A Spontaneous Birthday Party and Instagram

Need to add some fun to your winter? Throw a simple birthday party, just you and your kids. By simple I mean, SIMPLE. Decorate a little, enjoy some sort of treat, and just make the day feel special. Before you know it, the day will be special. 

Yesterday we awoke to 3-4 inches of snow outside. The girls were thrilled! Immediately after eating breakfast they dressed for the occasion and headed outside to our winter wonderland. 10 minutes later they were done. What were we going to do with the rest of our snow day!? 

Then Hailey informed me it was Leo's birthday.

Leo is one of Hailey's imaginary friends. Don't be misled, Leo is a girl. And apparently yesterday was her birthday. And we were to throw her a party, which of course necessitated decorations.

Oh boy. I drug my feet on that idea. I was in no mood for partying, let alone throwing and decorating our own. Quickly though, Hailey's enthusiasm won me over, so birthday-party-it-up we did. Why do kids have the best ideas sometimes?

We pulled out streamers and ribbon, a plastic tablecloth, and even gift bags for the presents (their own toys wrapped up). Of course, there must be presents! Lucky for those girls I even had cupcakes in the freezer, leftover from Keira's birthday. We thawed those puppies and gave them a nice topcoat of Nutella and sprinkles. Yes, Nutella. No frosting? Use Nutella. It totally satisfied us. It was a bit thicker than frosting, but nothing a glass of milk can't help. :) No cupcakes immediately on hand? Bake some cookies or muffins together and stick a candle in it. If your kids are like my kids, they are quickly satisfied by anything with sugar. 

After cake and presents it was almost lunchtime. I had a few par-baked mini pizza crusts in the fridge, so we decided to use those up and make our own pizzas. This is always a hit with the kids.

Since it was suddenly a special day we pulled out a blanket and picnicked in front of a movie (which never happens). Win-win for me, pizza and some quiet time to relax!

Need a pizza dough recipe? Use mine, it's quick. I can whip up some crusts ready for toppings in just 45 minutes to an 1 hour. I store the extra in the fridge or freezer to be used later. It makes for an extra fun, yet super easy lunch.

   

So tell me, how do you like to spend your snow day? What do you do to keep you and your kids happy and sane during the winter?

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Now, let's talk INSTAGRAM.

Yeah, what about it? 

Well... I'm now on it! Follow me @hillmade_blog. There is plenty I do day to day that doesn't make the blog. I'll post more of that there. I'd also love to see what you're up to! Have you used any of my ideas? Tag #hillmade_blog. I'd love to see it!

Kids | Exploring with Non-Newtonian Fluid (Oobleck)

Kyle is the cool kid at our house. He has one of those brains that is constantly dreaming up something new and fun. He loves to see how things work and experiment. Of course, he loves to share all of this with our girls. After dinner one evening, Kyle led us all in some fun with science. 

Kyle and I have seen videos of people walking on what looks like liquid. Walking (running really) straight across it. What these people have done is made a large quantity of what is called a non-Newtonian fluid (also known as Oobleck). It is a fluid that when at rest acts as a liquid, but when force is placed upon it, it acts like a solid. It is crazy cool stuff. It's a mixture of water and cornstarch. That's it! 

We played with this stuff for an hour, and only quit because it was bedtime. Hailey would have kept going and going and going... Seriously, if you need to occupy your children for an hour, make them some Oobleck. Or if you would like something fun to do with your children, make some Oobleck. :)

You need:

1 1/2 cups water

16 oz. cornstarch

To make it, grab a large bowl or tub. Pour in the water.  

Add the cornstarch. Start with a little, mix. Add some more, mix. We didn't follow any recipe, we just experimented until it turned out. We used almost the entire 16 oz. of cornstarch.

When the mixture is the right consistency it will pull away from the edges of the bowl.

Now roll up your sleeves, dig your hands in and play!

Try pushing down with your fingers and see how the fluid resists them.

Now relax and watch your finger sink into the goo.

Roll the goo into a ball and watch it ooze out of your hand when you stop rolling. (Sorry the video is choppy, I made it from still images I had taken.)

This stuff is serious fun. I even got into it and had a blast with it. Yes, it's messy, but it cleans right up with water, no scrubbing. Just wet a towel and wipe it away. Now, that's my kind of mess.

If you do just one messy activity with your kids, make it this one! They will love it. You will earn major cool parent points for it. I'm thinking we need to have some friends over and do it again. Anyone want to come play with us!?

Kids | A Fun and Simple Matching Game: Steal the Pile

I love to play games. I grew up in a game playing house. When I was in high school, nearly every Sunday evening after dinner our family would sit down and play some sort of game together. Kyle's family is the same way. Sunday evening is game night. Games are a great way to spend time together as a family.

My maternal grandmother was a big game player. We often joked that we wouldn't teach her the rules to a new game we were playing, just to give her a handicap, because she would end up winning anyway. As a child I remember going to her house to visit and playing cards with her. We played with a set of cards that have kittens on them, which were always called the "Kitty Cards". Years after her passing, I have those cards as a special reminder of the fun I had playing cards with my grandma.

The game I remember playing most often with Grandma was Steal the Pile. It is a simple matching game that even small children (preschool age) can pick up on. I have taught Hailey how to play and she loves it. It is one of the games we play most frequently together.

Interested in playing? I'll teach you.

1. Start by dealing out 4 cards, face down, to each player. Then deal 4 cards, face up, in the center.

2. Each player picks up their hand and compares the cards they are holding with those on the table, looking for matches. 

3. Players take turns selecting a card from their hand and matching it with one face up on the table. If they have a match they take the matching card from their hand and the other matching card from the table and set them in a pile in front of them.

4. If the player can not match any of the cards face up on the table, they then discard any card in their hand face up on the table, adding it to those already there. 

5. The twist in the game is that besides matching those cards in the center of the table, you may also match with your opponents pile of cards they have made. If you have a card in your hand that matches the top card of their pile, you may match and steal their entire pile and add it to your own. Thus the name, Steal the Pile.

6. After both players have played their initial 4 cards, another set of 4 cards is dealt to each player. Play continues the same as the previous round. Once all of the cards in the deck have been dealt out and played, the player with the most cards wins!

Hailey thinks it is so fun to steal my pile. Likewise, she understands it's all in good sport when I take hers away too. It just means she needs to try to get it back!

It did take her a few rounds to completely get the concept, and sometimes I still need to give her a little bit of help. The more we play, the better she is getting at picking up the strategy of the game. 

If your preschooler/kindergartener likes to play games, check out the sight word memory game I created. It has been a fun and successful way of teaching Hailey sight words.

Kids: Play Food from Recyclables

Kids love to be in the kitchen. I think mine could spend their entire day in there just eating. It feels like they are always hungry. I hear a lot of, "Can I have a snack? My tummy is hungry" from Hailey and a lot of "na na na" please signing and pointing to the pantry from Keira. I'm happy they are good eaters, but goodness, let's find something else to do besides eat!

Besides eating, they love to help mom cook. When I am able to take a little bit more time cooking or baking, I do especially love to have Hailey help me in the kitchen. Here are a few recipes we've enjoyed making together:

    

I think play kitchens are a fantastic toy. It opens up so much creativity and provides them with some opportunity to feel big, just like mom. It has it's bonuses for mom too.  Realistically I can't have my girls in the kitchen with me all the time. Some days I think it would take me close to all afternoon just to make dinner. And my patience would be long gone by the time we're ready to eat. When, for my sanity, it just isn't reasonable to have them helping in the kitchen, I love that I can occupy them with their own play kitchen.

I love to watch Hailey's imagination work. She can take nothing and make something from it. My boring grown up mind is always astounded at what she comes up with. Though she doesn't really need much to fuel her creativity, it has been fun for her to have some props to encourage her play. Plus, it is so much more awesome when it really is just like mom.

Instead of throwing away (or recycling) the used containers from our pantry and fridge, I like to wash them out and give them to Hailey to use in her kitchen. She loves it! She gets so excited every time I give her a new product, washed and ready for play.

Hailey loves her kitchen. And so do her friends. When Hailey has friends over they always spend a good amount of time "cooking". We have enjoyed many meals of macaroni and cheese soup or some other made up dish, like kayna, whatever that is. Birthday cakes have been baked and complimented with rounds of singing Happy Birthday and pretend candles blown out over, and over, and over again.

Next time you finish off a small plastic container, take a minute to wash it out and give it a second life with your imaginative child. They'll be over the moon excited. Promise.

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