10 Things To Do With Kids During School Breaks
What’s your favorite thing to do with your kids over school breaks? Some parents love school breaks and some dread them. Most of those feelings revolve around what to do with the kids over school breaks. Here are 10 things to do with kids during school breaks, perfect for parents, nannies, or grandparents regardless of location or budget. Libraries are a treasure trove of free education and educational activities. Whether you are at home or on a trip, check out the public libraries. Many have story times or activities for kids. City parks, local playgrounds, and national parks dot most any map and many offer programs or activities. I remember one year when we tried to see how many parks we could visit once before repeating any. We were also new to town so this gave us insight into different parts of town and the kids could rank their favorites. If being indoors is a better option, drag out all the blankets and pillows and construct blanket forts or make mazes out of large cardboard boxes and packing tape. Research local museums for inexpensive options or free days. We once planned a whole spring break trip around free museums in…
Product Review: How to Invest $1000
How would you invest $1000? Does investing seem like a daunting challenge? Zach Reynolds unpacks this in his video “How to Invest $1000” by giving viewers three different ways to invest money and what the returns could look like. Zach is passionate about personal finance and helping others save money. He posts new videos on his channel each Monday with topics like credit card balances, stock market, and credit scores. Most of his videos are six to ten minutes long. Zach has been steadily growing his subscribers and his content in the past few years. You will want to investigate his YouTube channel for more personal finance tips. Here are a few of Zach Reynolds’s most popular videos: How to Increase Your Credit Score in 2022 Apple Card Review Capital One 360 Checking Review As a young entrepreneur, getting subscribers to follow your channel is one of the best ways to build up your business. Follow Zach for two reasons: increase your financial knowledge and increase his subscribers. It’s a win win that won’t cost you anything! Know of other young entrepreneurs with up and coming channels or websites? Drop a link to them in the comments so we can…
Digital Escape Rooms
Looking for some new rainy day activities for your kids? While spring is popping up in most gardens, rainy days and Mondays still can get us down. Looking for some new rainy day activities for your kids? Try a digital escape room from the comfort of your own couch! Many free and educational digital escape rooms exist. I’ll list a few here but you can do your own search for more using the Tailored Search Terms listed below. There are even a few you can print and use if you want a pencil and paper version. Typically escape rooms involve solving puzzles to get a key or code to unlock the room. Most digital escape rooms have several puzzles and several locks. Some have a storyline woven throughout the game and some just stick to a theme. Some puzzles are visual and others rely on knowledge. In our house, we have solved puzzles together or assigned a certain one to each kid to attempt before the rest join in and help. Some are short with just a few puzzles and can be completed in less than a half hour. Others are more complex or have longer puzzles that take time.…
Christmas Shopping and Saturdays
How many shopping Saturdays are there until Christmas? Christmas seems to arrive in the stores just after the July 4th holiday so it’s easy to think you have plenty of time left to Christmas shop. At the original posting of this blog, there are only 8 Saturdays left to shop! If you are like me, your Saturdays are already filling up with other fun fall activities (like my husband’s 50th birthday!). Next weekend I’ll be selling my art at the 7 Billion Reasons fundraiser tea and vendor fair in Cary, NC. It’s a great time to Christmas shop for frameable art, card sets, and conversation starters, plus support a great cause! I rarely sell my art and cards preprinted so get them while they last. Free water bottle sticker with a $20 purchase, too! If you are unable to attend, you can shop at my Etsy shop for digital downloads that you can print at home and frame. The “Family Rules” or “Classroom Rules” art are great for parents and teachers. “Adjective Art” is perfect for friends, family, coworkers, and kids rooms. You don’t even have to wait until a free Saturday. Get your shopping done now! 50% of my…
Thrifty Mama
Would you rather buy one brand name clothing item or several “gently used” clothes at a thrift shop? I don’t see myself as a fashion influencer nor do I feel very influenced by having to keep up with all the trends. Instead, I like to save money to spend on travel or to give away to help others. I’m a thrifty mama! Money was pretty tight growing up so we were not accustomed to splurges on the latest trends. Our needs were met and some of our wants, too. I started thrift shopping when I was outfitting my first place as a newlywed. I STILL have my $2 ironing board, which I spray painted silver. I discovered thrift shopping at the Kids Exchange Sale twice a year for kids clothes and toys when my girls were little. I saved SO much money by consigning items and buying “gently used” items in their current sizes. (Ok, I’ll admit. I did buy kids winter jackets a size or two larger to get extra wear out of it!) I also discovered local consignment shops and the Goodwill. I am surprised when I get compliments on articles of clothing, including the $18 Banana Republic…
