Yesterday and today we have been stuck at home with snow swirling all around us outside. It looks like a snow globe at times, lovely, clean, white and swirling, swirling, swirling.
The kids have been cooped up so much this winter. With colds, with a sick mom, with snow too deep or windy to play in. I was just about out of ideas these last two days, but we found a few more ways to pass the time the last 2 days, and I’m hopeful that this is the last of wh
at has been a very long, very snowy winter in Pennsylvania.
A few weeks ago, after my 10! show appearance, we used the Glee Gum kits I featured. It was SO fun! I loved that they have natural ingredients, with no artificial dyes, colors, and yucky ingredients. The kits were easy to use, and my favorite part? They include educational material about the main ingredient. In the case of the gum the story focused on the rain forest, and the main ingredient chicle, which is sticky tree sap. There was also a moral to the story, chicle gum supports the rain forest by discouraging deforestation! Great for my little eco-kids. Here’s a photo of me rolling out the gum. It as tasty too!
Both days this week we pulled out the Play-doh since it’s something all the kids can enjoy. I love that Play-doh encourages creative play, and that all the kids compliment each other’s work. My girls are both little artists, so I love seeing them work together.
Here is a little video of Emma using our new Play-doh Fun Factory. I love the way it opens up, and while we misplaced the knife it comes with in the video, the knife is perfect for getting out the little pieces that get stuck inside, so no Play-doh goes to waste!
Another activity that the kids are always happy to do is building Legos. Today the kids brought out some of their Legos and sat down to watch the new LEGO movie: The Adventures of Clutch Powers.* Laughter and lots of cool buildings ensued.
Now’s your chance to tell me what you did! Use the link widget below to add your blog post. It’s my first time hosting a BlogHop, so I’m excited to see how it works.
Kelly
*Disclosure: Affiliate link, and link to my shop may put a few pennies in my pocket.
This is a guest post by Emily Geizer, creator of Child Perspective, the site parents turn to for simple and effective parenting solutions. You can contact Emily directly through the site to ask any specific parenting questions. She is also offering a FREE parenting e-course, called A Crash Course in Mindful Parenting. Read more about the course and sign-up here.
Family meetings can revolutionize family dynamics. Weekly meetings help families to stay connected, keep kids involved in decisions and plans, and create an intentional space to discuss troubling issues or behavior. It’s beneficial for small and large families alike.
Family meetings will look different for every family and every aged child. The topics will be different and you can expect the organization (or lack thereof) to vary too. I have two young children, so our family meetings were initially set in motion to create a well-established habit. Kind of like a placeholder. While these meetings are mildly productive at this stage, I know there will be other phases down the road when they will feel like an absolute necessity.
One fantastic topic for a family meeting is the family budget. A new or adjusted budget will affect the entire family, so invite everyone’s participation. Approach the conversation with enthusiasm and curiosity! If you have older children, you can discuss their spending needs with them. If your children are younger, you can encourage their participation by giving them some choices, “would you rather go out to breakfast or go ice skating this weekend?” Think creatively, to bring some fun into the idea of a budget. Older kids will enjoy a competition. Try having them compete to save the most amount of money. Turn this into a math game for the young and old alike.
Benefits of family meetings:
• keeps lines of communication open
• intentional space to express discontentment in a productive way
• builds family connection and unity
• develops problem-solving skills
• builds self-esteem in children to have input in their day-to-day lives
• space to announce big family decisions
• time to discuss serious family issues, brainstorm ideas, and come up with solutions
Suggestions for conducting a family meeting:
1. It’s never to late to start, but will be easier to initiate when children are young.
2. Establish a specific time when all family members will be present.
3. Tell children that you are going to begin to hold meetings to share what is going on in everyone’s life.
4. Parents should be co-moderators in the beginning (depending on the age of children, you can designate a new leader and secretary every week).
5. Set some basic guidelines for speaking, listening, not interrupting, honesty, etc.
6. Allow everyone to have a turn to speak.
7. Keep the meetings relatively short (especially with young kids) and maintain a calm, compassionate space.
8. Create a method for covering all topics. The “go around” method works well. Go around the table to give everyone an opportunity to respond to the topic. Some families begin by complimenting each family member, then raising issues, then problem-solving. Choose a system that works best for you.
Does your family have family meetings? Do you think you might start?
