what to do today...

It can get boring, dull and lonely staying at home with your littles ones day after day. Below are some ideas of things you can do with your kids to make the day go by faster that they will love. Get outdoors as much as possible. Kids get cranky and crazy indoors. Adults do too :-) Make anything mentioned below into a play date. That way you can have some adult conversation and your kids are more likely to behave themselves with the distraction of other kids to play with.

(note - for anything that gets messy like crafts or food, buy some disposable table cloths at the 99 cent store and reuse them)

1. There are lots of things you can do in your backyard, front yard, or a park nearby like -
-Blowing bubbles
-Drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk
-Riding bikes/tricycles
-squirt gun fights
-water balloon fights
-playing games like hide and seek, tag, and simon says
-play catch (You can roll a ball back and forth with a baby)

2. Go to the 99 cent store and let them pick out a coloring book. You can get crayons there too. Then, you can go to a park bench and color.

3. Same goes for other crafts. Visit a craft store like Michael's and pick out a craft for a dollar or two. Or visit pinterest.com for ideas. Then take them somewhere fun to do their craft. (backyard, park or grassy area) 

4. Go for a nature walk/scavenger hunt around the block or at a park. Have the kids look for a list of things like a rock, stick, pinecone, leaf etc.

5. Go to the beach. SoCal is beautiful any season of the year. If it is Winter time, throw a sweatshirt on them, roll up their pants (or remove them) and let them walk along the water, splash in the waves and build sandcastles.

6. Combine any of the ideas above with a picnic. Bring a blanket and a basket of yummy food and have a picnic.

7. This one can be done inside or out, especially if you have a good spot in your backyard for it. Decorate cookies. Make or buy some sugar cookie dough, get some cookie cutters, sprinkles and frosting and let your kids go to town.

8. Ice cream sunday party! This will be a bit more expensive but it shouldn't be over $10. Just make sure you go somewhere that they sell the following items for cheap. You'll need ice cream, nuts, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, whipped cream, bananas and cherries of course! Invite a friend who has kids and you can all enjoy together. Do it at a park and let them get all the sugar out playing on the slides and swings.

9. Institute snack time and story hour (or 15 mins :-)). Make a fun snack like apples and peanut butter or carrots dipped in ranch and have them sit and eat their snack while you read them a story or two. Give them a few options to pick from.

10. Give them instruments like tambourines, drums, maracas, kazoos etc. and have a little jam session to a few of their favorite songs. Again, check out the 99 cent store for cheap instruments.

11. Have a movie night. Everybody gets in their jammies, pop some pop corn, grab some blankets and snuggle up together while you watch a movie on the couch or in mommy and daddy's bed.

12. Pick some berries. You'll have to look online for a local farm that is having berry picking. It's free. They just charge you for the berries you take home. And they always taste way better than the store-bought ones. The kids will love it. It's okay if they pop the occasional berry in their mouth too :-)

13. Go camping in your back yard. Set up a tent with sleeping bags and flashlights/lanterns. Roast some marshmallows on the BBQ or inside on the stove and make smores.

14. Make a giant fort out of chairs, sheets, blankets and pillows. Color or read stories inside.

15. Let them help make dinner. Pull up a couple of chairs to the counter, get some pizza dough, a cookie sheet, pizza or pasta sauce, cheese and a bunch of your favorite toppings and help them make a pizza. They will enjoy eating it so much more knowing that they helped make it.

16. Make cards for people you know. Think of someone who is sick or going through a rough time and could use some cheering up. Get some construction paper/card stock, glue sticks, stickers, crayons/markers and go to town!

These things will be way more fun to them than to us but it is so nice to watch them light up and get excited over little things. This is the time when we can do it, before they are too cool for us :-) All they want these days is to hang out with mommy and daddy. I guess we should probably hang out with them! :-)

It's easy to read a list like this and think, yeah I'll do that one of these days. Mark it on the calendar and set a reminder on your phone. That way it's an appointment you feel guilty for missing. I am way more likely to do something if it is on the calendar. I am ten times more likely if I tell my kids we are doing it. Then I have to do it. It doesn't have to be a daily thing. Try it once a week and see how it goes. Call it something fun like fun day or happy time or silly time. Announce it like it's the most fun thing they'll ever do and they'll get super excited about it. Even older kids can't resist doing something fun with mom.

What other activities can you think of??