Finally, the cold, long, and snowy winter of Chicago is over, even though we always expect some snow until mid-April. Now it's time to plan for fun and memorable spring activities for our family. That means lots of nature activities outdoors, enjoying the blooms and flowers, particularly tulips. Also, it's time to get started with our vegetable … [Read more...]
5 must-have bike accessories to enjoy cycling with your kids
While winter seems to be sticking around a little bit longer than we'd like it to, we are ready to hit the trails for biking with my kids. Sometimes we bike around the neighborhood parks with a pit stop at the playgrounds, but we usually prefer to bike for longer distances without having to go through city traffic on our favorite trail, … [Read more...]
How to hack a pull up bar to use as gymnastics training bar for kids
AFFORDABLE GYMNASTICS TRAINING BAR FOR KIDSMy daughter continues to take gymnastics classes. She's not at the competitive level so her practices are not as frequent. When it gets closer to her meets, she wants to practice more at home in order to strengthen her body or perfect her routine. We try to provide her the environment and tools to … [Read more...]
Fort Magic Fort Building Kit
BEST FORT BUILDING KIT Fort Magic Fort building kit is a comprehensive fort construction kit which allows children build any type of fort, building or vehicle only limited to children’s creativity. It has more pieces and variety of shapes than any other fort kit in the market. We’ve purchased Fort Magic a year ago and forts in changing various … [Read more...]
10 family board games we all love
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOARD GAME? One of the family activities which is supposed to be fun and engaging is playing board games together. Even though I would rather prefer sitting down and playing board games with my kids to playing with trucks or Shopkins (insert *groan*), I can’t say that all board games are equally fun (or even tolerable) either. … [Read more...]
Daily themes for after school family fun
As full-time working parents of children attending public school, after school time is particularly invaluable for us. Their school ends early afternoon. They attend extracurricular programs after school 4 days of the work week. I or my husband can pick them up usually around 5-6 pm. That leaves us around 2,5-3,5 hours to have some type of family … [Read more...]
DIY- How to build a balance beam
My daughter has been doing gymnastics for the last year. She really wants to improve to go up a level and in order to improve she needs to practice. One of the two pieces of gym equipment she has been asking for was a balance beam. Sturdy balance beams start around $180-$200 on the web. I couldn’t find any nearby on Craigslist. During my research, … [Read more...]
Kids’ games and activities quick reference guide
Winter break is here and we all know that after a day of high of no school and no homework, kids will start falling into the bottomless pit of boredom. In order to help them find alternative ways to keep busy, I prepared this quick guide filled with game ideas, toys in our house, arts & craft activities we do and physical activities. You can … [Read more...]
Winter fun: Snow activities for children
We try to make the most of the long, cold winter with kids. I have been chronicling our activities with snow, indoors and outdoors. Here are some of them, for kids to have fun and keep busy.Simple snowman Or fashinable snow kitty.Ice sculpting Just leave a water filled bucket out overnight. Put the ice it in a tray. Let your young artist … [Read more...]
Adler Planetarium Astro Overnights
We attended Adler Planetarium's Astro Overnights for kids, the first week of November. Even though we visit Adler at least once every year, neither I nor the children have visited Adler after dark. It was an evening well spent. Everyone including adults had great time and learned stuff that we didn't know.The weather was very mild that evening. … [Read more...]
Easy butterfly wing cape for children
I had no plans to sew a butterfly wing cape for my daughter, until I came along with this amazing fabric at Hancock Fabrics. It is a sheer fabric with eye catching rainbow colors. All my materials were rainbow colored, including fabric, ric rac border and the thread.Materials: 3/4 yards sheer / light fabric (60" width) Ric Rac … [Read more...]
Geocaching: A Modern Day, Global Treasure Hunt
Happy Earth Day!Last year, during the summer, our local public library held a small workshop on geocaching. I’d heard about it from few parents but didn’t have time to research myself. We learned what geocaching is, downloaded the app, and searched and found our very first cache during the workshop.It sounded really fun, mostly for kids but … [Read more...]
Fun activity ideas for long rides and flights
We've completed yet another successful long flight to Aruba and back. I am quite experienced in entertaining children in long flights and road trips, as you can read in this post titled, Preparing for long flights and trips with babies and young children. Good news is it gets easier, as the attention span of children grows by age. Parents or … [Read more...]
Product Review: Luckybums ski and bike trainer for children
I taught my children how to swim, ski, and ride a 2-wheel bike. Last year, I was teaching my younger one skiing. It's a little bit tricky to teach one and keep an eye on the other one who can ski by himself. Everything was easy and good when we were on the bunny hill together. Then my son wanted to upgrade from the bunny hill to bigger hills.For … [Read more...]
Winter Activity for kids: Snow painting
Winter in Chicago can be harsh. It's long and sometimes colder than Alaska. Particularly, windchill is dreadful. Nothing protects you against it and it drains the energy in you. Snow, however, is on the good side of winter in my book. When it snows the temperatures warm a bit. Everywhere is covered in a peaceful white, at least for a while. Kids … [Read more...]
DIY – LEGO table and storage
Our new LEGO table or workstation was really easy to put together. The main item is the large IKEA Linmonn table that gives enough space to work on for 2 children. We have LEGO 10 x 10 baseplates but I don't have any plans to glue them down. IKEA Adde chairs are better fit than their old IKEA Mammut chairs. (On the table: Organizing LEGO … [Read more...]
Redesigning our playroom
I have been working on a lengthy project in our basement, which is our children's playroom. It's been quite a while since we set up for early learning, then preschool and kindergarten, while my son already outgrew a lot of stuff, including games, toys and furniture. This summer, I decided to take on a complete overhaul and update the … [Read more...]
Chicago Park District Day Camp registrations ahead
I like my children to spend the limited summertime, in Chicago, outdoors as much as possible. I work full-time so I love Chicago Park District's play and day camps for my children. My son goes to camp at one of the Chicago Park Districts parks every summer, since he turned 4. My daughter started the camps last year when she turned 4 as well.We … [Read more...]
National Robotics Week at the MSI Chicago
National Robotics Week started on Saturday, April 6 with many showcases and activities running throughout the day at the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago. Roboweek will continue until Sunday, April 14.We could not miss it becausemy son is crazy about robots and my daughter is influenced by her big brother. we recently got our … [Read more...]
Repurposing old mattress as a trampoline
We used to own a little toddlers/preschoolers trampoline when my son was about 2.5 years-old. It was relatively safe with less bouncy center and two padded handles on each side. After my daughter started to get up and cruise, she played with it a lot as well. Then they outgrew that trampoline. However, living in Chicago we still needed an indoor … [Read more...]