Today is Fun is dedicated to helping adults entertain the kids in their lives. The ideas here will keep kids happy and occupied for hours on end, without you having to spend money or buy more stuff. The tips are always entertaining, often educational and developmentally appropriate. We are here to help parents, home schoolers, teachers, and more. Please subscribe now to receive an idea each day. Today is Fun!

One thing to check out

Ask family members to make suggestions to expand your kids' horizons!

Posted on April 15, 2011 by steve

 

Young kids are interested in the adults in their lives. Young kids want to know what their parents think!

As children age, though, and turn into teenagers, many become a lot less receptive to adults’ thoughts and opinions.

Many teenagers know more than their parents or any adult. (I was such a teenager, I am embarrassed to admit. I really was a know-it-all!)

So while your kids are still young, the idea is for you and the kids to ask friends and family members for suggestions and input. The questions here are all about “one important thing” to check out.

Have the kids choose some family members to ask (Grandpa and Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, and definitely good old Mom and Dad!) Give each person a call or send an email.

Ask each person for some suggestions for your kids.  Here are some suggested areas to inquire about:

One movie you should definitely check out at some point

One book you should definitely read at some point

One song you should definitely hear at some point

One meal or food you should definitely try at some point

One museum that’s worth checking out

One adventure you should take

I’ve done this with my children – and as a result of some family members’ responses, my boys are now very interested in AC/DC, the Beatles, and sushi!

This activity is also meant to strengthen the ties between your kids and their family members . . . including you!

And make the most of your kids’ young years! Tell them interesting stuff – and maybe they’ll remember it during their know-it-all teenage years.

 

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The Golden Point

It's freeze tag, but more fun. And oh, also with more tickling.

Posted on April 14, 2011 by steve

kids activities




Even though we’re about to tell you that the object of this game is for your kids to get a lot of points, really points don’t matter here at all. The true point is to get the kids running around and having some fun.

(You’ll need a minimum of two children for this activity. Go collect them now)

Put “something” down in the middle of a large room or yard. That something could be a toy, a rock, a book, a manila envelope. That centrally located item now becomes “the Golden Point.” When the kids touch that thing, they get a point. When they touch it again, they get another point! The Golden Point just keeps giving.

The next thing you have to do is keep the kids away from the Golden Point.

First, set up some safe areas about ten feet away from the Golden Point. (Again, use whatever you have handy for these safe areas: chairs work very well.) The kids can hang out in the safe areas all they want. No harm could ever come to them there. But the kids do need to set out from their safe areas in order to get some Golden Points.

In between the safe areas and the Golden Point, that’s where the “monster” awaits. This monster (you or, if you want, a kid) has one purpose in life: to keep kids from the Golden Point. Also, the monster enjoys tickling kids who are trying to get to the Golden Point.

When a kid gets touched by the monster, he or she must freeze. Only the touch of another kid will work for unfreezing purposes. (The monster might want to take the opportunity to do some tickling of its hapless, frozen victim.)

As we said above, points don’t matter. The kids can count every time they touch the Golden Point, or not. But there are no winners or losers here. It’s just running around fun. (Oh, and tickling. There should be a lot of tickling.)


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Rules of the Road

Fun teaching your young children how to drive!

Posted on April 12, 2011 by steve

kids activities

People are different, of course, and have different tastes and preferences. It is safe to say, though, that most kids are interested in rules.

Rules are fascinating to children. Rules at school, rules at camp, rules in other families’ homes. (For some reason, my kids are increasingly less interested in hearing the rules in their own home. My kids think they’ve already got a firm handle on what they are permitted to do at my house!)

In the parlance of children, rules often start with the words “You are not allowed to…” or “You can” and so forth. For instance, here’s a famous one: “You are not allowed to run with scissors.” In my house, we need a similar rule, as we discovered this past weekend: “You are not allowed to run with a cup full of milk.”

Today I’d like you to discuss some rules with your kids. I promise that they’ll be interested. Today, discuss rules of the road.

And . . . you already know the answers here! This topic makes for an interesting discussion during road trips, outings to the market, or times when you’re stuck in traffic.

The basic idea is to share with your kids driving tips and tricks. Are they too young to be interested? I don’t think so. My own 5-year-old is fascinated.

Some ideas to talk about:

What do the yellow lines down the middle of the road mean? What do white lines mean?

What is the difference between dashed lines and solid ones? What do double yellow lines mean?

What is the speed limit? What does that mean?

What happens if you break a driving rule?

Where are you supposed to keep your hands on the steering wheel?

Are you allowed to talk on your cell phone while driving?

When is honking allowed? When is it not allowed?

Can you get in trouble for doing a bad job parking?

Did you know that in England, the steering wheel is on the other side of the car? And that people drive on the other side of the road?

As I mentioned, you really do know all answers. So it will be easy and fun to share with the kids!

And who knows . . . maybe some of this conversation will stick in your kids’ brains . . . and they’ll actually grow up to be good, safe teenage drivers! We can hope, right?

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Robot Clean-Up Activity

Turn your kids into robots . . . and see the big mess disappear!

Posted on April 11, 2011 by steve

kids activities

Scientists are currently at work on small robots that will clean up the clutter in your house. It’s true!

Until those robots hit stores near you, though, I guess your kids will just have to somehow manage to clean up after themselves.

My kids make big messes. And switching my kids from mess-making mode to clean-up mode is something of a chore.

So my lovely wife and I have invented a number of helpful, clean-up activities.

You can check out our (somewhat) famous “Line Drawing Clean-Up Game” here. It combines some simple art with . . clean up big messes.

Recently, I created the “Animal Clean-Up Game,” wherein your kids are magically transformed into animals. And in their new animal form, the kids pick up after themselves!

Today’s activity is rather similar to the Animal Clean-Up Game – I admit it. This one, though, is in honor of those scientists mentioned above. Today your kids will become robots and clean up using their highly advanced circuitry.

How do robots clean-up, anyway? They probably look a bit more “mechanical” than normal children. Fine. As long as the messes get picked up, right?

Oh, and if the scientists are successful, they will create robots that clean up quickly and efficiently. The robots certainly won’t drag their feet or complain! You may want to encourage your robots to be the best clean-up robots possible!

I hope your kids this one – and more importantly, I hope you enjoy a nice, clean house!

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Albert the Aardvark

A fun and easy word game for kids of all ages!

Posted on April 7, 2011 by steve

fun activities kidsAsk your kids if they’ve me 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!)

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