{"id":1742,"date":"2011-11-21T21:06:48","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T21:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.wordpress.com\/?p=1742"},"modified":"2011-11-21T21:06:48","modified_gmt":"2011-11-21T21:06:48","slug":"10-ways-to-make-today-magical-110","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/21\/10-ways-to-make-today-magical-110\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways to Make Today Magical"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Monday!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope everything is going wonderfully in your neck of the woods.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Things are pretty good here.\u00a0 Fiona turned 6 weeks old today and she’s growing like crazy.\u00a0 We all have fun getting her to smile and taking turns cuddling her.\u00a0 The older kids have all been busy with new friends, old friends, out of town visits, crafts, reading, learning and keeping their dad and I on our toes.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s a few ways to make a little magic with your kiddos this week…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Have a Pinterest week challenge<\/span>.\u00a0 If you’re on Pinterest, you know that there are always oodles of fun crafts, recipes and projects to pin.\u00a0 The problem is that it’s easy to spend all of your time pinning and no time actually doing the crafts, recipes and projects!\u00a0 Last week, I challenged myself to do at least one “pin” every day.\u00a0 So far, I’ve discovered a half dozen new recipes that are keepers, played fun art games with my kids and found some printables the kids really liked.\u00a0 (Here’s<\/a> my boards, where you’re likely to find lots of things I’ve pinned to include in 10 ways to make the day magical lists!)<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Give the kids some paint pens<\/span> and let them alter<\/span> some of your spice bottles<\/span> with magical or crazy names<\/span>.\u00a0 Basil can become fairy grass<\/span> or peppercorns can become eye of newt<\/span>.\u00a0 Let the kids’ imaginations run wild!\u00a0 We did this a few years ago and it was so fun to open the cupboards and find our renamed containers!\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(I searched all over for some pictures I had of ours from way back and couldn’t find them.\u00a0 I guess it’s a sign we need to do it again!<\/span>)<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Leave elf footprints<\/span> around the house.\u00a0 Cut tiny, pointed shoe prints<\/span> out of a piece of sponge and dip them in a plate of flour or a bowl of homemade mud (depending on your floor surface!).\u00a0 Stamp a trail<\/span> in some random places around the house– up on a windowsill, over by the children’s toys, leading to the fridge… all the places an elf would visit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Gather up some unwanted Barbies<\/span> (or pick some up for next to nothing at a thrift store) and have a Project Runway<\/span> or Lady Gaga<\/span> fashion challenge<\/span> with them.\u00a0 Do crazy hairstyles<\/span>, make the wackiest clothes<\/span> imaginable and so on.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Make some favorite nursery rhymes<\/span> or songs<\/span> into Mad Libs<\/span>, such as:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey diddle diddle, the (animal) and the (musical instrument) <\/strong><\/span>
\nThe (farm animal) jumped over the (noun) <\/strong><\/span>
\nThe (adjective) (noun) (verb, past tense) <\/strong><\/span>
\nTo see such (noun) <\/strong><\/span>
\nAnd the (noun) ran away with the (noun)\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Older kids?\u00a0 Turn some modern rock or pop songs<\/span> into mad libs and then make a video of the kids<\/span> singing the new versions!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Give your kids laundry basket rides<\/span> in the kitchen or down the hallway.\u00a0 Put a pillow in the bottom, plop a child in and then push, pull and spin it around<\/span> to your little one’s delight.\u00a0 You can thread a jumprope or scarf through some holes or the handle to make it easier to pull.\u00a0 Kids can give each other rides<\/span> too (and the pulling is great exercise to expend some of that extra energy!).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Make a cave!<\/span>\u00a0 Lagniappe Academy<\/span><\/a> has more info on this fun and simple idea.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong> Have the kids draw<\/span> with markers or crayons just using their feet<\/span>.\u00a0 It may help to tape down the paper on the floor.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Tape a length of ribbon at net level, blow up a balloon<\/span>, and have a family game of volleyball<\/span> inside.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

10. Mix washable tempera paint<\/span> with a little dish soap<\/span> and paint winter or holiday scenes on the windows<\/span>.\u00a0 For little ones, cut sponges into holiday shapes like trees, ornaments, dreidels and bells and let them stamp the paint on.\u00a0 It’ll wash right off<\/span> with water and a sponge later.\u00a0 To make clean-up easier, you can decorate the outside of the windows, though it won’t be waterproof, of course.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

*****<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

And with that, I’m off to tackle a to-do list longer than my leg (though truth be told, I’m really short so that’s not saying a lot).\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Have a magical week!
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Monday! I hope everything is going wonderfully in your neck of the woods.\u00a0 Things are pretty good here.\u00a0 Fiona turned 6 weeks old today and she’s growing like crazy.\u00a0 We all have fun getting her to smile and taking turns cuddling her.\u00a0 The older kids have all been busy with new friends, old friends,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[253],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}