Here are 20 Perfect Family Gift Ideas for the Holidays
Some of our favorite family gifts we have received have been gift certificates or tickets to go have adventures and experiences together as a family. From family memberships at Children's Museums and the Zoo to outings and trips to take together - we have definitely made some rich family memories, thanks to family gifts such as these mentioned below.
I've put together a list of ideas families of all ages would enjoy.
The gift of time spent together...
1. These two books give great inspiration for experiences you should share with your kids.101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home or 100 Things Kids Should See and Do (Or Else They Will Never Leave Home)
These two books have great ideas to spend quality time together.
2. A family pass to an area pool or many local pools have punch cards that can be used on a per-visit basis.
Gift certificates to water parks are always a hit!
3. Tickets to a Cultural Experience such as a Native American Pow Wow, a Jazz Festival or an Art Show.
Cultural experiences such as this Native American Pow Wow
4. Passes to an aquarium.
5. A membership or passes to a Children's Museum. Many Children's Museums and Zoos have reciprocal relationships with other museums and zoos across the country. When our kids were younger, we had a membership to a Children's Museum and a nearby zoo with reciprocal relationship with other fun museums in an hour radius of our local museum which made for great adventures. This makes a welcome gift for young families, providing easy access to educational outings.
6. A gift certificate for a day at the mountain with lift tickets for snow skiing or snow boarding or even a beginner or advanced class. Or tickets to spend a day tubing down a mountain.
LIft tickets for snow skiing or snowboarding
7. A gift certificate for an art class or a day at an art studio.
We spent many visits at the Masterpiece Art Studio in Portland, Oregon.
8. Passes to visit an interactive garden or outdoor horticulture exhibit. We are lucky to have the Oregon Garden near us and we have enjoyed seasonal events, activities and the Children's Museum especially.
The Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon is a stunning destination for all ages.
9. Entry fees or passes to wildlife exhibits. The High Desert Museum in Bend is an example of a fun, interactive destination for kids to learn about wildlife native to high desert along with history of the area.
The High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon
High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon
10. Entry passes to area or regional tourist attractions. The World of Coke in Atlanta, Georgia, which was a personal favorite of mine.
World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia
Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washinton
11. Family Memberships to a Zoo or tickets to a game park. One year we were gifted a family pass to the Oregon Zoo and we absolutely loved being able to visit the animals frequently. We are huge fans of Bandon's West Coast Game Park Safari.
12. Tickets to Sporting Events. Connor has received tickets to an NBA game, college basketball and college football games as he is such a sport buff and has loved the special memories collected from each event.
University of Oregon Duck Game
13. Tickets to Amusement Parks. My parents treated us to a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure the first Christmas that we had blended our family and it was one of our best family vacations ever. Many friends have surprised their kids with trips to Disneyland or Disneyworld and have not told them where they were headed until arriving at their destination. I love this idea and would love to pull of a surprise trip some time with our kids.
Disneyland, Anaheim, California
14. Tickets to Indoor or Outdoor Wave Parks. We are lucky to live fairly close to Great Wolf Lodge and McMinnville, Oregon's Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark which is not only fun but a great educational waterpark.
Evergreen Wings and Waves Waterpark, McMinnville, Oregon
15. Movie Tickets or a subscription to Netflix. Although families may not be interacting during the movie, there is always time for great discussions after movies or during movie breaks while watching at home. We watched Downton Abbey with the kids during one holiday vacation and had such a good time talking about the characters and the historical period.
A subscription to Netflix
16. Tickets to a play, musical or a concert.
17. Passes to play paintball together. Even our girls are huge fans of playing paintball together.
These two are huge fans of playing paintball.
Here are a few gift items that can be picked up in local bookstores or toy stores (or ordered via Amazon, my crutch, during busy holiday seasons).
18. Outdoor Games families can play together. My parents gifted our kids a tetherball pole set, volleyball set and a wiffleball set over the years and they have all led to fun family challenges.
19. Family Time Fun's Dinner Games and Activities have activities that families can do during the dinner hour. These have been a big hit in our house!
Family Time Fun's Dinner Games
20. Family Games are always a sure bet. Fun family-friendly games we love include Qwirkle, Blokus, Kadoo, Sequence, Rummikub, Scattergories, Taboo, Bunco, Apples to Apples and WhooNu but I would be remiss to not include our kids' all-time favorites, Monopoly and Yahtzee. Watch out for the game, Beat the Parents if you are one who doesn't like to lose! The kids LOVE this game, the parents typcially lose. It makes for some good laughs though.
Do you know how many hours I have played Monopoly as a parent? I would not trade that time for anything.
Family Game Night
Good luck and happy gifting!
What are your family favorite gift ideas that you have gifted or received?
I grew up adoring the tradition of putting a daily embroidered ornament on a felt tree. My brother and I took turns each day, each vying for the opportunity to put the last ornament, a star, on Dec. 25th, on the top of the tree.
I wanted my kids to have that same love of counting down the days until Christmas but wanted to have my own twist. I loved the idea of doing a little activity each day in preparation for the holiday. I was inspired by an advent calendar created by the great scrapbooker, Ali Edwards, who used scrapbook supplies to create her activity advent calendar.
Using jewelry boxes, I set about to create my own. I enlisted the help of the hubs to prepare a piece of wood for the backing (as this was something I wanted to use year after year) and the boys helped paint the prepared board. The girls helped me paint the box tops, covering any lids or boxes that had print or any type of decoration previously on them. Then the fun part began as I decorated 25 individual, uniquely shaped and unequally proportioned boxes. These boxes were then tacked down using furniture tacks and a glue gun was used for extra reinforcements.
Homemade Advent Calendar
I made lists of activities and fun little items that I could put into the crafted boxes. We determined that the kids would rotate opening the boxes but the activities would be such that would include the whole family. Using a mix of family fun and service-type projects sprinkled in with little gifts to make the countdown special - our Advent Countdown Calendar was created. The following ideas are all based around a Christmas song and/or book.
Our 25 Unique Advent Countdown Calendar Ideas
Dec. 1 - It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Welcome Elf on the Shelf. Get out the decorations and listen to Christmas music while we deck the halls! Download a new holiday song on iTunes.
Dec. 2 –The Heart of Christmas Think about the real meaning of Christmas. Talk about hope and how Christmas is the season of “giving” not receiving. Talk about ways we can help others in our community this month.
I’ll Be Home for Christmas Make a Christmas Card and/or care package for a soldier.
Dec. 3 – Do You Hear What I Hear? Unwrap a Christmas book to read together. One of our favorites that is still appropriate for older kids/teens and adults is the Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale by Angela Elwell Hunt about the three trees who dream of what they will become someday – a holder of treasure, a fine ship and a mountaintop beacon. The trees forget their dreams over the years yet each eventually gets its wish in a powerful way, unlike what they imagined. The message is that we may not get what we want because something better is in store for us.
My dear uncle Harlan gave this great Christmas chapter book to the kids. It's a holiday special!
Dec. 4 – We Three Kings – (Bearing gifts we traverse afar.) Find a toy, game, book or movie that you have outgrown to pass on to someone else. Clean out our closets of unwanted clothes and coats. Donate those in good condition to a shelter or charity.
Watch a Christmas Special with hot Caramel Apple Cider and popcorn.
Dec. 5 – Joy to the World! Put shoes out for Sinterklaas. Create a holiday playlist on iTunes and burn a CD for a family member or friend.
Dec. 6 Old-FashionedDeck the Halls! Make orange and clove decorations and string popcorn and cranberries like the days of old.
I treasure each child's homemade ornaments!
I find the kid-crafted ornaments the absolute best!
Dec. 7 - Have a Grinch Night. Complete with the Grinch movie, Grinch Punch and green goodies. Make a Who-feast with Who-Hash, Who-Pudding and Who-Roast Beast. Don't forget the Grinch Green Smoothies or the Spinach Sorbet for dessert.
Dec. 8 –Silent NightCelebration of light Candle light dinner. Talk about the real meaning of Christmas and the star that shined the way for the wise men to find baby Jesus. How are you being a light in your world? Reach out and love your friends and family. Come up with ways to let your friends and family see His light shine in you.
Dec. 9 – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree - Ornament Making Madness! Make ornaments out of applesauce and cinnamon or salt dough ornaments while having a dance session to Christmas carols.
Photo Credit: Silver Falls State Park
Dec. 10 – We Wish You a Merry Christmas! Random Acts of Kindness – Do a random act of kindness at school today. Make these adorable Rice Krispie Christmas Cottages
or decorate Gingerbread Houses or Gingerbread men and women.
Decorating Christmas Gingerbread Houses
Dec. 11 – Walking in a Winter Wonderland – Read the book The Mittenby Jan Brett while making treats for the animals. Go for a winter hike and leave the animals their gifts.
Come home to a hot cocoa bar with homemade marshmallows cut into hearts.
Take a winter hike!
Sing a song outside at night to a shining star and remember loved ones who are no longer here to celebrate with us. (Let Heaven and Nature Sing!)
Dec. 12 – What a Wonderful World! Research and try a holiday tradition from another country. Consider making tacos or Lime Chili Steak with Homemade Tortillas in honor of the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12.
Try an International Holiday Tradition
Dec. 13 – Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Make Snowman Pizza on Christmas Movie Night (use white Alfredo sauce, white cheeses, olive eyes, mouth and buttons with a carrot nose and maybe a red pepper scarf). If you can’t have a snow picnic, consider a picnic under the Christmas tree!
Go for a Winter Picnic!
Dec. 14- Frosty the Snowman Day – Serve Melted Snowman Soup (Potato Soup with Bacon eyes, carrot nose and olive mouth), Snow Balls (doughnut holes decorated with candy corn nose and chocolate chip eyes). Have a snowball fight with white fluff balls/pom-poms. Make snow globes.
Donate winter coats to a local Coat Drive.
Dec. 15- Baby It’s Cold Outside! Find our old coats and deliver them to the local coat drive for the homeless.
Assemble pairs of socks with granola bars and toiletries for the homeless and the next time you see one at a stop sign, you will have something to share.
Go Ice-Skating!
Go Ice Skating!
Dec. 16 – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!Make teacher gifts and gifts for those who help us! Homemade Caramels and Candy Canes with melted chocolate shaped as a heart. After making the goodies, go out for a Christmas treat or special Starbucks drink.
Dec. 17 – All I Want for Christmas Is You! Give a “Secret” Gift to someone. Knock and leave it on their doorstep. Write a love note or message and hide it under someone’s pillow.
Have a fondue night and invite a friend for dinner.
Dec.18- Rudolph’ the Red Nosed Reindeer Night Have a special "red dinner" We made Spaghetti and salad with strawberries, fruit punch and a Red Velvet Cake as our red meal items in honor of Rudolph’s nose. This year I want to try pancakes with bacon antlers and a cherry nose.
Have a special "red dinner"!
Dec. 19 - Little Drummer Boy – his gift to baby Jesus was very simple but came from his heart and had great value. Gifts from the heart are the best you can give. Give the gift of yourself to others by helping someone else today.
Dec. 20- Our Polar Express! All Aboard! Tonight’s the night to see the lights! Here’s your golden ticket. Get in your jammies and we will get our Blizzards at DQ and drive around admiring and voting on our favorite Christmas light displays.
Dress in your pajamas and drive around to see Christmas lights!
Dec. 21 – White ChristmasNorth Pole Breakfast – play a Christmas classic movie such as White Christmas, make funnel cakes and a special frozen fruit smoothie. Don't forget the whipped cream!
A North Pole Breakfast calls for whipped cream.
Dec. 22 – Santa Claus is Coming To Town!It’s Santa’s Workshop Day to make crafts and gifts!
Dec. 23 –Dream a Dream Have the Annual Camp Out under the Christmas Tree
Have a sleepover under the Christmas tree.
Dec. 24 – It Came Upon A Midnight Clear Open early present (Jammies) and read the Christmas Story. Leave out cookies and a special beverage for Santa and the reindeers.
We love to prepare special "Santa" goodies.
Dec. 25 – O Come All Ye Faithful!Happy Birthday Jesus! Put baby Jesus into the manger and celebrate Christmas.
Dec. 26 – Angels We Have Heard on High - In honor of St. Stephen, light a candle for all the men and women in armed services.
Need a unique idea for a gathering of friends of family? Hosting a Miracle Fruit Tasting Party is a fun way to experience the transformation of fruits, sour and bitter foods to a spectacular sweet taste via Miracle Fruit.
Miracle Fruit is an amazing tropical fruit that temporarily changes your sense of taste and transforms sour or bitter foods and drinks to taste sweet.
Miracle Fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, a small red berry native to West Africa and Asia resembling an almond-shaped cranberry, causing sour and bitter foods to temporarily (from 10 minutes to an hour) taste sweet. The proteins in the fruit (miraculin) coats and binds to your taste buds and confuses the sweet receptors on the taste buds to respond to acids, allowing the sour or bitter flavors to be perceived as sweet.
Miracle Fruit Tasting Party - Turn Sour to Sweet!
You can order the Miracle Fruit in tablet form (Miracle Frooties tablets), perfect for a tasting party from Amazon and for a pack of 10 you can get them for around $15.00 for the large miracle frooties, which we used for our tasting party.
The Miracles Frooties tablets.
Instructions:
Place a Miracle Frooties tablet (made of Miracle Dried Fruit Pulp and Potato Starch) on your tongue and roll it around very slowly without swallowing until it is completely dissolved. After the tablet has melted, taste sour foods and drinks to experience the unreal change in sour fruits and vegetables into unbelievable sweet treats!
Miracle Frooties recommend you try fruits and vegetables such as:
lemons
limes
grapefruit
oranges
strawberries
tomatoes
rhubarb
desserts sweetened with lemon and orange juice
fruit drinks and beverages without sugar
unsweetened yogurt
sour cream
balsamic vinegar/apple cider vinegar
For our special tasting party, we tried:
green apples
lemon sorbet
lemons
limes
strawberries
grapes
raspberries
grapefruit
tangelo
oranges
pineapples
watermelon
kiwis
pomegranate juice
peas
cantelope
green melon
cranberry juice
sour candy
Other ideas we didn't try that could be interesting:
balsamic vinegar
unsweetened natural yogurt
sour cream
whipped cream
salt and vinegar potato chips
mango
peach
pears
plum
orange juice
tomato
sour pickles
blackberries
cranberries
V8
ketchup
mustards
aged cheeses
tonic water
broccoli drizzled in lemon
unsweetened tea with lemon
coffee with a few drops of lemon
dark beer (I'm not a beer drinker but on the Miracle Fruit website, Guinness is suggested with a drop of lemon sorbet)
cheap red wine
sugar-less strawberry topping
sugar-less key lime pie
salad with a splash of lemon or vinegar instead of dressing
My sweet mom before her tasting!
I heard one gentleman compare the experience to being like Jack and the Beanstalk and buying the "magical beans". The blissful reaction and the giddy-excitement that comes from tasting your first lemon or lime with this sweetened perception quickly allows you to believe the hype.
My dad samples the sour green lime and is surprised by the outcome!
For the party, you can invite guests to all bring different "sour" or "bitter" foods to try.
Our selection of acidic, sour and less sweet fruits and vegetables.
We could not believe how incredible the sour fruits tasted under the influence of the miracle fruit. I can't wait to hear what you think of this delightful experience!
This guy is waiting patiently for the tablet to dissolve.
I thought it was really interesting to learn that studies are in motion to consider the miracle fruit properties to help those with diabetes to help lose weight or to utilize substances such as apple cider vinegar, known to regulate blood sugar before meals, which allows the vinegar to taste better, increasing the use of the vinegar in diabetic patients. Other studies include experiments in using the fruit extract as a sugar substitute or to consider use for chemotherapy and radiation patients who complain of a metallic taste when eating. The miracle fruit can improve a patient's food intake experience.
Here is a list of over 31 Official March Holidays that give you reason to celebrate every day!
March marks the month of new beginnings around here as the bulbs start to bloom, buds appear on trees and everything starts looking lush and green. In the Pacific NW, that gorgeous green comes with the rain. So, we find ways to celebrate the gloomy weather in anticipation of exquisite spring color bursts around the corner (such as the blooming of the Tulip Fields in April)!
March 1 - National Share a Smile Day and National Peanut Butter Lovers Day - I must make our favorite Monster Cookie recipe in honor of this day because the cookies contain peanut butter and when they are shared, smiles are also shared!
March 2 - Dr. Seuss's Birthday - How about fixing up some green eggs and ham for breakfast while reading your favorite Seuss books?
Read Across America Day!
March 2 is also Read Across America Day! Doesn't curling up with a good book sound perfect for a dreary March day?
Read Across America - some great books that we loved as a family!
March 3 - Girls Day! - Time to celebrate all the girls in your life with some special girl activities!
National Girls Day spent at the Science Fair!
Annual Science Fair 2013
This girl of mine would be content making explosive volcanic eruptions but I have researched some fun activities that we can do together that can be located on my Mom + Daughter Pinterest Board. Miss B likes to pin her favorite ideas there as well (so I can't take credit for them all)!
March 3 is also Hina Matsuri in Japan, otherwise known as Doll Festival.
Early March is the time to plant your wheat grass! I love using wheat grass for Easter decorating as it's the perfect medium to nestle eggs or can also be planted with a little soil in an actual egg shell. One year the kids drew faces on the eggs and the wheat grass grew in looking like hair! If you plant it now, it will be ready in time for Easter at the end of the month!
March is National Nutrition Month and in keeping with my New Year's goals to eat healthier I have been continuing researching and trying healthy recipes. One of my favorite healthy cookbooks is The Food You Crave - Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Kreiger.
March 4 - National Scrapbooking Day - Scrapbooking helps us preserve cherished memories through the art of scrapbooking. Consider starting a scrapbook today. What a great excuse to dedicate a little time to print photos and document what was happening in your photos for future generations to enjoy. I love coming across old photos that tell a story of who and what was happening in the picture on the back or even better, in the scrapbook.
Happy National Scrapbook Day!
March 5 - National Unique Names Day - Although each of our children's names were unique when they were born (you couldn't find a pencil or magnet with their names on it), now Miss Mara is the only one who qualifies for having a "unique" name. Bella (Isabella) quickly gained popularity post Twilight series, and Connor and Caleb have also skyrocketed in popularity. The latter three have no problem finding name knick-knacks with their names on them. Growing up in the seventies, my name was still unique and like Mara, I could never find stickers, lip glosses or pencils with my name on them.
Celebrate National Frozen Foods Day with homemade ice cream!
The Our Best BitesCookbook's recipe for Homemade Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream was a hit!
March 6 - National Frozen Food Day - Does this mark a day to eat large quantities of ice cream and sorbet? If so, sign me up!
March is also National Frozen Foods Month - what a great time to try your hand at Freezer Meals! Having homemade meals in the freezer has been a saving grace for me on countless occasions.
Celebrate National Frozen Foods Month!
March 7 - National Cereal Day - In my house, kids don't eat cereal unless it is hot such as oatmeal but I have been wanting to mix it up and try Mel's Red Berry Risotto Oatmeal that teams creamy arborio rice with hearty oats and red berries. My kids love rice pudding, berries and oatmeal so it should be a winner.
March 8 - Daylight Savings Time Begins - although we lose an hour of sleep, it's all worth it when we have sunshine during more of our waking hours! This day also represents the day we are all to check our batteries in our smoke alarms to ensure they are working.
March 10- Middle Name Pride Day - Spend the day finding out as many middle names of people as possible. Parents put so much thought into picking the perfect middle name but yet it is rarely even spoken. Spend the day addressing your family and friends by their first and middle names, just for fun. Discover the meaning behind those middle names. Were you named after a family member or did it just blend well with your first name?
March 11 - Johnny Appleseed Day in honor of Johnny Chapman, a nurseryman who grew apple trees and supplied apple seeds to the early American settlers. During the movement out west, he traveled and planted apple trees along the way. I'm planning on making our favorite Blue Ribbon Apple Pie in celebration of Johnny!
Celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day with this Blue Ribbon Apple Pie!
March 12 - National Plant a Flower Day and it's also Organize Your Home Office Day. At least we get to choose planting flowers vs. cleaning/organizing our offices. (Hmm...tough choice!) March 12th is also National Popcorn Lover's Day this year as it falls on the second Thursday of March each year.
March 13 - National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day - my superstitious Grandma Rose would have been appalled to learn about this holiday as she believed that opening an umbrella indoors was a sign of bad luck. We will stick to opening our umbrellas outside and in the Pacific NW, we rarely use umbrellas as it's always raining, unless you have to stand outside to watch a sporting event in a torrential downpour.
National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day!
March 14 - National Pi Day - I'll never forget when Mr. Connor came home from school in first grade insisting that I make a pie for National Pi day! I love that this day celebrates math and Albert Einstein's birthday by consuming pie! The Pi constant represents the ratio between the circumference of a circle to its diameter (for those of us that needed a little reminder).
March 15 - National Artichoke Hearts Day - I suppose our family favorite Mediterranean Chicken Pasta dish will make an appearance as it's my favorite using artichoke hearts!
National Artichoke Hearts Day!
March 15 - is National Incredible Kid Day! Make your kid feel special today and let your kids determine what is for dinner/dessert and what special activity you spend doing together this evening!
March 16 - Lip's Appreciation Day - This day warrants a lot of kissing if you ask me!
March 17 - Happy St. Patrick's Day! We have always loved the lucky holiday. When our kids were younger they traditionally constructed Leprechaun Traps! (Make sure you are well-equipped with washable green paint, green food dye, Leprechaun Letterhead, lucky Irish coins, golden chocolate coins and green glitter so you don't have to make any late-night runs). Those pesky elves would end up leaving green tracks/footprints throughout our entire house (even up the wood dollhouse staircase one year and underneath a dining room chair - the green prints are still there as the Leprechauns didn't use washable paint that year), turning milk green and leaving golden chocolate coins and secret messages on Leprechaun Letterhead. One year the kids left out a tape recorder to listen to what the leprechauns were discussing while being mischevious. The Hubs and I spent hours tracking down the voices online and then attempting to replicate messages on their handheld recorders. The things we do for our kids!
This year, inspired by Pinterest (see my pins on theLucky St. Patty's Day Board), I plan to make Mint Chocolate Chip Pancakes, shamrock chips using a spinach tortilla, sending the kids on a Lucky Treasure Hunt, and making rainbow kabobs. I am sure I will make a sweet treat such as Ireland's Favorite Toffee Shortbread, Grasshopper Mint Stuffed Cookies or Lime Squares. I love this Top O' the Mornin' Breakfast Idea filled with printables and St. Patrick's Day themed breakfast or brunch ideas from My Sister's Suitcase.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
March 18 - National Awkward Moments Day should make for some great dinner conversation tonight! I have plenty of awkward moments to share.
Celebrate National Poultry Day with these Healthy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps!
March 20 - The First Day of Spring seems like the perfect day for the first outdoor picnic of the year! If however the weather does not cooperate, we will spread out on the living room floor for our evening meal.
Happy First Day of Spring!
March 21 - National Common Courtesy Day - say hello to everyone you come into contact with by offering a smile, opening doors, offering parking spots to others, and going the extra mile to be courteous.
March 22 - National Goof Off Day - wow, what a great excuse to have fun, abandon responsibilities and play! This afternoon will kick-off the first day of our kids' Spring Break.
March 23 - first Saturday of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament otherwise known as March Madness. Guess what will be on at our house? Since December, it has felt like March Madness for our family with basketball season in our house filled with daily after school practices, weeknight games and weekend tournaments with four games over the course of a weekend.
March Madness!
Connor sinks the free-throw shot!
March 24 - National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day!I think we all know how to celebrate this special day!
March 25 - National Waffle Dayis the perfect time to test out new waffle recipes. I recently tried a Cheddar Ale Waffle that was topped with Sriracha Sauce Chicken and served with the most delicious butter and maple sauce.
March 26 - National Spinach Day - Miss B used to love steamed spinach when she was a wee one. On one occasion she cried that we ran out before she could have a third helping. It's strange how now as a tween she doesn't have that passionate love for the green. We will make our favorite Spinach Salad with Mandarin oranges and carmelized nuts to celebrate the day and maybe even this delicious Spinach Dip (without mayo).
National Spinach Day!
March 27 - National Joe Day is a holiday to be called Joe and to call everyone else Joe. (Sorry, it was either National Joe Day or National Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day).
March 28 - National Something on a Stick Day (really?) I have always wanted to try my hand at making homemade Pronto Pups/Corn Dogs. If that doesn't happen, I could make Caramel Apples on a stick - one of my favorite guilty pleasures.
Happy National Something On A Stick Day!
This huge corn dog has become a State Fair tradition for Connor.
March 30 - National Pencil Day recognizes Hymen Lipman who recieved a patent for his pencil with an attached eraser on March 30, 1858. Did you know that the average size tree can make 170,000 pencils and more than 2 billion pencils are used in the U.S. each year and more than 14 billion are used world wide.
March 30 - Take a Walk in the Park Day - challenge yourself to seek out a new park that you have not ever visited or revisit one that you have not stopped by for sometime. Did you know that there is a new service in which you can rent a dog for the day?
Although Easter and Passover do not fall in March this month, here are some ways to incorporate those traditions in the upcoming weeks:
Passover - I have always wanted to make a traditional Seder Meal for Passover (even though we are not Jewish) as I want to expose my kids to many different cultures. The five symbolic foods for the Passover meal are a roasted lamb bone, parsley, horseradish, a hard-boiled egg and Haroset - a mixture of apple, walnuts, cinnamon and honey. I would also like to expose my kids to Matzoh, the unleavened bread served at Passover.
Good Friday - growing up this was a day of fasting in anticipation for Easter to mark Christ's death on the cross. I want to try a version of this with my kids now that they are old enough to understand this solemn day observance. One family chose to only eat a small quantity of rice and beans that day. Hot Cross Buns, a yeast dough rolls with raisins with an icing cross on the top, are a tradition for many homes on Good Friday and would make for a great breakfast.
Get ready for Easter!
Mara and Bella made this cake for Easter a few years ago.
March 31 - Happy Easter! In the Christian religions, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
My mom has always hosted an egg hunt that involves eggs meant for each child, clues with numbered treasures and a golden egg (or two). Even when we were adults, she made the Egg Hunt a treasured tradition.
Easter Egg Hunting
The Hubs' family traditionally hid the Easter Baskets for the kids to find so we have adopted that tradition. Baskets have ended up in the shower, closets and some very random locations that continue to stump the kids and get harder, the older the kids get. I love stuffing them with non-candy treasures and goodies but each basket always contains the famous See's Chocolate Bunny.
Last year we tried making our own Natural Egg Dyes using blueberries, cabbage, tea, spinach, beets, tumeric, red onion skins. The eggs turned out gorgeous and it felt as if we were concocting our own science experiments.
Dye Eggs with Natural Ingredients and Homemade Dyes!
This year I'm excited for a Glow-in-the-Dark Easter Egg Hunt in which you place glow sticks found at the Dollar Store inside plastic Easter Eggs (as well as some candy or money) and hunt at night - a perfect concept for the Tween/Teen crowd that can work indoors or outdoors, depending upon the weather.
Who will find the golden egg?
I hope that you enjoy March to the fullest and that this list helps you make magical March memories!
Do you have any special March traditions that our family should incorporate?
Here are some tried and true favorite family games that the teens in our family (and their friends) always seem to love to join in and play.
Top 10 Favorite Family Games Appealing to Teens
1. Scattergories (ages 13 and older) - Scattergories challenges players to write down asnwers while a timer is ticking as you try to come up with words that match the letter rolled on the dice with the category on a sheet. Players need to think creatively and think outside the box to excel at this game. We spend hours playing this large group game with extended family members as well as our own family unit and laughs ensue. You can play this game on teams or as individuals. This is definitely the game where it pays to be unique and different from the crowd in terms of your creative answers. as your answer is canceled out if someone else has a matching answer. What a great message to promote to teens that being different wins points! We have played this game with our kids since they were in elementary school and play with multigenerations with great success.
Phase 10 cards get played often in our home.
2. Phase 10 (2-6 players) ages 7 and older- a rummy-type game with the first player to reach the 10th phase wins; usually in about 45 minutes to an hour. I love how multigenerations can play this game together and how each player is working at their "own pace" to proceed through levels of collecting sets or runs. When I was growing up, my family played Progressive Rummy, which I feel is very similar.
Favorite family games to play with teens
3. Apples to Apples Party Box - this award winning comparison game can be played with 4 to 10 players and is a quick game for people to learn. Apples to Apples provides great humor, eliciting many laughs, while challenging teens to also use quick thinking in comparing different things. This card game includes 1,000 different cards with a Green pile of Adjectives and a Red pile of Nouns or Actions. Adjectives are announced and then each player uses cards with actions or nouns in their respective hands that they think best match the adjective (examples such as "Scary", "Wild", "Graceful", "Happy"). A rotating judge selects his or her favorite adjective description each round. I love that this game can be played with multigenerations and ends in great laughter amongst family members or friends.
4. Loaded Questions (must be a teen or older) - I love games in which there is no "right" or "wrong" anser and this is one of those games that all you need to know or guess is who said what answer. The game is designed for 4 to 6 players and for those 12 years and older. There is an advantage to knowing players "better than others" but it definitely doesn't matter if you are playing with those you just met. We laugh so hard when we play this game as our teens often try to "throw" others off by putting down obscure answers which is a game in itself guessing who wrote down the craziest answer. This is one of those games that I could play for hours, laughing on and on, as you get to learn other people's opinions or thoughts on the nearly 1,000 questions that come with the game. This is probably my personal favorite game to play with our teens. Sample questions: For what world-changing event would you like to take credit? What is the first thing you notice when you meet someone? What book had the most profound impact on your life? Where would you hate to be by yourself? If you could rid the earth of three creatures what would they be? Who in this room snores the loudest? What are most afraid of? What's the longest you have gone without taking a shower?
5. Sequence Game - This exciting game uses playing chips, cards and a game board and is designed for ages 7 and up. The game involves a great deal of strategy to try to get a sequence of five in a row either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. A little skill and a great deal of luck make this a simple game to learn and you can play with two to twelve people but it must be in multiples of two or three. The game can range from 15 minutes to 45 minutes but averages about 15-20 minutes. There is a Kids Edition of this game too.
6. Blokus Game - I must warn you. This game is highly addictive! This award-winning strategy game is perfect for varying ages from age five and up. Using various shaped tiles, this strategic board game challenges spatial thinking and creative thinking. The game received the Mensa award for promoting healthy brain activity. The Hubs' and I have spent hours challenging each other and our kids to this game over the past few years. Although strategy is involved, it's an easy game to learn to master after just one round or one observation.
7. Qwirkle Board Game - is similar to Sequence, Scrabble and Othello as it involves strategy in maneuvering tiles in a well-planned strategic way. This game can be played by two to four players and is designed for ages 6 and up although the strategy involved helps to have similar age ranges playing together. Each game lasts from 30-45 minutes and can get pretty cutthroat amongst those that take their competition seriously. This game won a Parent's Choice Game Award for the critical thinking skills and strategy development that goes into this game.
8. Rummikub - This Thanksgiving this game was introduced to our teens and proved to be an easy game to pick up with strategy learned as you play, especially with experienced players like my sister-in-law Angie and niece A.J.! Using tiles with numbers in different colors, you must combine your tiles in runs or sets. This is one of those family games that are fun and challenging for the adults as well as kids beginning at age 8 years and older.
9. Would You Rather? - This is another hilarious large group game that needs at least four or more players. Count on at least 45 minutes of outrageous discussions that really make you think with "mind-boggling questions" comparing two different scenarios ranging from the absurd, bizarre, ethical or mind-expanding questions. There is a version for younger children as this version is strictly for family members over the age of 12.
10. Tied: Monopoly and Yahtzee - these two classic games both reign supreme in my house. We have several versions of each game. I think these games have both been around long enough that they need no explanation.
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The list would not be complete in the eyes of my teens if I did not include the following games that need merely a deck of cards (and a few household spoons) so I have provided our family favorite card games as well.
A girl in love with the seasons who wants to cram as much as she can into the 365 days of the year to live a life of bliss. Welcome to What Matters Most Now! I hope you will find inspiration and recipes you love.
