Well, It Started Out as a Good Idea

Everyone knows kids love to play. Here's an example of three of my grandchildren (Audrey, Nolan, and Jeremy) trying to find the fastest car among hundreds:

Grandchildren Audrey, Nolan, and Jeremy trying to find the fastest car.

Sometimes my grandchildren play hide and seek, but instead of hiding people they hide objects. This week and next I'm in Virginia with my son and his two boys, Kaden and Zac. Today we decided to play hide and seek with an object. I chose this cute little frog that belongs to the baby who lives here:

I figured that it was bright enough to be found, small enough to make it a challenge, and easy enough to feel if somebody decided to hide it under a blanket. Also, unlike Easter eggs, it wouldn't matter if we forgot where we placed it.

My grandkids, Kaden on the left, Zac on the right and
future grandchild Myraiah in the middle

The game was going quite well in the beginning. But what I didn't know was that this object was going to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated, because as we were searching for the frog above, we found an entire family of them.

Maybe colored eggs weren't such a bad idea after all. We would just have to remember how many eggs we hid.

Have a beautiful week and thank you for visiting!

What Happens When Cousins Protects Cousins From Little Brothers

I would like your empathy for a moment as I explain the following video to you before you watch it.

I was in charge of four of my grandchildren one night. We were in a 2-bedroom apartment that belonged to one of my daughters. Lindsey has no children, no toys, no games, no computers, and basically, nothing to keep them occupied, and she wasn't home to help out, so I had to rely on my creativity to keep them occupied.

After we played the Hokey Pokey and after we played Simon Says, I brought out my camera and asked them to PLAY so that I could videotape them.  Here is what happened (as you listen to the sound, remember, we are in an apartment where other non-family members live):

Explanation: Nolan got upset about the fighting and retreated to the couch. Zac scratched Audrey (can't see it in the video). Kaden wanted to protect Audrey (his cousin) from Zac (his brother) and demanded that Zac say, "sorry". Zac refused. Kaden got (shall we say) upset. In the end, Zac told ME to tell Audrey, "sorry."

I should have brought along a copy of the Preschooler's Busy Book. It might have taken me all night, but with 365 creative games and activities to occupy children between the ages of 3 and 6, I might have had a more peaceful outcome.

But then, maybe it wouldn't have been blog material.

Games, Quizzes, & Innovative Kids

When Brittney (my youngest daughter) was little, she made up games all the time, calling them things like Bo-Tec, Chee Toe, and other cute names. One in particular I remember had to do with placing paper towels all over the lawn and jumping from one to the other.

At times she conducted races with her doll where she would throw the doll across the room and try to outrun the doll. Don't laugh. She now owns her own business.

I think that when kids make up their own games and their own quizzes, they show creativity. And creativity is something I like to nurture. My daughter's creativity is now showing up in her children.

Recently Brittney's son, Nolan (who will be 3 in June), asked me if I wanted to play the Potty Pants Game. What? You never heard of the Potty Pants Game? You play it by setting up a bunch of small blankets on the floor, hop from one to the other, and, using your arms and legs, sing and perform the Hokey Pokey song. (If only I had thought to videotape that game).

I firmly believe that the ability to create is what contributes to the intelligence of a child in a very positive manner.

Speaking of intelligence (love these kinds of segues), did you know that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offers games and puzzles for kids? They can perform word finds, solve puzzles, break codes and perform aerial and photo analyses. The CIA also offers a "World Exploration" area. Who knew?

You do (visit the CIA by clicking on any of the links provided).

Another way to increase intelligence is by making up your own quizzes. You see quizzes in magazines and online all the time. But did you know you can create your own? You can, no matter how young or how old you are. But what fun are quizzes if you can't share them with people?

That's where Free Quiz Maker from ProProfs.com comes in handy. Not only can you create your own quizzes, you can also promote your ProProfs.com quiz on facebook, twitter, and youtube. They would be great for teachers, too, because you can design your own flashcards and share them.

This handy little quiz generator is quiz software that will enable you to create unique quizzes unlike anything anybody has ever created before. For example, I could design a family quiz entitled, "How Do You Play Bo-Tec?" Of course the quiz would be flawed because only Brittney would know how to play it. Or would she?

Twenty years from now I could show the quiz to Nolan and ask him how to play the "Potty Pants Game." Will he remember? Come to think of it, will I?

(By the way, if you become a master quiz maker, why not visit a Custom Web Development Company  and have them build a site devoted to your quizzes?)

Photo above is of Brittney holding Nolan with Audrey peeking from behind.

The Inside Voice & Old Maid

My grandkids crack me up and I love it when I witness events I can blog about or when I hear from family members something my grandkids (or even my kids) have said or done. I wish more of them would let me know when somebody does something cute or funny (HINT HINT).

Because I'm around Audrey so often, Audrey is the subject of many of my blogs. Kaden, either when I'm with him or when I hear about something he has said or done, makes my blogs as well. Just plug either one of their names into the search area of this blog and you can read more about either one of them.

 This first story is about Kaden, who was probably just trying to help his mom:

We often wonder if our kids listen to us, or for that matter if they even hear us. So we tend to repeat phrases and sometimes find ourselves asking, "Are you listening?" or "Did you hear what I just said?"

My son, Greg (Kaden's daddy), always left me wondering if he was listening to me. He had this amazing ability to be involved in several things at the same time and he could focus on all of them at once. He watched television, did his homework, and listened to conversations going on around him without missing any details. When tested on each component, he could explain what just happened on TV, which homework problem he was working on, and what we were discussing at the dining room table.

Unlike Greg, though, most kids have what I consider to be selective listening. They pretend to ignore their parents, which infuriates us even more, and we send them to their rooms or to the punishment corner or to the bad chair because they didn't pay attention to us.

But let me tell you, they HEAR us and they LISTEN to us. How do I know? Because when you least expect it, they will REPEAT us.

The other day when my daughter-in-law, Michelle (Greg's wife), was yelling at her youngest son, Zac (who is 2-years-old), Kaden (who will be five in February), called out,  "Hey, Mom, let's use our INSIDE voices."

You don't have to wonder where he heard that one.

And now a little story about Audrey:

Old Maid is definitely a game for more than two players. Everybody knows that, but when you're a kid, you just want to play and it doesn't matter how many people are playing the game with you.

So the other day, my five year-old granddaughter, Audrey, and her mommy, Brittney (my daughter), were playing Old Maid. They were the only two playing the game.

At one point Audrey pulled me aside and said, "Grandma, don't tell Mommy, but I have the witch."

If you'd like to read more kid stories about lots of other children, click on Kiddy Kwips.

The photo at the top is of Kaden playing the Wii with his dad. The photo on the bottom is of Audrey.

FUN and FUNNY games!

I had to tell my kids this year that we were going to have to cut back on gifts for Christmas. Money has been grim, so I've been looking online for family video games as gifts for my kids and grandkids. I used to give each person his or her own gift, but with four kids, three spouses, ten grandchildren, two more spouses, and two great grandchildren, I'm pretty much tapped out in the finance department, so this year, everybody gets a "family" gift. Well, except for the unmarried ones among the group.

Two of my kids have Wiis, so, not knowing which video games they already have, I thought I would let them pick out the one they want me to get for their family gifts, something that everybody in the family would enjoy playing. I found a great resource for VIDEO GAMES and this blog is my way of asking Greg (and his family) and Brittney (and her family) to click the link. Please tell me which game you want. They have lots of other games too, though, so if you want a Playstation III game or an XBox 360, I'll get you one of those instead.

And now a gift for Lindsey. I know, Linz, you already have my Christmas present, but this one is free and it's lots of fun. I think you'll enjoy it. And it fits in so well with why you're going to school.

Lindsey is my second oldest daughter who loved playing dress up games even when she was a baby. Every morning she went into my closet, examined my little scattering of shoes, and always picked out the same pair (I had only two classy shoe styles – she preferred the brown straps to my decade old black and gold 70's platform shoes). She would then gather her bracelets, necklaces, crown, and rings, and parade around the house in her pajama top and diaper. Very cute. Well, I just found the perfect online dress up game for her.

This online dress up game is fun and FUNNY! Well, funny for me – fun for Lindsey. You see, I have no fashion sense whatsoever, so when I tried to play dress up games, I lost miserably. Lindsey is going into fashion merchandising (she didn't get that talent from me obviously), so I'm sure she will do much better than I did. And it won't cost me a penny, because this Dress Up Game is free (click the link). She can even play it at work during down time (don't show this to your boss, Lindsey).

I even found a game I like to play (I love skills games and brain games – they have both, and LOTS more). You can find so many games on this site.

Keeley and her family don't have a computer, so I'm saving this blog for her when she makes trips to the library (do they let you play games at the library?) – if so try any of those links above.

While I wasn't necessarily looking for anything specific for my parents or siblings, I came across something I know one of my sisters will LOVE. I can't tell you why. No, I'm not trying to be evasive. Let's just say that Cindy has been setting up a web site that concerns beauty, and I found something she may want to use to connect to her site that offers beauty information for her visitors. Cindy, check out this BEAUTY INFORMATION site – they offer skin care analysis, hair care consultation, a fragrance finder, and even (you know I love this) a beauty horoscope. Plus they offer expert advice, so I think it will make a great link for the site. I promise to tell everybody the name of her site when it is up and running. For now, though, it's a secret.

That was my "hook" to get you to come back to my blog. Will it work? I hope so.