Kid Stuff

Five Ideas For Moms To Set Up A Game Room

September 26, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Moms who are trying to set up a game room will find that they need to get a lot of different things to use in the room. You need to set up a game room that will be easy to use, and it has to have all the different things that will make you feel so much better about setting up game night. You need to look into all the things that are listed because some of them will completely change how you entertain your family.

Get A Pool Table

You can buy a pool table to put in the room, and you need to find a pool cue or two to use in the room. You can use some information when finding the right pool cues, and people who are looking to buy a pool cue should read up on these items. You might need smaller ones for the kids, and you can get the bridge and rack that will help you take care of the cues.

Get Board Games

You need to have an assortment of board games that will look amazing when you have people come over. You want all the people who come over for game night to have a good time, and they need to have a lot of games to choose from. People who do not want to get bored should keep buying board games so that you have a large assortment for everyone to use. The people who are playing board games can pick up different editions, and you will never get bored.

Add A Fridge

You should add a fridge to the room so that you can have refreshments in the room, and you will begin to enjoy this space more because you can always have something to eat or drink. You need to be certain that you have found the fridge that will be easy to use, and you could get a mini fridge or a large fridge. You could even get a freezer for your beer if you want something down there for the adults on late nights.

Add Game Tables

You could add game tables, and this will give you a chance to play normal card games with your kids. These games tables are easy to set up, and they can be folded or stored.

Add A TV

You need to have a TV in the room so that you can keep everyone entertained if all your games are over. You could also play games that you will watch on the TV. It all depends on what you want, and you will find that you could easily get everyone interested in game night when they are watching something.

You could have a game room in your home that is very easy to use, and you could put all the things in the house that will make your game room fun to use. You can buy a lot of things, and you will start to build a room that everyone enjoys.

DIY Gifts for Kids

August 21, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

There is no a greater joy in life than having children of your own; getting to nurture them, watch them grow into amazing people and guide them through life. Once in a while, during birthdays, holidays, when celebrating milestones and achievements with your child, gifts are an exceptional requirement to show how much you appreciate them and how proud are you of them. Luckily, gifts do not need to be expensive, they have to come from a place of love, and what better way than to make them yourself?

Here are Some gift ideas that you can DIY at home for your kids…

Cardboard Box Castle

Children love stories about royalty and fairy tales such as sleeping beauty, the beauty and the beast, Jack and the Beanstalk, so you can be sure they will be delighted if you turn one of the stories into something real like creating a castle. They are quite easy to make at home, and if you do not know how to do it, there are always videos online guiding you on how to go about it. You do not need much stuff, just cardboard, a few trinkets for decoration, glue, confetti for decoration and a few more things to make the castle beautiful for your kid.

Treasure Chest

Kids develop interests as fast as they drop them, and most of these interests are inspired by stories we read to them or the cartoons they watch. Hunting for treasure is a fun activity for your kids, and you can create a treasure chest for them to store souvenirs they find and keep as they grow for them to reminisce about when they are all grown up. It is also inexpensive; you can use card boxes or cereal boxes to create a dome-like chest and paint the outside of it to resemble cool treasure chests like those of pirates – your kids will love it.

Child’s Tool Belt

If your children (either boys or girls) like building stuff, then a tool belt for them will come in handy. There are a lot of detailed tutorials on the internet on how to make one with things lying around the house, especially fabric and sewing kits; and line the belts with plastic tools – so that they do not hurt themselves – such as hammers, spanners and wrenches. Watch your children play pretend with the tools and enjoy pretending to fix things around the house; you never know; they could be future engineers.

Felted Stuffed Animals

For parents who are tired of buying many gadgets and tech toys, a stuffed animal is another way to go, and they can easily be crafted by hand. Make your kid’s favourite animal into a stuffed toy using only felt wool, a pair of scissors, sewing kit and a steam iron; adding appendages like ears and wings and noses will make the stuffed toys quite adorable. They are inexpensive and simple to make, and your children will want to cuddle up with them during nap time.

Conclusion

Home-made presents are inspired and thoughtful, fun to make, made with love and a personal touch, and save on money. Wrapping your kids’ gifts will give you and them the satisfaction of tearing into the packaging to discover what is inside; just because they are made at home does not mean they cannot be wrapped. This is precisely why The Works have this amazing offer of 3 for £2 Cards and Wrap to make sure your gift looks neat and ready to be open.

Free Summer Activities for Kids

August 6, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Can you believe it’s already August? The new school year may be right around the corner, but there are still those last few weeks of summer to enjoy. As the summer progresses, you might find the kids start to get a little bored and restless around the house.

There are plenty of super fun summer activities you can do with your kids without breaking the bank. In fact, there are plenty of free activities you can do to keep the kids busy, and your wallet full!

Go Hiking

Hiking is a fun, free, and active way to spend time with your kids. Not only is it a great way to see the outdoors and get some fresh air, it’s also a great way to work some physical activity into your family’s routine. You can hike through community trails or routes near your home. Do some research online to find great walking trails near you.

Go For a Bike Ride

There really is nothing like riding bikes through the neighborhood. If you don’t have an ideal neighborhood for bike riding, take the kids to local parks or community trails for bike riding. Like hiking, this is another great way to work moderate exercise into your kids’ routine, and teach them to enjoy playing outside.

Hit Up a Public Pool

Even if you don’t have your own pool, you can still take the kids swimming pretty often. Take the kids to your nearest public pool (or better yet, beach!). Kids really do love to swim, and many community pools will have a free public swim where you can take your kids to enjoy a few hours of sun and swim.

Host a Backyard Olympics

This is a fun one – have your kids invite some of their friends over and host a backyard Olympics! Split the kids into teams and organize some fun events like: three-legged races, egg and spoon races, water balloon toss, and any other fun outdoor games you may think of. These olympics can take up a few hours and you can do them as frequently as you like.

Turn Your Living Room Into a Home Theater

Family movie nights are always great for night time, but movies are also a great way to spend a rainy day when the kids get a little stir crazy all cooped up in the house. Make it extra exciting by printing out movie ticket templates online and giving them to the kids. If you don’t have a printer, you can make your own homemade tickets.

Pop some popcorn and give the kids some snacks to make the experience super authentic. If your kids have play money, you can have them “pay” you for their tickets and snacks to sneakily practice some math skills while you’re at it!

Host a Book Club

Reading is always a fun way to pass the time, and helps your child’s mind develop. If your kids got a summer reading list at the end of the last school year, turn reading into a fun activity by hosting a book club! You can provide snacks and a list of fun reading questions about what they liked most about the book. Asking insightful questions will help your kids engage with the books.

Hit up your local library to get the books for free!

Color

Coloring isn’t just for little kids! The influx of adult coloring books has given way to plenty of free printable coloring pages for adults and children of all ages. You can print the pages for free and color to your heart’s content. Coloring is great for rainy days or when your children need to relax and calm down.

Bonus: If your kids are big Disney fans, check out the Disney Family page of free Disney crafts and printables! Disney updated this page with plenty of fun (and free!) printable and craft ideas for families.

Sponsored Post by Brittany McGourlay – Content Manager – freebies.com

A Future Culture-Vulture: Use Your Travels to Inspire Your Kids

October 30, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Developing a love of culture often starts at an early age and if you expose your children to works of art and arrange a variety of cultural experiences, there is a good chance that their interest could develop into a passion.

A vacation is often the perfect opportunity to soak up some cultural highlights and give your kids an education while having some fun. Here are some pointers on how you can use travel to inspire your children to appreciate the arts and history.

A chance to inspire and educate

If you arrange a stay at somewhere like a Marriott New Jersey hotel you will often find yourself in an area that offers access to a range of free attractions like museums and art galleries.

There’s a lot to like about a museum when you are on a family trip and you don’t have to pay an entrance fee, but there are more valid reasons to go inside than the obvious attraction that you don’t have to reach for your wallet.

Museums offer a great opportunity to expose your children to some new experiences and broaden their understanding in a positive educational environment.

This exposure to learning and the chance to satisfy their curiosity will often prove to be the foundation for a greater connection to the world around them and the history that has shaped where we are today.

The power of art

Art has the ability to shape our feelings and perception of things like very little else can and many people have been inspired by a certain work of art that ended up having a profound effect on them.

Letting your child view some great works of art and allowing them to form their own opinion on what they are looking at and what it says to them can really help their creativity and critical thinking.

It’s a win-win situation as you can enjoy soaking up the culture too while knowing that your children are enjoying the experience in their own way at the same time.

Sign up for the tour

Many of the major museums and galleries and plenty of the smaller ones too offer a free guided tour of their works.

It can be a good way to enrich your learning experience and work your way around the exhibition in the most efficient way possible. Getting the inside track on the works from a knowledgeable tour guide is only going to help improve your enjoyment of the visit.

Follow the rules

You want to encourage your children to explore and appreciate the displays but it is also a good idea to set some ground rules if they are young and haven’t been exposed to this sort of environment before.

Fill them in on the usual protocol for visiting a museum or gallery, which includes no running and no touching, unless it’s interactive for the kids, which will be highlighted anyway if that’s the case.

It would also be a good idea to ensure that they have comfortable clothes and shoes for the trip so that your kids don’t start to flag after a couple of hours of walking around.

Take advantage of the chance to expose your children to some culture when you are on vacation or whenever you get the chance and enjoy seeing how it broadens their horizons.

4 Tips to Encourage Creativity in Your Children

March 24, 2017 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

Creative thinking is a characteristic commonly found in successful business men and women. These people aren’t afraid to try new ideas or take chances. If you want to raise creative kids, but don’t know where to start, check out these four tips for encouraging creativity.

Create a Space Where Kids Can Get Messy

Image via Flickr by CCK_mom

It’s hard to keep your home clean when you have children. However, if your kids are always worrying about getting dirty, their creativity suffers. Instead of letting your kids run wild with the arts and craft supplies, create a space where it’s okay to be messy.

A sunroom or any tiled surface works great for a creative space because it’s easy to clean. Just make sure it’s free of allergens and stays at a comfortable temperature so your kids can play longer. During the summer, you can also set up some tables outdoors and let your kids make all the mess they want. Being messy isn’t really the problem; it’s being messy all over the place.

Schedule Time Each Day for Creativity

Most parents let their kids watch a little TV, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, TV doesn’t help stimulate creativity. When kids watch TV, they go into a semitrance and don’t rely on their own brains to come up with things to do. If you want your kids to be more creative, turn off the TV and give them something to do where they need to think and explore their surroundings.

Set aside time each day during which your kids participate in creative activities. When your kids know they need to do something creative every day, they’ll start to think of things to do on their own. Over time, creative time will become their favorite time of the day.

Provide Ample Arts and Craft Supplies

Image via Flickr by Carissa GoodNCrazy

Another way to encourage creativity in your kids is to make sure they have all the supplies they need. Some kids can take crayons and some paper and color for hours. Others kids need more prompting with drawing books and creative toys. You know what your kids like to do, so find ways to bring in creativity.

Beyond arts and craft supplies, it helps to model creativity for your kids. If they see you sewing, painting, or gardening, they’ll want to join in on the fun. If your kids show an interest in a creative activity, make sure they have time to learn.

Let Your Kids Make Mistakes

Creativity comes when kids experiment and try new things. If your kids know you won’t be mad when they make a mistake, they won’t worry about trying something new.

Praise your kids when they try something new, but don’t make them feel like they’re under surveillance. Creativity happens when there’s freedom to explore without interruption or interrogation.

There are tons of ways to encourage creativity; there are just a few listed here. You just need to plan ahead and do what works for you and your kids. We’d love to hear what helps your child be creative in the comments below.