Free 2 Year Subscription to Family Fun Magazine

Many thanks to Jill at Pointsandprizes for emailing me to let me know that there is a free two year subscription to Family Fun Magazine available for filling out this survey from Rewards Gold.

Family Fun is a great magazine. I have read a couple issues and really found a lot of fun ideas. In fact, I had been on the verge of buying it when Jill emailed me. Free is much better!

Also Wondertime magazine is available from the same source. I have never heard of this one, but it looks fun too! Here is the survey you can complete to receive it.

Cleaning Pennies

Some cleaning jobs are particularly satisfying because they make such a noticeable difference. (I think washing mirrors fits into this category). Washing pennies is so dramatic that it's actually fun!

If you want a fun rainy-day activity to do with your kids that makes them feel that they are doing something (semi) useful- try this:

1. Send your kids on a mission to find all the dirty pennies in the house. (Have them look in the car, the bottom of your purse, under seat cushions, etc).

2. Find a big glass or plastic bowl and have your kids measure 1 cup vinegar and 10 tablespoons salt into it.

3. Let a younger child mix the salt into the vinegar with his hands.

4. Drop the pennies into the bowl and have your kids mix them around with their hands.

5. Watch as the pennies "magically" lose their tarnish and become wonderfully shiny. For older children, you can even turn this into a science experiment. Why did they become shiny?

--Pennies get dull over time because the copper reacts with the air to form copper oxide. Salt and vinegar form an acid that erodes the copper oxide (but doesn't hurt hands in case you were wondering)--

6. Make sure you take before-and- after-pictures that they can show their dad when he gets home!My toddler and I did this activity this morning. She isn't old enough to appreciate science behind it or to measure out ingredients, but she thoroughly enjoyed mixing the vinegar and salt together and dropping the pennies into the bowl (Of course, closely supervised because the pennies might be a choking hazzard).And yes, she does smell like a pickle right now, but it was worth it! :-)

Young Folks at Play

If you are in any doubt as to whether or not children were more creative in their play before the advent of television take a look at this picture that my dad found me. The painting is from 1560 by the Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel. In it are depicted over 80 children's activities. Go here if you would like to learn more about some of the games in the painting. (You may also click on the picture to get a magnified view) Very fun!

Fun Finds

Here are some links to fun family ideas that I found around the web this week:

Directions for making homemade lick stickers from Salt and Chocolate

Very detailed instructions for making your own magic folding cubes from Thingamababy. There are even video tutorials!

Chasing Cheerios tells about the shell memory game that she made for her toddler. (This is a wonderful site, by the way.)

Bizzy Bee Creations has a picture of a fun and easy butterfly snack idea.

A post on Life with Kashion talks about how their family went trick or treating in a nursing home. This seems like a great idea for both the residents and for the kids!

The family at Today's Housewife has a wonderful tradition for making a game of opening presents at Christmas. The post has inspired me with lots of fun ideas of my own. You'll want to read it! She also shows how a bundt cake pan is just the right shape for making a pumpkin shaped spice cake!

Mommysecrets shares her family's scavenger hunt for the needy.

Growing Great Kids has a fun set of instructions for making your own grassy caterpillars!

Free Museum Admission this weekend

Bank of America is sponsoring free museum visits this weekend at over 70 museums
Click here to get more details!

Celebration!

My sister is adorable. Tomorrow she finds out whether she passed the bar exam, and do you know what she and her husband are going to do if she passes? Decorate for Christmas! Isn't that a fun celebratory activity?

I was thinking too, that you if have a child in sports right now maybe you could do something similar. Say if your daughter is on the volleyball team- the next time she has a game, you could tell her that if she wins, the family will decorate for Christmas. Maybe her whole team could come over to help! If they lose- oh well, just say it again the next time there is a game. Hopefully she'll win some time between now and Christmas! :-)

(Of course, you'd have to gauge your own child and know whether it would be fun or just add unneeded pressure.)

13 Ways to Pass the Time while Waiting at a Restaurant

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Between getting a table, ordering, and the arrival of food, waiting can take up a large proportion of the time that your family is at a restaurant. If you can make that down time fun, it will go a long way toward making eating out a pleasant experience for the night. Here are some ideas to pass the time:

1. Ask for lemons with your water and let your kids make themselves lemonade using a couple packets of splenda on the table. They can experiment with different levels of sourness and sweetness. Ask them if they can figure out the part of their tongue that senses sourness.

2. Play hangman.

3. Have each person guess what letter your server’s name will start with. Each person could also guess a name to go with their letter. Wouldn’t it be fun if they were right some time?

4. Play “Squares.” Here are some good directions for the game. My mother used to play this with us all the time when we were little!

5. Get a copy of the game Password, and always keep a decoder and a few cards in your purse for times like these.

6. Play “If I were a _______ I’d order...” Have the kids discuss what they would order on the menu if they were a bear or a squirrel or a monster, etc.

7. Bring a deck of cards and play a card game. Rummy is particularly good for this situation because it requires very little table space; it is flexible as to number of players, and the rounds are short.

8. Have fun imagining with your children what it would be like if you were accidentally locked in the restaurant after it closed and had to spend the night there. Discuss what you would want to play with, where would be good hiding places for hide-and- go- seek and where you would like to sleep.

9. Keep a small book of trivia questions in your purse.

10. Pick out a book of short stories that your family will plan to read from aloud whenever you go to restaurants or have a long road trip.

11. Play Pictionary. Even if you don’t have any cards from the game with you, it is easy enough for one person to think of a word and whisper it to another person for him to draw while everyone else tries to guess. It’s harder to make it a fair competition that way, but it will still be fun!

12. Instruct your kids that they are to imagine themselves to be two inches tall with the powers to run, jump, and climb like video game characters. Tell them to watch themselves in their imagination exploring the restaurant in their tiny state. Whenever they get themselves into a predicament (fall into a bowl of soup, find themselves on a ledge they can’t get off of, etc. ) they are to tell the others who must then come up with a plan to rescue the tiny person in crisis. (This idea comes from my husband who admits that he sometimes still imagines himself tiny and watches himself run around the room when he is stuck in a boring situation! :-)

13. Have your kids draw imaginary hybrids of animals. For example, you could tell them to draw a mix between a leopard and a praying mantis. See what you get!

Wordless Wednesday: These are pickle jars!

Go here to see a tutorial on how to make these.

Pickle Jar Lanterns

The people living in darkness have seen a great light. Matthew 4:16

In some ways maybe this craft is more suited for Christmas, but it's my way of reminding myself (and trick-or-treaters who come up our steps) on a day with a lot of focus on evil that Christ (the Light) has overcome the darkness.

Despite its somewhat subversive message, the lanterns really do fit in to the typical halloween decor with their glowing orange letters inside of jet black exteriors. Plus, they were super easy and cheap to make! I'm thinking of making some more for Christmas- perhaps with silhouetted nativity scenes.

Here's how I put these together:

1. I removed the sticky labels from 4 pickle jars and a wheat germ jar (ran out of pickle jars) using Goo-Gone.
2. Next, I wrote the verse across the jars using scrapbook lettering (actually bought the letters for 10 cents at a garage sale!).
3. I then covered the jars with black spray paint. A more patient person than me would have done this in several coats, but since they were going to be out at night, I figured no one would probably see the drips if I just did one heavy coat.
4. I also did a very light coat of spray paint on the inside of the jars to disperse the light a little with the haze. (If you accidentally make drips that distort the letters this way, you can take a knife and scrape off the dripped paint)
5. I carefully removed the scrapbook letters and touched up the letters left on the jar with my thumbnail.
6. Finally, I placed a candle inside of each and set them on our front steps.
IMPORTANT: Do not light the candles until the spray paint is completely dry- a good couple of hours at least. The fumes from spray paint are extremely flammable. If you try to light your candles when there are any lingering fumes you might set your house on fire- like I almost did!

An encouraging side note-- As some of you may have guessed, I am more of an idea person than a craft person. Translation: I am sloppy, sloppy when it comes to precise measurements, etc. If I attempt a craft and it turns out half-way decent, a normal crafter is likely to have much prettier results!

For more great ideas today head on over to Works for Me Wednesday!

Old Electronics

Have an old radio or computer that you are planning to toss? Before you do, maybe you have a son or daughter that would enjoy doing a dissection on the thing with a screwdriver. Besides keeping your child occupied for a good hour or two, you might be nurturing the mind of a future engineer!

For more good ideas visit here.

Do you have a new use for an everyday object? Please feel free to leave a link to your post on the Mr. Linky below! You don't have to link back to this site (although it would be great if you did!) The only things I ask are that your post be family-friendly and that the link go directly to the post itself and not some other page of your blog. Thanks!

Giveaway: Two Classic Children's Books

Does your child ever get tired of the wonderful words and pictures in Goodnight Moon? This week's giveaway includes a lesser-known book by classic children's author Margaret Wise Brown. The Seven Little Postmen is full of sweet pictures and a simple rhyming story. Your children are sure to love it!

Some of you like me may remember Frog and Toad are Friends as one of the first books you read by yourself as a young child. It is a Caldecott Honor Book, and is just the right mix of whimsy and simplicity.

To be entered into the giveaway, just leave a comment below and include your email address so that I will be able to contact you if you win. (feel free to write the email address out in words if you like) If you would like a second entry, you may blog about this giveaway and leave a second comment with the link.

On Monday, November 3rd the winner will be chosen through random.org, and I will post the name late that night.

Museum Free Days

If there is a museum, zoo, or wildlife center near you that costs money, it is a good idea to call their office to ask if they have any admission-free days coming up. Often a museum will have free days or times that are not widely advertised.

I called the Austin Children's Museum, and discovered that every Wednesday evening from 5-8pm the museum is open to the community. We went last Wednesday and had a very good time. I was glad though, that we hadn't paid any money. It was worth the trip into town, but to us it would not have been worth the $6.50 a person that it normally costs.

Foot -Pedal Trash Cans

If your family has a foot-pedal trash can, then I have a fun activity idea for you! I came upon it accidentally this afternoon when I inadvertently placed one of my baby's toys on the top of our kitchen trash and then pushed the pedal to open the canister. The toy went flying across the room as if it had been flung by catapult.

Of course, I then had to experiment with different toys and different positions on the trash can. Toys were flying everywhere!

I only regret that I don't yet have children old enough to have enjoyed it with me. My husband doesn't count; he enjoyed the whole thing but only to poke fun at me (as you can see by the amused mocking expression in this picture as he sent a block flying across the dining room)