Celebrate the 4th of July Your Way

As long as it's got Red, White and Blue!

ADDED July 01, 2010

It's July today, and that means the Fourth of July is coming right up.

Today we'd like your kids to celebrate the coming national holiday with a little artwork.

Now, some kids might not be inspired to create patriotic artwork. If your kids are like mine, they'd rather draw zombies and dragons than American flags, fireworks and Uncle Sam.. . .

Mini-Nature Collection

Enjoy our beautiful world . . . and bring a little home with you

ADDED June 03, 2010

Today's activity will get you and the kids outside, breathing fresh air and appreciating the beauty of nature. How does that sound?

My two boys always benefit from a good walk around the block. It always seems to put them in good moods and it also helps mellow out their energetic rambunctiousness.

However, my kids aren't always eager to go on the walk. There is often another thing they'd rather do (such as anything that involves energetic rambunctiousness.) To sell them on the walk, I advertise it as a nature walk. . . .

Half Right, Half Wrong

All fun!

ADDED April 30, 2010

Today's activity is simple and fun. And it's one of our favorite kinds of fun: a drawing and art activity!

Grab a piece of blank paper and fold it in half. Open the paper back up and hand it over to your young artist.

The crease from the fold will be a dividing line. On half the paper, your kids will draw things correctly and they'll draw things "wrong" on the other half.. . .

Fun with Family Trees

Connect the dots for your family

ADDED April 09, 2010

Have you and your kids made a family tree lately? Family trees are easy to sketch out, more or less, and they’re interesting for everybody.

A lot of good learning can happen when kids work to represent information in different ways. And a family tree is an easy way to represent all the connections in your family.

You can probably figure out how to make a family tree with your kids, but here are some specific guidelines. We use these as “rules” and think that they make the whole process work quite smoothly.

• Start with the people in your immediate family. Those people -- and those connections -- are the ones your kids know the best.. . .

I Can See For Miles And Miles!

How about you?

ADDED April 07, 2010

kids activities

The other day, my kids and I were on the third story of a three-story building. We looked out and saw another building far, far way. We're talking miles and miles!

The kids noticed that the other building looked small -- they're old enough to know that if it looks small, that means far away.

We looked on Google Maps and saw that we could see for about five miles. Yep, that is indeed pretty far.

Ever since, the kids and I have been calling that "the place where we can see the farthest."

Where can your kids "see the farthest?" And how far away can you guys see?. . .

Bunny Kisses

Quirky, non-denominational Easter fun!

ADDED April 02, 2010

While bunnies are widely admired for their cute little noses, their lips don't seem to be mentioned much.

So when it comes time for bunnies to kiss, we believe they put their noses into action. All a bunny has to do to give a nice kiss is twitch a bunny-nose back and forth against another bunny's cheek.

Kids can easily duplicate a bunny kiss. One really doesn't need a specific reason to bunny kiss a family member, but here's a fun Easter-themed, bunny-kissing game for you. (It was the perfect diversion the other day when we were waiting, and my kids started to grow restless.). . .

April is "International Tell A Friend About Today Is Fun" Month

Please help us spread our message!

ADDED March 31, 2010

We try not to ask you, beloved readers, for too much. We're here to help, not to demand and request. And we really do take pride providing parents with free, fun activities for their kids.

We'd like to ask you to help us get our message out. Please take a moment to tell a friend about Today Is Fun this month.

Also, please take a minute or two to make more friends this April, so you can tell them about our website, too.

Thank you!

The Voice-Activated Drawing Machine

A very fun bit of technology -- and quite affordable, too!

ADDED March 31, 2010

Yes, it's Spring Break, and parents everywhere have got to stay on their toes to keep the kids entertained.

So today, why not install a new computer-like machine in your house? That would be quite entertaining for your troops.

The type of machine I'm talking about here is a Voice-Activated Drawing Machine. Give it specific verbal instructions, and watch it do its thing.

(In order to save money -- and since this contraption hasn't actually been invented yet -- you will be playing the role of the drawing machine.)

Here's what you do:

Grab some paper, pencils, and a willing kid.. . .

Compare and Contrast

A fun word exercise that uses a bunch of leaves!

ADDED March 23, 2010

Take the kids for a walk outside today.

Bring a paper bag along, and put your little ones in charge of collecting a variety of different leaves.

Have your young leaf-gatherers find a bunch of different leaves. We don't want a bunch of very similar leaves. Instead, we want leaves that are quite unlike. Variety will make this leaf accumulating interesting!

The point here isn't really to focus on leaves, exactly. You don't need to be a card-carrying botanist for your kids to get full benefit from today's activity. Instead, we want you and your kids to focus on words. What words can you guys use to compare and contrast the leaves? How can your kids express each leaf's unique qualities with their vocabularies?

Here are words to consider using:. . .

Let's Celebrate Velcro

An ingeniously creative and helpful invention!

ADDED March 02, 2010

One of our modern world's most impressive — and least heralded conveniences is Velcro. Can you imagine your life -- or the lives of your kids -- without it?

Velcro was invented by George de Mestrel, after he kept getting thorns and thistles in his hiking socks. He studied what made the thorns stick. You've really got to admire George, to make that creative, helpful kind of lemonade from those lemons.

There are two different and important parts to Velcro: a "hook" side and a "loop" side.

Today, in honor of this amazing invention, we'd like your kids to make a paper version of Velcro. It's easy.

Have your kids take a piece of paper and cut out a "hook" side. This can be a capital "J" shape or even a capital "L" shape.

Next, have them cut a "loop." This really be any shape with a hole in it that matches the size of the "hook."

The kids should attach their hook to their loop. Can you child hold up the loop with the hook?

Finally, take the kids to inspect their jackets and backpacks. Can you guys find Velcro? If you look closely, you'll definitely be able to see some loops and hooks! Exciting!

We hope your family enjoys being looped into this information, and that the fun and education here hooks your kids!

Right, Wrong, or Poetry

Well, which is it?

ADDED February 15, 2010

You may have heard of Samuel Taylor Coleridge before. He’s a famous British poet who lived from 1772 to 1834. Among his most well known poems is the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It’s about a man traveling by sea, and the troubles he encounters. It’s a good poem -- and if you have a few moments, you might want to check it out.

Poetry like Mr. Coleridge’s inspired today’s activity. You see, in his poetry -- and in most poems generally -- liberties are taken with language. Outside the confines of a poem, these unusual uses of language might be viewed negatively and called “mistakes.” But in an English class or a literature book, these language irregularities are called “poetry.”

In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner -- which tells a story -- a man is listening to a sailor talk. The listener listens very intently, “like a three years’ child.” In every day talk, we wouldn’t use say it that way, of course. We’d say “ like a three year old.” But it’s pretty easy to understand what is meant by a “three years’ child,” isn’t it? And this poetic way of talking is nice. It’s different; it’s interesting.

Today we want you and your kids to discuss these concepts. And you guys can make up some little bits of poetry yourselves.

Then, have the kids evaluate everything as: right, wrong, or poetry. Here are some examples:

You can see the sun up in the sky. (Right. This statement is true. I don’t think you could argue with it.)

You can see the sun down in a deep dark cave. (Wrong. This statement isn’t correct, really.)

You can see the sun in the eyes of a puppy. (Poetry. This is an interesting, different way of expressing the thought. It’s poetry! And it’s easy!)

Here are three more examples, just because this is really fun to do.. . .

Weekend Reading: The Kingfisher Book of Nursery Tales

A fun and "safe" spin through some classics!

ADDED January 09, 2010

kids reading activity

We all know these stories: Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

If you’d like to introduce these stories (and more like them) to your kids, this is a great book: The Kingfisher Book of Nursery Tales, by Vivian French.

(I really did want to familiarize my children with these tales, because these stories are indisputably part of our popular culture. Who doesn’t know the story of Little Red Riding Hood? I want my kids to be acquainted with all these famous stories, too.)

This book has a lot going for it:

• First, some traditional fairy tales can be a bit violent, morbid, and gory. Not here, thankfully. For instance, in the traditional telling of Little Red Riding Hood, the big bad wolf eats the poor innocent grandmother! Little Red Riding Hood’s dad hacks up the wolf. Yikes! Not exactly the entertainment I’m seeking out for my three-year-old. However, in Vivian French’s re-telling, the grandmother — appropriately nervous by the wolf’s arrival at her house — hides in a cabinet. And (not to spoil any endings here) the story concludes not with the wolf’s gruesome demise, but with his retreat to the woods. Much better than gore and brutality. Thank you, Vivian French!. . .

Weekend Reading: The Halloween House

Spooky, cute and fun. Read to your kids!

ADDED October 24, 2009

kids activity reading

Now, some of the descriptions below might sound as if this book would turn out to be disturbing. It's not, and that's certainly in large part thanks to the art here, which is very sweet, simple, and charming. My three-year-old really enjoys this book and has not the faintest whiff of fear from it.

The plot
Two bad guys -- but cute bad guys -- are running away from a policeman, and they hide in an abandoned old house. Unfortunately for them, though, the house happens to be a haunted Halloween house.

As it turns out, a haunted Halloween house doesn't make the best hide-out. The creatures inside do their best to scare off the two cute, hapless bad guys. They witness sights such as this . . .

In the Halloween house,
in a dark, dingy den,
a papa werewolf crouched
with his little ones, ten.
"Howl," said the papa.
"We howl," said the ten.
So they howled through the night
in the dark, dingy den.

The book follows this pattern, with Halloweeny parents and their little ones doing spooky stuff. To say the least, each Halloween creature doesn't make an inviting host for the two bad guys.

After the ten werewolves, the bad guys get scared by vampires, witches, ghosts, skeletons, worms, and so on.

As always, we don't want to give away any of the book's secrets -- there are some twists and turns -- but it all works out quite nicely in the end.

The content and rhymes are fun. The art in this book seems a bit "old school," in a very simple and charming way.

Order it from Amazon or pick it up from your local library. The Halloween House will make for plenty of spooky, fun family time. Read to your kids!

Shiny Penny Patrol

Did you ever think that cleaning pennies would be a fun (and educational) activity for your kids?

ADDED October 01, 2009

kids activities

Length: About 30 minutes.

Parental Involvement: Explain the idea, help cut the lemon, and supervise the pouring of water. Also, contribute dull pennies.

Kids Should Be Able to: Dunk pennies and observe change.

Some people don't think pennies are very valuable. They frown on pennies.

We disagree. We aren't frowners. And pennies are fine by us.

Pennies are very useful for kids and parents. Counting pennies can help kids learn their numbers. Kids can collect pennies from their parents' transactions and over time amass a sizable savings. Pennies can also be used as markers for games when you're in a pinch.

While we approve of pennies, there is a variety that is less approved: dirty, grungy pennies. Don't you think shiny pennies are much more pleasing?

Well, today we'd like your kids to help America's monetary system out a bit by cleaning some dirty pennies.

Here's what you'll need:

Some older, dull brown pennies.
A lemon.
A tupperware.

Have your kids squeeze some lemon juice into the tupperware. When they've got a good number of drops in there, fill the thing with water. Drop in the less-than-perfect pennies, making sure they're not stacked on top of each or overly clumped up.

After about five minutes, take the pennies out. (You can let them air dry on some paper towel for another five minutes, if you're so inclined.) You guys should now have some nice shiny pennies. As good as new!

If your kids want to be true scientists, you can do a comparison test. Clean some pennies with a lemon as described above, and clean some other pennies in a different tupperware that contains soap and water. Which is better at penny-cleaning, soap or lemon?

If you'd like to show us the results of your kids' efforts, we can email you an address to mail the pennies. We also would be happy for you to mail us dollar bills and credit cards.

Have fun with those newly sparkling pennies, people!

(Thank you to r-z for the pennies photo above!)

We Remember

Hug your kids today

ADDED September 11, 2009

we remember

We remember the many lives lost. We will never forget.

We salute the many men and women who have kept our country safe over the eight past years. Thank you. We will never forget.

A quote from Charles Johnson, from his blog, Little Green Footballs:

"Today, I’m remembering the children who were killed [on 9/11], who started their morning excited about taking a plane flight, and ended up as pawns for one of the most cowardly atrocities ever conceived by religious fanatics. May they rest in peace."

The world is a rough place. Hug your kids today and every day! And never forget.

Make a breakfast with a face.

If it smiles back at you, then eat it!

ADDED August 24, 2009

Length: 5 minutes or less

Parental Involvement: Make the face

Kids Should Be Able to: Eat a healthy breakfast and pat your back for a job well done.

Breakfast is one of those meals that can either be a joy or a horrible crying fiasco. It often depends on who is staring back at you from the other side of the table. In this case, it depends on who is staring up at you from your plate.

Continuing our trend of fun, free kids entertainment, tomorrow (we clearly are not early risers here at TIF) make a face on your kid's breakfast plate. It does not take much planning or even special tools, just a little creativity. A few of our favorite implements for face-making are: bacon, blueberries, sliced bananas, grapes, whipped cream (sure, why not?) and apples. All of these items are great for making an expressive face to gaze back at your kid.

Here is a collection of breakfast faces on our plates from the last few months. Enjoy . . . and send us your breakfast faces. We will be glad to post a picture of your face before you feed it!

You're Pretty Much Surrounded by a Secret Code

Right this minute! We're not kidding!

ADDED August 18, 2009

Length: Thirty minutes or more.

Parental Involvement: Explain the concept. Make sure nothing in your house is completely dismanted by young code hunters. Help the kids type numbers into Google.

Kids Should Be Able to: Find bar codes! Understand that numbers can be assigned to represent "things."

Not to sound overly "Da Vinci Code"-ish or conspiracy theory-plagued, but did you know that there is a secret code all around you right this minute?

This code surrounds you in the grocery store and at home. It is called a code; there's no other name for it. And it's so ubiquitous and secret that you don't even realize it's there! As my five-year-old would exclaim, "for real!"

The code we're talking about is called Universal Product Code (UPC), commonly associated with a "bar code." And if you look, you'll find UPC's and bar codes all over the place!

(UPC's are the numbers assigned to a product. The bar code is a "bar" representation of those numbers. They are placed together on practically all packages' products.)

For instance, right I am sitting in a room with UPC's 9780761308188 and 036000283006. You can type those codes into Google and discover what two things I'm talking about.

In fact, that's part of today's activity. Your kids will be hunting high and low -- all over your home -- in search of bar codes on products for you to check with Google. Here are some hints as to where they can find bar codes:

all food boxes
all toy boxes
on some toys themselves (if they don't come to you in a box)
the backs of books
all medicine boxes or labels

Before your kids hunt for bar codes, it'd probably be good to have an explanation ready: UPC's and bar codes are used by stores and by shippers to keep track of all kinds of products. When you guys go to the market, watch the check-out person move the bar code over the scanner. That's how the store "sees" the item you want to buy. And it's how the store's computer quickly tells you guys how much it is going to cost!

(Can you imagine what it would be like if every time your family wanted to buy something, the clerk at the store would have to look up the price in a giant book? And how would the store know how many things they've sold? People would have to write down notes on paper. It would take a lot, lot more time!)

So here is today's fun kid's activity using that all-over-the-place secret code, bar codes:

1. As we suggested above, have the kids search everywhere for bar codes. They should look on their toys, books, and in your pantry (with your close supervision -- if you're worried about Cheerios exploding out everywhere.)

Listen to their shouts of delight as they find yet another bar code. They should also report where on the item the bar code is located. (Some are on the bottom of the package, some are on the back, and so on.)

2. Have the kids choose three or four bar codes to bring to your computer. Together, type the numbers at the bottom of the bar code into Google. (There are typically twelve numbers in a standard form, UPC-A. Another common code, UPC-E, has taken those twelve digits and mathematically reduced them to 6. Books seem to have yet another variant of code containing 13 digits.)

If Google doesn't find the product, you can use this UPC look-up site here.

For my kids -- and I have to say, for me -- it was pretty exciting when the computer "knew" what product we had suggested. When we typed in a book's bar code number, Google even showed a picture of it! Pretty cool!

And this is exactly the purpose and point of bar codes: so computers can know about things out in the "real world." Bar codes help computers "be smart."

3. Finally, for older kids, you guys can "figure out" the code behind bar codes. Well, sort of...

As mentioned above, UPC-A has twelve digits. The first six digits of bar code is assigned to the manufacturer. The next five digits are used to designate a manufacturer's product. (The last number is used to help make sure the bar code is correctly assigned and working properly, believe it or not!)

So, your kids can compare different bar code numbers and find similarities. Products from General Mills (the company that makes Cheerios, Wheaties, and Chex, among many others) would have the same six numbers at the start of their UPC bar code numbers.

Here are three manufacturers that you might find in your house right now, along with some of the numbers that have been assigned to them:

Arm and Hammer 33200

General Mills 016000
General Mills 020000
General Mills 041196
General Mills 070470

Kraft Foods 021000
Kraft Foods 029000
Kraft Foods 043000
Kraft Foods 044000
Kraft Foods 070221
Kraft Foods 071159
Kraft Foods 759283

Are we right? Do you have any of these numbers in your house right now?

We hope you find this code stuff fun and exciting. It is neat, we have to admit, that it's so prevalent and yet mostly unknown. (We didn't know about it until we undertook some serious Today Is Fun-inspired internet research!)

We were also wondering whether it would make for a really cool, action-style conspiracy theory movie? We'd love to be paid for the idea, and you could get George Clooney and some other hunky actor to portray the two of us -- that'd be fine.

Have fun!

Today Is Fun featured at the "Good 'N' Crazy" Blog

ADDED July 17, 2009

This past week we were very honored to be featured on one of our favorite "Mom blogs." At GoodNCrazy, Carissa Rogers writes of her escapades with her husband and three kids in a way that is both philosophical and hilarious. She has a dry sense of humor that keeps us coming back for more.

We were grateful for the opportunity to share some of our mid-summer kids' activities on Carissa's site. (And as we mentioned on her blog, a life that is "good and crazy" is a great goal for families of kids to have!)

Thank you, Carissa!

One year ago today...

We were thinking about celebrating some Dads

ADDED June 12, 2009

kids activities father's day

Last year at this time, we offered some simple and creative ideas for celebrating Father's Day. Looking back on those ideas now, they still hold up!

Check it out here!

One year ago today...

We were making funny noises and passing them off as vowels

ADDED May 25, 2009

Vowels without consonants sound kind of funny. And funny is . . . fun!

Read the whole, funny, and educational post here.

One year ago today...

We were making up easy stories for the kids

ADDED May 15, 2009

We're all about the most bang for the least buck. In that vein, a year ago today we were making up fun stories for the kids . . . with the least amount of effort.

All you need is an animal, a place, and something you can touch.

One year ago today...

We were focused on the color of Mom and Dad's shirts

ADDED May 11, 2009

kids activities

A simple, fun way to keep the kids happy during traffic jams and long rides home.

What color shirt is Mom (or Dad or Grandma) wearing right now?

It works! Check it out here.

Happy Mother's Day!

Moms are great, period.

ADDED May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day, everybody.

Moms are the best. Moms rock! Moms keep their family going, through thick and through thin, through cloudy days and sunny ones, through runny noses and clear.

We wouldn't be here without you. Thank you, and Happy Mother's Day!

One year ago today...

We were talking about fun with kids' hair

ADDED May 04, 2009

Really? Kids' hair?

Yep. We were. Check it out here.

One year ago today...

We were all introduced to a magical beast caled a Schmippopotamus

ADDED April 29, 2009

It was quite a popular post. And why not? Who wouldn't like to meet a schmippopotamus?

Meet this unique animal right now with a click here. (You might just bump into a schmattlesnake, too.)

One year ago today...

We were encouraging you to wave at your kids

ADDED April 28, 2009

Kind of weird, kind of funny. Looking back, it was a creative idea. It was certainly fun.

But looking back after a year's time, this might be just the type of thing that kids mock their parents for when they're teenagers.

So we apply this warning label: for babies and toddlers only. (We think.)

Check it out.

Slow Critter walk

Taking it slow you see more.

ADDED April 23, 2009

Spring is here and so are all kinds of bugs! Everything from creepy spiders, flitting butterflies and slowly moving snails. They are all out and going about their business.

Every so often as your kids race by on their bikes or skateboards, they will catch a glimpse of a rolly polly or some ants busy at work. After marveling for a few minutes at the tiny spectacle, they are off to their next activity. But when given the chance to slow down and look closely for bugs on your block, your kids will be amazed at the world that is revealed.

So today take a slow walk. A walk slow enough to check under every bush, to closely examine the bark on every tree, to check every crack in the sidewalk and just to look for bugs. Take the time to count the bugs you find, if your kid is an artist commission a sketch of the bugs they see or -- easier still -- grab a digital camera and document every bee, spider, and moth you can find.

Send us a comment and let us know what you see!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Everybody!

ADDED January 20, 2009

kids martin luther king

We'd like to take a moment to honor this great American.

And if your kids are off of school, see the today's syllable-flipping activity below. (We also have a couple of other fun, keep-the-kids-busy activities posted on the site.)

Have a great day!

(And thank you to medium as muse for the use of the image above.)

Happy Inauguration Day!

ADDED January 20, 2009

Lots more fun ahead in 2009!

Don't forget: We're here to help

ADDED January 06, 2009

kids games It's the first full week of 2009. Welcome back, people.

2008 was a great year for Today is Fun. 2008 saw hundreds of posts of which we're proud (that is, all of them), and hundreds of new subscribers. (If you're one, thank you very much for joining us! If you're not, please subscribe now by clicking here.)

We're very happy and grateful for 2008, but now it's onto 2009, a year in which we'd like to "kick up our game" a notch. We're hoping to offer more fun, creative, and just plain better ideas in the coming year. In 2009, we hope to help you and your kids have a lot more fun at hardly any expense. We're also going to be featuring many educational ideas, as well as ones that develop character.

Thanks again for a great 2008. Let's all have a great 2009.

Daily Triple Treat - Friday Edition

Three more fine ideas to keep your young ones busy on break

ADDED January 03, 2009

kids games The week of Daily Triple Treat concludes wtih a bang. Enjoy!

Inside Treat- Have an Un-decorating party. Clean up all that holiday mess and have some fun while doing it. Put on some party music, find important jobs for the little hands and make it a good time for all. Why not make the clean up fun!

Outside Treat- Make a boomerang. To construct a boomerang that really flies you will only need two things a cereal box and a stapler. Lay the box so it is flat and cut out the two long skinny rectangles where the nutritional value information is listed. Lay one of the rectangles on top of the the other creating a large X and staple together. Next fold one inch of each of the four ends in towards the center and now you are ready to go. To fly your boomerang go outside hold it vertically in the air above your head, gently throw it and it magically returns.

Educational Treat- try one of these 3 number related activities

Daily Triple Treat - New Years Eve Edition

Delicious Muffins, Family time and all Twelve months

ADDED December 31, 2008

The week of the DAILY TRIPLE TREAT continues. We hope you're all surviving (and enjoying) your kids' Winter break!

Inside Treat- Bake some muffins with your kids. We have a foolproof recipe for Morning Muffins that everyone can enjoy posted here. My kids love to help with the measuring, batter tasting and everyone enjoys eating the final results. It is well worth the effort.

Outside Treat- Take a walk around the neighborhood. Just walk and talk as a family, and if your kids get anxious to get home, here are two ideas to make the walk a little more entertaining, 1, 2.

Educational Treat- Since it is the end of the year, have you kids practice learning all twelve months. This could be a game while you walk. See if they can hop while saying each month. Or challenge them to jump twelve times on each leg and say the months as fast as they can. If your kids are older and these activities are too simple, see if your little smarties can learn the months of the year in Spanish or German.

Here is an adults only cheat sheet (we are here to help).

Spanish
enero — January
febrero — February
marzo — March
abril — April
mayo — May
junio — June
julio — July
agosto — August
setiembre — September
octubre — October
noviembre — November
diciembre — December

German
Januar — January
Februar — February
März — March
April — April
Mai — May
Juni — June
Juli — July
August — August
September — September
Oktober — October
November — November
Dezember — December

Daily Triple Treat - Tuesday Edition

A Sea Cucumber, Giant Kazoo and lots of Fingers.

ADDED December 30, 2008

This week we're featuring a TRIPLE TREAT each day. Three different short ideas to keep your little ones busy during winter break from school!

Inside Treat- Take a family trip to the big library. The one downtown with floor after floor of books. On the way there, everyone can pick a topic that interests them: space, owls, sea cucumbers, knitting, french cooking or early Porsche history. Then together, visit the sections that interest your family. Who knows, you might learn something about sea cucumbers that will astonish you. While you are at the library, check out the DVD rental section. Borrow a special movie to watch on New Year's Eve; it might help your kids make it to the stroke of midnight (if you want them to stay up that late).

Outside Treat- Make a Giant Kazoo. We are suggesting this as an outside activity because after the initial construction fun and playing a few dittys, most parents will have had enough. Kids, on the other hand, will play this for hours.

To build your kazoo, you will need one of those giant tubes from your holiday wrapping paper. If you don't have one handy, you can use a tube from paper towels, a toilet paper roll, or even a Regulation Bopper. You will also need a piece of wax paper large enough to cover the end of the tube, a rubber band, and some markers.

Next decorate you instrument. Encourage your kid to make it colorful and, as with any good instrument, have them give it a name. (Lucille, anyone?)

Then cover one of the ends of the tube with wax paper and hold it firmly in place with a rubber band.

Now it's time for a music lesson. Have your kid sing or hum into the open end, and a pleasing vibration will enhance every sound from your child's lips. A favorite phrase at my house is, "Luke, I am your father".

Educational Treat- Work on Math concepts with your little ones using How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up? If you missed it here is the link. It is simple favorite at my house that I have used many times while waiting in those pesky Holiday return lines.

Picture thanks to sifu renka

Rhyme Helper

A simple, printable sheet to help you guys make up some fun rhymes

ADDED December 24, 2008

kids games

Rhymes are fun. Who could possibly argue with that?

(Here is proof: Try to remember a boring meeting that you've been in. Or think of an argument you've had with your spouse. Would that meeting or argument have been slightly better if everything rhymed?)

As part of the Great Giveaway Week here at Today is Fun, we're providing you with a fantastic and fantastically free Rhyme Helper. Download it here and print away.

We've listed all the possible consonant sounds for the beginnings of words. This isn't just an alphabet, it's a little bit more in depth. (We've included common word starts like sh– and ch-.)

All you have to do, if you and your kids are trying to think of a rhyme, is go through this word start list. A rhyme will be bound to occur to you.

This isn't necessarily the stuff of genius here. Someone has probably made something like this before, but we've never seen it.

Some suggested activities with this Rhyme Helper page:

• Throw out a word. Everybody has to find a rhyme for it. Keep taking turns until you can't come up with any more. Then go down the Rhyme Helper's list to see if you missed any.

• Have your kids write a letter to somebody (like Grandma or Daddy) to let them know you're thinking about them, and rhyme each last word. Make the letter on the short side. See if they can spot the last-word rhyming trick.

• Find a rhyming book (Dr. Seuss is pretty great) and find other rhymes the author could have used.

Enjoy our Rhyme Helper with your kid. You'll be quite glad you did.

--S

Left Overs

A day after Thanksgiving tradition

ADDED November 28, 2008

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and in America that means left-overs and Black Friday.

Well, we encourage you to stay home from the stores and play with your kids! Here is a smattering of some fun activities we've posted earlier this year for you to review (or discover for the first time.)

We like to think they're more flavorful and exciting than most Thanksgiving left overs.

kids games • Make a card for someone

• Hide some treasure

• 1,2,3 Quiet Game

• From where do we know?

• Look, Ma! No Vowels!

• Use Every Piece

• Coloring Shape by Shape

We're proud of these posts, and some of them haven't been commented on. So if you have a moment, please let us know what you think. And Happy Black Friday!

Some Father's Day Suggestions

The big day is almost here . . . and we're here to help.

ADDED June 12, 2008

fun for kids with Dad The American people have set aside one day to honor dads. That day is coming right up, in case you've forgotten.

(We've heard there is a small but vocal group of people who are lobbying Congress to have Mother's Day stretched into Mother's Week, or Mother's Month, in honor of all the work that Moms do for their kids.)

To make Father's Day special and memorable for your kids' Dad, you don't have to work too hard, and you certainly don't have to spend much money. A couple of small, special activities and commemorations will definitely do the trick.

Here are a few quick suggestions to make Father's Day a hit in your house.

1. Put together something for your husband that includes a photo of your kid or kids. Kinko's can make a for-the-car plastic coffee cup that they can put a photo in. You could also write "Best Dad Ever" or something to that effect on there.

2. Plan an activity that gets your husband out and about with your kids. A picnic for the family in a park could be a lot of fun.

3. Make the whole day special: a special waffle breakfast, a family walk around the block, etc. Do special, different things and tell your husband that it's in honor of him!

4. Make some signs extolling your husband and hang them around the house when he's sleeping. (For some free ones that we made and that you can download, click here.)

5. Have fun and be happy! This might be obvious, but the more you are upbeat and celebratory, the more that attitude will pervade the whole family.

Here's hoping you have a great Father's Day in your house. (And if you need any last minute suggestions or advice, feel free to email us at fun@todayisfun.com).

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ADDED August 31, 2007

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Christmas Pickle

Make it then find it!

What We're All About

Our mission in a nutshell: To provide you with ideas for fun and free family activities. (Or practically free.)

Times are tough. And families with kids have a truly never-ending list of expenses. So we want to help you fill your family time with entertaining, affordable activities.

We try to invent creative and unique ideas that are off the beaten track.

We supply ideas that are frequently educational. There is no reason learning has to be a chore; it should be fun whenever possible. (And isn't it always possible?)

Our ideas are meant to foster kids’ innate creative impulses and encourage a love of life.

We're not professional psychologists or researchers or anything like that. We're two dads who take a practical point of view -- and who try to motivate kids with entertainment and fun.

Why shouldn’t your kids have the best possible childhoods? Childhoods full of learning, love, and fun? And occasional chocolate chip cookies?

Pardon Us While We Build An Empire

We have ideas ready to go for television shows and for books. We are actively working on bringing those items to homes across the world.

We will be uploading videos to YouTube and creating audio to amuse and educate kids in the car.

How can we help you?

We love to collaborate.

 We’re available to consult with both parents and with companies.

We accept writing projects in the fields of parenting and childhood development.

We also would be delighted to sample your homemade desserts and offer our expert feedback.

Let’s work together to make all kids’ childhoods great!


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