Do you have a Lite Brite at home? Check out the prices on these Transformer refills….under $3! (as of this posting). And it ships free with your Prime membership…or you can add it to your order and get free super saver shipping.
Note: prices constantly change on Amazon. If you see something that you like, you should buy it before the price changes.
If you know my family, you know that we love music. All of us play at least one instrument. And so, there’s always some accessory to buy. But my local music store doesn’t seem to stock everything that I need. But, I have a solution. I’ve got a favorite places to shop for band instrument supplies — Woodwind & Brasswind. For a limited time, they are offering free shipping on all orders (except those requiring a big truck). This is the perfect time to check out your instrument needs and get them shipped for free.
I’ll see you at the concerts!
Winter is here to stay and sometimes it’s just too cold to play outside. For a fun activity break out some simple ingredients and let the kids have some fun.
Suggested List of Ingredients:
I gave a few general instructions and then let the kids have at it. This is what they came up with. We may have a future architect 
.
I believe in letting kids help in the kitchen — most days. I’ve read a lot of posts about how to get your kids involved in the kitchen. They usually offer suggestions for older kids. But I’ve found that when you allow your kids to help when they are young and want to help, you can keep them interested in the kitchen.
Besides having a lot of patience, here’s how my kids measure flour and sugar:
Dip the measuring cup into the container and use the back side of a knife to level it off.
Then dump it in and start mixin’
Do you have a pile of these around your house? I cleaned out my coupon stash and came up with this big pile of coupons that have expired. Here’s a few ideas:
No, I’m not suggesting you use coupons as counterfeit. Let your kids play with the coupons and use them as “money.” Here’s some ideas:
And then there’s the educational angle:
And one of the best things about expired coupons — when you find them laying around the house after the kids go to bed — you can just throw them in the recycling because there will always be more.
Lately we’ve been talking about the weather here at home. One thing we all notice is the lack of rain this year. But without data, it’s hard to quantify how dry we’ve been. Luckily the University of Nebraska Lincoln is home to the National Drought Mitigation Center. They keep track of how dry the country is with cool maps and charts. Check out this cool map. It gives a great overview of the dryness of the country.
But it gets even better….you can click into your region and then your state to get a county by county view of your lack of water. In spite of hurricanes that whip through the gulf, Louisiana could use more rain. What do you notice for your area?
But this is not all…there’s lots of other maps too. Here you can find out about soil moisture, snow pack, and fire danger areas.
These maps can be a great way to talk about drought with your kids.
Ever had real dried bananas? Not the fried/dried crunchy ones from the grocery store. Real dried bananas are treated like candy in our house — but it’s all fruit. A great snack when you’re looking for something a bit sweet, but don’t want to ruin the day by eating empty calories.
These are very simple to make. So, dig out the dehydrator and let’s get ready.
My method is simple…
Some people say to dip the bananas in a solution to prevent browning. We don’t care about how the banana looks and we didn’t like the sugary solution I once tried. So we just keep it simple. Just bananas. Kids still eat it like candy.
Try it. I hope you like it too. Leave a comment below with your experience.