Fun Ideas for Moms Tips
Read these 41 Fun Ideas for Moms Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Mom tips and hundreds of other topics.
Mom! I'm Bored!
Create a job jar. Cut those "to-do" lists apart with games and chores mixed together. Every time a child complains "I'm bored" have them draw a slip from the jar and do whatever is listed. This will be used more if the "jobs" are mostly fun, but it's all right to slip in a few real chores to make it more sporting.
homemade scented play dough
Make homemade scented play dough with your children. Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour with 1/2 cup of salt. Add 2 envelopes of kool-aid (any flavor except lemonade). Meanwhile, bring 2 cups of water to the boil. Add the boiling water and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the dry ingredients. Mix together. Be careful, it will be hot for a little while. Let the kids play with the scented dough. Dough can be stored in plastic bags for a few days.
At the Beach
Take baby powder with you to the beach. After the children get out of the sand, sprinkle them with baby powder, and the sand will fall right off of them. (This also works great for getting hair off after a haircut.)
Reading to Your Children - Great advice
Encourage reading at a very early age. Even if you think your child is not listening, he or she is hearing different sounds and words when you read to them. Very good advice for new moms.
sleepover activites
Try this great activity for young children - when friends sleep over, use fabric markers to decorate big t-shirts (to be used as nightshirts) or pillowcases. This is a fun activity for kids of various ages.
Great advice for moms - Always Pack a Nightlight
Try this great advice - pack a small night-light when traveling with small children. When staying in new places, it makes for easier moving around in the middle of the night. It can also help young children more comfortable falling asleep in a strange place.
Summer Activity - The Importance of Swimming Lessons
Be sure your child takes swimming lessons. Even if you aren't inclined to hang around water for fun, consider it a safety issue. This skill will also be helpful as you travel with your young children. It is a wonderful summer activity, and needs to be taken seriously.
ice cream watermelon activity
Halve and scoop out most, but not all of the flesh of a honeydew melon. Pack the honeydew with rasberry sherbert and freeze. Slice the honeydew into pieces, and let children press chocolate chips into the sherbert to look like seeds. A fun activity for young children, and very refreshing!!
Benefits of Keeping a Journal
Encourage your grade-school child to keep a journal. This is excellent writing practice as well as a good outlet for venting feelings. Encourage your child to write about things that happen at home and school, about people (s)he likes or dislikes and why, things to remember or things the child wants to do. Especially encourage your child to write about personal feelings--pleasures as well as disappointments.
Try this great idea - pudding painting activity
Make a box of instant pudding. Take your children outside and let them fingerpaint with the pudding. After, they can lick their fingers and you can get out the hose for some water fun!!! A great activity for young children. A wonderful summer craft.
Avoid Baggage Mix-Up
Tie a cotton bandana scarf to the handle of your bag, making it easier to identify at airports.
Playing with Pots & Pans
Have a special drawer of older pots and pans just for your toddler to play with. They love to play with them when you are in the kitchen.
Car Seats Get Hot!
Make sure to check the temperature of the car seat before buckling your children in the car. Skin that touches a car seat surface over 150 degrees Fahrenheit can be severely burned in 1 second.
Allow Extra Time
If you think it will take seven days for a vacation, plan for eight or nine. If you think it will take four hours to drive to your vacation spot, prepare for five or six. If you allow a little extra time, you will be able to rest and not be upset because you are late or lost.
Avoid Leaks When Packing
When packing bottles of shampoo and other liquids that are in plastic bottles, squeeze out some of the air and reseal. This creates a partial vacuum and helps prevent leakage.
Paper Towel Tie Dye
Show children how to put drops of food coloring on a paper towel to make designs and mix colors. Start with a dry towel, where the color stays in a fairly limited area. Then try a wet towel, where the color fans out. Experiment -- mix colors, create designs or blend edges of the color bursts. Make sure you have a washable, non-staining surface underneath the towel!
Quiet Time For Children
To keep children quiet and busy in church or meetings, keep small magnets and paper clips in your purse for them to play with. Not suitable for children under three who still put everything in their mouths.
Photo Albums
Make a photograph album of your child from birth. Children love to look at themselves to see how they have changed. When they are old enough allow them to place the pictures in the album themselves.
Photography in Snow
When taking photos of friends and family frolicking in the snow, be sure to use a flash. This allows the faces of your subject to be perfectly illuminated, keeping strong winter shadows out of the picture.
Preventing Musty Odors in Suitcases
To prevent musty odors in suitcases, place an individual fabric softener sheet inside empty luggage before storing.
When Visiting Others, Call Ahead
Always call ahead to the person you are going to visit and let them know the route you are traveling, your expected time of arrival, the make and color of your car, as well as its license plate state and number. If unforeseen problems arise they'll be able to report this information to the proper authorities.
Motion Sickness?
If you're prone to motion sickness, you must take anti-motion sickness medication before leaving. Once you're on your way and starting to feel ill, it's too late for the medication to be of any benefit. If you are unexpectedly hit with a bout of motion sickness, try frequent stops, fresh air, and alternative treatments like ginger and chamomile to quell your queasiness.
Vacation Planning
Plan your trips with your children. Get their ideas about things to do and see. Children who are involved in the planning have more ownership in the trip and will have more appreciation and fun.
Great advice - Be Prepared for Baggage Loss
Always include a card with your address on it INSIDE your luggage...just in case the outside luggage tag gets 'lost.' well. Have a printed "card for mom" with your name and important phone numbers made at "customexpression.com". This travel tip will be very handy in getting your luggage back if it ever gets lost.
Be Sure to Take Spare Change
Hide smalls bills and coins in the car in case of an emergency. Making sure you have plenty of change for parking and tolls will ease the stress of your journey.
Loud instruments
We gave our daughter an old redone chicken coop for her own band room. That way she could practice the trumpet all she wanted.
Pine cone Wreaths
Start your Christmas crafts now. Take a walk on a local trail with the kids, everyone armed with a box or bag. Collect pine cones of all different shapes and sizes. Reward the child who collects the most in the time allotted. Store the cones in a dry place until you are ready to use. Some examples are peanut butter and birdseed coated cones as mini birdfeeders, wreaths, and firestarters.
Vacation Journal
When going on vacation -- whether it be a trip to the city or camping in the wilderness -- get your kids to create and maintain a vacation journal. Even if they're too young to write, they can make picture collages (using photos from brochures, bits of old road maps, leaves, pressed flowers, etc.) to serve as a reminder of their journey. By the time they're grown up, they will have a tangible reminder of where they've been and what they've seen.
Paste, Not Glue...
Recently my daughter was bored and looking for something to do. She inquired as to whether or not I had picked up the glue that I had promised. Unfortunately, I did not. Instead, I decided to make her paste, the kind I had as a child: flour and water. Since then I have not had to buy another bottle of glue. It is a simple solution with products that are already in the house. We have also added food coloring to it for more variations and she just loves it!
Packing
Find a space in your vehicle in which to keep extra sunscreen, a small first aid kit, water, and a few non-perishable snacks. A change of clothing, too, if there's room, and extra diapers (and tampons or pads!) for those short day trips that are so much fun they turn into all-day trips!
Child motion sickness
If you are planning a trip with a child that is prone to motion sickness, try out a dose of baby Gravol a week or so before you leave. Some children react with extreme hyperactivity rather that the slight sedative effect you were expecting.
Special Events for Home Schoolers
Check with your local theme parks or tourist attractions. Many have "homeschooler's day" where only home educating families are allowed entrance, and many times admission is discounted.
Packing a Cooler for Picnics
When going on a picnic, don't put your cooler in the trunk; carry it inside the air-conditioned car. Use a separate cooler for drinks so the one containing perishable food won't be constantly opened and closed. At the picnic, keep the cooler in the shade, and replenish the ice if it melts.
Need Extra Room in Your Suitcase?
Save your old clothes for vacation use. You can leave them behind, which will give you a little more space in your suitcase coming home. (We did this when we went to England and were lucky enough to find a charity bin for clothing donations right down the street from our hotel.)
Share Your Memories with Family Storytelling
Try this wonderful family activity - Reminisce about when you were little. Show pictures of yourself to your child, and relate some of your feelings about that particular time in your life. Describe things that happened at school or talk about what your favorite things to do were. Tell your child about your brothers and sisters or friends.
Have Tapes, Will Travel
No matter how old your kids are, they will enjoy the boredom-busting experience of listening to a book on tape during your next long car trip. The whole family can listen or a portable player with headphones can be used. Younger kids can use a book & tape set to follow along in a book and practice word recognition. Check your local library -- many have audio books that they loan out at no cost.
Fun idea - winter picnic activity
In the middle of winter,try this fun "summer" activity - call a picnic night. Spread out a blanket, serve hot dogs and hamburgers, and even let the kids wear bathing suits if they want. This is a nice change from the cold and snow.
Water & Ice To Go
Fill an empty soda bottle about 3/4 full with water, freeze it, and use in picnic cooler or backpack for your outings. You can drink the water when it melts, and you can use the empty bottle to get more water at a fountain or faucet.
Sleeping bag storage
If your child's sleeping bag doesn't have ties or elastic to help keep it in a roll, use a green garbage bag (until you find time to add the loops yourself).
Eating Abroad - Food Safety
Vacationers who travel outside of North America should not eat raw food, salads, uncooked vegetables, unpasteurized milk, and milk products such as cheese.
