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Gratitude at the Table

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So many of my family and friends are focusing on gratitude the month of November.

While I believe gratitude should be practiced year-round, I love the special focus that Thanksgiving brings.

I want to share with you a special way we’ve incorporated gratitude into our daily life.

I know some people say a blessing before every meal. We didn’t. It’s a wonderful habit and one that I wanted to incorporate into our nightly meals.

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Instead of selecting one particular blessing I chose several from the many traditional blessings that are said across the world.

The wonderful thing about saying a blessing is that it crosses all boundaries, both religious and cultural.

I chose from my childhood and my life in the Christian church. I selected five blessings that I loved, and typed them up so that they were easy to read. I cut them out and now we keep them in a little bowl at our table.

Each night the girls take turn choosing a blessing and we say it before eating. I love how this sets the tone for dinner. Instead of shoveling down our food or playing too much at the table, dinner has been more peaceful. This little change has been a huge blessing to our life.

My idea was not original. I found it in the pages of The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David, a book that has been truly inspirational to me in more ways than one. She devotes an entire chapter to gratitude at the dinner table. I have poured over the discussions and ideas in this chapter several times. My take-away was our gratitude bowl.

Saying a prayer before dinner isn’t the only way to show gratitude at the table. Many religions already have practices, but even if you’re not comfortable incorporating religious practices at your table, the act of showing gratitude for your food can be incredibly valuable to both you and your kids.

Here are a few additional ideas for showing gratitude.

Go around the table and have everyone share their highs and lows of the day. Talk about gratitude in conjunction with those highs and also find ways to be grateful for the lows.

Find quotes about gratitude. Print them out and share one nightly or even weekly before dinner. You can find many quotes at Quote Garden and BrainyQuote.

Have each person share something they are grateful for. Is is family, friends, or even sunshine after a string of rainy days?

Learn about where your food came from. We buy our beef directly from a farmer and often share with our girls how the meat came to our table. Are you eating ice cream for dessert? Share with your kids how the food in the bowl started with a cow and went through many steps to get to your dinner table. (The book Ice Cream: The Full Scoop by Gail Gibbons provides a thorough and kid-friendly explanation of this process.)

November is the perfect month to start practicing acts of gratitude with your family. Do you say a blessing before your meals? How else do you show gratitude at the dinner table?

Creative Family Fun Nights: Spooky Stories

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Halloween is drawing near and it’s a great time to have a bit of spooky family time.

Don’t worry, this is not planned to give your kids nightmares, just to have a bit of Halloween fun with the family.

This night can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I chose simple. So grab a spooky story, a flashlight, and shadow puppets. It’s time to have some fun!

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I chose the story The Teeny-Tiny Woman. It’s a fun ghost story that’s not too scary. It’s a traditional folk tale, so there are many different versions of the story and you can probably find one at your local library.

I’ve also included a list of other spooky stories at the end of this post. You’ll want to pre-read the stories you choose, so you know whether or not they will be too scary for your kids.

After selecting the story, I drew some simple shadow puppets on black construction paper. I drew a teeny tiny woman, a ghost, a grave, and a bone.

Choose characters or items that are in your story. Since these will be shadow puppets, your drawings don’t have to have much detail.

Cut the puppets out and then tape crafts sticks to the back. It really is that simple.

If you want your puppets to last a bit longer, you can laminate the paper and hot glue the sticks to the back.

Once the puppets were made, it was time for the fun.

We turned down the lights and shined a flashlight on an empty wall.

The girls took turns using the puppets to act out the story while I read aloud. We used our best spooky voices and ended up giggling most of the time especially when our heads got in the way.

Spooky stories can be a lot of fun!

Grab a spooky story and have some fun!

Some other {not so} spooky books:
The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest
Ghosts!: Ghostly Tales from Folklore by Alvin Schwartz
Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi
In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting

What is your favorite spooky tale?

100 Ideas for Your Fall Bucket List

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Do you make a fall bucket list? We did last year and it was a lot of fun.

Before making ours, I gathered together a massive list of 100 fun fall ideas.

I hope you find some fun fall activities!

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Go on a hike

Bake an apple pie (Simple Bites)

Volunteer together as a family (The Good Long Road)

Bake apple and cheddar quick bread (Everybody Likes Sandwiches)

Make popcorn trees (Happy Hooligans)

Make old-fashioned corn cob dolls (The Magic Onions)

Make mini haunted houses (Kids Activities Blog)

Play flag football

Make your own Halloween costume (Inner Child Fun)

Make apple oatmeal whole wheat muffins (Train Up a Child)

Make some big leaf prints (Meaningful Mama)

Make a Thanksgiving leaf garland (The Artful Parent)

Go to your local high school football game

Make fall leaf crowns (Chasing Fireflies)

Explore a pumpkin (Creative Connections for Kids)

Make coffee filter fall leaves (Play Dr. Mom)

Make pumpkin spice pancakes (Annie’s Eats)

Play with autumnal play dough (The Imagination Tree)

Do some autumn leaf threading (Picklebums)

Laminate leaves and make magnets (Filth Wizardry)

Go on a fall camping trip (Go Explore Nature)

Make leaf people finger puppets (Make and Takes)

Make bird feeders

Go to a pumpkin patch

Make leaf confetti (Grow Creative)

Make applesauce

Bake a pumpkin pie (Very Best Baking)

Make land art with fall leaves (Red Ted Art)

Look for signs of fall (JDaniel4’s Mom)

Make a thankful tree

Go on a fall nature walk (My Merry Messy Life)

Make candy corn sugar cookies (Kathie Cooks)

Make fall nature suncatchers (The Artful Parent)

Make paper bag pumpkins (Mess for Less)

Make hand print turkeys

Play in pumpkin guts (Childhood Beckons)

Visit a corn maze

Put googly eyes on a pumpkin (Play Dr. Mom)

Make button and ribbon pumpkins (Toddler Approved)

Go indoor apple picking (Inner Child Fun)

Make drip-art pumpkins (The Imagination Tree)

Make paper plate turkeys (I {Heart} Crafty Things)

Visit an apple orchard

Make a “ghostly” pizza (My Recipes)

Make owl masks

Make candy apples (Martha Stewart)

Make pine cone bats (Almost Unschoolers)

Play with a fall sensory bucket (A Mom With a Lesson Plan)

Make autumn leaf place mats (Rhythm of the Home)

Play pumpkin bowling (Jeanetics)

Have a family movie night

Make Halloween yarn pumpkins (NurtureStore)

Make pumpkin bread (Martha Stewart)

Play in the leaves (Mama Smiles)

Make Thanksgiving Story Bracelets (Little Wonders’ Days)

Make acorn jewelry (5 Orange Potatoes)

Drink apple cider

Make a fall hand print wreath (Mess for Less)

Do apple stamping

Harvest and dry herbs (Kitchen Counter Chronicles)

Carve a pumpkin

Go on a leaf hunt (Teach Preschool)

Paint a pumpkin

Roast pumpkin seeds

Do some chuckin’ pumpkin painting (Childhood Beckons)

Paint with acorns (NurtureStore)

Do leaf rubbings

Do science with leaves (Learn Play Imagine)

Make caramel apple cheesecake cookies (Confessions of a Cookbook Queen)

Make googly-eye spider masks

Go star gazing

Make acorn nature collages (No Time for Flash Cards)

Create an autumn nature table (The Golden Gleam)

Make leaf print cookies (The Artful Parent)

Go on a backyard scavenger hunt

Make acorn cap candles (Paint Cut Paste)

Preserve autumn leaves with beeswax (Crafting a Green World)

Have fun in a fall-leaf maze (Happy Hooligans)

Make a magazine collage tree (Crafts by Amanda)

Eat apple nachos (Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures)

Decorate your windows for fall (Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Go on a thankfulness walk (Go Explore Nature)

Make your own fall leaf connect-the-dots (My Kids Make)

Have a Halloween party

Play with cinnamon pumpkin spice play dough (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Play fall “I Spy” (Spell Outloud)

Start a nature notebook (KC Edventures)

Make autumn mobiles (Red Ted Art)

Make Painted Leaves (Small for Big)

Make a nature shadow box (Teach Preschool)

Make a paint stick scarecrow (Crafts by Amanda)

Go on a playground scavenger hunt (KC Edventures)

Make fall leaf lanterns (Imagine Childhood)

Go on a lantern walk (The Golden Gleam)

Make a paper bag football (No Time for Flash Cards)

Make a list of what you are thankful for

Make some bubbling brew (Se7en)

Make pumpkin mummies (Hands On: As We Grow)

Send Halloween Cards

Make a pine cone weather station (Science Sparks)

I hope this list gives you some ideas for your own fall bucket list. What would you include?

Creative Family Fun Nights: Family Olympics

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Is your family excited about the 2012 Summer Olympics? We are!

If you’re looking to get in the spirit and celebrate the games, try hosting your own Family Olympics.

After only a little bit of preparation, our Olympics were ready to go.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Medals:

Our medals were easy to make.

I cut circles from a cereal box out of the recycle bin that we painted.

We didn’t have gold or bronze paint, so I used yellow and orange instead. For the silver medal, I covered my circle in aluminum foil.

I drew the numbers on with a black Sharpie, punched holes in the top, and strung some yarn through the holes. Nothing to it! Our medals were ready to go.

Flags:

Before the games begin, you’ll need flags.

Instead of representing countries, we drew flags to represent ourselves. All it took was paper, a ruler, and a box full of crayons.

This is a great time to get started talking about the Olympic games. Talk about the sports, the ceremony, and the athletes. Mom and dad can share stories of their favorite Olympic moments. Use this time to get in the spirit of the games.

The Events:

Once you’re ready to go with your flags and your medals, draw up a schedule of events and have fun. Here are some suggested events for your Family Olympics.

Foot Races: Your races can be long distance or short distance. Set up a starting point and a finish line and see who can run the fastest. Have one race or three. It’s all about having fun.

Balance Beam: Use a scrap length of wood, your garden hose, or even rope. See who can keep their balance the longest. Can you stand on one foot? Hop? Turn in a circle?

Long Jump: How far an you jump? Grab a tape measure and see who can jump the furthest.

Disc Toss: We used hula hoops for our targets and tried to toss frisbees into the middle. Whoever gets the most inside the hoop wins. If you don’t have hula hoops, make circles with rope or even the garden hose.

Javelin Throw: Use pools noodles as fun javelins that are safe and that anyone can throw. See who can throw their pool noodle the furthest. Or, try to throw them in your hula hoop targets.

Obstacle Course: Set up a backyard obstacle course. Incorporate your balance beam, add obstacles to jump over or crawl under. See who can get through the course in the shortest amount of time.

Make sure and have plenty of water on hand to hydrate all your athletes!

Have fun! Enjoy the Olympics and your family at the same time.

What events would you add to the Family Olympics?

Summer Bucket List: Our 2012 List

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I gave you tips on creating your own summer bucket list, found inspiration for displaying the list, and even provided a mega-list of 200 ideas for your bucket list.

Now, it’s time to share our 2012 Summer Bucket List.

We kept it simple and only have 20 things on the list. Our time may or may not be limited, so I wanted a very doable sized list.

Plus, if we finish too quickly, I do have 200 more ideas we could use!

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Here’s our list:

1. Eat breakfast outside

2. Go camping

3. Learn to swim

4. Try a “new to us” fruit

5. Blow bubbles

6. Play in the sprinklers

7. Do messy painting outside

8. Buy fresh corn from a roadside stand

9. Make a leaf collection

10. Make popsicles

11. Go to the zoo

12. Go out for ice cream

13. Learn to ride a bike

14. Make a driveway obstacle course

15. Paint rocks

16. Go fishing

17. Paint with sidewalk paint

18. Make sponge water bombs

19. Go to the farmer’s market

20. Wash the car (by hand!)

I decided not to make a large display for our wall. We’re currently trying to sell our house, so that wasn’t a realistic option for us.

Instead, I made a pretty booklet. I wrote each activity on a separate index card and illustrated it with simple pictures to help my non-readers know what the activities are.

I then punched a hole in the upper corner and secured the cards together with a binder clip. I added a few pony beads to the ring for a fun touch.

Your bucket list doesn’t have to be complicated or even long. Just remember, it’s all for fun!

Are you making a summer bucket list?