{"id":2298,"date":"2013-12-16T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T15:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.wordpress.com\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2013-12-16T15:11:11","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T15:11:11","slug":"10-ways-to-make-today-magical-131","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/16\/10-ways-to-make-today-magical-131\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways to Make Today Magical"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7370\/11230384283_acfac89d64_z.jpg\" width=\"350\" height=\"466\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\"><strong>Happy Monday!\u00a0<\/strong> I hope you&#8217;re staying warm and happy in your corner of the world.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\">We&#8217;ve had some bitterly cold temperatures here in Minnesota lately (-19 without wind chill!) but it&#8217;s starting to warm up a little and I&#8217;m optimistic we&#8217;ll at least get above zero for a few days so we can properly take advantage of all of our lovely snow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\">Here are a few ways to make a little magic with your kiddos this week&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008080;\"><strong>1.\u00a0 Print out some free toys!\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/madebyjoel.com\/tag\/printable-toys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#008080;\">Made by Joel<\/span><\/a> offers free printables of everything from a paper city Nativity scene to paper slotted animals to an oscillating bird and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/madebyjoel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Made-by-Joel-Paper-City-Nativity-Joyfully-Expanded.jpg\" width=\"468\" height=\"291\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/madebyjoel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Made-by-Joel-Paper-City-Dinosaur-Set-For-Lori-Henriques-Music-Video-1.jpg\" width=\"469\" height=\"311\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/madebyjoel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Made-by-Joel-Paper-Slotted-Animal-Toys-1.jpg\" width=\"469\" height=\"283\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008080;\">We&#8217;ve also loved the toys at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetoymaker.com\/2Toys.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#008080;\">The Toymaker<\/span><\/a> for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.funfamilytips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/freepapertoys.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"309\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff00ff;\"><strong>2.\u00a0 Go sledding or ice skating in the kitchen!<\/strong>\u00a0 Pull little ones around on towels, or have them put on socks and slip around the floor.\u00a0 Older kids can pull the little ones and accidentally get some exercise in at the same time!\u00a0 If you\u2019re brave enough, give them a bucket of warm soapy water and have them &#8220;mop&#8221; the floor with their stocking feet.\u00a0 My girls used to love to do this, though it can get pretty wet!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#993300;\"><strong>3.\u00a0 Host a gingerbread house building party.\u00a0<\/strong> Magical Mama Tiffany has all sorts of wonderful recipes and fun ideas for hosting a gingerbread house making party <a href=\"http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/article\/how-to-build-a-gingerbread-house-and-host-a-gingerbread-house-making-party\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#993300;\">here<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn2-b.examiner.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_content_width\/hash\/a3\/5e\/1354121186_6281_gingerbread-house.jpg?itok=guxnmP_L\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#800080;\"><strong>4.\u00a0 Make the kids a &#8220;Yes&#8221; tree.<\/strong>\u00a0 Do you have little ones who love to fuss with the ornaments on the tree?\u00a0 This is another wonderful idea from Tiffany, who says, <em>&#8220;I made the kids a &#8216;YES&#8217; tree that they can decorate and undecorate to their heart&#8217;s content!!&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/yes.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2300\" alt=\"yes\" src=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/yes.jpg?w=500\" width=\"450\" height=\"676\" srcset=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/yes.jpg 640w, http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/yes-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/yes2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-2301\" alt=\"yes2\" src=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/yes2.jpg?w=500\" width=\"450\" height=\"676\" srcset=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/yes2.jpg 640w, http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/yes2-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#333399;\">5.\u00a0 <strong>Cancel something you didn\u2019t really want to do.<\/strong>\u00a0 Go ahead.\u00a0 The world won&#8217;t end!\u00a0 Do something that sounds fabulously fun (or completely lazy!) instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#e31b7f;\"><strong>6.\u00a0 Make Santa strawberries or other healthy but delightful treats.<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/article\/10-whimsical-healthy-holiday-treats-for-kids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#e31b7f;\">Here<\/span><\/a> is a round-up of ten whimsical (healthy) holiday treats to make with kids.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn2-b.examiner.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/image_content_width\/hash\/4c\/b9\/4cb9a895488b2e722115832329f56e23.jpg?itok=vZ8omtXe\" width=\"497\" height=\"316\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008080;\"><strong>7.\u00a0<\/strong> <strong>Have an inside snowball fight!<\/strong>\u00a0 Crumple up oodles of paper from the recycling bin and give each player a laundry basket full.\u00a0 Find some good launching spots (behind the couch, behind a table\u2026) and commence flinging! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff6600;\"><strong>8.\u00a0 Have fun with boxes.<\/strong>\u00a0 If you&#8217;re getting lots of boxes coming into the house right now, why not let the kids put them to use?\u00a0 Let them use them to make robots, tunnels, playhouses, you name it.\u00a0 You can be fancy and help out, like the ultra-creative mama at <a href=\"http:\/\/lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com\/2011\/08\/our-make-shift-playhouse.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#ff6600;\">Life as a Thrifter<\/span><\/a>&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/12\/dsc_0374.jpg?w=268&amp;h=400\" width=\"268\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff6600;\">Or just let the kids loose to make up their own fun!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4043\/4675955531_528e8aa3f2.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000ff;\"><strong>9.\u00a0<\/strong> <strong>Compliment each other, balloon style!\u00a0<\/strong> Pick someone in the room to focus on and toss a balloon up in the air.\u00a0 Everybody else has to keep bopping the balloon up and keep it from hitting the ground.\u00a0 You can\u2019t bop it without calling out something fabulous about your subject though!\u00a0 Think quick! See how long you can keep it up (and how many wonderful things people can think up about each other!).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#008000;\"><strong>10.<\/strong> <strong>Make a paper chain of happy memories and accomplishments from the past year.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\"><em>Want more ways to make some more magic with your kids?\u00a0 <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/article\/fifty-free-ways-to-make-the-holidays-magical-for-children\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\">Here<\/span><\/a> are 50 ways to make the holidays magical<\/strong> from my examiner column a couple of years ago.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff0000;\"><em>And with that, I&#8217;m off to make a little magic of my own.\u00a0 Have a magical week!<br \/>\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Monday!\u00a0 I hope you&#8217;re staying warm and happy in your corner of the world.\u00a0 We&#8217;ve had some bitterly cold temperatures here in Minnesota lately (-19 without wind chill!) but it&#8217;s starting to warm up a little and I&#8217;m optimistic we&#8217;ll at least get above zero for a few days so we can properly take&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[123,253,262],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298"}],"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=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}