Saturday, November 26, 2005

Silent Night

I have the Christmas carols playing in the background and I just finished writing my annual family Christmas letter. 30 days and counting.

While cleaning out my bookcase last week I stumbled across this handout we received from Mom's quite a while ago. It's full of activities you and your kids can do on cold winter days. Some of the ideas are easier than others. I'd say worth a look at.

Preschoolers:
-hide pennies around your home and have a treasure hunt
-play "volleyballoon" by batting balloons over a net made by tied-together plastic bags or a blanket
-make snakes with modeling clay or dough
-sit in a darkened room, listen carefully, and see how many different sounds you can hear
-cut out pictures from old magazines to give you ideas of things to pray about
-build a fort out of blankets and chairs and take a nap in it
-have a "pretend picnic" on a blanket on the floor

Elementary:
-make a pizza or ice cream sundaes and let your child choose the toppings
-get 2 books of jokes or riddles from the library and take turns reading them to each other
-make up obstacle courses and time each other as you navigate them. (outdoors-run to tree, hop on one foot to fence, run back and give me a high five) (indoors-touch that wall, get a napkin from the kitchen and return while flapping arms and counting backward from 20)
-tell each other how your day might have been different if you could have seen Jesus with you wherever you went
-turn cupcakes into spiders by adding legs made of pipe cleaners or tooth picks
-play a favourite board game, but let your child change the rules
-try using the wrong equipment for a sport. ex: tennis ball to shoot baskets, or table tennis paddle and beanbag to play baseball

Adolescence:
-rent a video of an old movie that looks especially dull. Watch it together with the sound off, making up dialogue as you go
-play"can you top this?" with the weirdest, most embarassing, most frustrating, most boring and funniest events of your day
-look over the calendar for the next month and draw a star on each day that either of you might be under more stress than usual. Plan to pray for each other on those days
-ask your teen to help you memorize a passage of Scripture, using any method they think will work
-go through your home and take turns snapping photos of the things you consider most valuable. Be sure to take pictures of each other before your finished
-ask your teen's advice about a problem you face at work, or their opinion about a change you'd like to make in your household routine
-go to the market together and let your teen pick our the food or beverage for supper. The catch: everything has to be the same colour.