, climbed big rocks, chatted about books at the bookstore, hiked to waterfalls, and so much more. Most of all, we’ve talked and listened. I think what I love most about having time with each of my girls one-on-one is that they feel seen, heard, and cherished. What better gift is there than that?

I didn’t quite get my act together to present them with another round of dates at Christmastime. However, we will be surprising them with their stacks of envelopes on New Year’s Eve. We’ll be kicking off 2013 with another year of dates – and I can’t wait!

I’m hoping you will join us this year, so here’s my New Year’s gift to you – a whole new download full of parent-child date coupons! This 17-page pdf includes:

  • 30 different dates
  • a mom and dad coupon for each date
  • many free and low-cost date ideas
  • a page of blank coupons for adding your own date ideas

Download [download id=”27″ format=”1″]

You could spend a half-hour this weekend choosing and printing your dates, and be ready to surprise your kiddos on New Year’s Eve, too. My girls will be starting off the year with fancy cake baking and a frozen yogurt outing for our January dates – shh, don’t tell!

Here’s to a beautiful 2013!

“Kids spell love T-I-M-E.” (John Crudele}

Advent Activity Cards

Our family has done an activity advent calendar for years. My girls (ages 8 and 10) still get so excited to open a door of our wooden house and pull out an activity card (along with a treat, usually). It’s definitely one of the highlights of December.

There are so many amazing advent calendar tutorials and ideas out there, but I thought I’d pop our activity cards up here just in case any of you needed some last minute inspiration. I have a file of 40 activity cards that I just use year after year, choosing the 25 that work into our schedule throughout the month. You’ll see that many of these cards are very general (like make a Christmas craft today), to allow for flexibility.

I don’t fill the whole advent calendar in advance. I prefer choosing an activity each night before I go to bed – that way I can decide if we’re going to do something ambitious, like making ornaments, or something super-simple, like reading Christmas books with hot cocoa.

Even if you don’t do an activity advent, you could choose a few of these cards and surprise your kids with them during December. Choose a card at night before you go to bed and put it where your kids will find it in the morning – maybe stuck to the bathroom mirror or taped to the morning’s cereal box? My girls’ favorites are the drive to look at Christmas lights, making playdough with glitter, and shopping for toys to donate.

–> Download our [download id=”26″ format=”1″].

More December inspiration:

Simple Kids posted a great round-up of advent ideas earlier this week: 20 Advent Ideas: simple ways to count the days

Need more ideas for Christmas or winter crafting? Check out my Christmas Crafting or Winter Pinterest boards.

Our December book list has picks for winter holidays, winter solstice, gingerbread, and more.

What’s on your family’s must-do list for December?

A Year of Dates

” Kids spell love T-I-M-E.” (John Crudele}

My husband and I have been wanting to plan regular one-on-one dates with the girls for a while now. We love doing things as a family, but having some “just me and you” time is really special, too.

With that in mind, we decided to give the girls a Year of Dates for Christmas this year – an envelope for each month, with a special surprise date inside.

Parent & child date coupons

We brainstormed date ideas and came up with a variety of fun activities. Some are outings, while some are doing projects at home. We also tried to keep them fairly inexpensive.

My dates with the girls will be:

  • Shop for and cook a recipe of your choice.
  • Choose a craft or sewing project for us to do together.
  • Go to the bookstore for a new book and a treat.
  • Go out to dinner at a restaurant of your choice.
  • Go shopping for a new outfit.
  • Kid’s choice!

The dates with Dad will be:

  • Do a woodworking project together.
  • Go on a nature hike.
  • Go out to breakfast at a restaurant of your choice.
  • Have a movie night – at home or at the theater.
  • Go bowling or miniature golfing.
  • Kid’s choice!

We made two sets of coupons and divided them up into envelopes for each month. The girls will get to open their envelope at the beginning of the month to find out their surprise date! They will alternate having one-on-one dates with mom or dad.

date coupons for parents and kids

I’m pretty happy to be giving the girls the gift of our time and attention – this is definitely one of those gifts that keeps on giving.

We can’t wait to give them their coupons – I hope they are as excited as we are! I’m thinking we should make a little scrapbook of our dates for the whole year – wouldn’t that be fun?

Update: Download and print our [download id=”17″ format=”1″]! I added 2 pages of blank coupons to the download so you can create your own dates, too. Enjoy!

Are you giving any experience-type gifts this year? Do you think your kids would enjoy a Year of Dates?

Ways to Play in December

Happy December! I hope your month is off to a great start. We are watching the wind blow like crazy today. I have a feeling our trees are going to be quite bare by the end of the day!

We’ve made it to our final play inspiration download of the year. I hope you and your kids have enjoyed having a few go-to play ideas at your fingertips each month.

December’s play ideas include simple outings, weather watching, shadow play, and more. Enjoy!

Download [download id=”16″ format=”1″].

You can download the past months’ idea sheets here.

Happy playing!

Busy Bingo Game

Happy Monday! I’m over at Make and Takes today sharing a fun Busy Bingo game to print and play. We’re bringing ours along to play with cousins on Thanksgiving. This bingo game includes some movement, some talking, and some hunting. Fun!

Head over to Make and Takes to print a Busy Bingo game for your kiddos!

Happy playing!

Scavenger Hunt (Times Two)

A few weeks ago, we were heading out to run some errands with my mom, my sister, and my nieces. Delaney is not a big fan of shopping, so I knew she might not be thrilled with our afternoon plans.

Wanting to be proactive, I grabbed a little notebook and starting jotting down things we might see during our shopping trip: a baby in a stroller, someone wearing high heels, a box, green skirt, a sale sign, Christmas decorations, a chandelier. I filled five pages, added a few boxes for check marks and a shopping scavenger hunt was ready!

This little notebook kept three girls completely entertained for a long afternoon of shopping – it was fantastic! Yes, they may have been staring at other shoppers looking for zebra print and gold necklaces, but they were having such fun. Squeals and giggles beat whining and flopping anytime!

If your little one isn’t reading yet, you could do something similar with little drawings, or just be a reading partner as needed. I’m sure we’ll be doing this type of shopping scavenger hunt again soon!

We’ve also been having fun with a deck of [download id=”15″ format=”1″] I made a while back. I made these cards so the girls could do hunts whenever the mood strikes – without having to wait for me to come up with a list.

The cards describe various attributes – things like color, texture, shape, etc. Here are a few of the ways we have played with them so far:

  • Each person draws 4 cards and we race to see who can find their items first.
  • We work as a team to get through the whole deck. Sometimes, we time ourselves and try to set a new family record.
  • Spread all the cards out face down on the table. Each person takes one card, finds a matching item, then comes back to find a new card. Whoever has the most cards is the winner!
  • Pick one card from the deck and see if everyone can find a different item that matches that card.
  • Bring the cards in the car and use your imagination to think of an item for each card.

You can download our [download id=”15″ format=”1″] and make up your own games with them. I printed ours on card stock and laminated them.

{If you don’t want to print the color cards, page four of the download has the color words only. You can add a block of color with construction paper or crayons.}

Have fun and happy hunting!

Ways to Play in November

Happy November! My little Mary Poppins and detective had a fun Halloween.  When I tucked them in to bed last night, Natalie was already talking about getting ready for Thanksgiving.  On to the next holiday, I guess!

Ready for some fresh play inspiration? My [download id=”14″ format=”1″] idea sheet is ready to download!

This month’s play ideas include jewelry store pretend play, shape days, dirt drawing, and more. Enjoy!

Download [download id=”14″ format=”1″].

You can download the past months’ idea sheets here.

Happy playing!

P.S. The November book list is almost done – I’ll have it up soon!

Ways to Play in October

Happy October! In a few days, we’ll be celebrating Natalie’s 9th birthday. Nine! Hard for this mom to believe, for sure…

Ready for some fresh play inspiration? I hope you have some fun and playful times with your kids this month!

My [download id=”13″ format=”1″] idea sheet is ready to download!

This month’s play ideas include colored water, “snack bar” meals, hand tracing, and more. Enjoy!

Download [download id=”13″ format=”1″].

You can download the past months’ idea sheets here.

Happy playing!

Ways to Play in September

Happy September! We are settling into a bit more daily structure as we begin our third year of homeschooling. What’s in store for you this month?

It’s time for another monthly play inspiration download – a handful of ideas ready when you need them. I hope you have some fun and playful times with your kids this month!

My [download id=”11″ format=”1″] idea sheet is ready to download!

This month’s play ideas include mystery foods, pretend museums, long jumps, and more. Enjoy!

Download [download id=”11″ format=”1″].

You can download the past months’ idea sheets here.

Happy playing!

P.S. The September Book List is up, too!

Ways to Play in August

Hello, August! We have finished about half of our summer to-do list. This month, we are looking forward to walking around the fair, eating shaved ice, sewing patchwork quilts for teddy bears, and just enjoying the summer days. What’s on your plate this month?

It’s time for another monthly play inspiration download – a handful of ideas ready when you need them. I hope you have some fun and playful times with your kids this month!

My [download id=”10″ format=”1″] idea sheet is ready to download!

This month’s play ideas include a listening game, map drawing, puppet shows, and more. Enjoy!

Download [download id=”10″ format=”1″].

You can download the past months’ idea sheets here.

Happy playing!

P.S. The August Book List is up, too!