Countdown calendars

Here's a useful tip to manage motivation and excitement for the little people in your house when you are working towards a particular goal or significant changes in their lives. You can use a "countdown calendar" to count down to the day when the change happens - for example starting school, moving house or an upcoming travel adventure. Countdown calendars work in the same way a Christmas calendar works except that you just count down the number of days (rather than using the days in the month). The easiest way to create a countdown calendar is by starting with a large piece of paper or card board and drawing something relevant on it (e.g. a house, building, plane or place, etc). Make the drawing as large as possible.

The million dollar mother's day tip

OK - so Mother's Day is coming up in a number of countries (either the first or second Sunday in May depending on where you live). So you need to get a present for your partner, right? So you don't know what to get, right? Well here's the million dollar trick ... go to pinterest.com find your partner's Boards (yes she will have a pinterest account and she will have created lots of boards). See what she pin'd and repin'd, pick something nice that fits with your budget for Mother's Day and get her that. This is a surefire method for getting her something that she really likes (as opposed to something that she pretends she likes).

Have a great Mother's Day!

-DIYFather.com

Indoor bowling DIY style

Here's a great game you can play with young children aged 18 months and up. It's your own version of 10 pin bowling except that you don't need pins or a bowling alley - all you need is a ball (any ball) and your little one's favorite toys (whatever they are in to at the moment). Here's what you do:

1. Clear some space on the floor (living room, nursery ... wherever you've got a few feet / yards of floors space)
   
2. Get a handful of your child's favorite toys and line them up in row
   
3. Grab a ball (e.g. soft ball, tennis ball, golf ball - whatever you can find in the house) and move away from the toys you set up - now roll the ball towards the toys to try and knock them over

Easter Apps

Predictably the Easter season has also affected iPhone and iPad developers and as a result they have come up with a number of Easter-themed Apps. If you're stuck inside this Easter or just want to avoid the mess that comes with a game of Egg Toss - check out the following free Easter Apps for a bit of entertainment on your iPhone, iPod or iPad over Easter.

• Bunny Fingers Easter Rabbit Reality - Ever get the feeling that you're seeing bunnies everywhere ... well this app
  helps you see them.




• Easter Egg Hunt 3D - go on elaborate Easter Egg hunts and never leave the house with this app.
  
  

50 epic songs you must introduce your kids to before you die

Despite all the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Spottify, RDIO and what not social sharing of information and music there is every chance that your kids will not have discovered one (or several) of the following songs by the time they leave school (or before you kick the bucket). So here's a chance to have some cool father-son or father-daughter moments by playing one of the epic anthems (as in mood altering songs that are longer than 5 mins) of all time to them. In alphabetical order ...

* A Friend In Need - Placebo
* Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
* America Pie - Don Mclean
* Angie - Rolling Stones
* Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie
* Bakerstreet - Gerry Rafferty
* Black Magic Woman - Santana
* Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
* Blasphemous Rumors - Depeche Mode
* Blue Monday - New Order
* Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
* Born Slippy - Underworld
* Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
* Cafe Del Mar - Energy 52
* Creep - Radiohead
* Everyday People - Arrested Development

Games to play over Easter

Some ideas for Easter inspired games to play with your kids over the Easter holidays.

1. Easter egg hunt - the classic ... pretty simple to set up. Get some chocolate eggs, colored eggs, chocolate Easter bunnies or other treats and hide them in your backyard, garden, a park or just inside the house. When done - call your kids and let them find the hidden treats.


2. Chase the rabbit tail - use an old scarf and tuck into the back of your trousers and get your kids to grab the tail and take it off. Take turns on who's got the tail. As a variation you can play this in a way that all players are only allowed to move by hoping or jumping.

DIY with dad: top 5 easter egg designs

Here's some inspiration for Easter craft projects with the kids - depending on what you're into and what resources you've got at home you can pick a project from the following:

The ultimate Easter Gadget I guess ... the "Egg-Bot Kit" by Evil Mad Scientists - prints illustrations and patterns on eggs (other other spherical objects). Getting one of those will set you back $195 ... but hey what price tag can you put on being the coolest parent on the block.

Here's an awesome tutorial on how to create marble eggs ...

Make your own LEGO egg - get some felt floor scratch protection pads (usually used on chairs / tables to protect wooden floors) and stick on your egg. Afterwards paint over in typical LEGO colors (yellow, red, blue, etc).

DIY with dad - getting ready for Easter

Here's a great activity for dads and kids when you are preparing for Easter. Many families end up decorating Easter Eggs but to do that you need eggs you can decorate. So you can take the boring route and just buy some eggs in a craft shop. OR you make this task into an adventurous (and perhaps slightly messy ... but in a good kind of way) activity with the kids. Here's a step by step guide for blowing out eggs:

Preparation

1. Get some fresh Chicken or Goose eggs with white egg shells (shouldn't be hard around Easter)
   
2. Find a space that's either easy to clean (e.g. wooden floor / tiled floor) or put some plastic cover / old table cloth / newspaper on the floor. This is just to avoid any stains on carpets etc in case you break an egg or some of the liquid spills on the floor.
   
3. Grab a food bowl to hold the egg white and egg yolk (which you can use later on for cooking or baking)
   
4. Find some 2-inch nails, drawing pins or a high speed drilling tool and have paper towels within reach (just in case).

Blowing out the egg (you can also watch the video below if you're a visual kinda guy)

April Fools Day: practical jokes to play on your kids

OK it's time to get ready for April Fools Day so we thought let's put together a useful list of pranks you can play on your kids and partner.

Babies and Toddlers: well given that the irony of April Fools Day may be a bit lost on babies and toddlers you can just have a good old laugh with them. E.g. paint your face, user finger puppets or put a nappy on your head (a fresh one!!!)
Preschoolers: Find a piece of old / scrap cloth. Place your victim’s favourite toy or other item of interest on the floor and stay nearby. When the victim comes along and bends down to pick up the toy, rip the cloth ... yell out that your little one as just ripped their trousers.
Primary school children: Add a few drops of food coloring into a milk carton for a nice surprise at breakfast! If you have sleepy kids you can also get up a bit earlier and draw something on their face while they are still asleep.

DIY with dad - Easter Eggs

If you're stuck for a little DIY / craft project with your kids in the run up to Easter - check out the following suggestion from our "Make it Ruby" series.

What you need: plastic eggs, metallic acrylic paints, paint brushes, glitter, jewels, sequins, acrylic adhesive

Step-by-step guide:
1. Take the plastic eggs and gently ruff up the outer surface.
2. Apply thin layers of metallic acrylic paint so it will dry faster.
3. Add your design or patterns over your base color. After it dries enhance the sparkle with glitter, jewels, & sequins.

By MakeItRuby.com