Ice Dancing

No ice required

ADDED February 24, 2010

As you know, we have been involved in the Winter Olympics. We've been cheering, strategizing, and and crying along with the athletes. All the while, we've been "trying" many of the sports in our living room and yard. Curling has grabbed our imagination, along with snowboarding and speed skating. But ice dancing has really proved to be the most popular, fun, and inspiring.

To re-create some ice dancing in your home, your kids need to be wearing some of these "skates."

Then they will need some "ice." . . .

Home Luge

It's Smaller Than You Think

ADDED February 23, 2010

I have to admit that we have gone a little Olympic crazy at my house. Not only has every free moment been given over to watching the Olympics, but all available space on our Tivo has been filled with winter Olympic sports. So yes, we are in the spirit. In keeping with Olympic fun, my daughter and I created a mini,indoor luge.

With a tape measure, a few marbles, and some scotch tape, we created a home luge that can be set up anywhere. The tape measure acts as the track -- a marble fits perfectly inside -- and the scotch tape holds everything in place. With the littlest push, the race is on. We installed our luge from the top to the bottom of the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, we put a small blanket to catch the racers. Once the track is built, let the fun -- and your kids' imaginations run wild!

(If we had two tape measures, I imagine we could have set up a marble vs. marble race, but the single track was still a lot of fun.)

Did you do this activity? Please leave a comment and let us know!

Reading chair

Or Reading Place

ADDED February 22, 2010

I had a professor in college that suggested two different kinds of chairs for reading: a chair that was a little uncomfortable with a straight back that would be used for reading technical things technical or academic things. The other was a soft, cushy chair that you could use for free reading. I think the idea was to make it hard to go to sleep while reading material that was dry. You could go to sleep, though, if you wanted, for free reading.

As my kids get older and are reading more for school and for pleasure, my lovely wife and I have realized . . .

Organize It!

It's classified. Well, it will be when your kids are done...

ADDED February 19, 2010

Please forgive a few seconds' horn-tooting here, but today's activity is what this website is all about: it's fun, free, easy, and educational! Really, what more could you ask for?

(Well, you could ask for less horn-tooting. In which case, here we go . . . )

Today we are classifying and organizing. This is a great activity for children because it's what human brains do naturally. Give a person a few minutes and an assorted mishmash of stuff . . . and a little while later you'll have a classified, organized bunch of stuff.

The human brain is great at applying order to disorder. This is true for kids' brains, too. And . . . making sense of a mess can be fun, too. (My wife, upon seeing all the kids' toys strewn helter skelter all over our playroom, might disagree with that last sentence.). . .

Say Anything!

As long as it's a thing, that is!

ADDED February 18, 2010

This one is very simple. Well, at first glance it's simple. But some thinking needs to occur here, too.

Grab a paper and pencil. Ask your kid or kids to say anything. Just tell them it's got to be a thing.

My kids liked doing this. They had many things to suggest: . . .


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