Staycation Ideas

Archive for December, 2009

I might be the only Dad on the block who requested Crayons as my gift for myself this Christmas.  I love coloring with my kids…maybe even more than they do!  I especially love coloring in the winter and am always on the lookout for free coloring pages for winter.  I signed up for the Crayola Newsletter not too long ago and I’m glad they did.  Just this morning I received a newsletter in my inbox entitled, “Crafts for Cold Winter Days”.  This newsletter contains lots of free coloring pages for winter from Crayola.com.  Here are some links to the best free coloring pages for winter:

• Winter Day Mini Book Coloring Page
• Snowman Coloring Page
• Sledding in the Snow
• Wonderful Winter Coloring Page
• Spokesperson for Freedom Coloring Page
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Coloring Page
• Penguins Coloring Page
• Hot and Cold Coloring Page
• #10 Blizzard Blue Coloring Page

And a google search returned some more websites for winter coloring pages:

• Winter Coloring Pages
• Winter Coloring Pages for Kids
• Winter Coloring Pages (Posters)
• Winter Season Coloring Pages for Toddlers

You know they’re up there. In the closet. Just sitting on a shelf. Well, it’s time to take all those board games off the shelf. Yes—it’s Family Game Night. And you’re going to have more fun than you think.

How to Make it Happen

Here are some ideas to add a twist to Family Game Night:

• Devote a long night or a weekend day. Take out every game in your closet and play each at least once.
• If all participants are old enough, schedule a Monopoly marathon. Buy and sell properties, build real estate, bankrupt others! Release your inner-capitalist.
• Choose games that can actually help your children learn skills. For instance, Cribbage and Yahtzee can teach math skills. Scrabble can teach spelling. And, Clue and Life can teach strategy.

Order a pizza, have snacks and beverages on hand, and settle in for a long night of family fun.

Additional Activities

1. Host a card tournament. Poker, Uno and War are all fun group games.
2. Host a family video game night.

Tired of fighting with your kids to keep them off the video games? Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. At least for a night. Game systems like the Nintendo Wii actually have a lot of great family games.

How to Make it Happen

The Nintendo Wii® is perfect for an electronic family game night. Try games like Wii bowling, baseball, or the Super Mario games that support multi-player contests. Adults can enjoy these games as well. Other fun group games include Guitar Hero® or Rock Band®. Challenge your child to a guitar contest, or play together as a band.

There are also many computer software games that provide great strategic and educational adventures that you can partner on with your child.

For a list of best selling computer and video games for kids, including reviews and parent comments, visit www.edutainingkids.com/software.html.

Additional Activities

1. Host a traditional family board game night.
2. Follow Wii Bowling with an actual game at the bowling alley. If you have kids, ask the alley to put up gutter guards.