I've mentioned before that I love that our living room is a calming environment. We rid ourself of the tv and other distractions and now the couches and chairs call out to be lounged on, the blankets and pillows beg to be snuggled with and the bookshelves are overflowing. The tables hold stacks of books, new magazines and even games that get changed out every now and then. I love seeing my kids start an impromptu game of chess or my middle son programming his robot and of course my husband and I are always inspired to play a game up UpWords after dinner!
My purse is always full of goodies for the littles to keep occupied with, in case we are ever stranded somewhere for a long time. This has paid off many times when we dine with friends and 3 hours later we are just ordering dessert! Because these things have to be portable and changed out often, I try to keep costs low and have them fit in a snack sized bag. This game is made with water bottle caps, colored stickers, masking tape & felt!
8 milk caps get divided in 2 with half covered in 1 sticker and half in another (or just use a marker and write x's and o's on them). Now make your criss cross pattern with your masking tape (mine is only 2 strips cut long ways to make 4 skinny strips). Your DIY tic tac toe game is ready to go! I had my kids work on this one together and they really like figuring out the best way to make things work.
Chore Chart time! Our kids have regular daily chores that they DO NOT get paid to do, they are things that normally need to get done around the house and that's that. These jobs listed above are ones that my husband and I do, but recently the kids started asking for a way to make some extra money (ours do not get an allowance). I decided to quickly put this together with mini clipboards from Michael's (They are magnetic and stick to the fridge). My husband and I made up chores together and then laminated them along with the sign that goes above them. Each clipboard holds what we are paying for that chore along with the chore itself. They are allowed to grab them AS they are ready to do them, NOT hoard them. The work must alos be approved BEFORE they can collect the money. IF anyone grabs the money without doing the chore, they must do all listed chores and not get paid at all. We also have some empty chore boxes that we still laminated, in order to write anything that comes to mind. Chores pay anywhere from two dollars up to five so far. This has gotten the children SO EXCITED about helping out and being able to earn money, not to mention we are preparing them for their future with things they will need to know how to do anyway.
Enjoy every minute my friends!
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