Getting the Kids Outside for Activities can Help Develop Learning Abilities and Encourage Creativity.

Fun Outdoor Activities for Your Kids

Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter. Scheduling outdoor time with the kids is a great opportunity to get out and let our little ones start exploring nature!  It’s important especially with screen time being popular as of late. And by screen time I mean watching TV, playing games or watching shows on cell phones and tablets.

There are many benefits to get the younger kids outside. It can help build confidence, thrive in a way they can’t when indoors and breathe the open air. Exploring the wide outdoors will promote creativity and imagination leaving your kids with endless possibilities for play.

Outdoor explorations and play changes the way children get physical activity that can’t be had indoors. Outside activities can contribute to healthy bone development, get blood flowing, help build a stronger immune system and keep a healthy weight.

Here are a few fun activities to do outside that will stimulate brain activity and get the kids moving:

Nature Walks

Going on a walk through your neighborhood or a nearby park is a great way to get your kids aware of what is going on around them and introduce them to most of the five senses.

As you’re walking around, ask your child what they see, hear, smell, and feel. You can also ask them to draw or write the answers. Having your child write or draw what they see promotes observation skills as well as fine motor skills.

Another way to make the walk fun is to make a scavenger hunt out of it. Have the kids find a gray rock, a yellow flower, etc. This will help them match their colors and learn about things in their surroundings. You can do this in your neighborhood, if you go camping, or even at the beach.

We have put together a free printable visual scavenger hunt for you to use with the kiddos. It’s has colorful images for the kids to find and words under each picture.

Just click on the preview image to view the full size. Once you see the full sized image, right click and Save Image to your computer.

If you don’t have the capabilities to print the image, you can save it to your phone or tablet and check off items as you go.

You can use this or use it as an example to create one of your own.

Rock Painting

Painting rocks is a fun way to get your child to explore the outdoors and find the perfect rocks for paining. Have them feel the different textures of all the rocks; ask them if it feels smooth, rough, pointy, etc.

Once you find the perfect rocks, you can paint them to look like bugs or animals you might find in the garden. I did this with my daughter and she painted a ladybug and a bumble bee. You could also have a train of them and paint them to look like a caterpillar; the possibilities are endless.

Ask your child to choose what they would like to paint them as so they can develop the confidence to make decisions. Once the rocks are painted, you can hide the rocks throughout the garden and have a rock hunt.

Another fun thing to do with painted rocks is take them to a local park and hide them in plain sight for others to find. Pass it on and maybe one day when you’re walking through the park, someone will have done the same thing.

Other Learning Activities for Young Children

There are so many fun ways for kids to learn when they are outside. Put your creative thinking cap on and see what you can come up with. Here are a few more ideas:

Match What You Hear with What You See

A fun learning activity to do if your children are in preschool or kindergarten is to write the alphabet in random order on the ground in chalk and then give them a spray bottle filled with water.

Start calling out letters and then they have to find the letter and spray it with the water. This is a fun way to get them to match hearing the letter with seeing the letter. This would also work great with numbers, shapes, and colors.

What Will Melt in the Sun?

Another fun thing to do is to find out what melts in the sun. All you need is a muffin tin (you can get a spare one from the dollar store) and random items throughout your house. You can put things like chocolate, crayons, marbles, ice, anything you have lying around.

Place each item in the muffin tin and leave it in the sun for a while. When you come back to it, take a look and see what has melted and what hasn’t. This is a great way to explain how things have different melting points (and maybe it will get them to stop leaving chocolate in their pockets.)

These are just a few ideas to get started, but the possibilities for outdoor activities with your kids are endless. So go outside and have some fun with the kids, you may also learn something you didn’t know.

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Preparing for the Cold Winter Months Ahead

Winter is coming which means we’ll be spending more time indoors to avoid the wet and cold outdoors.

To get ready for those long dark days of winter make sure your home is prepared to be the warm cozy sanctuary you want it to be.

Heating Maintenance

Get your furnace checked out by a professional to make sure it’s working to its full potential. If you keep up on the maintenance to your furnace, sometimes all that’s needed is to replace the filter.

Check the Thermostat

If you don’t already have a programmable thermostat it might be something you’ll want to look into as they offer the ease of pre-setting your heating or AC needs and on cold winter days, it’s nice to come home to a warm house. You might even consider a wireless option.

Cleaning Vents

Double check your heating vents inside your home. Make sure they are open and not blocked by furniture. Take some time to reposition your furniture (maybe just for the winter months) so you can maximize the heat coming from the vents.

Are your return air vents dusty? Dust can easily accumulate on the grill as it leaves the room, which over time, if not cleaned periodically, can restrict air flow so it’s important to keep the grill clean. And if the return air vent is down low, it’s equally important to keep it unobstructed.

Using a vacuum brush attachment, get rid of the dust that has built up to help them run more efficiently.

Wood Burning Fireplaces

If you have a wood burning fireplace, have a professional inspect and, if necessary, clean out your chimney – you never know, something may have decided to nest in there over the summer.  

One of the most common places to lose heat is through your fireplace flue, keep this closed when you’re not using the fireplace. When you have a professional come out to inspect the chimney, don’t forget to have him check that the flue is still closing properly and if not get it fixed before you lose all the heat up the chimney.

Gas Fireplace Maintenance

If you have a gas fireplace, it is equally important to have it professionally inspected and cleaned so you can safely cozy up to it in the cold winter months.

The dust that collects on logs and burner ports can cause the fireplace to burn inefficiently. A professional will inspect and/or clean the burners, pilot light, thermostat, fan, venting and so forth to make sure it performs as it should.

A little time and maintenance for your fireplace, whatever kind it is, will help out later on as sometimes this is the best source of heat in a winter storm.

Door and Window Leaks

Check your doors and windows for leaks, if necessary, use caulking and weather stripping to prevent air leaks.  Over time the heat and dryness from the warm months can dry out and crack your current weather stripping.

Weather stripping doors will help keep the cold air out and maybe save you a little money on the energy bill. Put a door sweep on the bottom of all doors that leads outside.  If you already have them, make sure they are in good shape and not bent or torn.

Here are some air sealing tips from Energy.gov

Air Sealing Your Home

Redirect the Ceiling Fans

Did you know your ceiling fans have a reverse switch?  Ever wonder why?  If your fan is turned from its normal clockwise to counterclockwise position it will actually help displace the warm air that rises to the ceiling, creating an updraft that will push the warm air around the room without creating a wind chill.

Checking for Exposed Pipes

There’s nothing like frozen pipes to prevent you from taking a nice warm shower in the morning. To prevent this from occurring walk around the house (garage, attic and outside), if there are any exposed pipes be sure they are ready and well insulated.

If you notice cracked pipes, call in the professionals to repair them and prevent freezing. Also on cold winter nights, leave a trickle of water running in the bathroom and kitchen sinks.

Running water can’t freeze.

And don’t forget to have outdoor faucet covers for all outside faucets.

Insulation

If you live in a home that has an attic, adding insulation can be very cost effective and help keep the cold air out!

Maintaining Snow Blowers

Routine maintenance of your snow blower in the spring is best, but you can get it ready anytime.  Make sure to change the oil, spark plugs, and air filters.  Check the bolts/ pins, shoes/plates, and scraper bars for wear and tear and replace as necessary, also lubricate according to instructions for your machine.  Lastly, don’t forget to check the tires for proper inflation.

After every use, make sure to clean all remaining snow away so it doesn’t ice over and prevent you from using the blower the next time a storm hits.

Oil the Snow Shovels

Did you know you can use oil or lubricants like WD-40 on snow shovels to help shovel the driveway more efficiently?  It’s still going to be a lot of work but it helps to keep the snow from sticking.

Also make sure the snow shovel you have is appropriate for the amount of snowfall you have for your area.

Here’s a good tip for shoveling snow from the driveway: If possible stay off the snow before shoveling as packed snow is harder to move and puts more strain and stress on your body.

Ice Melt and Sand

If you live in areas that typically get a lot of snowfall, it’s a good idea to keep plenty of ice melt and/or sand on hand for walkways.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

It never fails that annoying beep coming from the smoke detector always goes off in the middle of the night.  Crum, time to change the batteries!

Take the time now to replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Emergency Supplies Kit

When is the last time you looked through your emergency food and survival supplies?  We keep ours in the coat closet and regularly check the container to replace old expired food and replace old water with a fresh water supply and plenty for every member of the family and pets if you have them.  

Replace batteries if necessary and keep a variety of sizes on hand and keep plenty in the container. If we lose power the gadgets we have won’t do much good when their power supply runs down – that’s why we have a battery operated radio and plenty of flashlights and lots of batteries on hand.

Also keep plenty of newspaper and dry wood on hand if you have a fireplace, matches, lighters and candles (please be safe if you must use candles as they can be a fire risk, another reason to keep plenty of batteries on hand to power flashlights).

Other things you might consider to keep in your emergency supply kit is a manual can opener, canned foods, games, reading material, paper products and plastic utensils and you can even stock up on solar lights – power them outdoors during the day and use them inside at night.

Don’t Forget about the Car

Besides getting your home ready for winter, be sure you are prepared in other ways as well. Keep the gas tank full in all vehicles, make sure you are using a winter formula windshield washer fluid, and keep blankets, water and snacks in the car. You never know when a good snowfall will happen and how bad it can be on traffic.

For more winter cleaning tips, take a look at another of our Winter Cleaning Checklists:

Winter Cleaning Checklist

There are several tasks to get ready for the winter months, so take some time, make a list of things to be done, to buy, it doesn’t have to do them all it one day.

Use the nice days of fall to break up tasks and get them done before your first big winter storm comes along.

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Move Out House Cleaning Checklist

The last thing on your mind when you’ve spent so much time packing, moving, unpacking – – is cleaning the place you just moved from.

Moving out of a home, whether it’s a house or an apartment, can be a lot of stress. I’ve been there a few times. I’m familiar with the desire to just collapse and be done with it.

You can’t though, you’ve got to get the place ready for it’s new occupants. It’s part of the deal, you move, you clean. Whether you rent or own.

That’s why we’ve made up this list of things to get done.

A Note to Renters

If you’re renting, you want your deposit back so you definitely want to get the old home clean. A clean home can be the difference between you getting your deposit back or nothing at all.

Renters are also expected to clean under appliances, so this list should be beneficial to you.

Our list does not include larger cleaning such as carpets and painting. Check with your landlord to see what is expected of you to get that part of your deposit back.

The following is a list of items to be completed when moving out of your home. When you’re moving from one home into another you’re bound to forget something that needs to be done.

Just throw on a pair of grubbies, maybe throw in a friend or two, put some music on – turn it up, and get your back into it!

Download the Move Out House Cleaning Checklist in Word format.

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Weekly Chore Chart for Kids

This is a simple list of items in a weekly chore chart for elementary school aged children.

Using a chore chart is a great way to help your children learn about responsibility and create good habits.

Your kids will know what they need to do at a glance. They can also see what will have to be done in the future helping with planning and time management.

How the Chore Chart Works

• Uses AM and PM time frames to designate chore times.
• “Bonus Chore” could be anything out of the ordinary or an increase in level of difficulty with an additional reward attached.
• The “Other” section is for you to add additional items that suit your family situation. It could be something like wrapping presents for a birthday or painting Easter eggs.

Just remember your kids are kids. Don’t insist on things being perfect and if you aren’t particularly happy about the way something was done – don’t go behind them and fix it and don’t step in to do something for them.

Be consistent with chore days and also give praise during a chore and let them know what a good job they are doing.

The way this chart is organized can give you a different angle on designating tasks that is creative, easily explainable and a fun learning tool.

How to Use the Chore Chart

• Print the chore chart out.
• Hang it on the refrigerator or pin it to a bulletin board.
• The kids check off each item when they are done.

Take the kids out for ice cream or pizza to celebrate the completion the chores during the week.

Download this Weekly Chore Chart for Kids in Excel format. You can modify and edit this further for your specific aims and goals after you have downloaded it.

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House Cleaning Chore Checklist

With our busy schedules, who has time to think about what needs to be done.

If you like going to concerts in the park with your friends and entertaining afterwards, you may find yourself frantically running around the house willy nilly cleaning one area but forgetting another all together.

And this can and does happen (I’ve been there and done it), especially when it’s a work night and time is short between the time you get home and the time you leave.

So I’m tired of being unorganized and whipped up this checklist into daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and even a customized section for cleaning up when you’ll be entertaining.

This at-a-glance housecleaning checklist will quickly help you and others get the house clean. (From a woman that has really had to learn to get her act together!)

Don’t let the chores pile up and sit undone when you can stay on top of them.

You can download the Excel file and add additional tasks as needed.

Download this House Cleaning Chore Checklist in Excel format.

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Monthly Chore Chart for Kids

This is a basic checklist that can be customized for your child depending on age and your expectations.

A chore chart will help remind your children of the chores they need to take care of that you’ve assigned to them.

Instead of you being the meanie, keep this list in a handy location, teach the kids to get in the habit of looking at the list throughout the day and check off what they have done.

Now you can stand back and observe, supervise where needed, and help your kids take on and learn about responsibilities. Reward them weekly with chore money, a trip to the ice cream parlor, whatever works for your family situation.

The sample of this monthly chore chart for kids is only showing the first two weeks of the form. The free download is a Excel file that contains all four weeks that can help you and your children get organized.

Download this Monthly Chore Chart for Kids in Excel format.

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Daily To Do List

If you are like most people, lists are a must to get and stay on task.

These days I feel like I can’t accomplish much without them. I’m so busy, my thoughts are going in ever which direction.

I typically start filling mine out the night before as I think of the things that need to be done.

Because if I don’t – one minute I’m thinking about something that has to be done – and the next I’ve completely forgotten what was on my mind. Then when I remember I forgot to write something down, I have the darndest time remembering what it was I forgot.

I’m looking to the heavens for help. I’m sure you’ve been in that same boat as me, so start writing down the things you need to do – it really helped me out a lot.

The download of this Daily To Do Check List is in Word format.

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Free To Do Check List

Quite often I have felt overwhelmed with the amount of things I have to do.

I remember it leaving me feeling like I’m forgetting something important, I don’t have enough time, and leaving me stressed out.

When I started writing down all the things I needed to do and the dates I needed to do them by, I started feeling better. Having a list has been a lifesaver.

Especially now that I’m getting older. And you know one of the things that comes with that? Forgetfulness.

You can prioritize your task list by how important it is or by date (this also helps with time management), then check them off when you’re done.

This blank To Do List can help you organize your day or week and it’s so easy. Just write it down and there you have it! It’s all in one place so you won’t forget anything.

Getting organized in this simple way will help improve your productivity too. Oh what a happy day!

This to-do checklist is available to download in a Microsoft Word format.

Download this To Do Check List in Word format.

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Blank Weekly/Daily Kids Chore List

Help get you and your kids organized with a daily chore chart.

This free weekly chore chart can be individualized and used for multiple kids in the house. There are four charts per page with a section for the week and a place for one of the child’s name. You can list up to five chores per week.

You can customize this chart and adjust for number of children and also include special projects or seasonal tasks.

So make your kids custom checklist, get some stickers that your children can use to mark off the chores they have completed, and feel a sense of pride in a job well done.

How to Use the Chore List

The chart is easy to fill in and easy to read. For example you might list pick up room (Saturday), put dishes away (Monday and Thursday), fold clothes (Saturday) or cut the grass (Sunday) or more age appropriate chores for the younger kids like putting their toys away and helping to put dishes in the dishwasher.

Enter the date for the “Week of” and the child’s “Name” then under the “Chore” column enter a task for them to do.

Then under a day of the week, put an X in a square for the day(s) of the week the chore needs to be completed.

Helpful Tips

• Use red stars or stickers the child can place in the box when the job is finished. I loved red stars as a kid myself. It really adds to a child’s sense of accomplishment.
• The difficulty of the chore should match the age of the child(ren).
• You can post this on the refrigerator or another designated place.

Hopefully this will be a quick and easy tool to help with the organization of your household and to start teaching the kids responsibility.

Note: This Kids Chore Checklist is in Microsoft Word format. Download this Weekly Kids Chore List in Word format.

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Free Kids Cleaning Chore List

Here is a free handy chore list for young children.

The chores we have listed are easy starters to help your kids get inspired to learn responsibility and maybe have some fun doing it.

How to use this Kids Cleaning Chore List

Chores are listed in rows the days are in columns.

• Draw an x in the chore row under the day it should be completed by.
• Your child then looks at the chart and knows they have to clean their room on Wednesday.

How to Make the Chore List Fun

• You can let your child pick the chore
• Let your child set the day
• When your child has completed a chore, they can color in the square or place a star sticker or something similar in the square.

When your child completes their chores they feel a sense of accomplishment for doing something without having to be told.

This Chore Chart is available for download in Word format and is totally customizable.

Download this Kids Chore List in Word format.

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