October Family Fun

 
I finally found an hour yesterday to get some reading in!  I made it through the October issue of Family Fun magazine, and, as always, there were some great ideas in there!  I've said it before--I am NOT a crafty person, but this magazine always has such "do-able" looking activities that I find myself thinking I might actually try one!  The other nice thing about this magazine is that you can get online and see most of the magazine during the same month.  (Click on the link above to go there and see for yourself!)  Many of the magazines I get don't put links up until the next issue hits the stands.  Frustrating for me when I want to link you somewhere!  Oh well!

There are TONS of great ideas for costumes, decorations and fun party food!  Of course, those aren't the things that got me turning down the pages (although I like to look at them!)  Here are the pages I turned down this month:

• Make a Glue-Batik Banner (on website)
• Screen-Time Strategies
• Halloween-Candy Science
• Making Sense of Money (on website)
• Let's Find Letter Treasure!  (on website)
• Pumpkin Squares with Cider Caramel Sauce (on website)
• The Sport-Brella

The Screen-Time Strategies come from a column called 1 Problem 3 Solutions, and moms write in with their solutions to a problem posed.   Here are three great ideas on limiting your child's screen time. 

1. Kathy Ryan in San Diego has two jars--TV Time  Saved and TV Time Used.  She puts 20 beads in the first jar at the beginning of the week, and for each 30 minutes of screen time, her daughter moves a bead into the other jar.  When the beads are all used up, the TV goes off.
2. Ashley Rebman from Florida ties screen time to active play on a chart she made and marks with a clothespin.  For each active minute, her kids move their clothespin forward an equivalent amount of time.  Screen time moves the clothespin backwards.  So each minute of activity equals a minute of screen time.
3. Joy Hayes from Maine give her children seven one dollar bills at the beginning of the week.  Each dollar is good for one hour of TV or a DVD.  What her kids don't pay to watch TV, they get to keep and spend how the wish.

I think all of these are great ideas, depending on the ages of your kids.

As a really mean mom who doesn't let her kids eat hardly any candy ever, I found the article about experiments on Halloween candy to be fascinating!  Loralee Leavitt of Washington state got her kids interested in doing science experiments with their candy.  They drop pieces in water to see what happens, heat them in the oven, and have even conducted some "advanced" experiments.  Check out www.candyexperiments.com to see for yourself.

And finally, even though my kids aren't playing sports yet, I think I might ask Santa for one of these Sport-Brellas!  Seems to solve a lot of problems!  The website says it is SPF 50 and sets up in 3 seconds!  Plus it is nearly 7 feet wide!  Sounds good to me! 

Hope you learned something new today!

Comments

[Realestate]

Interesting site, always a new topic .. good luck in the new 2011. Happy New Year!

[school_dubl]

Happy New Year! Happiness and success in 2011.

[JOBS_frend]

The new year is already knocking at the door, let it will bring only happiness and joy.

[JOBS_frend]

Merry Christmas! I wish you a lot of gifts and luck in the new year.

[Antivirus_man]

The new year is already knocking at the door, let it will bring only happiness and joy.

[Antivirus_man]

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