Winter Adventure Guide

If you've never been to The Happy Family Movement you are in for a fun surprise. They are an amazing little family committed to fostering loving relationships and creating memorable experiences. 

I've shared their Fort Building kit before but they have something new up their sleeves. The Winter Adventure Guide

It's a PDF guide FULL of indoor adventures for you and your kids. I'll be completely honest and tell you that I was skeptical at first I mean I can just look up ideas for us to do online right? Well when Jenny asked me if I'd like to look over this new guide I figured I'd give it a shot (for you all) and see what it was all about. I didn't have to write a review or anything about it, but I have to, I really do.

I was VERY suprised. There is so much love and work put into this guide and it was evident right away. Once I got past that and actually read some of the ideas (broken down into quick activities, and longer 3-4 hour activities) I was blown away. Some of the ideas are simple fun family activities but with everything thought out for you. There are printables, and checklists to make sure you have everything ready to go.

My boys got so excited reading it over deciding what they wanted to do. We live in AZ so winter is our time to play outside but I don't think that even matters - this is awesome any time of year. 

If you are willing to get down and dirty and play with your kids but just want some inspiration to quickly turn to - you want this guide. Seriously, buy it, print it out (or at least the checklists and printables) get everything ready in a little box and you'll be ready to play whenever you need to. You'll be a hero!

The only bad thing is now they want to do all the activities ;)

My boys are 7 and 9 and obviously loved it. I'd say it's great for kids 3-10ish depending on the kid? Love, love, love this guide and how it gets parents/families to PLAY!

It's on sale through tomorrow (1/27/2012)  for $10 and the regular price is $15 and worth every darn penny.

But if you're dragging your feet here's a coupon code for you (not for those on sale but will help extend the sale)!

Easy Soapy Science Fun

I am all for easy science experiments and this is now on our list.

All you need is a bar of Ivory soap and a microwave and this:

Turns into this:

I saw this super easy tutorial over at Toys in the Dryer so head over there for the how to. Basically you microwave soap - my kind of experiment!

Mattress Jumping

I know a lot of you are "trapped" inside a lot during the winter due to the cold. I thought I'd share some indoor fun we had over break. 

We got my youngest a new mattress (for his full sized bed) and while we were putting the new mattress on the old one went out into the living room. It became an instant trampoline.

They then moved it to the front room and started doing flips. They played on it for HOURS. Dad came home and it turned into a wrestling mat. It's STILL in the front room. 

Yes. We have a mattress on the floor in our family/living room. I highly recommend it ;)

Magnetism | Jena from Happy Little Messes

Today's post is by Jena from HappyLittleMesses!

Jena from HappyLittleMesses here.  Wife of hubby, Big K, momma to Little J and Little K.  Stay at home mom, former Atelierista, aka, Studio teacher at an early childhood education center.  Love to be creative, love to use art materials of all sorts (professional to the up-cycled), love to be in the woods, splashing in rivers, digging in the dirt...these things pulls at me all day.  My favorite thing to do is share this love of the creative process and the love of open ended play with my boys.  My greatest wish is to teach them this artistic language, so they have yet another way to express themselves.

In our basement studio, we have a shelf that holds “beautiful stuff.” This display of colorful, up-cycled objects was inspired by a book called “Beautiful Stuff!” written by Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini.

Endless possibilities exist when you save something that would otherwise end up in the landfill. You give it new life. You can learn something from playing, sorting, building with this stuff. It is an ethical way of supplying art materials to tinkering children.

You can sort your collection any way you choose. I’ve been collecting this stuff since before little J was born, and I chose to sort it by color. As the kids build interest, they can sort it however they wish.
J and K have so far used these collections to dump and load. Here you see J filling up a dump truck toy with the stuff that catches his eye.

For J’s birthday, he receives a discovery/exploration set, Harriet the Spy is my idol!, which included a little extendable magnet. It’s his favorite piece of the whole set. He walks around the house seeing what is magnetic. The magnet is lost at the moment, but we’ll find it under the couch cushions or in his bed sheets when I change them. We did find a back up, a “fishing pole” style magnet that came with a puzzle.

I see J’s interest in magnetism and bring him a bin from our beautiful stuff collection that’s full of silver and gold colored objects.

He goes through each object in the bin and makes 2 piles. Magnetic and not.

Many common magnets are strong enough to attract small objects that are made with either iron or steel. Some magnets, such as the electromagnets used in cranes, are strong enough to attract objects as large as cars. Do we need to get a magnet for J’s crane next, so he can play with his little matchbox cars?

Read, Three Little Rigs by David Gordon, a spin on the classic Three Little Pigs story, but with little cranes and a big bad wrecking ball. There is a big bad magnet at the end. Little J loves this book and hopes to get it each time we go to the library. I bet he’d love to act it out with magnet and crane.

“Our minds become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds and these magnets attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.” -Napoleon Hill

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Thanks Jena! I know my boys (especially my 7 year old) love playing with magnets. There is just something about them! Please remember that magnets, especially the strong kind, can be VERY dangerous for little ones so always watch your kids when playing.

DIY Bow and Arrow | Janel from Hating Martha

Today we have Janel from Hating Martha with an awesome step by step. I have seen this project before but I think it's one of those that gets passed down through generations and who knows where it started! Take it away Janel

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I adore this little craft. I am sure I didn't think it up all by myself. My momma thinks I am that smart...but I know better. I probably saw it somewhere. So I am sorry if I skype your idea. Just throw a fit and I will fix it. But, I have had this little craft sitting in the back of my head and I finally just decided to give it a try. Perhaps I am not as original as I think. Let me be delusional and think I am oh so creative! Thanks. Cause in this house we shoot q-tips. It's a carry over from youth group game nights. And it is a favorite fun time for us. So, I thought it would be fun to make it legitimate. With real honest to goodness equipment. Ta-da!

A miniature bow and arrow set. How fun is that? The best part is that it is made out of simple things, it is easy, cheap cheap, and oh so fun!

The list of necessary supplies: popsicle sticks fishing line (you can use floss, too) q-tips.

Tools you need: craft knife or other sharp knife bowl of water

Okay. Here we go... You need to soak those popsicle sticks in water for at least an hour...or two. This makes them soft and bendable. At some point during their soaking cut two small slits on each end of the stick. Finish their soaking.

Now that they are nice and soft gently bend them into the bow shape. I recommend that you start in the middle and work your way out. If they don't bend without breaking a bit, soak them longer. I usually soak more then I need because I tend to not wait long enough and break one. I don't have patience.

When you have your nice shape tie the fishing line to one end using the notches to keep it on the stick. Wrap it around a couple times then bring it down to the other side. Wrap it around that side a few times. Bring it back around the other side and tie it off. I like to add a dab of hot glue just to make me feel better. And then it feels like a legit project :).

There you have it...the bow. Now the arrows are simply q-tips with an end cut-off.

I recommend putting little slits into the end of the "arrows" . This gives the fishing line something to grab on to. And its just cool. I like to draw some Native American designs on the bow. Tie up the "arrows" with some twine, pop the whole thing into a cute little bag I sewed up and ....

Isn't that just the cutest! Now, these really work. No joke. My son had them shooting across the room. They do take a bit of coordination that this momma obviously does not have. But...I think little boys are born with the ability to shoot arrows... There you have it! Thanks for letting me share my creative nonsense with you!! Happy shooting!

DIY Cape | Christie at Storehouse Crafts

Happy New Year everyone! We had a GREAT week off (the boys are still out of school) and we are excited to be back bringing you lots of fun activities and crafts this year! I want to work on sprucing up the blog a bit for the new year so I had some wonderful ladies offer to do some guest posts while I work it all out!

First up is Christie

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Hi! I'm Christie and I blog over at Storehouse Crafts. Thanks, Allison, for the opportunity to share on your blog today!

 I'm a fellow BoyMom with three boys under 6 years old!! We have a loud and rowdy house and I wouldn't have it any other way. Boys are the best! My boys love to "pretend play". They NEVER simply sit and watch a Star Wars movie...no...they have to put on costumes and act it out as they watch. Anything can become an impromptu weapon and a blanket can substitute for a Jedi cape in a pinch. HA! It's amazing!!

So, this past summer, I decided it was time to make all my little guys a cape...I searched high and low for a good tutorial and found a few, but ended up sort of doing my own thing and learning as I went. I'm NOT an expert sewer! I got my first sewing machine ever this year, so if I can do this...you can too!! Promise!

So here goes...

Things you'll need:
-two yards of fabric (I chose a super hero fleece for one side and a solid red for the other)
-felt or other fabric for embellishment on the back
-thread for hand sewing and machine
-sewing machine
-scissors
-sticky velcro tabs (in the notions section of the fabric store)

 
Let's get started!

I already had a cape that I made my oldest boy so I used this as my shape template. So, the first step would be using scrap fabric or even poster board to create the template for the shape. The shape is totally up to you! I made it flare out at the bottom and wanted it pretty big because my boys tend to grab it it pull it around themselves. Also, I made the neck tabs pretty long and skinny thinking I wanted to avoid a choking hazard (obviously!). It's about 35 inches wide at the bottom, 33 inches long from top to bottom, and 7 inches wide at the neck. I made on for my almost two year old and his was obviously sized down quite a bit. This is the perfect size for about 4-8 years old probably.

 
You template can be the full size of the cape or it can simply be one half of it since you will be folding your fabric in half.

So, this would be your template...
Next, take your first fabric and fold it in half. Take your other fabric and fold it in half as well.
Place your folded fabrics on top of each other with the folds lined up...then put the template on top with the fold along the same side as well.


Trace around the template or simply cut around it carefully. It will not be perfect...that's the joy of handmade, right?!

You will end up with two cape shapes from each of your fabrics that look like this when unfolded...


This is when you would want to add your design to the back of the cape...before you sew the two sides together. I used a mix of felt and fabric and I simply sew it on...I don't worry with the whole iron on adhesive stuff for these, but you are welcome to do that if you want to!!! I'm all about what's easy especially for something worn as a costume. I chose to add a fabric circle in yellow and a felt "B" on top since I'm making this one for one of my boy's friends!! But, as you can see from the pictures at the top...I made my boys ones with the Batman sign on them and my youngest got a little lightning bolt. The possibilities are endless!! Have fun with it!!

Cut it out and sew it on!!


On to the "real" sewing part! Put the two side together with the right sides facing each other. This means, the side with the super man print and the side with the design on it should be sandwiched in the middle with the not so pretty sides facing out. Make sense?

Pin them together and sew around the shape...LEAVING A HOLE!! Leave a space big enough to put your hand through to turn the cape right side out after sewing.

 

Now that it's all sewed together....reach into the hole you left and pull it right side out! You might need to use a chopstick or wooden spoon to help get the strap parts poked through.


Last two steps and you're all done!!

1. Stick the velcro on the neck straps and then stitch them on for added security.


2. Sew up the hole and you're done!! I am not a great hand sewer, but I try to do a hidden stitch that just keeps the hole closed.


So, that's the tutorial!! It's a really simple project that takes about 30 minutes tops!!

Hope you give it a try and that your own little super heroes love it!!

Thanks!

Fort Friday!

It's finally here! The last Fort Friday... of the year. We have had SO much fun starting this blog and while it's a TON of work and time we are getting paid with your sweet emails and compliments. So those of you who have taken the time to let me know THANK YOU! And those of you who continue to read on a daily/weekly basis THANK YOU!

This week we are sharing our fort!

The red stick is a broom with the sweeping part stuck in between the couch cushions.

Waken Fort - Dogs Allowed

Waken Fort - Dogs Allowed  Dogs NOT Allowed

We used a fitted sheet and put two corners on the back corners of the sofa and the other two corners over counterstools (you could use clamps to hold the sheets on if your counterstools don't have upholstered backs)

and a little message from us (Please keep in mind it's late and we've been playing in a fort. With dogs.)

May visions of sugar plums forts dance through your heads.

Just a reminder we are taking off from posting next week but may pop in Facebook or Twitter if you are a follower. See you next year!

Fort Friday!

It's that time again! Here at All for the Boys we celebrate Fridays with some awesome fort inspiration from around the web. Whether made of sheets, cardboard, wood, or sticks, forts are a place we can go to transport our minds to wherever we want to go. You can play, dream, relax, or create in a fort. Everything is better in a fort!

I have one cute reader submission this week. Fir tree branches, a cute kid, and a dog?! Perfection! As an added bonus I bet it smells good too! Thanks so much for sharing Burdette! 

(if you want to share an image of your fort just email me at info[at]allfortheboys[dot]com and attach the image or link to your blog post!

And of couse some inspiration I've found around the web - why not include some lights in your forts this week?!

from Lessons Learnt Journal

from the fabulous Pinkle Toes Photography (one of my favorite photographers)

from Play at Home Mom (so smart and easy!)

 

And snow forts! We don't get snow here in the desert but we love looking at cool snow forts.

From snow.com

From I can has internets (this looks like something my brother would have done.

and of course the traditional snow fort to block you from oncoming snow balls! from unbecoming levity

I'm trying to get another post together with some fort tips for next week!

A few other random things Heather shared this over on our Facebook page this week. She attached our Christmas Lunch Box Notes to the tops of treat bags for school. Love it! Thanks so much Heather!

Also a huge thanks to NewParent.com for adding us to this list of 10 Best Parenting Websites! What an honor and way to start the weekend!