Lots more fun ahead in 2009!

Don't forget: We're here to help

ADDED January 06, 2009

kids games It's the first full week of 2009. Welcome back, people.

2008 was a great year for Today is Fun. 2008 saw hundreds of posts of which we're proud (that is, all of them), and hundreds of new subscribers. (If you're one, thank you very much for joining us! If you're not, please subscribe now by clicking here.)

We're very happy and grateful for 2008, but now it's onto 2009, a year in which we'd like to "kick up our game" a notch. We're hoping to offer more fun, creative, and just plain better ideas in the coming year. In 2009, we hope to help you and your kids have a lot more fun at hardly any expense. We're also going to be featuring many educational ideas, as well as ones that develop character.

Thanks again for a great 2008. Let's all have a great 2009.

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Daily Triple Treat - Friday Edition

Three more fine ideas to keep your young ones busy on break

ADDED January 03, 2009

kids games The week of Daily Triple Treat concludes wtih a bang. Enjoy!

Inside Treat- Have an Un-decorating party. Clean up all that holiday mess and have some fun while doing it. Put on some party music, find important jobs for the little hands and make it a good time for all. Why not make the clean up fun!

Outside Treat- Make a boomerang. To construct a boomerang that really flies you will only need two things a cereal box and a stapler. Lay the box so it is flat and cut out the two long skinny rectangles where the nutritional value information is listed. Lay one of the rectangles on top of the the other creating a large X and staple together. Next fold one inch of each of the four ends in towards the center and now you are ready to go. To fly your boomerang go outside hold it vertically in the air above your head, gently throw it and it magically returns.

Educational Treat- try one of these 3 number related activities

1,

2,

3.

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Daily Triple Treat - New Years Eve Edition

Delicious Muffins, Family time and all Twelve months

ADDED December 31, 2008

The week of the DAILY TRIPLE TREAT continues. We hope you're all surviving (and enjoying) your kids' Winter break!

Inside Treat- Bake some muffins with your kids. We have a foolproof recipe for Morning Muffins that everyone can enjoy posted here. My kids love to help with the measuring, batter tasting and everyone enjoys eating the final results. It is well worth the effort.

Outside Treat- Take a walk around the neighborhood. Just walk and talk as a family, and if your kids get anxious to get home, here are two ideas to make the walk a little more entertaining, 1, 2.

Educational Treat- Since it is the end of the year, have you kids practice learning all twelve months. This could be a game while you walk. See if they can hop while saying each month. Or challenge them to jump twelve times on each leg and say the months as fast as they can. If your kids are older and these activities are too simple, see if your little smarties can learn the months of the year in Spanish or German.

Here is an adults only cheat sheet (we are here to help).

Spanish
enero — January
febrero — February
marzo — March
abril — April
mayo — May
junio — June
julio — July
agosto — August
setiembre — September
octubre — October
noviembre — November
diciembre — December

German
Januar — January
Februar — February
März — March
April — April
Mai — May
Juni — June
Juli — July
August — August
September — September
Oktober — October
November — November
Dezember — December

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Daily Triple Treat - Tuesday Edition

A Sea Cucumber, Giant Kazoo and lots of Fingers.

ADDED December 30, 2008

This week we're featuring a TRIPLE TREAT each day. Three different short ideas to keep your little ones busy during winter break from school!

Inside Treat- Take a family trip to the big library. The one downtown with floor after floor of books. On the way there, everyone can pick a topic that interests them: space, owls, sea cucumbers, knitting, french cooking or early Porsche history. Then together, visit the sections that interest your family. Who knows, you might learn something about sea cucumbers that will astonish you. While you are at the library, check out the DVD rental section. Borrow a special movie to watch on New Year's Eve; it might help your kids make it to the stroke of midnight (if you want them to stay up that late).

Outside Treat- Make a Giant Kazoo. We are suggesting this as an outside activity because after the initial construction fun and playing a few dittys, most parents will have had enough. Kids, on the other hand, will play this for hours.

To build your kazoo, you will need one of those giant tubes from your holiday wrapping paper. If you don't have one handy, you can use a tube from paper towels, a toilet paper roll, or even a Regulation Bopper. You will also need a piece of wax paper large enough to cover the end of the tube, a rubber band, and some markers.

Next decorate you instrument. Encourage your kid to make it colorful and, as with any good instrument, have them give it a name. (Lucille, anyone?)

Then cover one of the ends of the tube with wax paper and hold it firmly in place with a rubber band.

Now it's time for a music lesson. Have your kid sing or hum into the open end, and a pleasing vibration will enhance every sound from your child's lips. A favorite phrase at my house is, "Luke, I am your father".

Educational Treat- Work on Math concepts with your little ones using How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up? If you missed it here is the link. It is simple favorite at my house that I have used many times while waiting in those pesky Holiday return lines.

Picture thanks to sifu renka

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Rhyme Helper

A simple, printable sheet to help you guys make up some fun rhymes

ADDED December 24, 2008

kids games

Rhymes are fun. Who could possibly argue with that?

(Here is proof: Try to remember a boring meeting that you've been in. Or think of an argument you've had with your spouse. Would that meeting or argument have been slightly better if everything rhymed?)

As part of the Great Giveaway Week here at Today is Fun, we're providing you with a fantastic and fantastically free Rhyme Helper. Download it here and print away.

We've listed all the possible consonant sounds for the beginnings of words. This isn't just an alphabet, it's a little bit more in depth. (We've included common word starts like sh– and ch-.)

All you have to do, if you and your kids are trying to think of a rhyme, is go through this word start list. A rhyme will be bound to occur to you.

This isn't necessarily the stuff of genius here. Someone has probably made something like this before, but we've never seen it.

Some suggested activities with this Rhyme Helper page:

• Throw out a word. Everybody has to find a rhyme for it. Keep taking turns until you can't come up with any more. Then go down the Rhyme Helper's list to see if you missed any.

• Have your kids write a letter to somebody (like Grandma or Daddy) to let them know you're thinking about them, and rhyme each last word. Make the letter on the short side. See if they can spot the last-word rhyming trick.

• Find a rhyming book (Dr. Seuss is pretty great) and find other rhymes the author could have used.

Enjoy our Rhyme Helper with your kid. You'll be quite glad you did.

--S

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Left Overs

A day after Thanksgiving tradition

ADDED November 28, 2008

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and in America that means left-overs and Black Friday.

Well, we encourage you to stay home from the stores and play with your kids! Here is a smattering of some fun activities we've posted earlier this year for you to review (or discover for the first time.)

We like to think they're more flavorful and exciting than most Thanksgiving left overs.

kids games • Make a card for someone

• Hide some treasure

• 1,2,3 Quiet Game

• From where do we know?

• Look, Ma! No Vowels!

• Use Every Piece

• Coloring Shape by Shape

We're proud of these posts, and some of them haven't been commented on. So if you have a moment, please let us know what you think. And Happy Black Friday!

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Some Father's Day Suggestions

The big day is almost here . . . and we're here to help.

ADDED June 12, 2008

fun for kids with Dad For all you do as a parent, the American people have set aside one day in your honor. For Dads, that day is this coming Sunday, June 15.

(We've heard there is a small but vocal group of people who are lobbying Congress to have Mother's Day stretched into Mother's Week, or Mother's Month, in honor of all the work that Moms do for their kids.)

To make Father's Day special and memorable for your kids' Dad, you don't have to work too hard, and you certainly don't have to spend much money. A couple of small, special activities and commemorations will definitely do the trick.

Here are a few quick suggestions to make Father's Day a hit in your house.

1. Put together something for your husband that includes a photo of your kid or kids. Kinko's can make a for-the-car plastic coffee cup that they can put a photo in. You could also write "Best Dad Ever" or something to that effect on there.

2. Plan an activity that gets your husband out and about with your kids. A picnic for the family in a park could be a lot of fun.

3. Make the whole day special: a special waffle breakfast, a family walk around the block, etc. Do special, different things and tell your husband that it's in honor of him!

4. Make some signs extolling your husband and hang them around the house when he's sleeping. (For some free ones that we made and that you can download, click here.)

5. Have fun and be happy! This might be obvious, but the more you are upbeat and celebratory, the more that attitude will pervade the whole family.

Here's hoping you have a great Father's Day in your house. (And if you need any last minute suggestions or advice, feel free to email us at fun@todayisfun.com).