Giving Away Body Parts! Week of September 17

This giveaway has ended. The winner's name is posted here. Be sure to check back this Friday for the start of another great giveaway!

Welcome to Having Fun at Home's first GIVEAWAY!
This week I am giving away three classic children's books in mint condition:

The Foot Book, The Ear Book, and the Hair Book (out of print).

Only one of them is by Dr. Seuss, but they are all very fun. My 14 month old baby is already a huge fan. There is something about the rhyming, rhythm, and overall silliness that is just irresistible to little kids. Irresistible to parents too- I don't get sick of reading these kinds of books over and over as quickly as I tire of reading most other books.

Leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway. One person will be randomly chosen to win all three books. I will announce the winner next Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday

The Run-and-Jump Couch

Do you have an old couch that has seen better days? Before you send it to the garbage dump, I have a suggestion for you. Some of the most fun my brother, sister, and I had at home was with such a couch. My parents delayed getting rid of it for about a week while we turned it into a fun machine.

Our favorite thing to do was to take all of the cushions off and scatter them behind the couch. We would then all line up on the opposite wall and charge at the couch all together, taking a flying leap at its back. The couch would catapult backward with us on it and we would go rolling onto the cushions.

Rough? Noisy? Maybe a smidge dangerous? (in the way of bruises and bumps and such) Yes- but really, REALLY fun! We couldn't wait until our parents had another couch they wanted to get rid of, and sure enough- when they did, we had another grand old time. We even invited friends over to jump on the couch

Works for Me Wednesday: This post is part of the carnival at Rocksinmydryer.com

Sippy Cup Picnic

Mini S'mores

Fall is a great time for making s'mores, but what if you don't have time or the location to build a big campfire or a fire in the fireplace?

60 minute research date

My sister and brother-in-law do something I think is really clever and seems good for marriage-building. They go on cheap, 60 minute research dates. Here's how it works:

They keep a running list of interests that both of them wish they knew more about. The items on their list could range anywhere from bacteria-resistant staph infections to learning how to fly-fish.

When they have an extra hour or two free, they pack up their laptops and head to a coffee shop. They spend sixty minutes separately researching the same topic on the internet(whatever they have chosen for that day) and then come back together and give each other little reports on what they have learned.

Doesn't that sound like a great idea for building togetherness?

Here are some ideas for adapting the date idea for couples with children:

1. Maybe only 30 minute internet sessions (60 minutes might be a little unrealistic)
2. If there are two computers connected to the internet at your home, you could do the date at home after the kids are in bed (complete with popcorn and hot chocolate).
3. Maybe keep the list of Mommy and Daddy common interests posted somewhere that your kids can see. It's good for them to see the things that you enjoy together that have nothing to do with them. If they know you are going on a research date they might even be curious about what you learned when you see them the next day.

Graffiti Room

My aunt and uncle have found a way to creatively channel one of the more notorious childish impulses (drawing on the walls) into something fun and acceptable to parents. They designated a lesser-used area of their basement as a graffiti room. My little cousin is free to draw, paint, and glue on the walls to her heart's content.

Do you have a room/ part of a wall in a basement, attic, garage or shed that might provide hours of decorating fun? Maybe you even have some leftover paint (hopefully with non-toxic fumes) from a room you painted long ago that you don't need anymore. Paint stores often have old wallpaper and upholstery sample books that they don't need anymore. We had a couple growing up that we used for all kinds of crafts.


Provide lots of materials and then let their daydreaming take over as you leave them alone to work out their visions. Then, of course, they will want to give you the tour!

Mopping slip and slide

My sister and I used to look forward to our mother's mopping days. She would let us get into our swim suits and slide all over the kitchen floor. We thought it was great fun! You'd think we were heading off to a water park by our excitement as we got dressed for mopping. We probably didn't slip and side very fast, but it felt to us like we were whirring along.

Maybe you need some extra motivation to mop the floor these days? A couple of excited kids might help!

Game Review: Settlers of Catan

We LOVE this game and have introduced it to countless of our friends and family. So far, just about everyone we have taught has gotten hooked. The game was created in Germany and won Best Game of the Year there in 1995.

Number of Players: 3-4 unless you buy the expansion kit which makes it possible for 5-6 to play.

(expansion kit link)

Length of Play: 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours (longest times when you have many players)

Things we love about it:

1. Great family game. Ages 10 or so and up will be able to play, and adults won't get bored with it.

2. There is strategy involved, but everyone stays involved and interested in the competition up until the end (unlike Risk where players are eliminated).

3. Even when it isn't your turn, there are still things you can be doing that make it fun.

4. It is a good game for getting to know people. Seeing how people interact with the other players when they trade and work in league can be very revealing. Observe my husband here being a shyster:


5. Every game is different. The board arrangement changes every time, which means one's strategy is constantly changing also.


Things that aren't as great:

1. It takes a long time to learn the rules.

2. Games can sometimes last a long time (not as long as Monopoly but definitely longer than, say, a round of Skip-bo)

For more good Christmas present recommendations visit here.

Edith Schaeffer on Time

Edith Schaeffer writes about finding the time to do all of the creative activities she thought up to do with her children:

"Time? Yes it takes time. But not as much as you might think. Plans are laid while one washes dishes, preparations are made when one is waiting for the cake to finish baking. Notes, ideas, plans can be jotted down and kept ready for the opportune moment. And it is time well spent in really having a family life, in making home more fun than any other place, which makes other 'attractions' seem boring by contrast."

-The Hidden Art of Homemaking

End Paper Ideas

From the Blogosphere:

Here is a great link for 15 ways to have cheap fun with your kids using a $1 roll of end paper

Old Fashioned Taffy Pull

The slumber parties at our house growing up were always unique, and there was one activity in particular that none of my friends ever did anywhere else but at our house. When the night was getting late, things had started to die down, and we were scrambling around for something to do next, my mother would be in the kitchen cooking up a batch of vinegar taffy for us to pull.

Rotten Tomato Fights

If you have some tomatoes in your garden that somehow got overlooked and are now past their prime, don't let them go to waste. (the compost pile is another idea, but not nearly as much fun)