Things to Make - In the Hotel Room

For our vacation I ordered several sticker and stamp kits from Melissa and Doug (idea courtesy of the Sleepytime Gal), but they didn't arrive on time, so instead we made do with the following activities:



1. Curtain Hats. P's idea. Of course.





2. Goddess coloring book. The bride's mom bought the girls a Goddess coloring book and they LOVED IT. Every night new goddesses were presented to me, crayoned and beautiful.

T rejected the color in the lines approach and doodled on blank paper. I always bring clipboards to keep all the paper from getting scrunched and ruined.



3. Diaries. Always a sure way to keep things quiet for awhile.



4. Barbie Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio. We found this kit at Target and F really loved it. It comes with stencils and stickers (click here for the Amazon link).





5. Card Making. P decided to draw herself into the wedding. And she was quite proud of her "big black heart." (????)



6. Olympic Obstacle Courses. I don't have many pictures to demonstrate but going on vacation during the Olympics was probably my best idea ever. Every night we'd spend family time cuddled up on the couch eating popcorn and watching amazing athletes. Then the kids would come up with their own competitions - somersaults off the bed/couch ("wait! was I crooked? I don't want a deduction!"), sprints down the hall, laps in the hotel pool, etc. Good times. And I think Gabby Douglas is now equal to Katy Perry in P's worshipmeter, a definite improvement if you ask me (no offense, Katy).


How do you keep your kids entertained in a hotel room? I'd love to hear!!

Things to Do - Two Great Activities for Kids in a Hotel Room

Kaleidographs

A few weeks ago I posted about wanting a set of Kaleidograph cards. Luckily, the manufacturer somehow learned of my post and sent us two sets for free (Flora and Crystal, which sell for only $12.99 on amazon). I waited until vacation to take them out of the envelope, as they seemed like the perfect hotel room activity. And the cards did not disappoint. The girls and I can't stop layering different cards on top of one another, then twisting and rearranging them to make thousands of pattern combinations. The cards are addictive, even for adults. I also think we'd enjoy using the cards as stencils (perhaps with watercolor crayons?) but I'm waiting on that activity for a later day. On the downside, T played a little rough with the cards (he tried to rip two of them to shreds) so we created during his nap time.



Story Cubes

We won a set of Rory's Story Cubesat F's school auction (seems odd to say that we "won" something we paid for) and they've quickly become a favorite activity for all three kids. This makes me happy, as we FINALLY have a game that the whole family can play together ("game" being loosely defined).

The story cubes' magic rests in the fact that kids really love to roll dice (sort of a no brainer), and after they roll the storytelling comes naturally. My kids especially seem to enjoy the element of interpreting random information in a way that creates order and unity (i.e. making something from nothing).

T tells bare bones stories, usually something along the lines of "a bad guy came" and then [point to a picture on a dye] and then [loud laugh] WAHHHHH [throw dice in the air]"; whereas F's stories have plots and characters. P's tales fall somewhere in between. A fun way to kill some time.

For other storytelling activities, click here to read about our story stick craft and here to read about story cards.
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What about everyone else? How do you keep your kids entertained during vacation "downtime"?

Things to Do - Jump on the Bed

Oh, the magic of a hotel room . . .

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!! No more vacation posts for awhile, back to "real life." See you on Monday!!
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“She waited for the train to pass. Then she said, “I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.” —Haruki Murakami (I really like this quote and the man who said it).

WEEKEND LINKS:

*33 ways to stay creative. I need to print this and hang it somewhere.

*This is really funny and true. Why does paper beat rock? I've always wondered myself.

*LOVE this!!!!!!

*KidFriendly DC has the scoop on discount family movies in DC-area theatres and outside. Click here.

*These photos are beautiful!! As is this photo.

*A rug made out of balloons for $2000, it's amazing what people make and what people buy.

*Thank you Max Wagner, for reminding me to always carry a camera and always think out of the box. The cliff diving images are lovely!

*This cardboard sculpture is beyond inspiring, it's amazing what people can create out of things I usually throw away (or recycle).



This might be my favorite picture ever of my three kids, it really captures it all.