activities for kids

Mother’s Day Breakfast Recipes Kids Can Make

The quickest way to a woman’s heart is with food, they always say! Even though you probably already have your mom’s heart, Mother’s Day is coming up and that means she shouldn’t have to do any cooking of her own!

A mother’s break from cooking on Mother’s Day should start with you bringing her breakfast in bed! Getting the kids involved would make it extra special, so take a look at some kid-friendly recipes and plan the breakfast menu!

Easy to Make Recipes for Mom

Blueberry Muffins

These are so easy for the kids to make, and depending on the age of the kids, you might just need to pre-measure the ingredients and man the oven.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
⅓ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries (fresh is best, but thawed frozen works too)
1 tablespoon sugar for muffin tops (optional)

Directions:

Makes 8 normal size muffins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease or line the muffin pan (8 cups). In a large bowl, combine flour, ¾ cups sugar, salt, and baking powder, taking care to mix evenly.

In a 2-4 cup measuring cup, whisk together oil, egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Combine with dry ingredients and mix. Batter should be thick. If batter is runny, add a little flour. Fold in blueberries and evenly divide into 8 cups. Sprinkle sugar on top (optional) and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out without batter (crumbs are okay).

Heart Shaped Eggs and Toast

This adorable breakfast is easy to make and only requires a few ingredients. Include a side of fresh fruit for a breakfast Mom is sure to enjoy!

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 slices of bread
butter
nonstick spray

Directions

Spray nonstick heart pancake and egg rings with nonstick cooking spray and place them in a frying pan. Crack your eggs into the rings. While the eggs are cooking, have Mom’s favorite bread in the toaster. Butter the toast, place eggs on top, and you’re ready to wake Mom!

Pancakes

Pancakes are always a breakfast favorite and super simple to make, even from scratch. Throw in fun extras like banana slices or chocolate chips for a special stack just for Mom!

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup of milk

Directions

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and egg. Slowly mix in milk until smooth. Heat pan to medium heat, pour batter to desired shape and size, flip when bubbles form around edges and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.

Biscuits and Gravy

We want to keep things simple, right? So use refrigerated buttermilk biscuits are definitely the way to go with this breakfast for Mom!

Ingredients

1 can of refrigerated biscuits
1 package Jimmy Dean pork sausage crumbles
¼ cup flour
2 ½ cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bake your biscuits according to the package instructions. Cook sausage over medium heat until heated all the way, about 5 minutes, stir in flour and slowly add milk. Cook until mixture bubbles and thickens, then reduce heat to low, letting simmer for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Split a biscuit on a plate and top with gravy!

Veggie Omelette

Make Mom a healthy and delicious veggie omelette to help her start her day the right way! Add her favorite vegetables to create a breakfast specially for her!

Ingredients

3 eggs (or egg whites)
1/2 cup chopped veggies (bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes is a great combination)
1/4 cup shredded cheese

Directions

Scramble three eggs and add Mom’s favorite veggies, chopped, mixing into the eggs. Cook over medium heat, flip and add cheese, fold over when cooked and serve!

If you are making Mother’s Day breakfast, this is the perfect time to also present her with any gifts, cards, or crafts made for mom! Whatever you decide to make, don’t forget to serve it up with a tall glass of OJ or a cup of coffee, just how she likes it!

Mother’s Day Activities to Do With Mom

What does mom love more than receiving gifts from her kids? Spending time with them! Be sure to make time for your mom to really get some quality time in with her this upcoming Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day Activities

Mother’s Day is one of those days that should most certainly be spent with your mother, and if you are looking for some good Mother’s Day activities, I’ve got you covered!

Here’s a list of Mother’s Day activities to get you and mom to spend some time together!

Picnic in the park: Pack up that gingham blanket and a basket full of food and head out for a nice day out at the park! Sunshine does wonders for peoples’ moods and Mother’s Day is definitely a good day to be out (weather-permitting, of course)!

Beach day: Take mom to the beach for the day and get some sand between those toes and sun in your hair! Look for some seashells to put in a vase so she can have a little souvenir to remember the day by!

Spa day: Either put the kids to work on hand and foot massages or take mom out to a spa for a massage and facial. Moms are under a lot of stress all. the. time. What better way to de-stress? It’s just one day out of the year, after all!

Take a hike: Getting out in nature and hitting some hiking trails at a state park is always a fun time with family! Pack a nice lunch for when you guys find a nice resting place and don’t forget the camera!

Mother’s Day freebies: Many places around the country offer free stuff for moms on Mother’s Day, so get online and do some research on what local places offer, map it out and make a day out of it! The most money you’ll spend is on gas!

Ice cream: Mother’s Day is in the warmer time of year, so take mom out for some ice cream to beat that heat, even if only just for a half hour! This is a good activity to do with mom in conjunction with other outdoor activities.

Bowling: Who doesn’t love a good game of bowling once in a while? A lot of bowling allies actually offer a free game to moms on Mother’s Day, so it can be fun and cheap!

Fancy night: Let Mom get all dolled up for once and take her out for a fancy dinner and a show. Just make sure you’re on your best behavior so she has a stress-free evening with her family!

Girl’s day out: Looking for some good mother-daughter time with your mom? Take her out to do girl things, like getting a makeover, a mani-pedi, or even out for a drink or two as long as you are of age.

Museum: Museums are all around, and chances are there’s some that mom hasn’t been to yet! Look for a really big one within an hour away and take a trip over to see it! Be sure to choose one that will be of interest to mom, whether it’s art, history, or science!

Memory lane: Moms love to relive good memories, so if you are nearby where you grew up, or even where mom grew up, take her around town and talk about good times! If you take her to her old town, be sure to let her guide you on where she wants to go and listen to all of the memories that spill out!

You know your mom and what she likes and dislikes, so use your best judgement when planning any activities for her. Try not to tell her about your plans, though, because moms love surprises from their kids!

25 Family Things to Do on Valentine’s Day

What better way to show your family you love them by spending the day doing something fun together!

Many of us are looking for things to do on Valentine’s Day, so look no further!

Here is a list of 25 fun things to do on Valentine’s day, and with the whole family, of course!

Fun Things to Do

Bake Valentine’s Cookies: All you really need is heart-shaped cookie cutters and a baking crew and you can bake lots of cookies! Save some decorating for the littler ones so they can participate as well.

Arrange a Valentine’s Day Cookie Exchange: Baking lots of cookies? Then arrange a cookie exchange with nearby extended family or even with the neighbors on your street!

Cupcake Decorating: Bake cupcakes and leave the decorating up to the group! Each person should decorate one cupcake for every person in the family and if there’s extras, decorate some for friends!

Bake Sale: Putting the family to work while making a few bucks never hurt anyone! Perhaps it can pay for a nice evening out!

Conversation Heart Scavenger Hunt: With all of the different messages on different colors, this could get interesting! Specify what message to look for and on what color.

Guess That Chocolate: This can be a fun game. Before you bite into the chocolate, you must write down your guess as to what filling you think will be inside, and write the correct answer next to it. Most correct answers wins. No peeking at the guide!

Talk About Love: This is especially important for kids as the media floods their tiny brains with what Valentine’s Day is “about.” Talk as a family what love really is, and that it’s not about buying things for the one you love, but rather spending time together.

Throw a Red and White Party: Throw a little V-Day party for the family! Everyone must wear red and white, and most foods and beverages served should be Valentine’s themed!

Valentine Crafts: Cut a bunch of different sized hearts out of construction paper, supply everyone with glue and various other craft items. What will everyone come up with?

Candy Crafts: Earlier I had mentioned gumdrop wreath–great idea! Also, think about making candy necklaces and mosaic art with those conversation hearts!

Paper Mache Candle Holders: Pick up some cheap, glass candle holders from the dollar store along with tissue paper in Valentine’s colors. Mix equal parts flour and water and begin!

Make Decorations: Whether you make a gumdrop wreath or garland out of paper hearts, add a personal Valentine’s Day touch to your home using decorations made by the whole family!

Valentine’s Breakfast: It’s understandable that Valentine’s Day often falls on a work or school day, so wake up an hour earlier and make a nice breakfast for the family to enjoy together. Talk about how you will be spending Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Picnic: If you’re lucky and Valentine’s Day falls on a nice weekend, have a picnic in the park! This is more so for the warmer, southern states, of course as it tends to still be pretty cold in the north! Indoor picnics can be just as fun!

Valentine’s Dinner: Typically the whole family is home by dinner, so make a nice, candlelit, Valentine’s dinner for the family to enjoy together!

Take a Family Portrait: Get all dressed up in your Valentine’s Day best and take a family portrait together!

Handmade Gifts Exchange: Rather than buying the typical Valentine’s Day gifts at a store, make them by hand instead! It’s much more special.

Who Do You Love?: While the whole family is in each other’s company, go around the room asking each person to name one person they love and just what it is they love about them!

Family Coupons: This is a fun, homemade gift idea. Make a coupon book and gift it to a family member. The coupons shall only be redeemable with the person who made them! (Hint hint, mom! This is a good way to get chores done!)

Salt Dough: Mix two parts flour, one part salt, and one part warm water, knead the dough, roll it out and make some crafts! You can make ornaments as keepsakes as long as you seal after baking. Bake on 250 for two to three hours, until hard. Flip once.

Decorate a Valentine’s Tree: If you made some salt dough ornaments, perfect! Fill a vase with clean(ish) twigs and branches and decorate it for the occasion. Makes a great table centerpiece for a V-Day party!

Start a Garden: Start a garden together, even if it has to start indoors!

Plant a Tree: If you are past the season of frost for your area, plant a tree outside! Watch it grow like the love in the home.

Volunteer: Not everyone is fortunate to have family to spend this nice day with, so spend time with your family while helping others, whether it’s baking some treats for the nice lady down the road or volunteering at the local food pantry.

Homemade Chocolates: Okay, so chocolate seems like a must for this holiday, but it doesn’t mean you have to buy the cliche heart-shaped boxes! Make your own. YUM!

With so many things to do on Valentine’s Day, you can really have things planned all day long!

10 Fun and Easy Toddler Christmas Crafts

Christmas is a time of cheer, joy, and let’s not forget about the fun crafts that come along with it all! Toddler Christmas crafts are a great way to get them into the holiday spirit while getting them involved in the fun of decorating for the holiday.

Christmas craft ideas are everywhere you look, but in order to find toddler Christmas crafts, you must look a little deeper. While it might be a fun tradition for the family to make popcorn garland, toddlers should not be attempting to use needle and thread just yet.

Here’s a list of 10 appropriate toddler Christmas crafts to keep them busy and smiling:

Construction paper chain: Cut 2” strips from red and green construction paper. Alternating the colors, make a loop by gluing the ends together, then another loop through the first one like a chain link. Continue until all loops have been made. When December is here, you will tear off one loop each day until Christmas!

Pine cone Christmas trees: Find a few large pine cones outside or buy some from a craft store. You will also need glue and colored pompoms. If your toddler is not yet good at using glue, which is often the case, place dots of glue on the pine cone for the toddler and direct them to place the pompoms on the glue dots to make cute, little Christmas trees!

Felt Christmas tree: Make a three foot high Christmas tree cut out of green felt and hang it on the wall. Using other felt colors, cut out other “ornaments,” presents, and a star or angel topper. You can hang the tree with 3m tape and the felt should stick just fine on other felt. Great way to keep a toddler from taking ornaments off the real tree!

Reindeer prints: Using dark brown, stamp your toddlers foot prints on a piece of paper. With a light brown color, have them stamp their handprints on both sides of the toes to make the antlers. Once dry, supply your toddler with googly eyes and a red pompom nose to put on their reindeer.

Garland: All you need is some yarn and some fruit loops or cheerios and you have everything your toddler needs to make some garland for the tree!

Edible wreath ornaments: Using a pipe cleaner, string cheerios or fruit loops on, leaving enough room to connect the pipe cleaner in a loop. Tie a ribbon onto it and hang it on your Christmas tree!

Salt dough ornaments: Mix 4 cups of flour with 1 cup of salt, then add 1.5 cups of WARM water. Mix well and knead the dough until it’s soft and pliable. Roll it out and use Christmas shaped cookie cutters to cut out shapes, poking a hole in the top to string it later. Bake on 325 degrees until hard, about an hour. Paint them as you please!

Cotton ball snowman: On construction paper, draw the three circles of a snowman. Give your toddler a container of paste and cotton balls and explain that they simply apply some paste inside the circles and place cotton balls on top! Once that’s done, you will cut buttons and a carrot out of construction paper for your tot to stick down as well.

Beaded candy cane ornaments: Have your tot string a pattern of red and white beads onto a pipe cleaner and fold the ends in such a way that the beads stay on. Simply bend the pipe cleaner into the shape of a candy cane and hang on the tree!

Cookie cutter stamps: Using Christmas cookie cutters, set out different colors of paint and some paper, and watch your tot dip the cookie cutter into the paints and stamp it on paper; they’ll have fun for hours!

Make the days leading up to Christmas fun by proving your toddler with a different Christmas craft to work on each day!