| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/27/2009 7:19:49 PM | Over the years I have learned to slow down and appreciate my kids..and make more and more quality time with them..
For instance...I have made it a habit of making homemade cookies with my daughter each week...this week was BAT cookies..she is 16 but we had fun cutting out the shapes and adding chocolate chips as eyes and fangs..lol...tomorrow is pumpkin cookie night..
I would take my son down to the river and just talk and chill..then once or twice a year a nice vacation that they helped choose...
Do you have any fun ideas that you have done with your kids that you would like to share ?
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/27/2009 7:29:00 PM | | I take my 4 year old daughter berry picking and to the beach were we can flip over rocks and check out the crabs. We also like to make an obstacle course in the park and then chase each other through it. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/27/2009 8:10:05 PM | | i take my one daughter to the movies and have a movie night with her, she just loves it and on the weekend we all go to the mall and shop or go to the park or we do something as long as its just us having a good time | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/27/2009 8:47:46 PM | I become an extra couch. I know it sounds weird, but I have 4 kids and my lap is not necessarily that big. So I lay down on the couch and all 4 will climb on top of me and sit while we watch some random kids/family movie or cartoons.
Of course the 1 yr old doesn't stay for long, and he has a tendency to sit on my head and laugh hysterically.  | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 3:09:01 AM | It is funny, my daughter who is a senior in high school finally found a job working in food service at the zoo. It made me stop and think about the last time we did some of the things that we regularly did when they were younger. When the kids were small, we regularly went to the zoo, the museums, a wildlife park that is about an hour away, swimming several times a week (we didn't even take advantage of their dad's apartment pool this summer), going to the cheap summer movies mid-week.
I feel like we should do some of those things again before my daughter leaves for college next fall but one of the things I have noticed, is that if you spend quality time with your kids, the activities change but the time and the conversation don't. All three of my kids know hot to cook and help in the kitchen and often when we are making food for dinners at church or when someone is ill or has had a death in the family. Some of our best conversation time even when they were little happened in the vehicle and those are ongoing.
My kids generally go with me to their siblings' games, concerts, and other activities and while we have done family vacations, etc. I have discovered that it is the little things that really cement the relationships and family. I periodically economize by nuking the satellite and I find that I spend more time with the kids merely because there aren't "live" television programs to watch. More often than not, one or more of the kids is in my room watching DVDs with me and often, all three pile onto the king-sized bed rather than hanging out in the living room or their own rooms like teenagers are supposed to do, lol.
OP, I remember when my oldest hit high school, I was like how did that happen? Now the middle one has started high school and my eldest will be going away in the fall. Slowing down more than the type of activity is the most important thing any parent can do because before you know it, they are grown and gone. My stepson is 30, he moved 800 miles away when he was 19 and has only been back where his mother lives about 150 miles away for two years. My daughter is acutely aware that she will miss her youngest brother growing up, and I am sure we will burn up the phone lines and learn how to use Skype next year. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 4:47:41 AM | | We sit down at the table every night for dinner. The TV gets turned off. With a DVR there is no more, but I wanted to see that lol. Then every weekend it is something that gets us outside, beach run, river park or one of the kids games or events. The dinner with no TV works the best. Not a thing to do, but eat and talk. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 6:35:27 AM | For us it is diffrent depending on the day of the week, if it is a school night then after school me and my 4 year old both make dinner (she loves to help mommy cook), she get's to pick what we are going to have and he helps mommy as much as she can. Then well dinner is cooking we start on desert (a cake, jell-o, cup cakes) what ever it is. After dinner we play and read books and then the best time that we spend together is when she is having a bath and telling me all about her day before she heads off to bed.
But on the weekend where there is no school, we are out walking in the trails around here to see what type of leaf's (well they are still there) are around to take home and dry to make something with, and all the animals and little bugs. Or we go to the park and play tag (mommy is always it), or we are out walking or riding her bike! And then again with the dinner things.
one thing that me and my daughter LOVE doing is going out and taking pictures, mommy has her camera and baby (ok I know she is not a baby but still my baby) has her camera and we both go and see what we can take pictures of. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 8:19:38 AM | Tito you're like a broken record..get medicated please.
OP
My boys are teenagers but we still have family time, it's amazing the things you discover about your children when they are relaxed.
We spend a great deal of time in the car driving to sports activities and we share music to pass the time. The discussions are awesome. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 8:50:09 AM | | Tito, get a life this thread has nothing to do with dating or whining. You have no kids to spend time with, so have nothing to contribute to this thread. Go bash women on the other threads. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 10:05:09 AM | Tito is such an attention whore...perhaps if we collectively ignore him he will go away......
On topic - With my daughter (4), we colour and do crafts together, go for walks, read stories, watch movies and eat popcorn, bake and clean the house together (honestly, she loves to clean...I'm not forcing that upon her...hahaha). With my son, now 15, it is a lot more challenging because of course hanging with Mom is the LAST thing he wants to do. I make it a point to talk with him everyday for as long as he will allow without getting annoyed (hahaha) so I can stay in touch and involved with who he is becoming. I help with his homework (when he asks), go to his games and watch and at least once a month I try to take him out for dinner to a restaurant he likes (just the two of us). It is amazing the conversations we have at those dinners....I learn so much. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 10:15:34 AM | My kids and I like cooking too, we often make chili or pizza on Saturdays and rent movies. We have planned themed menus and rented movies that continued it. We made homemade soft pretzels and Hot dogs and rented Field of Dreams. Spaghetti and Meatballs and rented 'Meatballs' etc. It's fun to try and figure out what to do next.
My kids also love going away overnight if you plan well ahead you can get a good rate for a night or weekend and use hotel pools etc. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 11:01:16 AM | I love these Ideas. Going to throw them in our todo book.
Last night we took a box of raisin bran, and separated all the raisins from the bran. We had fun doing it, and trying to count them.
After I put him to bed, it was bugging me, So I ended up counting the rest of them... | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 1:46:42 PM |
Of course the 1 yr old doesn't stay for long, and he has a tendency to sit on my head and laugh hysterically.
That is so funny, lol, that's great.
^^^^Counting Raisin bran ,lol now that original. What a great idea...... | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 1:49:02 PM |
^^^^Counting Raisin bran ,lol now that original. What a great idea......
it seemed like a good idea. We've been eating the the raisins straight..
And bran flakes really aren't that tasty. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 2:33:14 PM | | When they were younger I used to spend a lot of time with my girls baking and taking nature hikes. When we relocated and as they became older, we spent time at the library which included special events like demonstrations and guest speakers. I still do that some with my youngest. Now that the other 2 are more or less out on their own we all try to get together regularly. It usually revolves around food -- a home cooked meal or lunching out. The most recent was for the oldest daughter's B-day and their grandmother and cousin joined us. The next time will be to shop for the youngest daughter's prom dress after the holidays. I heard last night that the library for the blind is seeking volunteers to read books (for recordings). Since we're all so avid readers I thought it might be something we could do. Maybe not in the same room but we can carpool. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 6:14:24 PM | Me & my boys have our own traditions. My oldest is a baseball nut so every year on his birthday we head to a game together. My youngest is a hockey fan so we do that on his birthday.
Every year, a few days before Christmas, we go into center city and see the Christmas light show, the model train displays and walk around the city looking at all the decorations, then have lunch. Twice a year we play tourist for a day. This past spring we went to the Franklin Institute, Museum of Natural Science and the Please Touch museum all in one day. Next week it's Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center. Other times its riding bikes akong the river. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 6:54:11 PM | | 3 of mine have already moved out on their own, but we still try to schedule family time. We try to have dinner at least once per month and that is usually followed by cards, board games, croquet, frisbee, etc. With my youngest we have a movie night every week. We skip dinner and have cheese and crackers, fruit and veggies while watching the movie she picked from netflix. When they are on (the seasons over right now) we will spend that evening watching her favorite tv shows instead (Secret Life of an American Teenager & Make it or Break it). Before Christmas, we have 2 pizza nights every year. All of the kids come over for these. On the first one, we make ornaments and on the second we decorate the tree. Also, this will be the second year we all go on vacation together. Everyone has requested 1 week off work after school is out and my oldest has the baby. This year we will be renting a house on the Oregon coast. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 7:00:01 PM | My kids are much younger than yours, at the age yours are at you should ask them what they'd like to do the most with you. Let them know that their opinion matters.
With the age they are at, here are some ideas:
Take them to some live concerts, festivals, road trips on the weekend, exploring anywhere you've never been before. Go caving, hiking, rock climbing, white-water rafting or canoeing. Charter a boat and go out fishing or rent a boat, get some poles and spend the day out on the lake. Run a 5k or do a triathlon together as a family, where all of you stick together through it. Take a day trip bike ride, or find a local obstacle course. Take them to a shooting range and help them learn how to fire a gun. Take them and some of their friends to a paintball course and let them shoot at each other for hours.
Teach them about volunteering, go downtown together to the homeless shelter and volunteer, or at a soup kitchen, or Habitat for Humanity. In the winter, if your church does it, volunteer with Room at the Inn it's an amazing experience. When voting season comes around again, help them research a candidate and why they'd vote for them, then go support that candidate with them.
Go watch any sporting even with them, or go support them at their cheerleading, football, soccer, etc... Go out on Friday nights to the high-school football games as a family, even if your kids don't play in it. When your school has a sock hop, or dances, or anything be a part of it.
The most important part is be out with your kids and show them you care and love them very, very much. Mine are only 4 and 5 but I do as many things as possible with them and make the most out of every minute. Baking cookies is a great way to spend time together, but if you do it every time you see them or every day it loses the fun and new factor and becomes routine.
I hope this list helps,
Dave | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/28/2009 7:27:37 PM | | I do ask, in fact my kids chose where to go on vacation and chose the last one (disnetland). The things I named are mostly things they all agree on. With my youngest boy, I play pool, go bowling and target shooting. He actually went out with his dad tonight and just got his first deer. He is just as excited as his vegetarian sister is devastated. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/29/2009 12:36:52 AM | We have game night every week.
I get out the blender or mixing bowl and we whip up a batch of cookies or cupcakes while we all play cards or a board game.
Sometimes we make things interesting and bet on the outcome of the game we are playing...we all put in a few bucks (from mom's change purse) and the winner walks away with all the money!! The loser gets to help Mom clean up the mess!
I am always checking out our community web site for the free activities that I know my kids will enjoy....sometimes kids just want our undivided attention which alot of us have a hard time giving when we are too busy trying to keep up with everyday life... | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/29/2009 10:32:02 PM | My kids and I made the livingroom as dark as possible, turned off all the lights, put on a movie and sat on the floor together and ate popcorn while watching the movie. -- the darkness of the room was for the movie theater atmosphere.
Now that they are older, many an evening is spent just having a very non-serious conversation.....often end up "competing" to see who can make us laugh the hardest.
The three of us have similar tastes in tv shows, so there are times when we're all watching the same show and discussing different scenes from the show. | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/29/2009 10:54:18 PM | | Some weekends, if my kids earn all of their "stars" for the week, we have a slumber party. My girls have their own beds (obviously) but for some reason, they would rather sleep on the floor in the living room. So we will pull out the sleeping bags and blankets and pillows, get good family movie, fix some ice cream sundaes, and just have a good time. We turn music on for a while before the movie and dance around and get loud and obnoxious and just have fun. Then when it's time to settle down, everyone climbs into their sleeping bag, we turn on the movie and relax and go to sleep. All 4 of the kidlets love it when we do this! | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/30/2009 8:46:17 AM | Posting a link to an article about survival in tough times and it includes some interesting things to do with kids including living for 7 days without electricity after teaching them some basics. altho it is specific to OK I suspect other states have Agricultural Extension Centers.
http://www.okgazette.com/p/12776/a/4909/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=LwBEAGUAZgBhAHUAbAB0AC4AYQBzAHAAeAAslashAHAAPQAxADIANwAyADkA | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/30/2009 10:17:40 AM | playground - sliding board and swings are my faves. Yes, I play too.
bike riding
roller skating/blading
zoo
walk to store
trick or treating (tomorrow's holloween - dress up!)
boardgames
movies - home or theater
swimming
playing in park waterfalls
kicking fall leaves/raking them together and falling and playing in leaves
collages
kites
picnic
museums | |
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| Ideas for spending time with kids...
Posted: 10/30/2009 9:27:58 PM | My son is 22 months... SO... :
Today I took him to see what I want to get him for his birthday and christmas. Oh my. We ended up having a fencing match? with foam swords in the store. I won. I'm so totally proud of that; it wasn't easy.
He helps me do housework. He loves washing dishes and putting clothes in the dryer. And it takes about two hours longer than it should.
He loves to go outside and let me chase him while he chases the dog around.
Sometimes we make trips to the mall that's like an hour away just to sing and dance in the car, look for cows and horses and ride the carosel at the mall. He loves that.
We've spent a lot of time reading and learning new words lately. He's started picking up on some more German words. And he knows a few words by the way the look. That's not something I've been trying to teach him, but he's just picking up on. And he can point out the letter P.
Hmm.... what else. lol.
I can't wait until he's older and there's more we can do. I'm so waiting for when I'm able to take him fishing and camping and hunting and all. =) | |
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