10 Ways to Make Today Magical – A Magical Childhood

Happy Monday!

I hope all is wonderful in your little corner of the world. Winter is holding on tight around here but we’re planting seeds and making plans anyway. My spring fun Pinterest board is stocked with ideas I want to try with the kiddos.

Here’s a few ways to make a little magic this week…

1. Tie long sticks to ribbons and go ribbon dancing in the back yard or park.

2. Make grapevine wreaths and bracelets. Click here for a tutorial from my Victoria a few years back.

3. Mop the kitchen floor by letting the kids sock skate. Or take it a step farther like this family did and make some sponge skates. If you go for the mop hockey idea (which is brilliant, if you have a large enough floor and the bravery to say yes to such a thing!), I’d definitely recommend helmets though.

4. Cheer up your bill-paying. Have the kids use crayons or colored pencils to draw a picture on the back of each bill as you mail it in, plus decorate the envelope and write something cheerful. You might make someone else’s day magical as well.

5. Make some seed bombs. You can make these little guerilla gardening goodies with shredded paper or clay, plus a bit of dirt, compost and wildflower seeds. Then have fun flinging them into unloved areas that could use a bit of color (including your own back yard!). Be sure to use native wildflowers that will not be invasive and follow all those commonsense sort of rules. 🙂 Find tutorials at every(nothing)wonderful (with free printable labels!), The Ecologist (where you can learn the very old history of seed bombs and lots more), Mademoiselle Chaos (where you can make moldable little seed bomb shapes with recycled paper), or use this basic formula from BH&G:

Guerillagardening.org recipe: Combine two parts mixed flower seeds with three parts compost; stir in five parts powdered clay (available at art or crafts supply stores), and moisten with water. Form balls one inch in diameter; let dry for 24 to 48 hours (stash in an empty egg carton). Gather in paper and tie with raffia; add easy how-tos on a tag.

6. Got any Harry Potter fans? Make their day with homemade Butterbeer, complete with sugared rims on the glasses. Now if I could only figure out how to make those tiny brooms….

7. Start a weekly project of making homemade toys together. These can be simple (like turning unwanted stuffed animals into puppets) or sophisticated (like making homemade dolls). Check out my Homemade Toys board for lots of tutorials and inspiration.

8. Start some seeds. You can start them in egg shells, egg cartons, newspaper pots, muffin tins or toilet paper tubes (cut in half) in recycled plastic boxes (the clamshell boxes from organic salad mixes are perfect) for mini-greenhouses.

9. Do electric griddle drawings. These are so much fun that even I have to take a few minutes to make some melty crayon art. 🙂 Click here for our tutorial and be sure to be safe.