10 Ways to Make Today Magical

Hello from Nebraska! We’re down at Magical Mama Tiffany’s for one more day but I’m popping in for a Monday list of some fun ways to make some fun this week…

1. Leave squirrel treats. Gather up some fallen nuts or splurge on some bulk peanuts and leave little platters of them for the squirrels. Hide someplace and watch them come to spirit them away. Wanna make it really fun? Make them work for it. Squirrels are brilliant at getting to even the trickiest of treats. Some families have even rigged up obstacle courses for their furry visitors.

2. Start a family poem. Put up a large piece of paper on a door and put a pen nearby. Ask every family member to add a word every time he or she passes. It can be silly or serious. Save the finished poems in an album or scrapbook.

3. Do a fall photo shoot in a park or back yard. Bring props (football, teddy bear, pumpkin…) and costume changes. Ask someone to take a picture of you with the kids, too.

4. Let the kids pick out several yards of clearance fabric in glamorous, funky and fun patterns. Help them make their own scarves, doll clothes, dress up clothes, throw pillows and more. Iron on fusible tape instead of sewing seams, if you like (you do this part for younger kids, obviously). If you’re short on money, let them use old clothes or sheets instead and decorate with permanent markers.

5. For October, use a white crayon to write a different little message or fun activity on each square in the calendar. Each day, let your child color the square with a marker to reveal the secret message.

6. Help the kids make child-size scarecrows for the front yard, one for each child. Make them as wacky and personal as possible.

7. Hold a spelling bee and history quiz to help kids study their homework. Have the kids use the dictionary to look up words to try to stump mom or dad too.

8. Bake bread together and eat it while it’s still hot. Make extra dough and use it to make crescent rolls and other fun rolls for supper.

9. Have a paper airplane derby. You’ll find free patterns for simple to fancy planes, helicopters, rockets, frisbees and more here.

10. Do a family cookbook makeover. Take a lousy cookbook and assign this challenge– kids must pick a recipe from it and change 3 items in the ingredients to form a new family recipe. Write over the recipe with a funky colored pen (each family member gets her own color) to make changes. Try to make the recipes as different from the original as possible, and tastier. After tasting the final creation, the family rates the recipe and writes that in next to the entry.

And with that, I’m off to drink some more tea and hang out with some marvelous people. See you soon!