Ways to Keep Tweens and Teens Entertained This Winter

 Winter is the time to introduce tweens and teens to new, screen free activities. If you are looking for inspiration for busting boredom while teaching new skills to older kids, you are going to love these ideas.  From knitting to financial know how, this collection has something for a variety of interests.

Making a quilt is a great project because it teaches useful sewing skills and produces a good blanket to keep them warm once they're done. Try getting some simple quilt patterns from here and see what kind of project your teen will produce from there on out.

Keep a teens hands busy while creating a useful item with knitting kits. Make a scarf with the included pattern and knitting tools. These are so much fun for kids of all ages and they will love wearing their creation all winter long! 

Give kids the chance to have fun while developing financial literacy. This game is perfect for a variety of ages and will help pass the time on a snow day. Cash Flow for Kids is from the Rich Dad line of goods, and packs a lot of fun into a compact package.

Y'art Kits are the perfect crafty escape for a winter day. These are easy to create works of art with yarn. Harper and I loved this unicorn kit from Play Monster and it only costs about $11. We are going to order the Pug Y'art Kit too because it is so cute!

Knitting is the thing to do this winter, and this Hat Not Hate Loom Kit is the perfect way to get started. This makes it so easy to make a toasty hat for yourself and to share. Buy more yarn and keep creating hats, which are so much more fun to share than hate. Order for $25.

In the 1980's my cousin was really into Latch Hooking Rugs. I was always a little jealous of her creations and wished my parents would buy latch hook kits for me. 40 years later, my daughter has been latch hooking some impressive works that would have my cousin jealous! Order these for about $15 from Play Monster for a fun crafting session that will have your girls hooked.

Yamaha offers an assortment of high quality musical instruments that are perfect for all ages, including teens and tweens. Something like the Alto Venova makes for a perfect pastime. The instrument produces the mellow sounds of the sax, in a portable and fun to play package. Tweens and teens will love picking up a new skill this winter like playing a unique instrument. 

If you are looking for more ways to craft with tweens and teens check out these ideas.

Reader  favorites include:

Dragonfly Bookmarks

Rainbow Coasters

Winter Personal Care Favorite Finds

 Are you looking for ways to switch things up a bit in your personal care routine? I have been trying out some different products for my hair and skin, and gathered some of my favorites here to share with you.

Samples were provided for consideration and photos.

Birch Babe has a variety of great products for your hair, skin and face ranging from whipped body butters to some incredicle shampoo and body bars, which are my new favorite thing. Check out the shop and find a few new favorites starting at about $12.

This would have been awesome for the holidays, but with the shipping fiasco which defined the 2020 holiday season, there is no time like the present to give your hair 12 days of high performance goodies from No. 4 Hair Care. This is a great way to try a variety of their products for under $50.

These packages from Health Energy Amazing Life are awesome. They have lavender sleep patches, ear candles, oils and more to help you relax and unwind after a long winter day. Order the package for about $20 for a sensual healing treat.

Starling Super Dew Multitasking Oil is never greasy and won't clog pores. This is a must try for your beauty routine for about $20 a bottle. I love this anti aging oil for the dry winter months.

This Viola hair mist perfume is a lovely addition to a beauty routine because it leaves your hair smelling wonderful for hours after application. I loved the warm notes this mist brings to my hair and how long lasting the aroma is. Order for $56 a bottle.

Axe is an awesome way to make sure the guys in your life are looking out for their hair and skin this winter too. Grab some texturizing cream,body spray or a Total Fresh Gift Set from Walmart. You will appreciate how affordable their line of products is while being effective.

Deodorant is something that everyone needs, but some of the options aren't super healthy.This is where Smarty Pits comes in with aluminum free deodorant for all, in wonderful scents like Coconut Mango and Almond Biscotti. Prices start at about $13 and this is a really effective option for smelling fresh all day long.

No Fade Fresh has some really fun hair color options. Get at home color depositing results in a variety of awesome colors! This is a great way to maintain a constant color without weekly salon visits. Fresh No Fade is perfect for keeping gret hair even during a pandemic! You can find this at Target for about $15 a bottle.

Ziri Red Clay in Paste helps remove dirt and grime while reducing unsightly acne and black heads. This is a secret weapon for beauty that doubles as a few minutes of at home spa care. Order for $35 and treat your skin to a detox.

 

DIY Flower Arrangements To Try During The Lockdown

 After the global pandemic, people don’t prefer to visit a bouquet store in Dubai. Moreover, many flower stores have also shut down their physical stores from the city. Are you running out of ideas on how to make flower arrangements at home?

Don’t worry; here, I will share some exciting ideas for DIY floral arrangements. For that, you need different types of flowers, rubber bands, ribbons, and other essentials, which you can order from online flower delivery Dubai. In this article, I have listed the flower names and explained the steps to make an attractive flower arrangement at home.

Try These DIY Floral Arrangement At Home

When you visit a bouquet store in Dubai, you may have found that florists make attractive bouquets within minutes. Well, you can also try these do-it-yourself flower arrangements at home.

Simple DIY Bouquet

To make a simple DIY bouquet, you need Purple Dahlias, Earl Grey roses, and Ruscus flowery plants. For making an accurate bouquet size, make it one and half times of the container. Remove the thorns and leaves of the flowers that will prevent bacteria.

Next, you can blow the center of the rosebud gently to open up quickly. It helps the bud to breathe and increases the size of the bloom. Make sure that you keep it away from heat and sunlight.

Floral Arrangement for Bursting Summer

It’s one of the best floral arrangements in Dubai. You need different types of flowers and greeneries, including Delphinium, Hydrangea, Jasmine, Roses, and Greeneries.

For this arrangement, you need to add some greenery to the container to hide the stems. Prepare a grid with the help of tape; it will hold the flowers in a small container. Wrapping the flowers and greeneries with tape is one of the easiest ways to make an arrangement with only fewer flowers.

When you are creating a grid with tape over the mouth of the vase, consider the number of stems you will be using for the bouquet. Before you put the flowers and greeneries into the vase, wrap the mouth of the vase by hiding the edges of the tape that you used to make the grid lines.

Wild Beauty Floral Arrangement

For making a wild beauty floral arrangement, you need spray roses and greeneries. Bring flowers of a single color or two at maximum and combine with two types of greeneries. While choosing greeneries, go with a hardier and a lighter.

While designing, make one side higher and let it overturn the other to look like a slightly S-curve design. Arrange the greeneries in the container before you add the flowers. Although it seems counter-intuitive, it will give a wild look to the floral arrangement. Add more greeneries to the container so that it will hold the flowers in position.

Lush Bouquet

The lush bouquet is one of the best floral arrangements that you can do-it-yourself. You need Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, and flowery plants to make this floral arrangement. If you don’t find these flowers, you can buy them from different online flower stores.

When you are making this arrangement, ensure that you add different types of grasses and greeneries for texture. Combine lighter flowers with deeper reds to make a lush centerpiece bouquet.

Farm-Stand Flora

It may be a little expensive floral arrangement as you need a good quality container. However, you can go with a neutral palette, which may not cost you much. You can choose from a variety of flowers and flowery plants, including Celosia, Zinnia, Cosmos, etc.

Choose darker foliage and add bare branches in the container with the flowers to give it an attractive look. You can order all of these items online if you don’t find them on a farm stand.

Final Words

Hopefully, you have learned about different DIY floral arrangements that you can arrange at home easily. Consider these factors while making a flower bouquet for any occasion.

You can try other floral arrangements by experimenting with different flowers and greeneries. If you have ever made any bouquets at your home, please share them in the comments section.

Easy DIY Activities To Do in Lockdown

 

Easy DIY Activities To

It’s now 2021 and in the UK our national lockdown looks like it’ll be in place for the foreseeable future, so we’re all stuck at home with time on our hands and the need to be productive could drive you mad if you don’t have things to do.

So now is the perfect time to get some DIY done around the house, not only will doing some DIY help you burn through some time, you’ll also make your home look better and create a nicer environment for you to spend your days in.

To help you get started on your DIY crusade, I’ve found a few easy and cheap DIY projects you can take on without needing to leave your home and that can be accomplished by a DIY beginner with limited access to tools. So, strap yourself in, chuck on some old clothes and let’s talk DIY activities.

Make Some Family Art To Hang

First up on our list is an activity you can get your children involved with, so this is great for parents who need some activities for their children in lockdown. All you’ll need is to find some cheap canvases and paints online that can be delivered to your home.

Once you have what you need, gather up your family and paint away, what you paint is up to you, but some good starting points would be a landscape of maybe some flowers or a bowl of fruit. The goal here is to get some personal painting to hang around the home, with your own paintings up you’ll brighten up your home and have some keepsakes to remind you of this time.

Brighten Up A Room With New Blinds

Second on our list is a grown ups only activity, but can still be a fun experience that brightens up your home nonetheless, simply swapping out your old blinds in a room for a new set can make a world of difference in the look of a room and can even be practical, for example: if your children are struggling to sleep a set of blackout blinds can make a world of difference.

Getting and installing blinds has never been an easier task, all you need to do is measure how big your blind will need to be, find a blind you like and order it online. Once you have your blind at home you can easily install it in less than 10 minutes. So really the hardest point of this sit choosing what blinds you’d like, personally I’m, a fan of horizontal blinds, but what you choose should be a personal style choice.

Craft With Your Kids For The Living Room

Next up, we’re back to child friendly projects, a nice bit of arts and crafts to occupy your time and create some nice accessories for your living room. Again, you’ll need to search for supplies online, but it’s relatively cheap and easy to get what you’ll need to make cushions, blankets and throws.

Taking some time to create something as a family will form a personal connection to these accessories and make your living room feel even more cozy and homely. If you’re looking for a starting point, making and embroidering some cushions is a great fun place to start off your craft adventure!

Cupcake Coloring Page

Grab this free cupcake coloring page for a sweet coloring activity for the kids!

Cupcake Coloring Page

Since my kids have been home for remote school for *almost* a full year now, I have become an expert on how to keep them entertained, and what to do to give them a break from each other. When tensions run high, I like to offer them a coloring page or two. It gives them a chance for quiet reflection, and an outlet for creativity. I love to create coloring pages to meet the need or suit the season. This cupcake coloring page was designed on a day when Harp needed a little sugar to combat her salty attitude.

Print as many as you like, share with a friend, or send to school with your little ones to spread a little sweetness for Valentine's Day. These are also nice for sending along with a birthday treat. Make sure to pin this free coloring page for later!

If you are looking for more free print-able coloring sheets, I have a bunch for you!

Reader favorites include:

C is for Cat

Unicorn for Adults

B is for Butterfly

D is for Donut

Winter Boredom Busters for Kids

Winter is here, and it seems like my kids want to do nothing but play fortnite. It is not that I am opposed to video games, but there has to be a limit to screen time! If you are looking for ways to break up the long nights and cold days while pulling your kids attention away from Fortnite you are in luck! I have rounded up some of my favorite toys, products and activities for kids to share with you.

Samples were provided to inspire this list.

Board games are always a fun thing to do with the family. Here are some of the games we recommended as gifts last year. 

Mad Matter is so much fun to play with. It combines sensory delight with imaginative creation, and best of all, this stuff never dries out! It is a lot like play doh, but is different in its own wonderful ways. My kids love to press this stuff into the included molds and serve up a helping of fun. Find it at Walmart, Kohl's and on Amazon starting at about $8 a pack.

A good story is always a good idea, especially on a cold, winter day! This adorable book by Alex Willan is perfect for snuggling up and getting lost in a story. Unicorns are the Worst! Will have your kids laughing and developing a love of reading. Order for about $18 from Simon and Schuster.

It has been almost a year since my girl has been to a birthday party, so I decided to bring the party to her with this really cool jewelry designer kit. This clay charm kit is perfect for making with a friend and wearing with pride. Order a Clay Chic You Unique kit starting at $18. They have a big selection so you can find the perfect kit!

The Bolean Box is awesome for kids of all ages because who wouldn't like to build their own computer with the raspberry system? This isn't just a computer though, it teaches kids to code, and lets them do lots of rad things like modify minecraft! The kits start at $150 and are a lot of fun to assemble. This makes a perfect snow day activity that will entertain the kids long after the snow melts. Order on the site or from Amazon. I know this list is for screen free ideas, but this is such an engaging option I had to include it on this list.

As for my house, we will love any and everything to do with cats. My 7 year old is crazy for our kitties so the 44 Cats Clubhouse Pilou's Place was a natural choice for her. This fun little set will have kids meowing for days with delight. It has all of the little accessories that any cat fantatic would want to play with! Find these at Target, from Amazon and from Walmart.

Bandai brings back a taste of my childhood with these awesome Tamagotchi Pets! The Hello Kitty Tamagotchi is perfect for portable fun and gives kids something to tinker with at anytime or any place. I love the small size of these and how they fit on a key chain or backpack. Find this Hello Kitty Pet for $20 at Walmart, Target, Game Stop and Amazon.

A classic toy gets a make over with these Charaction CUBE's from Bandai. These are fun little puzzles that challenge kids while engaging them with favorite characters like Gudetama and favorites from Dragon Ball Z. These are about $15 and can be found at Target or from Amazon.

We live in Ohio and we have already had several days with snow on the ground. My kids will happily head out to play in it, anytime, anywhere. These Gosili cups are awesome for warming them up with cocoa after some snow lay. They are durable, portable, and best of all unbreakable! These cups are about $15 and will help you reduce your carbon footprint.

I hope these ideas help you keep your kids entertained without relying on the screen this winter!

Flying High In the Sky

This easy to set up sensory bin is perfect for little hands. It is fun to sort thru and play in, and it has a really fun feature for night time play; this Flying High in The Sky Sensory Bin Glows in the DARK!

We have been making sensory bins for about 8 years now.Even though Rolf is a tween and is generally too cool for my projects, even he wanted to get his hands into this one. I used things we had in our craft supplies, but for your convenience I added affiliate links to help you find some of these items that you may not have.

Supplies:

A Storage Bin with a lid

Neon Blue Food Color

Glow in the Dark Paint

A zipper seal baggie

White Rice, Uncooked (2 cups)

Rainbow Ribbon

Toobs - In the sky

Tongs

Glow in the Dark Stars

Cotton Balls

To dye the rice

Place 2 cups of white rice into a zipper seal baggie.

Add 2 tablespoons of non toxic glow in the dark paint (I used art deco brand) and 10 drops of neon blue food color to the baggie.

Seal and shake well.

Pour the rice on a paper towel, paper plate, or something like an old cookie sheet and allow to dry for about 4 hours. You may need to stir halfway through the drying time.

To assemble the bin:

Cut several sections of rainbow ribbon in various lengths from 1 to 3 inches.

Gently "fluff" several cotton balls to resemble clouds.

Pour the dry, dyed rice into the storage bin.

Bury several sections of rainbow ribbon in the rice bin.

Place the remaining rainbow ribbon on the top of the bin.

Bury several plastic glow in the dark stars in the rice bin.

Sprinkle the remaining stars on top of the bin. 

Add fluffy cotton clouds to the bin.

Add the planes and helicopters from the tube of Toobs 

Add a pair of tongs to the bin and invite your child to explore.

The tongs add a challenge to the bin, which is excellent for practicing fine motor skills.

I like to make sensory bins in a container with a lid,so we can snap the lid on it when play time is over and revisit the activity later.  For bins like this that are fun to play with anytime, that comes in handy because my kids want to dig around in this one all the time!

Here is the bin after dark. We LOVE glow in the dark activities! 

Some of our favorite glow in the dark activities include:

No Electric Night Lights

Galaxy Glow in the Dark Slime

Find more sensory ideas here:

Sensory Play