How to entertain kids -- At the market.

Fun times with what you have on hand.

ADDED August 29, 2008

Sometimes shopping is not the most fun activity for kids.  The waiting, price comparisons and bargain hunting is an adult activity. And unless a cereal needs to be picked out there is nothing much to do but sit and wait till the shopping is done.  Of course we have a solution for that.  Let your child play with your cell phone.  

On the surface this might seem like a risky proposition but take a minute and explain to your child how careful you need to be with a cell phone and what a big responsibility it is to be able to use one.  Then open up the camera function on you phone and show your kids how to take a picture or a movie and let them entertain themselves with this little piece of technology we all have.

You will definitely end up with a lot of photos like these actual photos taken by a three year old with my lovely wifes iphone but it is so fun!

Just another tip on HOW TO ENTERTAIN KIDS from Today is fun.
Commenting is easy and fun so let us know how it going we are always at info@todayisfun.com and don’t forget to tell a friend about us. Today is fun!

ages 2-7, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

KIDS GAMES -- The human adding machine.

Fun family game that everyone can play.

ADDED August 27, 2008

Next time you and your kids are waiting for your meal at a restaurant or in the doctor’s office, try this fun and educational activity. This game can be played with as few as 2 people and can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. We call it "the human adding machine."

We all take turns holding up zero to five fingers and then it is the human adding machine's job to add up all the fingers. Then the game moves on to the next person, and they add all the fingers up and so on. To add some fun and make it a little more entertaining, I will talk in a robot voice and sometimes give the wrong answer just to keep my kids on their toes. I will also push the subtract button on the human calculator to create a teachable and challenging moment.

My kids love to play, and I like to think it strengthens their math skills. This is one of our most simple, easy and fun kids games.

Commenting is easy so let us know how the human adding machine works for you.  We are always at info@todayisfun.com and don’t forget to tell a friend about us. Today is fun!

ages 2-8, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

How to entertain kids -- With letters

I see my letter!

ADDED August 13, 2008

Here at Today is fun we love reading and letters.  We also are big fans of encouraging kids to read regardless of age.
The first letter I taught my kids was the first letter of their name and I called it their letter.  They understood almost immediately that this one letter was special because it was their letter.  
Once they could identify their letter, I would occasionally stop on a page that we were reading and ask them to find their letter. From there we were able to move quickly to having them pick out a book that had their letter in the title and on to letting them pick out cereal with there letter in the name. Of course we ended up with sugar cereals but it was great, they were interested and always on the look out for their letter.

Try teaching your kids their letter today and see what happens.
Commenting is easy and fun so let us know where your kids find their letter or email info@todayisfun.com don’t forget to tell a friend about us. Today is fun!

educational, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, no 'props' needed, quick activity, reading activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

1,2,3 Quiet Game.

Quick game to help kids keep themselves quiet.

ADDED July 28, 2008

I am not sure who taught my kids this game, but I overheard it from the back of the car, and it is too good not to pass on. Try this game in the car, at dinner, even in a store when your little ones are getting a little too loud.

All I do is say "1,2,3 Quiet Game" and anyone within earshot must be quiet. Once the silence is broken by any noise at all the game is over and there are no winners or losers.  Amazingly, this game has a very calming effect on the noise that a small group of children can generate.

This game is not just a game that adults lead.  I also let the kids police the game: if someone is being too loud, all they need to say is "1,2,3, Quiet Game" and the other kid will quiet down. It works like magic.

The resulting silence, no matter how brief it may be, is nice.

Try it with your kids and let us know how it works!  And don't forget we are always available at info@todayisfun.com!

ages 3-12, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, Good for bathtime, good for mealtimes, good for the car, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer,

Eat It or Don't Eat It!

Yet another of our kids games that is easy, fun, and instructional

ADDED July 21, 2008

This is another very simple game. There is a certain, almost Zen-like beauty to the simplicity of this activity, as we'll explain in a moment...

You list a few things for your kids. They have to tell you "Eat it" or "Don't Eat It" for each. A plate of spaghetti, yes. An apple, yes. An entire house . . . absolutely not!

After your turn (try to rattle off about ten different items to ask about), your kids can take a stab at listing things for you to eat or don't eat.

Once your kids understand the concept, you can start to get tricky with them. For instance, "elbow pasta" is a favorite in our house. But just plain old elbows . . . don't try to eat those!

Of course, this is a very easy way to review for small children what people eat, and what they shouldn't. As a case in point, I always remind my little guy that crayons and Play Dough are on the "Don't Eat It!" list.

And now for the beauty of this game, as we mentioned above. The thing is, "Eat it or Don't Eat It!" is simple and engaging enough for small children that they can play it themselves, once you show them how. We have witnessed kids as young as four and two playing this game by themselves for ten to fifteen minutes at a time! And ah, what a sweet, peaceful, and relaxing ten to fifteen minutes that was.

Have fun, and at your next meal time, please stick to the "Eat It" list. No houses, no elbows, please.

 

ages 2-7, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, good for the car, no 'props' needed, verbal activity,

How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up?

A game for kids that helps little ones learn math concepts

ADDED July 20, 2008

This activity is another in our series about teaching numbers and counting.  And okay, it's pretty simple, we admit it.  Please don't demand your money back.  It really is a great, fun introduction to these concepts for little kids.

First, have the kids close their eyes. Then hold up a number of your fingers.  

"How many fingers am I holding up?" you ask.

Then your child guesses, while keeping eyes closed.  You respond to each guess with "More," "Less," or "Absolutely right!"

Once your kids get the concept, you can close your eyes and take a shot at guessing how many fingers they're holding up.

(During a recent run through of this game, my boy really surprised me.  After I guessed all the possible numbers - 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 - and was told that I was wrong every time, I opened my eyes to discover he was holding up all his fingers on both hands.  He was delighted, of course, and I was foiled again.)

Have fun playing this learning numbers game with your kids, but whatever you do, for your own safety and the safety of your self esteem, don't try to play this one with any teenagers!

ages 2-7, educational, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, quick activity, verbal activity,

Counting everyday and everyway.

Daily fun with numbers.

ADDED July 15, 2008

Numbers are an abstract concept. Learning how to count to ten is the easy part but learning how to use numbers to count things this can be hard. Here at TIF we love numbers and we think that the only way to get good at something is through repetition. That is why we are big fans of this game.

Once your kids have mastered counting 1-10 the next step could be to count simple things that you and your kids see. Math that they can do on their fingers is the best, as with everything we try to make it easy so it can be done anywhere.

With my kids I started with simple things that I knew they could count, when we would ride somewhere in the car I would often ask how many people are in the car? Or other times I would ask how many wheels does a car have? How many lights are on the street lamp? Or just to be tricky. I would ask how many wheels does and eighteen wheeler have?

Using simple counting questions they got really good quickly and soon we were adding up the tires on two cars, counting items in a display case and people in line at the market. Try it today and see what numbers you come up with.

Leave a comment or send us an email to let us know how you encourage counting at info@todayisfun.com!

ages 2-7, educational, good any time, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for the car, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Lk, M! N vwls!

that is...Look, Ma! No vowels!

ADDED July 08, 2008

If your child doesn't know what vowels are, tell them: A, E, I, O, U, and (that's right), sometimes Y. For "phase 1" of this activity, you guys just might want to talk about the vowels each day for a week.

Once your child gets the concept . . . it's time to get rid of those special letters. No more vowels for you!

In our house, we like to imagine a world with no vowels. We start with simple words, such as dog and cat. First, I ask my boys where the vowels are in each of those words, and once each has been identified, we spell the words *without* vowels: dog and cat become dg and ct. The most fun part of this exercise is trying to pronounce the words without vowels. (I think dog and cat sound like dug and kit, both sounding kind of clipped and pronounced with a lot of emphasis. I also find that I clench my teeth when uttering these vowel-less words.)

Then we start talking about family members, and what would happen to their names without vowels. Daddy and Mommy's names are especially difficult to pronounce without vowels, but we try anyway. (Three impassioned D sounds and three long Mmmm's, respectively.) We talk about our friend Paul, whose name is manageable and still sounds relatively Paul-like, but then we discuss Alicia and Ana, whose names sound nothing like they do with all of their vowels.

In our house, things generally break down from there, and the kids want to talk about every word without its proper allotment of vowels. It really is dctnl and fn, but sometimes a bit xhstng! (educational, fun, exhausting!)

ages 4-12, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, verbal activity,

Red, White and Blue hunt.

Entertaining Game of finding the colors in the American flag.

ADDED June 30, 2008

4th of July is this Friday and here at Today is fun we have loads of great ideas to keep your kids entertained all throughout this patriotic and festive week.

Today’s idea will help get the smallest patriots in the mood by having them look for the colors found in the American flag, red, white and blue. If your kids don’t know what colors are on the American flag this week would be a great time to teach them because flags and displays of patriotism will be everywhere.

 

When your kids have figured out what colors they are looking for turn them loose. When they find the first color “Red” then they can find the next color “White” and then “Blue” then repeat “Red”, “White” and “Blue”.

The idea is very simple and can be used to pass a few minutes at the market or on a car ride or even while you are reading a book this week try pointing out the colors Red, White and Blue when you look at the pictures.

Also don’t forget to drop us an email info@todayisfun.com we will be wearing special 4th of July hats all week (look for this idea later in the week) and it would be great to hear from you!

ages 2-7, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for the car, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Albert the Aardvark

A fun and funny way for kids to learn letters and alliterations

ADDED June 27, 2008

Ask your kids if they've met Albert the Aardvark. No? They haven't? How about Beulah the Beaver? (She's always quite busy, it seems.) Then there's Connie the Coyote and Donny the Duck-Billed Platypus.

The way our family plays this game is for the adult to supply the kids with the name, and then the kids come up with the animal. The game gets much more fun, you'll see, when your kids can provide both the name and the animal.

Even if your child can only invent gibberish names for the animals ("Frunko the Frog," for instance) as long as they are recognizing and repeating that first letter sound, it's still an approved answer in our book.

Have fun with those kids today, and say hello to Hortense the Hedgehog for us.

(For another fun alliterative word game check out one of our previous posts: Great Gadzooks!)

ages 2-7, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, good for the car, no 'props' needed, verbal activity,

Have you ever seen a PoodleRex?

Word jumble silliness!

ADDED June 20, 2008

Kids are always pretending to be animals. At any time a zoo full of hamsters, hyenas or hippopotami can be found thundering thru the house.  The question that always comes up is, “Dad, what kind of animal do you want to be?” I usually choose hippopotamus because they float around, listen to the zookeeper (my daughter)  and don’t get into a lot of trouble.

But sometimes when posed with this question what I’ll do is take two animals and create a new animal. It is really simple, take the first part of one animal and combine it with the last part of another animal and presto you have the fearsome ham-opotamus, the deadly hip-yena or the poorly behaved hy-ster.

Try this idea in the car or at the dinner table.  It is fun with sound effects and acting (I always encourage gentle acting), but I love to see their imaginations light up when one of these mythical creatures appear

Here is a list of my favorites The Rabburtle (Rabbit and Turtle), Buffmunk (Buffalo and Chipmunk) and Rhinokey (Rhino and Monkey) are all favorites.  And in my sons mind nothing is better then the ferocious PoodleRex (Tyrannosaurus Rex and Poodle) I just wish we could house break him!  

Next time you are asked, “what animal do you want to be” Let us know what you and you kids come up with. We are just an email away info@todayisfun.com or leave a comment.

ages 3-12, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, good for the car, may rile them up, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Sticker Story.

An activity that is sure to stick.

ADDED June 17, 2008

This is a fun activity for a lazy summer afternoon. Take some stickers and one piece of paper. Have you child put all the stickers on the paper. They can be upside down, on top of each other and all over. When all the stickers are applied to the paper now the fun begins.

Look over the page for little scenes or still life portraits that have happened accidentally on the page. Point out how it looks like two of the stickers are having a conversation or how one sticker is standing on its head in a tree. As these scenes begin to develop you and your child can start to make up a story about the action on the page. They usually are short and at my house definitley silly, but Mom always loves to hear all about it.

Yesterday I heard one about a puppy who liked to ride dinosaurs to go camping. When the puppy and the dinosaurs got to the campground they made friends with a family of hamsters and roasted s’mores. Now that’s what I call a story.

ages 2-8, art supplies needed, educational, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, longer activity, may rile them up, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Portable Game Books

Print out these handy games for anytime fun.

ADDED June 05, 2008

The other day I was looking for a simple organizer that I could print out and fold into a small pocket size to do list. I happened upon this very handy little organizer at
http://www.pocketmod.com/v2/
and as I looked thru the options for coordinating my life I found you could make little books of Tic-Tack-Toe, Dots and Boxes or a Blank Page for Doodling even little frames to make your own stories in, all you have to do is print, fold and cut to create a little portable game book to take anywhere. I immediatley printed some out and put them to use.

They really are a lot of fun and super simple to make. We have been playing a game of Dots and Boxes after dinner for the past 3 nights (this game can be very long) and the Tic-Tac-Toe book really came in handy during a recent Doctors visit and I can’t wait to use the Doodling book at a restaurant very soon.

I made five little booklets to print and take. I really like them. Let me know what you think!
Click link below to download in pdf format and print!

1) Tic-Tac-Toe
2) Dots and Boxes
3) ½ Tic-Tac-Toe & ½ Dots and Boxes
4) Blank pages for coloring
5) Make your own story

If you are having trouble folding the paper look here for a quick primer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAb31rIeGZo
and if you forgot the rules of Tic-Tac-Toe look here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tic-tac-toe
also if you are not quite sure how to play Dots and Boxes look here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_and_Boxes
and of course you can always email us here to let us know how it’s going.
info@todayisfun.com

 

ages 3-12, art supplies needed, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for the car, longer activity, quick activity, verbal activity,

Great Gadzooks

Alphabetical word fun.

ADDED May 23, 2008

My kids are learning all about words at school, and lately I have seen their vocabulary increase greatly. What I do to encourage bigger words and a broader vocabulary is play a game I call “Great Gadzooks.”

It is slightly challenging and definitley something that makes them think but it can be played anywhere. The results are always hilarious.

All you need is a little imagination and some word power. You start at the beginning of the alphabet and use a adjective and a noun that start with the letter A.  For example, ”Awesome Apples” or “Arabian Ant,” then the game moves on to the next person. They will use the letter B for their turn, they follow suit using the same adjective and noun formula, ”Burned Bananna” or “Bouncy Blanket” -- the more outlandish the better. The next person follows with the letter C then D and so on. Some letters do get hard but we have a few "go to" words that we will use for I,V,X,Y and Z (email me if you need some help with those letters).

It is always fun. For some reason “Vacuuming Vipers” always gets a huge laugh and “Marvelous Mom” elicits cheers of joy. Let me know what makes you and your kids laugh. It would be great to read some of your "Colorful Comments".

ages 3-12, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, Good for bathtime, good for the car, longer activity, may rile them up, no 'props' needed, verbal activity,

Fill in the blank

A simple, fun game to help pass the blank.

ADDED May 20, 2008

You say the first two words of a phrase your child knows, and wait for the blank to be filled in.

For instance, “Grandma and Blank.”  (Answer:  Grandpa.)

“Brush your blank.”  (Answer: teeth.)

“Stars and blank.”  (Answer: stripes.)

Kids quickly pick up on how this game works, and are eager to provide the right answer.  Mine are so enthusiastic at times, in fact, that they’re trying to fill in the blank before I’ve fully told them the clues.  This leads to occasional mishaps such as “Grandma and Teeth”…which everyone seems to enjoy.

ages 2-7, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, Good for bathtime, may rile them up, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Bigger or Smaller

Have fun estimating everything.

ADDED May 19, 2008

My kids are always comparing sizes of things. I frequently hear things like,” I am tall enough for this” or “I am big enough to do that” or the ever popular, ”but mine is the smallest”. What they don’t realize is that they are estimating. So to keep the estimation party going in a positive way I will ask them questions about what things they see around them and have them estimate the answers.

I will ask, ”what building, tree or flag pole is taller?” “What car do you think is heavier?” Or I will say, “What line has the most people?”

I think it helps expand their vocabulary and encourage critical thinking. Besides who doesn’t like to guess which line will move faster at the market? Somehow I always chose the slowest.

ages 3-12, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, good for the car, no 'props' needed, quick activity, see our disclaimer, verbal activity,

Olden Days

Good times with the way-back machine.

ADDED May 08, 2008

This isn’t so much a game or activity, as a great topic for conversation.  It’s fun, too.

Kids naturally like learning about the world about them—everything is new and exciting.  When your kids reach a certain age (four or five?) they can begin to understand this concept:  that in Olden Days, a lot of things didn’t exist—a lot of things that kids are used to seeing.  

When I first told this to my kids, they thought it was a bizarre concept:  there didn’t used to be cars?  Or TV?  Or Barney the Dinosaur?

My kids like guessing what was around in Olden Days, and what wasn’t.  (“Were there leopards in Olden Days, Daddy?”)

Just  be careful around touchy grandmothers.  You, not your innocent child, will get blamed if a touchy grandmother is asked, “Were there horses in Olden Days, Grandma?”

ages 2-7, educational, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, good for the car, no 'props' needed, verbal activity,

On the go hairdo

Did you know how entertaining hair care can be?

ADDED May 05, 2008

I don’t really spend time doing my hair, or doing my kids’ hair. There are about a million other things in life to do, before I get to those chores.

But when we’re waiting in line, or at the check out, it helps to pass the time to get out some hair care products.

Of course, I don’t really have any. But I make my hand into a ‘comb,’ and ask, “Who needs a good combing?” My kids volunteer, and I ‘comb’ their hair with my fingers. They think it feels weird, and kind of tickles.

Then I offer to use the hair dryer on them (a contraption that has always held a certain fascination for my kids.) Making a loud, hair drying noise, I quickly move their hair around with my fingers and hands.

Then it’s time for some goop—a necessary end to the process. I hold an invisible goop bottle over their heads, and squirt it all over the top of their heads. This involves random, crazy tickling of the top of their heads.

When I’m through, everybody’s hair looks a little worse, a little more messy…but everybody’s had a decent time, and the waiting is over.

Good for bathtime, good any time, good at home, good for a restaurant or public place, may rile them up, no 'props' needed, see our disclaimer,

Schmippopotamus

A quick and simple way to keep young kids entertained and on their toes

ADDED April 30, 2008

 

This one's quick and easy. I've found it also helps get a kid's attention back when they're getting bored and possibly mischievous.

All you need to do is say: "I'm thinking of an animal. See if you can guess what it is. Here's a hint: schmippopotamus."

If your kid is old enough (three and above, certainly), they'll get the joke, and correctly figure out the animal.

Keep naming animals, but with the "schm–" sound at the beginning instead of the actual consonant sound. So, make them figure out the true identity of a schmiraffe, a schmea lion, a schmuirrel, a schmelephant, and so on.

This is fun, but it's probably better for younger kids. I haven't tested this out personally, but you might not want to try it on any teenagers.

good any time, good for a restaurant or public place, verbal activity,

Questions for the kids

Entertain the troops with a little kid interrogation

ADDED April 18, 2008

Try it here are a few starters. Questions can be simple, “what color is your favorite shirt?” informational, “how much do you like bunnies?” or outlandish, “what do you think is heavier 1 elephant or 7500 popsicles?” You can ask anything. So ask away.

I did and was surprised to find out that someone in my family would rather be tickled than eat green beans, another prefers their straw inside a cup, while a third person would rather go bowling than play croquet. Who knew! Let me know what you find out about your loved ones.

good any time, good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, good for home, good for mealtimes, good for the car, verbal activity,

What's Your Favorite On This List

List five items in a category, and ask your child for a favorite

ADDED April 17, 2008

 

 

This activity has definitely saved the day in our house, especially when the kids had to sit and wait for adults to finish eating dinner.

List five items in a category and ask your child for a favorite among the options. Some examples of categories are: farm animals, zoo animals, ocean animals, pets (if you break these animal categories out, you will have more to talk about than if your one category was just ‘animals’), colors, lunch foods, Sesame Street characters, etc.

After your kids has chosen, tell them your favorite. They’ll be interested to know.

My kids seem to enjoy this activity even more when I hold up five fingers and point to a finger with each item in the category. They look at their own hands and fingers when deciding.

This pastime is sure to be a favorite, on anybody’s list.

Good for bathtime, good for a restaurant or public place, good for mealtimes, good for the car, verbal activity,

On the Road

Entertain your kids anywhere with an invisible racetrack

ADDED April 05, 2008

good for a group, good for a restaurant or public place, may rile them up, see our disclaimer,

All the change in my pocket

Great way to help kids learn how to count money.

ADDED March 19, 2008

Often at a restaurant the final minutes of the meal are the worst part of the evening. The “helpful servers” have made sure that the kids meals are served 10 minutes before the adults assuring that the end of the meal will be more about crowd control then eating. What I will often do in those final minutes while I am trying to enjoy the last bite of my fish taco is ask if they would like to count all the change in my pocket. They always do.

While they are happily counting and sorting away I am able to finish my meal and take a possibly chaotic situation and turn it into a teachable moment.

 

If your kids are too young to understand the concept of counting money they can sort them by size or color. Just make sure they don’t take the money, and if they do, make them pay.

 

 

 

good for a restaurant or public place,