Each season of the year brings new opportunities to do fun things with your children. During the summertime, remember that there’s more to do than simply playing outside or going to the pool. With some creative thinking, you can make memories with your children that will last a lifetime.
Here are some great summer activities to do with your kids: Continue reading
Do you find it hard to get your kids to do their chores? It can be a struggle to get them to tidy up their toys, put away their sneakers, do their homework, as well as other tasks.
There are ways you can create chore time having a positive practical experience, and help persuade your sons or daughters to get their tasks done. Here are some tips: Continue reading
Show Mom how much she means to you with these Mother’s Day brunch ideas. Rather than planning breakfast in bed and waking Mom up early, let her sleep in and use these ideas to create a Mother’s Day brunch Mom will thoroughly enjoy.
She will appreciate not having to cook on Mother’s Day. However, you’ll want to make sure you’re also prepared to clean up after yourself. There’s no reason to make Mom clean up after the meal if it’s her special day. Remember you’re letting her relax and enjoy a day without cooking and cleaning.
Think about the foods Mom loves for breakfast or lunch. You may also want to consider items she wouldn’t normally eat. The goal is to prepare a meal Mom will enjoy and remember for years to come.
Start with freshly squeezed orange juice. If Mom drinks alcoholic beverages, you may want to add the fresh orange juice to ice cold champagne to make a Mimosa. Of course, you can also make a non-alcoholic version using sparkling grape juice.
Toast bagel halves, spread cream cheese on them and then top the bagel halves with a few thinly sliced pieces of smoked salmon. You can top them with capers, red onions or lemons if you want a traditional garnish. Try diced tomatoes or minced chives for a different taste to this classic brunch item.
Pancakes are also a good choice if you’re serving brunch. Crepes are another good brunch item. Either can be prepared to be sweet or savory. Traditional maple syrup is wonderful as a topping but fresh fruit would also be delicious.
There’s no better time in the day to have pizza. Make a breakfast pizza with sausage and eggs to go with a great cheese. This may become a favorite brunch item that is requested year after year.
Once the main part of the meal has been served, don’t forget a healthy final dish. Many mothers love fresh strawberries any time of the year. When you want something healthy and delicious, slice up fresh strawberries and add sliced kiwi. Sprinkle a little sugar and mix the two together. They will make their own sauce. Serve the fruit with ‘fancy’ cookies such as biscotti, ladyfingers or Amaretto. Your mother will love the combination of the fruit and cookies.
Set the table to include your family’s good dishes and silverware. Chances are these dishes aren’t used that often so why not use them to celebrate Mom?
You can also find fresh flowers from the garden or buy a bouquet which can be split up between several small vases. Mom will love the extra effort you’ve made by using some of these Mother’s Day brunch ideas or coming up with ones of your own.
photo credit: Joris-Jan
Bong and I love to go on picnics with our friends. And even when events don’t go according to plan (remember our adventure “Picnic Poser” on the Tiny Planet of Stuff?) One of the things that makes a picnic a success is having a nice assortment of tasty and healthy finger foods.
Did you know that packing food for a picnic is an art? Think about it , an appetizing picnic lunch needs to be:
Ideally, picnic food should be healthy, too, especially if you are going to be expending energy playing games or hiking. Here are some recipes and tips on what to pack for your next picnic.
Pita bread is ideal for a picnic. It’s easy to pick up and tends to be less messy than bread. You can stuff pitas with all kinds of fillings. Some ideas are:
Bring along several dips, like hummus, salsa, peanut butter, cream cheese, bleu cheese and/or ranch, and take along foods to dip, such as:
Bring along sweet or dill pickles and olives for the side.
This is a good recipe for taking along – the flavor improves as the salad sits. You can also stuff pita pockets with this mixture. Be sure to keep it cool en route.
Ingredients:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir well to combine. Serves 4.
Take along a loaf of crusty bread, and this is all you need. Pack fruits that are not easily damaged, such as:
Choose a variety of cheeses, such as sliced cheddar, Brie, Swiss, Colby, spicy Monterey Jack, and so forth. Bring along mixed nuts of your choice, raw or roasted.
Snow can be a lot of fun. You get to go sledding and skating. You can build snowmen. And best of all, you can have snowball fights! It’s hard to believe that water can be that much fun.
Yes, snow is just one of water’s many disguises. When it’s a liquid you can drink it. When it’s a solid you can skate on it. And if you get it really hot you can see it float up into the air in the form of steam, which is a gas.
One day Bing and Bong were visiting the Tiny Planet of Nature. They had the opportunity to help a group of snow flockers to learn about water’s different forms. The Flockers took a shower they were using liquid water.
But then their water heater stopped working. So the liquid water turned into solid snow and ice. Brrr! You can watch how Bing and Bong saved the day in their video called “Snow Problem.”
Bing and Bong were happy to have helped their flocker friends and learned something new. How about you? Do you like to learn new things? I hope so because this month we’re going to investigate some of the the different ways we see water on planet Earth.