Scavenger Hunt

Ok tonight we were supposed to have a family activity and it ended up being my turn to plan it (I plan all of them. Sigh.) So while I was in traffic on the way home I came up with this idea.
Scavenger hunts are still fun... I was making a list of things to go see and take pictures of, when I decided it would be more fun if the kids had some input here. So I went home and made sure dad hadn't made plans (he hadn't) and passed out little scrapbook paper rectangles to everyone. (I am thinking ahead here. I should have passed out acid free pens too. You have instant titles for your pages. But I digress.) Everyone had to write an adjective on the paper. To my delight no one, not even my 9 year old, had to ask me what an adjective was! They all passed their papers back and a few wanted to do two so I let them. I did'nt do any myself because my hands were full getting the camera together. SO we got in the car and pulled out the first word.

Ornery.

Ok that would be my sarcastic teenager. We went immediately to his girlfriend's work (where she was) and took her picture, the person who wrote that word had to take the pic.. He said she was ornery. We jumped back in the car and drew pretty. Instead of jumping back out and taking another picture of this pretty girl, we went to River Ranch, a very pretty center of town/subdivision and took a pic in the gazebo as it was starting to rain. First we thought a pretty car but were unable to find one that qualified!
The next word was Delicious. Dad had keenly planned ahead for this since he had not made dinner tonight. So we all went to Pizzaria Venti where dinner is guaranteed to be delicious.

Colorful. That was McDonalds with their bright indoor playplace. Then

Smelly. Right around from McD's was a dumpster with stacks of cardboard outside. We all (except dd11 who took the pic) stood in front of the piles of trash with our noses plugged.

Next was purple. We could not think of anything so we went to Target and everyone was commanded to find something purple for under $2.00. We came out of there with an eggplant, some Easter grass, purple peeps (which, no doubt, will provide the entertainment for our next Family Evening, MORTAL PEEP FIGHT! It involves the microwave.) and several foam swords they saw and could not resist. They had a fight in the Target foyer, which qualified for the next word, Beastly.
The last one was Memorial (I know, wierd) and it was dark so too late to be puttering around the cemetary so we went home. Dad celebrated that it was a great Family Evening! The kids all had a great time.
You can do lots of variations on this theme and still have a fun evening together as a family. Certainly eating first would have lightened the budget and we didn't have to buy stuff at Target, I originally planned on everyone holding up purple clothes but hey. Dad got involved and that's good too.

You can do anything!

Ok first of all if you have heard of a craft, you can make it. If you have seen something, you might be able to make it. Investigate! The only thing I have wondered about making and given completely up is that instant hand wash stuff.
See if your little squirt will like playing these old/new games! You may be reminded here of something you already know how to do, and if not, a little searching on line will teach you, no doubt about it. Youtube videos of everything from playing piano to dance to knitting. Search. Find. Sticking to indoors since not all of you live in the Glorious Confederacy where it's 80 degrees outside in March. All age ranges here!

1. Hide a bunch of paper shamrocks around the house for them to find.
2. Paint with acrylic or tempra on the sliding glass door or mirror. Hey it comes off easy with a razor blade or water and some scrubbing.
3. Check the weather in the paper every day, and record it. Chart temperature highs and lows.
4. Have a broken toy clinic. This works really well for us with broken Christmas ornaments. We had wooden ornaments from Germany and the glue all let go, so we have a clinic and glue them back together or pitch them if its not worth it. Toys or books are great too. With some magic tape, an eraser and a damp cloth you can fix many book problems.
5. Pictures of Me collage or placemat. Take pictures of each child and give them to them, let them arrange them and then get out the clear contact paper and cut a piece the size of a place mat. Stick on face down, add stickers or glitter if you wish. Finish with another piece of clear contact for the other side. Alternatively, do birthday cards, Christmas cards, or Valentines. Right now (March 10) Valentines are in plenteous supply and 90% off. Make them for friends or family too.
6. Make a color day. Notice red. Wear red. Color with red. Point out things that are red. Play the Memory game and give extra points for matching red. Play checkers and let him be red. (Pick another color another day)
7. Take time to teach a homemaking skill today. Measuring water into the bowl is a skill. Breaking an egg. Peeling a potato. Opening a can. Starting the lawnmower. Be age appropriate, but teach something. Kids don't know how to clean by watching you. They aren't watching you, their eyes are glazed over completely. Get them to do it and show them what products help them. Mops, string v. sponge.... rags v. towels or paper towels.... Chlorox Clean Up v. Orange Cleaner. Empty bathroom trash cans into kitchen trash. Wash out trash containers. Even that can be fun if you use humor. Wash the car, the dog, the sink, or the windows.
8. Make a slam book. Play on computer together. Play a board game. Read a book.Read a magazine. And next time you go out get a dryer box!!

Friendship Book

I think it's best to call it a Friendship Book, it reflects more accurately what it is. Remember, no taking it to school (and if you do, keep it well hidden! It would really be great the last 2 weeks of school if you don't get yearbooks to sign then! And the school classwork is light, and there's time!)

You can do themes too, as well as the regular questions or make an ABC Friendship Book.
I will come up with one for the younger set, but here's one straight off of Facebook. I will try to edit this up!
Ok I would add colors in here, what do you like that's black, green, under those letters. Yellow was the only one? Come on. I gotta have pink crocs. Type of shoes (Flip flops, sandals, heels, crocs, loafers, tennis shoes, bare) Cell Phone Ring Tone was another one I was surprised was not on this list. Musical. Color of postit notes. Favorite highlighter shade. You can ask about anything. Favorite hairstyle - pony, loose, hair bow, curls, straight... Another one I always wanted to be asked was What will you name your kids? Girls love wedding questions too. Who will be your maid of honor? What kind of flowers will you hold? Will you Dance? Ok some more...... uhhhh Perfect date (I just saw Miss Congeniality again LOL) ... Favorite doodle... So you see this can be quite involved. Designed to make you think about yourself, which teens and pre-teens love to do anyway! A great thing to break out when a new friend comes over. I am making a list I like of 140 of them and printing them on the owner's favorite colored paper then using glue sticks on each page. Hey, you already have to number all those pages!! (Below is the list, I noted queries I feel you may want to leave out) There are 78 below so if you've already done the front pages, you can do the backs with these (leaving out the 8 you like least). More fun!

A

- Age:
- Annoyance:
- Animal: .

B
- Birthday:
- Best feeling in the world:
- Blind or Deaf: (I dislike this question, and what if your friend is deaf?)
- Best weather:
- Been on stage:
- Believe in Magic:
- Believe in Santa:

C
- Candy:
- Color:
- Chocolate/Vanilla:
- Chinese/Mexican Food: (you may have covered this on the other qs)
- Cake or pie:
- Continent to visit:
- Cheese:

D
- Day or Night:
- Dancing in the rain:

E
- Eyes:
- Everyone's got:
- Ever failed a class?: (Not a good question either)

F
- First thoughts waking up:
- Food: This probably also covered

G
- Greatest Fear: May want to leave off
- Goals:
- Gum:
- Get along with your parents?:
H
- Hair Color:
- Height:
- Happy:
- Holiday:
- How do you want to die: I don't like this one either

I
- Ice Cream:
- Instrument:
J
- Jewelry:
- Job:

K
- Kids:
- Kickboxing or karate:
- Keep a journal?

L
- Love:
- Letters:
- Laughed so hard you cried:
M
- Milk flavor:
- Movies:
- Motion sickness?
- McD’s or BK:

N
- Number:

O
- One wish:

P
- Perfect Pizza:
- Pepsi/Coke:
Q
- Quality:
R
- Reason to cry:
- Reality T.V.:
- Radio Station:
- Roll your tongue in a circle:
- Ring size:

S
- Song:
- Shoe size:
- Salad Dressing:
- Sushi:
- In the shower:
- Strawberries/Blueberries:

T
- Tattoos?: Ok preteens are prob doing the water based ones...
- Time for bed:
- Thunderstorms:

U
- Unpredictable:
V
- Vacation spot(s):

W
- Weakness:
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you:
- Who makes you laugh the most:
- Worst feeling: Iffy
- Wanted to be a model:
- Worst Weather?:

X
- X-Rays:
Y
- Year it is now:
- Yellow:
Z
- Zoo animal: