Airplane Tag

Prepare for takeoff!

ADDED February 27, 2009

Today we have a fun way to bring our Travel Week to a satisfying close:  a game called Airplane Tag.  In this game, everyone can transform themselves into their favorite air vehicle:  a passenger jet, a fighter plane, a giant cargo hauler -- even a blimp can play.  If it can fly, it's allowed!  (In case you didn't know, humans really can transform into excellent airplanes. To make the perfect flying machine, simply extend each of your arms out straight.  These will serve as your wings,  and now you are ready to fly.  Prepare for take off!)

Here is how you play the game:  all of the planes fly around, trying to avoid being touched by the plane that is "it."  Once tagged by the "it" plane, a person has to join hands with "it," creating one bigger plane.  Now, hand in hand, the multi-person "it" continues to tag other people and add players to the gigantic plane until everyone is tagged.  (The last person to be tagged will start as "it" for the next round.)

As the "it" plane gets bigger and bigger, the sound of its engine roar should increase dramatically, right?

This is a great game for a group, or even as few as three people. Everyone gets some exercise, and even parents can get in on the fun.  (I like to pretend to be a flying fortress or a supersonic jet -- two planes that are practically impossible to tag.)   

Up, up and away!  Hooray!

 

 

Thanks to trufflepig for the photos

Play with a suitcase

Pretend . . . and you are there

ADDED February 26, 2009

 Here at TIF, we don't think suitcases are used nearly enough. Sure, an overnight trip pops up every now and then, and there are vacations and summer camp.  But that's it, and the poor suitcase remains unused and alone for the remainder of the year.  So today, why not release your suitcase from its exile?  It is travel week here, after all.  We think you should get those cases out right now and have a little fun!

Grab the suitcases and let your kids have fun packing anything they want. On this trip, they can bring all their toys and stuffed animals.  And on this trip, a week's worth of underwear is not necessary!  Or throw some underwear in, if your kids so choose.  (But one rule for this game is that what the kids get out to pack, they have to put back, neatly.)  When all the packing is finished, make the travel experience complete by grabbing some chairs and pretending you are on a plane, a train, or a ship.

And when the whole journey is over, your kids can experience that time-honored, end-of-the-trip chore, putting everything away.  Bon voyage!

This Land Is Your Land!

A colorful and informative print-n-color activity

ADDED February 25, 2009

Everyone's colored a map of the United States at some point or another. It's  always fun and sometimes messy.  But here at TIF, we are fans of art with a purpose.  We're talking about coloring that tells a story and provides deeper meaning.

Today we have a cool map of the USA to download and color.  The map includes a fun and informative key that your little cartographer can use to enhance the experience.  

Have your colorer use one color for your home state, another color for states where you guys have family or friends, and yet another color for states that you have visited. Finally, find states with names that tickle your funny bone, and assign them a "funny name" color.

Of course, for little kids, this map can be a great introduction to our States and to maps in general.  For both younger and older kids, this activity could serve as the starting place for some nice one-on-one, parent-kid time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun making your own infographic today!

 

(And remember, you can upload your infographic artwork to our Facebook page.  If you are not a Facebook fan of TIF, join on up!)

 

Click images to download 

 

 

Heritage Feast

Take a trip to the old country

ADDED February 24, 2009

 

Many families have a special dish or dinner that they serve during the holidays, but not many kids know the history behind the dish.  So for dinner this week, make one of your special family dishes:  it could be spaghetti, sushi, or squab.  Whatever it is, have a little fun by taking a dining trip back to the old country.

While preparing dinner, let your kids help. Kids are always good at stirring and sometimes pouring.  While you are cooking, share memories you have of a time when you cooked with your parents or grandparents.

When it's time to eat dinner, you can talk about the country where this dish originated and where your family is from making special mention of the heritage you share.

For maximum points, don't forget to invite your parents or grandparents.

And of course, if you don't have a family special meal, why not start one up?  Have your family decide on a food item that you guys could make and share regularly.  

Enjoy your special meals this week!  Let us know how they go.  And yes, we'd be happy to take any leftovers off your hands!

 

Thanks to cobalt for use of their delicious photos

Travel Week starts now!

All Aboard

ADDED February 23, 2009

What is Travel Week?  Well, it's just an awesome collection of crafts and activities you can do with your kids.

This week, we will be featuring a fun dinner, print 'n' play activities, games to play in the car, and as always, several opportunities to educate and entertain.  Pack your bags because this ship sails today!

 

 

A big thank you to dougellis for the picture

Alphabet License Plate Game

Entertain your little detectives with a simple game to play in the car.

ADDED February 23, 2009

 On your next roadtrip, try playing this fun game that I remember from my own childhood.  As you are driving along, tell your kids that they are alphabet detectives and that they need to find each and every letter. Only when every member of the alphabet has been found will you be able to solve the case of "The Missing Letter."

Here is how you play: have your kids scan the license plates of other cars and look for the letter A.   When A is spotted, all the detectives move onto the letter B, and so on.  When all the letters have been discovered, congratulate your detectives on their fine work and declare the case of "The Missing Letter" solved.

This game is fun because it can be played several ways: it can be played as a group as described above, or competitively (each person searches on their own and the first one done is the winner).

Remember, "travel" could mean the way to school in the morning or getting stuck in traffic in the afternoon.  Have with your fun with your on-board detectives! 
A big thanks to woodysworld1778 and ohlove for the use of their photos

 

 

 

 

Talk Differently Day

Talking about some fun!

ADDED February 20, 2009

 

You've heard your own voice before, and so have your kids.  Pretty much everybody is probably used to hearing your voice.

But we're enjoying the Week of Variation, right?  So why not try varying some your voice?  And the voices of your kids?

Gather the kids around and have them practice changing up their voices.

You guys can speak:

Loudly
Quietly
In a whisper

And if you're really brave, you guys can sing a sentence.

Your voices can be booming.  They can be scratchy.

Can you do any accents?  Give British a try, or a strong New York accent.  (In our house, we've also tried French, Spanish, German, and Southern accents.)  Doing accents is a fun (and occasionally odd) way to learn how different people speak the same language differently.

Also, ask your kids to talk like different "kinds" of people:

How does a King or Queen speak?
How about a Pirate?
How does a really nice person talk?  Or a really bad guy?
How does a grandparent speak?  How about a little tiny baby?
How would a robot talk?
How does a boss speak?  An new employee?

If your family is very adventurous (or if you guys are stuck inside on a rainy/snowy day), you could choose to declare a "Talk Differently Day," and everyone could try to avoid speaking in their regular voice.  It sounds a bit kooky, yes, but kids absolutely love this kind of thing!

Have fun, everybody.  Variations, variations, variations!

 

Green Eggs and Ham

Have you? Could you? Would you?

ADDED February 19, 2009

 

 

We're still playing with variations here on our blog, as the Week of Variation continues.  (Okay, now we're thinking we could have possibly come up with a catchier name for the week.  Oh, well.)

This week we've been busy changing up ordinary parts of life in order to get fun, different experiences and activities.  Today we'll be varying food.

Food coloring is possibly in your pantry now, and if it's not, it's extremely inexpensive.  Food coloring is completely safe, but it's probably not great to consume large doses of it everyday. However, a little food coloring once a week definitely won't hurt.  Here are some fun-with-food-coloring suggestions:

*  Green Eggs and Ham.  Add some food coloring to scrambled eggs (and serve with ham if you can.)  Pick up the book from the library and read it to the kids as they eat this meal (it doesn't just have to be breakfast, of course.)  If green eggs and ham goes over well, try red eggs and ham, or if you're quite brave, blue eggs and ham.  (Blue is not the most appetizing color for food, if you ask us.)

*  Colorful Cups of Water.  Fill some glasses with water and have your kids drop different colors of food coloring into each.  Experiment with different colors, mixing colors, and intensities of colors.  Serve the water with lunch or dinner.

*  Pretty Pasta.  Food coloring works quite well in pasta dishes, as noodles readily take on the added color. 

*  Try coloring these, too:  mashed potatoes, ground beef, yogurt, milk, vanilla ice cream, egg salad.

What else could food coloring do to mix up your kids' next mealtime?  If you have any ideas you'd like to share, please leave a comment

Add some color to your days for fun and variation!

 

(Many thanks to swearinglibrarian for the green eggs and milk photo.)

 

--S

Variation Por Favor!

Fun with other languages

ADDED February 18, 2009

 

With variation, you get variety.  With variety, you get options.

There is a lot in life that does not involve options.  Kids, especially, have to do what they’re told by adults, such as parents and teachers.  Politeness, for example, is not an option!

But sometimes kids don’t feel like being polite.  They ask for things without saying please, and they receive things without saying thank you.

Maybe I’m too lenient a parent, but I don’t always require a “please” or “thank you.”  

Don’t get me wrong:  I want to raise very polite children.  And I won’t comply with any kid’s request if I don’t hear “please.”  (I generally just pretend that I haven’t heard anything at all if I don't hear "please.")  But instead of insisting on “please,” I will allow a variety of substitutes.

I’ve taught my kids that please in Spanish is “por favor,” in German, “bitte,” and in French, “merci.”   If my kids don’t feel like saying please, they are allowed to express themselves in another language.  They get options.

So why not teach your kids some foreign words?  You’re giving them options of politeness, and you’re teaching them about foreign languages, too.


Here are some of those polite words in different languages, for you and your kids to learn:

English:  hello, goodbye, yes, no, please, thank you.
Spanish:  hola, adios, si, no, por favor, gracias.
French:  bonjour, au revoir, oui, no, si vous plait, merci.
German:  Guten Tag, auf Wiedersehen, ja, nein, bitte, danke.
Italian: buon giorno, arrivederci, si, no, per favore, grazie
Japanese: konichiwa, sayonara, hai, iie, douzo, arigato
Chinese (Mandarin): ni hao, zai jian, shi, bu shi, qing, xie xie.
Russian: privet, do svi danya, da, niet, pajalsta, spashiba

(The bottom three languages there are particuarly difficulty for me.  However, there are many websites where you can hear pronunciations -- and learn more vocabulary if you want.  Here’s one site to try:  travlang.com.  If you would like to suggest other sites like that, please do!)

Try teaching your kids some words.  It won't just be educational and polite . . . it will be fun for them!  We promise.

If we’ve made an error above, please use the comments section below to correct us.  We’re all happy to learn and improve our language options.  And if any of our readers can provide those simple words in another language, well, we’d be much obliged!  Gracias!

(Vielen dank to wstryder for use of the girl-with-flag photo above.)

--S

Several Silly Snapshots

(Extremely Exaggerated Emotions)

ADDED February 17, 2009

 

You know we like to play with digital cameras.  Well, today we're doing variations with faces...

Have your kid stand in one place.  Tell your child that you’re going to take a bunch of photos and that in each photo the facial expression should be different. 

To help your model know what facial expression to display, you guys could go through this list:

Angry
Sad
Happy
Laughing
Scary
Scared
Confused
Cold
Hot
Hungry
Excited
Nervous

This activity can be a good opportunity to talk about different emotions and how people show their emotions with their bodies.

For maximum fun, try to make the photos the same as possible.  The framing of the photo and its size should remain the same.  (Don’t zoom in or out, for instance.)  It will be fun when you and the kids review to see basically the same picture, the same kid, with different emotions.

Once you’ve taken the photos, review them with your child.  You could print the photos and put them side by side.  You could also have another person (another family member, for instance) try to guess what emotion is being displayed in each photo.

Have fun, and have fun with all the variations!
 

Monster Names

A spruced-up way for your kid to write a name

ADDED February 16, 2009

 

Welcome to Variation Week here at Today is Fun.  What's Variation Week?  Well, this week we'd like to live by the famous old saying:  if something's fun and educational once, why not do again a little different?  

Okay, okay.  We haven't heard that saying before either.  In fact, we just made it up.  But the fact still remains:  it is a good idea to vary something good and to come up with more good things!  Each of our ideas this week will provide an opportunity for you and your kids to have fun with variations.  

 

 

Last week was full of Valentines and love.  Great.  Now let's change it up a bit.  It's time for monsters.

Take out a sheet of paper.  Write your child's name in large, thick letters across it.

Now pass the paper over to your kid, and say, "Turn your name into a monster."

Your young artist will have to somehow take the lines and shapes made by the letters and use them as parts of a monster.  The letters will need to become mouths, eyes, paws, tails, scales, spikes, etc.

(In our house, we have boys who happen to like monsters.  If your child is interested in something else, by all means let them express this with their name-art today.  Names could be turned into gardens, pets, firefighters, princesses or whatever!)

Once the name has been creatively transformed into a monster, do some variations.  Change the name into a different monster or a fancy house or into a completely different thing altogether!

The final step is to hang the art up on the wall or the fridge and admire!  Variation!

 

 

--S

Red Hearts

It's like musical chairs . . . but more fun!

ADDED February 13, 2009

 

Here is a fun and rowdy game you can play today.  All you need is some red construction paper, scissors, and kids.
 
First have everyone cut out a heart and write their name on it.  Then place the hearts around the room.  Next, have everyone hold hands.  Finally -- and this might be the most important part of the game -- play some Valentine's music (we like Dean Martin or Frank Sinatara).   As the music plays, everyone should rotate in a circle. Then, when the music stops, everybody needs to run and grab a heart.  Read the person's name on the heart and give that person a hug!

Then spread out the hearts again and repeat!

This is the perfect game to play outside: with a large group or with your extended family (grandparents love hugs).  And if your kids don't want to give hugs, then just have them say "Happy Valentine's Day!"
 
Oh, and I just found a heart with my Beautiful Wife's name on it.  I think I'll go get my hug right now!  Have fun.

 

Thanks to tekmagika for the photo

 

Valentine's food

Setting your table with love

ADDED February 12, 2009

Today we have a guest blogger, and it's Dawn, my beautiful wife.  She always makes snack- and mealtimes special when there is a holiday to be celebrated, and Valentine's Day is one of her favorites. 

 

 

 

In our house, we love all holidays and so do the kids!  It's always fun to celebrate.  One way that we try to make these days special is with food.
 
Here are a few Valentine's-themed food ideas that you can try on your little ones:
 
When lunch time rolls around, instead of the same-old same-old, serve up some love on a plate.   Use the colors of the holiday for inspiration.  So for Valentine's Day:  red, pink, and white.  There are many fruits that will work nicely: strawberries, raspberries, red grapes, and banana, just to name a few.  And there are plenty of great vegetables, too: beets, jicama, red radishes, tomatoes.
 
Next, make hearts out of as many food items as you can.  If you don't have a heart cookie cutter, use a knife.  (However, cookie cutters can be found easily and are truly inexpensive.  I think it'd make a wise investment that can liven up any day!  They come in different sizes which is fun, too!)  You can make a heart-shaped sandwich or heart-shaped piece of cheese or meat to top a cracker.  I have a small heart cutter that works wonders on vegetables and fruits. Really, the possibilities are endless. 

 

With a little imagination you can create a love feast too!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Heart box

A great color-n-cut activity

ADDED February 11, 2009

Today we present a fun craft that you can do with your kids. Once it's colored, cut, folded, and taped, you will have a unique Valentine's Day craft that is a special way to say "I love you."

First, print one of the crafts we're including here.  We have three levels:  Level One is the easiest to cut and looks like this. (click on each craft to download)

 

Level Two requires a little more scissor skills and will look like this. 

 

 

Level Three is the most difficult and will look like this.

 

Color the boxes, adding any Valentine's messages you guys want. Then cut out the box, following all the way around the edges.  Next fold the paper along the dotted lines, and place a small strip of tape on the grey tabs, forming the box.

Try this activity with a group and let everybody encourage each other and help  with the coloring and cutting.  Remember, these Valentine's boxes can be a little delicate, so just like love:  handle with care!

 

 

****UPDATE crafting action photos****

 

 

 

 

Color Charades

A fun, print-n-play activity

ADDED February 10, 2009

Charades is a simple game that's fun for adults so why can't kids play? 

Well, now kids can.  We have created a simple, eight-card charades game for kids that uses colors, not words.  It is so easy, in fact, that even kids who can't read will love to play.

Here are the rules (in case you forgot):  first pick a card from the stack, and don't show it to anyone.  The idea is to use physical rather than verbal language to convey what color is on your card.  You can point to something that is the same color as the color or pantomime something that is the same color.  Remember you can point and act -- but don't talk.

If your kids are not understanding how to play, act out a few rounds until everyone gets it.  The game is so simple, however, that usually everybody gets it right away and is eager to play. 

At the end of this activity, all the kids will express their delight by doing some (possibly silent) thumbs ups.

 

Just click here to download!

 

 

Valentine Activity Jar

A great color-n-cut activity.

ADDED February 09, 2009

We're sure everyone knows that this coming Saturday is Valentine's Day.  With such a holiday looming, we have chosen to do the obvious and make this week's theme Valentine's Day.  We have complied our most original Valentine's Day games and activities, so you won't want to miss a single day this week!  (We will do our best to prove that even though love is yuck and gross, it can also be a lot of fun!)

 

 

Today's craft is a Valentine activity jar.  

 

First, have your child color, then cut out the hearts printed on the handy sheets we have provided.  (Each of the hearts on the sheets has a Valentine's-related activity or suggestion.)  Once you have the hearts colored and cut, place them into a jar.  Now you can use the activity-filled jar any time you are badly needing a few moments of kids' entertainment or just when you want some peace while you finish making dinner.  In such instances, simply have your kids pull a heart from the jar and follow the suggestion listed there.

We have made two versions of the this color-n-cut craft:  on one we wrote a few starter activities, including the usual silly fare that we are known for (suggestions such as "give someone ten kisses.")  The other sheet is blank so that you can customize it for your child.  (Clean your room and set the table might be popular activities in your house, at least for the adults.)  Print out two or three and let the fun begin!

(Also please be careful if you choose to use the TIF activities, as you will be in for lots of hugs and kisses.)

Click here to download
TIF Valentine Jar activity sheet and TIF blank Valentine Jar activity sheet.

 

Don't forget to use the comments section and let us know what fun activitites you come up with!

 

Grab a Tree

A tricky version of tag

ADDED February 06, 2009

 

 

For this one, you'll need some open space (backyard, large living room) and a number of big, "grabbable" things (trees, dining room chairs).  

The game is pretty simple.  Someone (you, for starters) is "it."  And by "it," we mean, "the bad guy" or the "monster."  You know, "it."

As with traditional tag, everybody else wants to avoid being touched by "it."

When everybody else is touching a tree (or dining room chair) they are safe and can't be touched by "it."

But in keeping with our trickiness theme this week, the reason this activity is trickier than normal tag is:  "it" can tell everybody else when to leave the safety of their tree trunk or dining room chair.   It yells, "Everybody switch trees!  Everybody switch trees!"  And so everybody must.

And this, of course, is It's opportunity to grab a hapless victim.

This version of tag is just a bit different and a bit trickier.  We think it adds a bit more spice to the game.  And in keeping with good ole fair play, isn't it nice to let It have a little more say in the proceedings?

Have fun running around this weekend, indoors or out.  And we hope you enjoyed our tricky tips this past week!

 

--S

 

 (Many thanks to wheat_in_your_hair for the photo!)

Trees versus Bushes

(From the people who brought you the quite tricky One Up, One Down earlier in the week)

ADDED February 05, 2009

We like trees, don't you know, but not bushes.

Speaking of which, we enjoy roots, but not branches.  That's just us.

Oh, and we like school but not learning.  And coffee but not tea.

Do you think we've lost our minds here at Today is Fun?  (That is, assuming you thought we had much of minds in the first place.)

By the way, we do like beets, but not radishes.  Sweets but not candy.  Tools but not implements.  

Before you give up on us, never to return to this blog again.  Let us explain . . .

(Well, before we explain, can you see a pattern in the words above?   That's the tricky thing here, and it's for your kids to figure out.)

What do the words we like have in common?  

The activity here is for your children to figure out the pattern.  Start by telling them words you like (such as "teens") and words you don't  ("tens").

Have you figured it out?  Once you have, it will be easy.  And once you have got the hang of it, you'll be able to create more examples for your kids.  (If you haven't cracked our code yet, don't worry.  It takes different people different amounts of time!)

Okay, here's the answer.  Double vowels.  We just really like double vowels (for the purposes of this activity.)

We hope you have fun with this one, and that you don't think we're too crazy.  (Kooky, yes.  We like the word kooky.  But not crazy!)  

--S

(Many thanks to the incomparable and always laudable Mr. David Silverman of Mar Vista, California, and to  Marina Cast. for the heart-shaped tree pic, and also to noricum for the shot of the bush.)

Tricky Fun with Punctuation

Period. Question mark? Exclamation mark!

ADDED February 04, 2009

 

 

This is a quick and simple way to teach kids about punctuation.  Basically, you choose some words with your kids and practice saying them with different punctuation marks at the end.

Let's take the phrase:  "chocolate chip deliciousness."  Try saying those words with these tricky variations:

Chocolate chip deliciousness.  (For this one, try to make your tone of voice rather flat and matter-of-fact.)
Chocolate chip deliciousness!  (Shout excitedly.  Or sound a little angry.)
Chocolate chip deliciousness?  (A question, of course.)

Obviously the point here is to get kids learning and thinking about punctuation, and how different punctuation marks change the meaning of words.

Try this trick with some favorite words and phrases.  And also run through your family's names with different punctuation. 

Grandpa.
Grandpa!
Grandpa?

And to be a bit more tricky (and ever so slightly more educational), introduce the ellipsis.  As in, "Grandpa!  We have . . . chocolate chip deliciousness!"

 

--S

 

(Chocolate chips courtesy of jessicafm, and smiling Grandpa from magerleagues.)

Taste Tests

Trickiness Week continues with some tricky fun with food

ADDED February 02, 2009

 

For us, food is endless fun.  Buying food, cooking it, eating it, and yes, even talking about it provide hours of enjoyment.  Anything with so much variety is inherently interesting, right?

And here's more fun with food:  Taste Tests!

Are you old enough to remember the Pepsi Challenge?  In that test, blindfolded people sipped both Coke and Pepsi, and then announced which they liked better.  (Big surprise:  Pepsi won, and was the favorite of most of the participants.)

Why not have a taste test tonight at your house?  All you need is a blindfold and some similar foods.

Your blindfolded kids can do two things:  (1) try to guess which food is which (this can be tricky!), and (2) announce which food is their preference.

Here are some similar foods for them to compare, side by side:

Oranges vs. Tangerines
Apples vs. Pears
Crunch peanut butter vs. creamy
Different kinds of sliced cheese (cheddar vs. Swiss)
Hot dogs vs. sausages
BBQ Sauce vs. Ketchup
Different flavors of yogurt (strawberry vs. rasberry)
Whole wheat bread vs. white bread
Ice cream vs. frozen yogurt
M & M's vs. Skittles

Have fun with this one.  Please use the comment section below to let us know about your results with your kids.  With all the fun and tricky tasting, everyone will pass the taste test!  (Oh, and one more thing:  try not to get any food on the blindfold!)

 

--S

The Week of Trickiness begins with . . . One Up, One Down

The fun will be up. Way up.

ADDED February 01, 2009

In the coming months here at Today is Fun, we'll often be organizing our ideas into themes.  We think these themes will be fun, and a fun way of organizing our creative activities.  This week's theme is:  Trickiness.  All our ideas this week will incorporate a healthy dose of trickiness, which will keep your little ones engaged and entertained.  So buckle your seatbelts, people, Tricky is Fun!

 

 

One Up, One Down is a "figure it out" game.  Everybody will need to get their brains revving to catch on.

Are you One Up, One Down right now? 

You might be, but you also might be Two Up or Two Down.

So, here is a review of the three options:
(1)  One Up One Down
(2)  Two Up
(3)  Two Down

(If we had to venture a guess, we'd say you're probably One Up, One Down at the moment.  If not, then our second guess would be Two Down.)

We hope you're not too confused or annoyed . . . but that's part of the game.   When you play with your kids, they'll be the ones figuring this one up thing out.

Here's the trick:  where are your hands in relation to your chest?  They both may be above your chest (Two Up), or both below it (Two Down), or, well, One Up One Down.

Get it? 

To play this with your kids, start by telling them which of the three options they are at the moment.  Then help them figure out the trick.

This activity works well with a number of kids, where everyone can be comparing each other, trying to figure out why some people are Two Up, some are Two Down, and so forth.  This game also might be a lot of fun at the dinner table with a group of people…or at a restaurant.

If your kids just aren't getting it, you might try changing your hand position as they're looking at you, then telling them "Look, now I'm One Up One Down."

Good luck with this one – we're sure that the fun will be up and the loose ends will be down.  And stay tuned this week for more tricky fun!

 

--S

 

 (Photo of up kid hands courtesy of st0rmz.)