This year has been a really great year for family movies, what with Minions, Paddington and now Dreamworks Home. Both my boys adored Home when they saw it at the cinema with MadDad and are delighted that DreamWorks Animation’s HOME is out now on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD. As a mum I love it when movies are released with some great activity and colouring pages and we have some fab free Dreamworks Home colouring pages to share with you.
Do you have adventurous kids? I do, in fact they are far braver than me. Nothing seems to scare my lads and there is nothing they enjoy more than an outdoor adventure. But the trick to getting your kids outdoors is to turn outdoor activities into outdoor adventures!
Have you seen the Paddington Bear movie? We loved it in the Mad House It was the perfect family feel good movie and even the husbeast enjoyed it and we will be happy to purchase it on DVD or Blue Ray when it comes out on 23rd March. It was one of the best family movies we have seen in ages. So to celebrate the release of the movie I wanted to share with you some fabulous PB crafts and activities and also some fab free printables too.
I can almost taste it, Spring is in the air and that means a whole new bored jar and a whole new list of low cost or no cost activities for Spring for kids and families. Sometimes we just need a nudge in the right direction, some inspiration to encourage our kids away from technology and that is what this fantastic list is. Not sure what a bored jar is, well here I tell you how to make your own bored jar. Our Spring Bored Jar has all the below activities in and a bunch of chores too. I hope that the added chores encourage the children to think twice before more »
I have had a couple of weeks off Pinterestinly as real life has been getting rather busy! So what have I been pinning this week. Well it is the boys last week at school, so I have been pulling together some activities for the summer break
We were challenged by Innocent kids to reproduce a magic trick from the back of their Kids Juices packets as part of their magic circle. There are seven #innocentmagic tricks and seven of the Innocent gangs favourite bloggers have been chosen to perform. We were sent a sample of Innocent’s new juice flavour tropical, which both the boys loved. Mini isnt a fan of orange juices, but really likes the tropical flavour, which is a blend apples, oranges, pineapple, mango and passionfruit and even better it has no bits, so no funny faces! I love that these are the perfect size for lunch boxes and I will be putting them in when the boys more »
We have a “Bored Jar” and every so often I update it and as the Easter holidays and Spring are upon us I thought I would update it with a Spring theme. So here are my Low Spend or No Spend Easter Holiday and spring Activities
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When I think of my summer holidays as a child, they were filled with sun, sand, bikes, scraped knees, dens and playing out with my mates, only coming home when I was hungry or thirsty. This i9s the type of summer I want my children to have. A somewhat retro summer and certainly a free range one.
I am not saying that I am going to leave my seven and eight year old boys to fend for themselves all day or go on days out with them or even forgo every planned activity. What I am saying though is that I am going to limt screen time and expect them to take out their cricket bat and ball and enjoy some outside time.
I want them to get board and to try and find ways to fill that time with something other than a mindless electronic game. If all else fails then they can resort to the board jar and face the chance of getting a chore instead of an activity!
Who is with me?
But this weekend was filled with Alvin’s first walk and then many a subsequent walks.
A house and garden filled with 11 children
Cricket, more cricket and a little more cricket
Salad sandwiches from the garden
Planting peas and tying up ones that are growing well
Weeding
Washing and hanging out washing in the garden
A trip to the seaside with fish and chips and lemon top ice creams
Movie night
Lawn mowing
book reading
Early morning LEGO building
plotting and planning
Den building
Hide and seek
Letter writing
Try Something New With Your Family During National Family Week
Do you spend enough time with your family? As our schedules get busier and budgets get tighter, enjoying real quality time with our loved ones seems to have become something of a luxury, never mind using that time to do something really memorable. However, there’s a great reason this May to clear your diary – National Family Week, which encourages families to get together by highlighting the importance of family time, and organising hundreds of family-friendly events across the UK.
Taking place between the 27th May and 2nd June, there’s bound to be a fantastic National Family Week event in your local area, but there’s no reason why you can’t just hold your own! National Family Week is also a fantastic time to try something new with your family to make the week really special, and create some memories that will last a lifetime. Here are four great ideas to get you started.
Try a New Restaurant
If there’s an exciting-looking restaurant that’s opened up in your area, National Family Week is the ideal time to give it a whirl, and enjoy some tasty grub with your family – now that’s a good excuse to leave the office early! Alternatively, if money is short, try cooking a dinner together and getting the kids involved. They’ll get to learn a new skill or two, and you’ll all have a wonderful time.
Have a Craft-ernoon
There are few things more fun than getting your hands dirty, so this National Family Week, set aside an afternoon for the whole family to get stuck into some crafts. If your children are very young, help them to make cress heads or painted pasta jewellery, or for older children, you could all collaborate on a larger project such as making a scrapbook, creating teacup candles, or even using decoupage to decorate an item of furniture. As well as enjoying some crucial bonding time, you’ll all have a keepsake to remember the day by.
Send a Smile
Do you remember when you were young, and everyone had a pen pal? In the age of email and texting, writing letters has fallen by the wayside, so get your family together to put pen to paper during National Family Week, and send a note to those faraway family members. You could invest in a beautiful letter-writing set or just pick up some funny cards from the greetings card specialist Hallmark but don’t forget to include some rib-tickling stories and a photo or two.
Get Sporty
Don’t let the summer pass you and your family by! Grab a Frisbee or football and get outside in the fresh air during National Family Week, or even better, why not organise a ‘Sports Day’ for your family and friends? You can hold an egg and spoon race, a bean-bag throwing contest, and of course the obligatory sack race, and ensure an unforgettable afternoon of fun that you’ll want to hold again and again.
I took the boys to school this morning, which calls for a celebration in itself. But I was shocked to hear the amount of parents bemoaning the holidays and saying “roll on September”, even more so as there children could hear them say this. I appreicate not everyonbe enjoys the holiday time as much as I do, but really why would you be so misaerable to spend time with your children. I judt don’t understand why people would have children if they didnt like spending time with them.
