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Chores and fun in the same breath? You bet. Here, some ideas for getting kids to beat you at the cleaning game. Hide treats, stickers, or pennies in, on, or under knickknacks, then ask your child to dust. She gets to enjoy the rewards only when everything is dusted. Post individual lists of chores kids can do (one for each child in your family). Whenever your child accomplishes a task, have her mark it with a sticker. Whoever has the most stickers at the end of the week gets the Helper of the Week award. Play "Go Fish" with a basket of clean socks. Divide the socks among the players, leaving a pile to draw from. Each player, in turn, holds up a sock and asks another player if he has the mate. If not, the asking player must take a sock from the top of the draw pile. When finished, the player with the most pairs wins. Turn any socks that stay single into child-friendly dust mitts. Insert child's hand into clean but dampened sock and use it to remove dust from houseplants and furniture. Have a scavenger hunt. Make a list of everyday items (newspapers, magazine, shoes, etc.). Set a timer for 5 minutes, then have kids collect stray items throughout the house. The winner is the child who picks up the most (and returns them to their rightful spots). After dinner, do a "10-minute Tidy." Set a timer and have family members scatter through the house putting away the day's clutter. Appoint someone to be Inspector D. Clutter. Armed with a laundry basket and plastic police badge from the dress-up box, this person roams the house and puts stray belongings into clutter "jail" (the basket). To set an item free, its owner (Mom and Dad included!) must do a chore. Turn a bucket into a personalized cleaning caddy. Use permanent marker to write your child's name on it and have him decorate its with other drawings. Store supplies such as sponge, dustrag and roll of paper towels, etc. Show them the money? Some experts believe allowance should be reserved for teenagers. School-aged children will easily get behind the idea that chores are something you do as a member of the family — not for money. They'll be excited just to show off their skill at completing a task.

Better hurry up and eat them! These sugar cookies are melting away…Transform your favorite sugar cookies into melting snowmen in just a few minutes. Ingredients 1 pouch Betty Crocker™ Sugar Cookie Mix 1 pouch each Betty Crocker™ Cookie Icing in white, red, blue, and green 1 tube Betty Crocker™ black Decorating Gel 1 pouch Betty Crocker™ Candy Shop decors rainbow chips 1 bottle Betty Crocker™ Chocolate Sprinkles 12 marshmallows Steps Follow baking directions on sugar cookie pouch, dividing dough evenly into 12 round cookies. On cooled cookies, draw a “snow puddle” with Betty Crocker™ White Cookie Icing. TIP: Draw the outline of the puddle, then go back and fill in the shape. While the icing is still wet, immediately place a marshmallow to one side of the cookie. MAKE THE ARMS: Once the icing and marshmallow have set, pipe two “branches” onto each cookie using black gel. Add fingers with chocolate sprinkles. MAKE THE FACE: Using a small dot of white cookie icing, stick two “coal” eyes and a nose onto the marshmallow with Rainbow Chips. Pipe a small dot for the mouth with black gel. MAKE THE SCARF AND BUTTONS: Using blue, red, or green cookie icing; carefully draw scarves around the base of the marshmallow. Using a small dot of white cookie icing, stick three “coal” buttons beneath the scarf with Rainbow Chips. Allow cookies to set for at least one hour before serving.

Here's a holiday sugar cookie that doesn't need rolling. Just four ingredients and simple candies make creating snowmen faces super fun and frosty. Ingredients 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 1 egg 1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker™ Whipped fluffy white frosting Red string licorice Assorted candies

7 Indoor Snowball Games & Activities These snowball games will keep my kids active and engaged (indoors!) for quite a while.  Here is our list of snowball games, but you and your little ones could probably think of many more! Snowball Fight Game: This one is obvious, right?  You may as well do this one first because your kids are dying to throw these things at each other anyway.  We have a few ground rules at our house such as always aim below the chest (no head shots).   On Target:  Print out or draw a target that can be taped up on a door, wall or window.  Have the kids throw the snowballs to try to hit the target.  How many times can they do it?  Throw a little learning into the mix for younger children by having them count out loud or have one child draw tally marks on a chalkboard while another is throwing.   Bucket Toss:  Pretty much the same thing, only have them toss the snowballs into a bucket or bowl.  You can use masking tape or painter’s tape on the floor to mark off a line a few feet away.  See who can make the shot from all the way across the room!   Stack ‘em Up: Try to make a snowball tower.  You can mention a few engineering principles, like a pyramid shape with a wide base will probably work best.  The kids can use a ruler to measure their creations once they’re done.   Knock ‘em down: Build a pyramid out of light-weight plastic cups, then roll or toss the snowballs to knock them all down.  Bonus points if your kids can do it with just one snowball.   Relay Race:  Grab a couple of wooden spoons and have a good ‘ol relay race.  This is just like an egg race, but uses the snowballs instead.  And if these snowballs fall on the floor, there’s no mess to clean up!   Pile On:  Have the kids pile as many snowballs as they can onto an overturned Frisbee or plastic plate.  How many can they load up?  And can they carry it across the room without losing any? How to make the snow balls:  Pick up several sets of white stockings from your local dollar store.  Then, you’ll need some scraps of batting and a pair of scissors.     Cut of a good-sized piece of batting and stuff it in the toe of a sock almost all the way to the heel.     Then, hold the toe of the sock in one hand and with the other pull the open end of the sock so that the stocking is stretched as much as possible.     Keep pulling and wrap the cuff part of the sock around the stuffed part of the sock. Then, fold the cuff back over on itself so that the stocking will stay folded into a ball. This is what it looks like on one side of the snowball.     A whole flock of snowballs made in less than 5 minutes!      Grab the snowballs and let the snowball fight begin! How to Make Fluffy DIY Indoor Snowballs 1. Cut a notch of on short side of your cardboard. The notch should be about an inch wide and a couple inches deep. 2. Wrap yarn around the cardboard over the notched end. The number of times will depend on the thickness of your yarn. Our thick and fussy baby yarn needed to be wrapped about 55 times for the right end result, although if we’d wrapped more yarn the snowballs would have been even more dense which is great. Cut the end once you’ve wrapped your yarn around the cardboard enough. 3. Cut a length of yarn from the main roll to use as a tie, about 8 inches or so should work just fine. Using the notched area of your cardboard wrap the string around the center of the bunch of yarn a few times cinching it down into an hourglass shape. Make sure to cinch it tightly and tie a knot. 4. Once your tie is in place slide the looped yarn from your cardboard. Once it’s off it will look a little like a bow. 5. Cut through the looped yarn on both ends. Cut down the center of the loops as best as you can. Cutting the looped ends will give you a rough pom pom or ball shape. 6. After the loops are all cut down the center fluff the ball a bit to help set the yarn in place and then trim the ends to give your snowball a nice evenly round shape.  

Make this year's annual family christmas photos fun and excited, enough to make people smile or laugh out loud. Be ready for some calls asking (1) what brand duct tape is this (ha!) and (2) how the heck did you do this?? And, not to worry, this photo doesn’t actually involve taping your kids to the wall. Which means the answer to question #1 isn’t all too important – but it’s just good ol’ Duck Tape if you’re still curious.  Sorry to disappoint the duct tape aficionados with you – the tape we use would never hold up a 35-pounder with just a few pieces (not that I want to try). This is all thanks to good ol’ Photoshop and a white backdrop that I place on the ground for the kids to lie on. Best of all, this whole session will only take 15 minutes! 

A homemade snow globe is a childhood must! The best part about these snow globes is that they give you the perfect opportunity to get rid of some of those pesky plastic figurines lying around the house. Another idea is to use LEGOs -- if your child can part with them! Materials Small glass jar A plastic figurine or Lego Glycerin (optional: while it's not necessary, it makes the glitter float better) Glitter Sequins Water Spoon Superglue or a hot glue gun Directions 1. Ask your child if he can find the perfect plastic figurine or Lego piece to use in his snow globe. No sense in buying a new one, if there’s already something at home! 2. Put glue on the inside of the jar’s lid. Place and stick your child’s plastic figurine on it. 3. Fill the jar with cold water. 4. Add 1-2 teaspoons of glitter and stir. 5. Add a few drops of glycerin. 6. Screw the lid on the jar -- you can glue it if you're concerned about your child trying to open it. 7. That's it! Have your child shake the jar or tip it upside down to make it "snow."

Create this handmade snowman snow globe on a snowy winter day. It's easy to assemble and you can personalize the clay snowman however you like.   

This fun & easy project can be done with supplies you probably already have! Create a winter wonderland, & even place a photo inside these DIY Snow Globes! Snow globes are magical, whimsical, and fun.  And they’re super easy to make at home. The first thing you need are jars, with nice snug lids.  Check out your fridge; I grabbed an almost empty bottle of peperoncini peppers (that I have been using on Greek Salads and Greek Tacos, you’d think I was the pregnant one with the cravings I have for those.  I am most definitely not.)  I also had a bottle of capers that I finally finished by making one last batch of this Grown Up Dipping Sauce (another obsession, you guys need to all try that one), and a big jar from marinara that we used for dipping Pizza Rolls.  Marinated artichoke heart jars work really great for these, as do little teeny tiny baby food jars.  Reallyany size jar works; you just have to find things to fit inside of them.   You can be creative with the items that go inside your snow globe, it’s just important that they are made of materials that won’t break down in water.  Think plastic, ceramic, etc.  If you’re not sure, just try placing the items in a bowl of water for a few hours and see if they start doing weird things.  Try thrift and craft stores for little winter-themed figurines.  And if you don’t have any of those, try some crap that belongs to your children that you want to throw away anyway fun stuff like this and try a silly snow globe.     Another really fun thing is to make your own little figurines with Sculpey Clay.  You can buy all different colors at almost any craft store and it just bakes in the oven.  A snowman would be super easy to make!  I snipped all of my greenery off of artificial garlands I have around my house.     I decided to take it up a notch though, and put something extra special inside.  I can’t tell you how much I love it when I have an idea in my head and it actually works like I thought it would!  I just took a photo of each kiddo, printed it out on my home printer, cut it out, and ran it through my laminator (the laminator you all recommended to me on Facebook that I got and love.  Muah!) If you don’t have a laminator, most copy stores have lamination services that don’t cost much.  Make sure when you cut around your lamination, you leave a tiny border so it stays sealed up.     You will create your scene on the underside of the jar lid.  I just use plain ol’ hot glue.  You might want to take a piece of sand paper and rough up the inside of the jar lid so the glue adheres better.  I didn’t do that with this batch and everything has stayed put just fine, but something you can try.  If you have things with wide, flat bases, they’re easy to just glue right on.  But if you have something like my little plastic pictures, or a tree sprig with a tiny twig at the bottom, I’ve found that it’s easier for me if I have something like little rocks (those blue things you see in the photos; they’re aquarium rocks from the pet store that I had from another project) to help keep things in place.  It will make sense when you do it, but basically you can pile some glue down there, put your object in, and then mound some pebbles around it to adhere everything together as the glue dries.  Check out my little snow bunnies:     It’s just important to remember to keep things away from the edges enough that you can still screw the lid onto the jar, so don’t fill the entire base with glue or rocks.  When everything is dry turn it upside down and shake it a few times to make sure nothing falls off! The next step is filling up your jar with water, almost to the very top and dumping in a bunch of glitter.  I recommend adding a little more glitter than you think you need, especially if you have greenery because some of it will get stuck in there.     One thing you can do is add some glycerin, which makes the glitter float down a little slower than it does in plain water.  (Or several readers have commented that baby oil accomplishes the same thing.  You can also find snow globe “snow” on eBay at at some craft stores.)  Glycerin can be found in the baking aisle of craft supply stores in small bottles or on Amazon.  If you have some already, or find it easily, you can try that out.  I did a side by side test and found that it didn’t make a huge difference, unless I added quite a bit.  Probably at least 2-3 teaspoons per cup of water.     You know the Wilton gel colors we use in everything?  Well if those get dried out, you can add glycerin to them to restore the consistency.  You can also add it to homemade soap bubbles to make the bubbles stronger. I’ve heard you can also buy it at drug stores, often near the first aid supplies.   Isn’t it kind of interesting when things can be found in both the cake decorating and first aid aisles??  Didn’t know that, but I read it on the internet, and if there’s one thing we all should know by now it is that everything on the internet is true.  The internet is also where I discovered that if you have some benzoic acid laying around, you can make your own snow.  Crap.  I’m out of benzoic acid. Anyhoo…just carefully squish your stuff in the jar as you put the lid on and tighten it.  You can put hot glue on the edge of the jar if you’re want to seal it up.  Or you could put some colored electrical tape around the edge of the jar.  I left mine un-glued  (and I strongly suggest you do, at least at first) in case I had to open them up to fix anything, or store them without water until next year, or change the water if it got cloudy, etc.  I found out that one of my little red berries was painted and turned the entire snow globe pink so I was glad they weren’t glued shut and I could just snip it out and re-fill it.  My jars haven’t leaked.  I do flip them over sometimes and set them lid-side-up just in case.  Either way it’s best to display them somewhere that won’t be damaged if a little water leaks out.     You can also paint your lids if you want to cover up the labels on them.  I’m much too lazy for paint.  (But not too lazy to laminate my children and put them in winter scenes inside of snow globes.  It’s all about priorities, people.)     Now all that is left to do is watch your kids marvel in amazement and listen to them ask 50 times a day, “Mom, can I shake my snow globe?!”     My jars stay on my windowsill in front of my kitchen sink so they can stare at me, mocking, as I do dishes and they play in the snow.     Seriously- Best. Craft. Ever.     Bonus fun, make giant freaky eyeballs and giggle your heart out:     FYI- I wondered if the lamination would hold up in the water.  I didn’t expect it to last forever, I was aiming for a few weeks at least, but it looks great; no water seeping in whatsoever.  These have been in water for a couple weeks now and they look just like they did when I made them.  Maybe they will last forever?  (Edit:  one commenter said her daughter made a snow globe with a laminated picture inside 12 years ago and it still looks great!)

Candy cane popcorn is an easy Christmas candy recipe! Popcorn is coated in white chocolate and crushed candy canes for a crunchy, minty treat. Candy cane popcorn is a cure for the Christmas munchies! Popcorn is coated in white chocolate and crushed candy canes for a sweet, minty treat that's a perfect party food or edible gift idea. Prep: 15 mins Cook: 6 mins Total: 21 mins Servings: 12 servings ________________ Le pop-corn à la canne à sucre est une recette facile de bonbons de Noël ! Le pop-corn est enrobé de chocolat blanc et de cannes de bonbons écrasées pour un régal croquant et mentholé. Le pop-corn à la canne à sucre est un remède contre les fringales de Noël ! Le pop-corn est enrobé de chocolat blanc et de cannes à sucre broyées pour une friandise sucrée et mentholée, idéale pour les fêtes ou comme cadeau comestible. Préparation : 15 minutesCuisinier : 6 minutesTotal : 21 minutesDes portions : 12 portions ______________ Ingredients / Ingrédients 1 (2.8-ounce) bag microwave popcorn (about 10 cups popped) // 1 sac de maïs soufflé pour micro-ondes (environ 10 tasses) 8 large candy canes // 8 grandes cannes à sucre 12 ounces white chocolate (chopped or white chocolate chips) // 12 onces de chocolat blanc (en morceaux ou en pépites de chocolat blanc) Steps / Étapes 1. Gather the ingredients. // Rassemblez les ingrédients.  2. Cover a baking sheet with foil or waxed paper and set aside. // Couvrez une plaque de cuisson avec du papier d'aluminium ou du papier ciré et mettez-la de côté. 3. Pop the popcorn in the microwave, then pour it into a large bowl, separating out any un-popped kernels. // Mettez le maïs soufflé au micro-ondes, puis versez-le dans un grand bol en séparant les grains non éclatés. 4. Unwrap the candy canes and place them in a food processor. Pulse on-off several times for 5 to 10 seconds each, until the canes are finely crushed, with just a few larger pieces remaining. Alternately, place the candy canes in a large plastic bag and seal tightly. Use a rolling pin to roll/smash the candy canes until they are finely ground. // Déballez les cannes de bonbons et placez-les dans un robot ménager. Actionnez plusieurs fois pendant 5 à 10 secondes chacune, jusqu'à ce que les cannes soient finement broyées et qu'il ne reste que quelques gros morceaux. Vous pouvez aussi placer les bonbons dans un grand sac en plastique et le fermer hermétiquement. Utilisez un rouleau à pâtisserie pour rouler/écraser les cannes de bonbons jusqu'à ce qu'elles soient finement broyées. 5. Melt the white chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl and stir until smooth. // Faites fondre le chocolat blanc dans un petit bol allant au micro-ondes et remuez jusqu'à ce qu'il soit lisse. 6. Add about 1/3 cup of the crushed candy canes to the white chocolate and stir them in. // Ajoutez environ 1/3 de tasse des cannes de bonbons écrasées au chocolat blanc et mélangez-les. 7. Pour the white chocolate over the popcorn in the bowl and stir to coat the popcorn with the chocolate. // Versez le chocolat blanc sur le pop-corn dans le bol et remuez pour enrober le pop-corn avec le chocolat. 8. Scrape the popcorn onto the baking sheet and spread it into an even layer to cool. // Gratter le pop-corn sur la plaque du four et l'étaler en une couche uniforme pour qu'il refroidisse. 9. While the white chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the remaining candy cane pieces over the top of the popcorn. // Alors que le chocolat blanc est encore humide, saupoudrez les morceaux de sucre d'orge restants sur le dessus du pop-corn. 10. Let the popcorn set at room temperature until the white chocolate is firm. // Laissez le pop-corn se figer à température ambiante jusqu'à ce que le chocolat blanc soit ferme. 11. Break the popcorn up into small pieces, then serve. // Cassez le pop-corn en petits morceaux, puis servez. Tip / Conseil  Candy cane popcorn can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Depending on the humidity in your location, it might start to get stale after several days. //  Le pop-corn à la canne à sucre peut être conservé dans un récipient hermétique à température ambiante pendant une semaine au maximum. Selon le taux d'humidité de votre région, il peut commencer à être rassis après plusieurs jours.

Start with a square of paper /// Commencez par un carré de papier Fold it from one corner to the other /// Pliez-le d'un coin à l'autre Unfold and fold it the other way. From corner to corner /// Dépliez et repliez dans l'autre sens. D'un coin à l'autre.  Unfold and turn it over so it looks like this /// Dépliez et retournez le document pour qu'il ressemble à ceci Fold the bottom part to the top /// Replier la partie inférieure vers le haut Unfold and fold it the other way /// Déplier et plier dans l'autre sens Unfold and turn it over. So it look like the one in the picture. /// Dépliez et retournez le tout. Pour qu'il ressemble à celui de la photo Gently press the sides towards the middle… /// Pressez doucement les côtés vers le milieu... …and fold the top part towards you /// ...et rabattre la partie supérieure vers vous Turn it 180° and fold the sides. When you´re finished folding, cut the top part off /// Tournez-le à 180° et repliez les côtés. Lorsque vous avez terminé le pliage, coupez la partie supérieure  Here comes the tricky part. Place the paper so you have the opening towards you. Take the left side and unfold it. Open it a bit, and fold it over to the right side. (see pictures). Press down the folding on the top, and fold it to the left. (last picture) /// Voici la partie délicate. Placez le papier de manière à ce que l'ouverture soit tournée vers vous. Prenez le côté gauche et dépliez-le. Ouvrez-le un peu et repliez-le sur le côté droit. (voir photos). Appuyez sur le pliage du haut et pliez-le vers la gauche. (dernière photo) Do the same to the right side  /// Faites la même chose du côté droit Fold the corners. All off them /// Pliez les coins. Tous les coins Unfold /// Déplier Fold the corners inwards /// Replier les coins vers l'intérieur Now you want to make the other half of the diamond, repeat all the previous steps so that you have two pieces that looks like this. /// Maintenant que vous voulez faire l'autre moitié du diamant, répétez toutes les étapes précédentes pour avoir deux morceaux qui ressemblent à celui-ci. Put some glue on the corner parts you just folded and gently press half the diamond to the other half. (You want to turn the two parts so you have one “top” facing one “valley”. And not “top” to “top”.) /// Mettez un peu de colle sur les parties d'angle que vous venez de plier et pressez doucement la moitié du diamant sur l'autre moitié. (Vous voulez tourner les deux parties de manière à ce que l'une d'entre elles soit tournée vers le haut et l'autre vers le bas. Et non pas "haut" vers "haut"). Done! /// Fini! 

Learn how to make snowflakes out of paper so that you can decorate your house and have a snow day this Winter! Just fold pieces of paper, use scissors to cut out shapes, and see what designs you can make! What other arts and crafts and fun DIY projects do you want Crafty Carol to teach? SUPPLIES NEEDED Paper (preferably thin or lightweight paper) Scissors Protractor (optional) STEPS 1. Make a paper square. Start out with a square piece of paper, preferably thin or lightweight paper. You can use square origami paper or follow these easy steps for making a square from any rectangular piece of paper. 2. Fold diagonally in half. Fold the square diagonally in half to come up with a triangle. 3. Fold in half. Fold the resulting triangle in half to make a smaller triangle. 4. Divide the triangle into 3 sections. The most crucial and perhaps the trickiest step in making a paper snowflake is dividing the triangle into three equal sections. The most accurate way to do this is to use a protractor to divide the angle at the triangle's apex (the corner opposite the longest side) into three sections, each with a 30-degree angle. If you don't have a protractor, you can estimate the size of the sections as you do Steps 5 and 6. 5. Fold the left section. Once you've marked out the three equal sections, fold the left section towards the front. 6. Fold the right section. Similarly fold the right section towards the front. 7. Flip the shape. Flip the shape over so that the side with the horizontal edge is facing front. 8. Cut along the horizontal edge. Cut along the horizontal edge so that you end up with a wedge. 9. Cut random shapes. While keeping the wedge folded, cut out random shapes out of the edges. If you're looking for printable ready-to-cut snowflake patterns, you can find them here. 10. Unfold the paper. Carefully unfold the paper to reveal your paper snowflake. Like real snowflakes, your paper snowflake has a 6-point or six-sided symmetry. 11. Make more snowflakes. In nature, no two snowflakes are exactly the same. Try making different shape cut-outs in Step 9 to come up with your own unique snowflakes.    

Learn how to make snowflakes out of paper so that you can decorate your house and have a snow day this Winter! Just fold pieces of paper, use scissors to cut out shapes, and see what designs you can make! What other arts and crafts and fun DIY projects do you want Crafty Carol to teach?  

Here is an answer to your children's wishes for a snowy day if you don't see any show through your window. Alex happily cut dozens of paper snowflakes. Each paper snowflake was beautiful and unique as a real one. _________ Voici une réponse aux souhaits de vos enfants pour un jour de neige si vous ne voyez aucun spectacle à travers votre fenêtre. Alex est heureux de couper des douzaines de flocons de neige en papier. Chaque flocon de neige en papier était beau et unique comme un vrai.

Focus on the Family provides helpful tips to get your kids to enjoy doing chores and avoid the chore wars. Dirty dishes. Messy bedrooms. Toys on the living room floor. Some days, there just isn’t a good way to avoid the chore wars. But there is always tomorrow, and you can be proactive. Ask yourself, What chores are important for my children to learn, and what are they capable of doing?   You can find chores that are age-appropriate from 2 years old all the way to 18 years old. 

Cette carte à câlin est une carte qui utilise les empreintes de main, une activité manuelle adorable qui est facile à faire avec les modèles imprimables. Vous pouvez personnaliser votre propre carte pour quelqu’un de spécial ou comme cadeau Dépliez la carte à câlin pour voir votre gros câlin !  Il y a un modèle de cheveux pour garçon et 3 modèles de cheveux pour fille à choisir, les enfants peuvent aussi décorer et personnaliser la chemise et la carte comme ils le souhaitent. Matériel : les patrons à imprimer (ICI), du papier de différentes couleurs, des yeux mobiles (facultatif), de la colle, des ciseaux et des feutres. Tranche d’âge : de 3 à 10 ans (avec l’aide d’un adulte pour la découpe pour les plus petits)  

Make someone's day by sending them this homemade hug drawing.  1. Have your child lay on the piece of paper with their arms open like they are about to give a hug. Trace them with a pencil or crayon. 2. Have your child fill in the details of her face, shirt, hair, etc. with markers or crayons. This is the part that makes the hug really special because it's their own decorating and creating (even though it might not come out the way you envisioned it would). 3. Write a message on your hug. I wrote "A Hug from Me to You" on ours. If your child is old enough to, encourage him to write his own message. 4. Sign and send your hug in the mail to someone special. Ours went to Grandma and it made her day. She couldn't believe how big it kept getting as she unfolded it from the envelope.