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Simple Ways to Create Memories with Your Kids

September 22, 2022 | Leave a Comment

Ways to Create Memories with Your Kids

Sometimes when your kids are little, every day might seem so LONG. The kids have endless needs you have to meet, and they might fuss, cry, or have tantrums. However, smiling older women look at you in the store and compliment your beautiful family and reminisce about their now-grown children. People tell you, “The days are long, but the years are short.” Yet, while you try to enjoy the days, sometimes you struggle. As your kids grow older (and it happens so quickly!), you realize that the time you have with them is fleeting, and you want to create memories with them. Here are some suggestions to do just that.

Simple Ways to Create Memories with Your Kids

Creating memories with your kids doesn’t have to be expensive. You simply need to spend your undivided time with them.

Actively Watch Their Sports

How often have you gone to kids’ sporting events and seen parents not watching the game but instead giving all of their attention to their smartphones? Put the phone aside and watch your kids. They notice, and they’ll appreciate that you spend time on them, not on the internet.

Have a Dedicated Movie Night

One fun family tradition is to have a dedicated movie time. In our family, we watch a movie on Sunday afternoon. This activity may not seem like much, but your kids will likely enjoy this tradition and remember it fondly when looking back on their childhoods.

Play Board Games

Likewise, you can have a family game night. Or, if you can’t play board games with the family that often, make a habit of playing a board game with your child at least once every two weeks. Your kids will enjoy playing the game and the time you gave them.

Read Aloud to Them

Ways to Create Memories with Your Kids

This family tradition is best started when your kids are young, though you can begin any time they’re in elementary school. When my kids were babies, I started reading aloud to them, and we never stopped. My younger kids are now 13 and 12, and I still read aloud to them every day. I’m sure this is one activity they’ll cherish and hopefully repeat with their children.

Have a Yes Day

Too often, we parents say no because it’s more convenient than saying yes. Challenge yourself to say yes one day and see how different the day will be. “Mom, can we go to the park?” Yes. “Can I bake a cake?” Yes. If the activity the children propose isn’t dangerous or out of your budget, try saying yes and see what happens.

Take Them on Vacation

Finally, if you have the means, take your children on vacation. Getting out of your element and exploring new places leads to family bonding, especially when you reminisce about your adventures years later.

Final Thoughts

Kids grow up too quickly. The older women in the stores are right—the days are long, but the years are short. Cherish the time you have by utilizing simple ways to create memories with your kids. You’ll be glad you did.

Read More

Vacation Before Your Kids No Longer Want to Hang with You

5 Ways We Inspire a Love of Reading in Our Kids

4 Road Trip Tips When Traveling with Tweens

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Family Time, Growing Up, Parenting, Parenting Blog at KidsAintCheap Tagged With: board games, family vacation, kids in sports, read aloud, spending money, Sports, time with kids, Vacation, yes day

Our Favorite Games to Teach Children Geography

July 23, 2020 | Leave a Comment

One of my favorite ways to sneak in extra education with my kids is to play games with them.  Kids seems to just absorb knowledge this way because they’re having fun.  I’ve shared some of our favorite geography games previously, but I’d like to share a few more of our favorite games to teach children geography.

Our Favorite Games to Teach Children Geography

Online Games

Kids will easily learn to play online geography games.  Here are two that are highly recommended.

Sheppard Software

Our Favorite Games to Teach Children Geography

One of our favorite resources for learning geography is Sheppard Software.  Kids can learn the states of the United States or learn the countries of other continents.  My kids love this and play without complaint.  As soon as one of my daughters is done with the geography portion, she goes over to the Brain Games portion.

This site is a great resource as they also have history, animal, science, and health games, plus more.

Stack the States

We’ve not personally used this game because we don’t have an Apple device.  However, if you do, I’ve heard fabulous things about the app Stack the States.  This game teaches state capitals, shapes, geographic locations, and flags, to name a few.  Even better, it’s recommended for ages 4+, so it’s a fun way to help early elementary students learn their geography.

Board Games

10 Days in. . .Games

These games are perfect for family game night.  There are several versions of this game including 10 Days in the USA and 10 Days in Europe.  Players draw 10 cards.  The objective is to make a 10 card trail to your destination.  To make the trail, for instance, in 10 Days in the USA, you must either have a string of 10 cards that show a path through 10 states that connect, or you have a plane trip between to states that don’t touch.

Unfortunately, these games are a bit hard to find now.  You can find them on eBay and Amazon, but for now, production on new games doesn’t seem to be happening.

Explore the 50 States

This game is good for ages 7+.  Players spin a spinner and either land on the icon for a question card, flag card, travel card, or you choose.  If you get a question card, you can choose between answering a geography or history question.  The flag cards have three different questions.  You move forward once for each question you answer; if you can answer all three, you move forward three spaces.  The travel cards give fun facts about a state or attractions in that state.  Some make you do something before you move forward or some make you move back.

We find this to be a fun game to learn all sorts of things about the United States, from history, geography, trivia, and state flags.

Final Thoughts

Your kids are always learning, not just when they’re in school.  We find our favorite games to teach children about geography are a great way to have fun as a family and learn more together.  Luckily, there are many games available to help teach or reinforce knowledge for a variety of subjects.

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Education, Family Time Tagged With: board games, education, geography games, online games

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About The Author

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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