Do you remember the movie A Christmas Story from 1983? It’s the tale of Ralphie Parker who desperately wants a BB gun for Christmas. Ralphie has to beg his parents, and his Mom is never quite convinced it’s a good thing while his Dad thinks boys will be boys. Ralphie has lots to handle during the holiday season, including a bully that may or may not get him to Christmas day and his BB Gun.

Of course, during the story, everyone tells Ralphie “You’ll shoot your eye out” with a BB Gun, but it doesn’t dissuade Ralphie from wanting his very own.  If you have school-aged kids, perhaps they would like to watch this tale.  Since 1983, it’s not so fashionable to have a BB gun on hand, but the movie is still popular.

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It’s autumn and time for a series of holidays that will keep your kids busy throughout the next few months. First up is Halloween … which leads into Thanksgiving only 4 weeks later. What is wonderful about these holidays is they fall within the fall season and use the same color scheme. As a result, many of the things you purchase for one can be used for the other. This reduces the amount of money you need to spend on the kids’ fun during this season.

Here are some examples:

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On Saturday, November 14, Pottery Barn Kids is holding a special Holiday Traditions Class in their stores.  It’s a class to inspire you this holiday season with new traditions and fun with your children.  I love Pottery Barn Kids and imagine it will be chock full of fun, innovative, and inventive ideas.

Mark your calendar this month if you’re interested!

It’s the season for falling leaves, pumpkin pie, and expressing gratitude.  How will you be celebrating with your children?

A Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt for kids would be a ton of fun and an activity to keep them busy over the holiday break. Mike is back with a great group of clues: Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a Snickers bar fan or do you crave M&M’s?  Did you know that one quarter of all the candy sold annually is for Halloween night? Celebrations.com’s Jeanne Benedict from Celebrations.com has all the fun facts on Halloween candy that will make this holiday sweeter than it already is!

History & Tradition: Halloween Candy Fun Facts

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‘Tis the season for that super sweet kernel of candy corn that everyone can agree reminds them of Halloween past, present, and, most likely, future!  Besides eating all of that candy corn that may be laying around your home this week, you can also play some fun and simple games with these bright candy kernels.

1. Send the kids on a Candy Corn Hunt.  You can do this a couple of different ways.  Create a path of Candy Corn that they must use to hunt around and cannot sway from the path.  Alternatively, hide small bags of candy corn around your yard and send the kids on a traditional hunt.
2. Fill a large pumpkin pail with candy corn and see who guesses the number of candy corn. Whoever guesses closest, wins!  Share the Candy Corn with everyone.
3. Create Candy Corn Artwork with heavy card stock, candy corn, and a glue stick.  This may get messy, but will be fun!
4. Make Candy Corn Strings, just like popcorn.  Decorate the room and front doorway with the Candy Corn Strings.
5. Make a homemade batch of Candy Corn.  A great idea for older children.
6. Serve Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats.
7. Play Candy Corn Fooz Ball.  Using a large table surface, set up two kids at different ends of the table.  The children throw candy corn to the other child, who must block it from going through and making a goal.  The child can block it using a solid cookie cutter.  (Make sure it is one that will not scratch up your table.)
8. Make Candy Corn Sculptures using frosting to hold the sculpture together.  Make sure to place paper down on your table to keep the mess minimal.
9. Serve up Jones Soda Candy Corn flavor to match the fun!
10. Finally, send them home with bags of the sweet stuff!

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It’s Halloween week and you may want to put together a quick Halloween party for your child and her friends before they head out to trick or treat or just as a fun play date.  Here’s an easy theme: orange and black!  That’s right, take those classic colors and create a fun party room.  It’s easy:

• Blow up black and orange balloons: create a sea of black and orange balloons on the floor for the kids to romp through and kick about. Fill other balloons with helium and add orange and black ribbons to these.
• Purchase inexpensive black and orange table covers and cover your furniture and tables in the room with them.  Place black and orange balloons around the furniture too.
• Black and orange streamers hanging in doorways will have the kids enjoying crossing from one room to another.
• Scatter black and orange confetti.
• Hang orange lights around the party table for added festivity.
• Serve orange juice or orange soda. (Jones Soda has some fun orange flavors like Orange & Creme and Crushed Melon.) For snacks, serve black and orange candies, Jell-O gelatin jigglers in those favorite colors, and cupcakes too.  The kids can decorate them with orange and black frosting and candies.

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