Okay, how cute and cheap and easy is this? Three year old Olivia loves to go for walks and pick up leaves. So, we took a pail and collected different types of leaves – different sizes, different colors, etc. Then we went back home and drew a trunk and some branches on a piece of paper and glued on the leaves. DIY tree!
Olivia gets some of her decorations for cheap at the Dollar Tree! Sorry, you have to provide your own hands and feet.
Eggs aren’t just for Easter. Kroger had eggs for 69 cents a dozen large. We got googly eyes, tacky glue and paint at the Dollar Tree and came up with these scary Halloween eggs – a seven-eyed turkey, a scary witch and a happy pumpkin to name a few.
Grammies just wanna have fun too! Remember this one?
ROLE PLAYING (This was written when my 9 and 10 year olds were younger, so it’s for younger children). Being a grandparent doesn’t mean you can’t play too! Have fun with the grands. I know that sounds silly, but put on a costume and try it! Now’s your chance to be a princess or a villain or anything you want!
Role playing is cheap and very educational. My babies are into Disney Princesses. Everytime they come over, we have to act out a story. Of course, Natalie is always the Princess and Grandpa and I are always the villians. We try to include Alli and Sami, since Natalie is older and dominant.
Well, we usually have a role for everybody. Sleeping Beauty (Alli), Snow White (Samantha) and Cinderella (Natalie) all get to be Princesses – no fighting. If I play my cards right, sometimes I get promoted from the Wicked Stepmother to Belle. It’s amazing what the little ones will retain and how they express themselves as their character – great practice for preschool. Where do we get most of the dress up costumes? Garage sales or the DollarTree.com. However, when it’s a gift, it’s brand new.
Click on the picture
My girls like to play “Nino’s.” What started out as a fruit market, is now an “international market place.” We save the shopping bags from Nino’s and of course I found a toy store front and play money at a garage sale.
Please send me your ideas on how you have fun with the grandchildren! Thanks in advance and have a grand day!
Are you like me in that you have drawers full of lipsticks of which the color just doesn’t look right on you any more? How about that thing you asked for because you decided that you were going to give yourself some pampering? Who has time for pampering, right? Well I’ve been there, done that. So I took the foot bath, the facial vaporizer, the 20 bottles of nail polish and created a salon in my basement for my granddaughters. They are girly girls and love the make up and bows and especially the hot wax pedicure (under my supervision of course).
It all started when I found a toy salon at a garage sale. Then I found two more. Rog loves to go garage sale-ing, but I end up buying stuff I don’t need. In fact, if I spent more time cleaning up the stuff I already bought, I probably wouldn’t have the mess that I have. Anyway, I found other things at garage sales for the saloon too. Like a string of lights, mirrors, and decorations. I even took my old slow cooker and used it to warm towels like they have in the real salons. See? The stuff is being used and the girls love it. IT ALL COUNTS AS EXERCISE!
Now here’s another little something the grandchildren can help you with – exercise. By that I mean dancing! When Olivia gets me to exercise it’s to the Hot Dog Dance from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. When Alli, Natalie and Sami were over earlier this week, they (tried) to show me how to do the Nae Nae dance.
Now watch Grampy and me try to learn the Nae Nae dance. Click below!
That’s right – let’s have fun! That’s what it’s all about when you’re at Grammy and Grampy’s house. Fun doesn’t have to be expensive, at least for the younger grandchildren. I wrote this part about six years ago when Sami, Alli and Natalie were younger. This still applies to my baby Olivia, who just turned two. The older ones? Check out my “Help From The Panel of Experts” tab. In the meantime, blog me what you know!
The worst thing to do, is to let the kids get bored. Also, when it’s time to leave one activity, it’s easier to get the kids to leave when they are going to another fun activity. When the babies are over during vacation, we have a “schedule” and also a “whose turn is it?” chart to help things run smoothly. We really don’t stick to the schedule, it’s just there in case we’re at a loss for what to do. Otherwise, we keep activities from 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hours long, just to keep from getting bored!
HAVE A SCHEDULE – JUST IN CASE
Here’s the schedule for when they stay overnight during the summer. Adjust it to what you need. For older children, substitute my “little girl” activities for what your kids do. Don’t forget to blog and let me know!
CAMP GRAMMY AND GRAMPY
9:00 – 9:30 Breakfast
9:30 – 10:00 Get dressed
10:00 – 10:45 Walk around block across the street or play in basement
10:45 – 11:00 Snack
11:00 – 11:45 Walk around block on this side to the playground (before the big kids get there).
11:45 – 12:30 Play in basement
12:30 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 3:00 Field Trip*/pool
6:30 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 8:00 Arts and Crafts
8:00 – 9:00 Walk around block across the street, snack, bedtime story
9:00 – 9:30 Get ready for bed
9:30 Movie/bedtime
Time for Grammy’s “special juice.”
Take note: We go to the playground early, before the big kids get there. We go on a “field trip” or in the pool, which is the longest activity, before naptime. We play in the sandbox as late in the day as possible, and follow that with washing off in the sprinkler before dinner. Our “field trips” are planned as well as we can according to the weather.
I’m thrilled that our babies like to play in their playroom in our basement (their Castle), but we live in Michigan, so we’re going to soak up every hour of sunshine we can get. The basement will be there all winter when I’m at work. What do we play in the basement? Read on!
T-SHIRT DESIGNING
What child doesn’t love to paint? I firmly believe that a “dirty kid is a happy kid.” Dirty from playing of course. But my daughter, was right. The babies have beautiful clothes that were getting stained when we painted or played with make up. My suggestion was that they wear old clothes to my house, but they’re so cute in their little twin outfits! My solution! Let them take their and design their own T-shirt. I bought them each a cheap a couple sets of fabric paint and let them go to town! Now when they want to paint, they put on their special “play t-shirts” they designed and don’t have to worry about getting their nice clothes messed up. Auntie Jackie also got them a similar shirt that came with markers from Party City. This works on aprons too!
Design Your Own Let’s keep in the creative mode. I will admit that I am a bit of a slob. But I saw a sign once that says something about a cluttered desk being a sign of genius. Anyway, back to the kids. When they come over it’s easy for me to let them make a mess and leave it, since I’m not very good at cleaning own messes. Well, another little saying I heard once was to have a place for everything and everything in its place. That’s where storage containers and drawers come in. Each girl got a set to put her things in. Walmart has a nice inexpensive selection click on the link above. I picked the princess sets because they were smaller and I don’t have much room. I got some from Walmart and put their name on their drawer set. Now when it’s pick up, they have their own private space. Now what about the toys in the basement! Those big plastic box containers don’t have any decorations on them. That’s where the fun comes in. Have your kids decorate the storage boxes. Remember, they’re not going to be featured in Good Housekeeping, the goal here is to have fun. What to decorate them with? Paint, stickers and glue!!!!!!!!!!! (Don’t forget their special play t-shirts). You know all that junk mail you get with pictures of toys and movies and you throw it in the recycle because you don’t need to buy all that stuff? You’re right, you don’t need to buy all that stuff, JUST CUT OUT THE PICTURES and let the kids go on a glue frenzy on their storage boxes. Remember, we’re going cheap here. They will have loads of fun and get the creative juices flowing. Maybe they want to decorate one box for dress up clothes, one box for Legos, etc. You get the idea. Have fun and make sure to wear your special play t-shirt when you paint!
Olivia gets some of her decorations for cheap at the Dollar Tree! Sorry, you have to provide your own hands and feet.
Find Toys, Games, Arts, and Crafts For Only $1 Each! Shop Today!
Grammies just wanna have fun too! Remember this one?
Recent Comments