This time of year we get a lot of apples! More than we can handle really. It’s just that every year we take the kids apple picking down the road at a local farm and every year we get carried away. It’s part of the fun though! Anyway, after we get home from our outing, we lug in bushels of apples. While my family wishes I had time to make apple pies out of a lot of those apples, that just ain’t gonna happen. Well, at least not until Thanksgiving.

So, in the meantime, if you’re like me and looking for ideas on what to do with your kids and your apples, here’s a recipe from Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Soup! cookbook. I seriously don’t know what I did before I had this cookbook!

This recipe is quick, easy, pink and yummy.

1. Core 6 apples.
2. Cut the apples into strips, leaving the skins on. (This makes it pink and easy!)
3. Put the apples into a saucepan.

4. Add: 1 cup water, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar
5. Reduce heat and simmer until apples are soft.
6. Move pan from heat and mash apples until smooth.
7. Spoon apples into a strainer.
8. Press the apples against the strainer to push out as much sauce as possible.
9. Throw away the apple peels.
10. Put in the fridge until cooled. (About an hour.)

And as they say, it’s good and good for you!

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I love words and I want my kids to have a good vocabulary. So I play this game with them to make learning new words fun. All you need is a dictionary, paper, pen and some creativity.

First, I look through the dictionary for some silly sounding words and pick ones that:

A) Have simple definitions.

B) Most people don’t know the definition of.

This is a crucial part of the game! I’ll tell you why in a bit. If you’re pressed for time, here are some of the words I’ve used and what they mean:

Addax – A light-colored antelope.

Bugbear – An imaginary goblin.

Collop – A small slice of meat.

Dornick – A small chunk of rock.

Earwig – Insect with slender antennae.

Next, I have my kids write down the words I’ve chosen, leaving space next to each word. At this point, I don’t tell them what the words mean. Then, I have them write down what they think each word means. So far, they’ve never guessed correctly, but their definitions are priceless!

Once they’re done, I have them look up each word in the dictionary to see what the word really means. This helps them learn how to use a dictionary and to understand alphabetical order. Then they write the actual definitions of each word on their piece of paper. Hearing the words, looking them up in the dictionary, and then writing the definitions down helps commit the words to memory.

You can stop at this point, but we like to see if we can stump Daddy. So, I type up each word with the three definitions. The real one plus the two definitions my kids came up with. Then at dinner we see if Daddy can guess the real definition. He hasn’t been able to yet!

We get a good laugh at dinner and the kids feel smart. Mission accomplished.

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It is such a beautiful day today that I sat with my baby in the backyard taking it all in. Definitely one of the pros of working from home! While we played on the blanket, I decided to brainstorm about today’s kid activity. I knew I wanted to write about an outdoor scavenger hunt, but I wanted to see if I’d be able to find things outside that began with each letter of the alphabet. I’m always trying to find Likeable Learning opportunities!

Before I share what I came up with, I want to say that scavenger hunts are a big hit with kids of every age! I even enjoyed finding things by myself; my eight-month-old wasn’t much help. Well, I shouldn’t say that. She did eat grass, so I guess she helped me find something that began with the letter “G.”

Another way to make this activity fun for kids is to give them a disposable camera to take a picture of each thing they find. Don’t worry that these cameras usually have the capacity to take 24 pictures and there are 26 letters in the alphabet, if you’re like me you may fall short on a couple letters! Then you can develop the photos and create your own alphabet book.

Here’s what I was able to find just looking around my yard:

A – ant, acorn

B – butterfly, bird, bee

C – caterpillar, clover

D – driveway, dog

E – evergreen tree

F – flowers, foliage

G – grass, geraniums (Yes, still. Haven’t bought the mums yet.)

H – hammock, hose

I – insects (too many of those!)

J – jump rope, junk (unfortunately!)

K – kite, kickball

L – leaves, lawn chair

M – mailbox, mulch

N – noises (I know, I didn’t see these, but they were there!)

O – oak tree

P – patio, pool (No, we don’t have a pool, but our neighbors do!)

Q – quality time with my kid! (Okay, I couldn’t find a Q object.)

R – robin, rotting wood (very pleasant)

S – sprinkler, swing set

T – tent, trees

U – unusual shaped leaf (You have to be creative!)

V – vine, vinyl siding

W – wood

Y – Y-shaped twig

Z – I got nothin’ but you may have zinnias!

Good luck on your Great Outdoors Scavenger Hunt!

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If you have a daughter between the ages of 6 and 11, you probably have heard of Webkinz. I have two daughters in that age range and they are obsessed with them! Therefore, I was a bit hesitant to write about Webkinz because I thought this activity would be considered old news. Then it occurred to me. Maybe you’re like me and didn’t realize that Webkinz are more than just the latest fad. They are the ambassadors to a whole world of not just fun, but serious learning!

For those of you who’ve been out of the country, just bought a computer or don’t have a daughter between the ages of 6 and 11, Webkinz look like your basic stuffed animal, but come alive online and become interactive pets in Webkinz World. There’s several to choose from including bunnies, pigs, gorillas, frogs, bears, cats and dogs.

At this point you may be asking yourself . . . am I on the product reviews page? I thought this was the kids’ activities blog. Let me explain. While Webkinz are toys, that’s not why I’m bring them up. For us work-at-home parents, they are more than that. They are a guilt-free means to an end! And that end is what it always is . . .time to get things done. Webkinz give you time to be productive and your kids an opportunity to have fun while learning.

Learning? What kind of learning?

I’m glad you asked.

Once your child has logged into Webkinz World, they can earn Kinzcash to buy things for their pet, including food, clothes and furniture. So they learn money management skills! Not buying it? Well, there’s more. Kids earn this Kinzcash various ways, including by answering questions in Quizzy’s Question Corner.

Quizzy’s questions are broken down into the following topics: social studies, math, science, language, health and the arts. Each subject has multiple choice questions for every age range. Here are some of the social studies questions for a child 9-10 years old:

- What is a civilization?

- What is the name of one of the ships the pilgrims used to sail to America?

- What does a relief map show?

- In the Middle Ages, what did serfs do?

Personally, I was thrilled that this stuffed animal my kids have been begging me for did more than just collect dust on the shelf. Now when they ask if they can go to Webkinz World, I say “Yes! Just let me get off the computer first.”

That’s the only problem . . . you’ll have to move.

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This activity is so simple, but has given me some of my favorite parenthood memories! When I think back on some of my more elaborate efforts at orchestrating the perfect moment (i.e., when I hired a fairy godmother for my three-year-old daughter’s princess birthday party) and how they backfired miserably (my daughter was in such a state of shock she didn’t speak or smile!), I appreciate how easy, fun and cheap this seasonal activity really is!

All you need to do is go to an area where the leaves are falling from the trees. For me, that’s my backyard. But the neighborhood school and town park work nicely as well.

Then when the wind blows just right, look up and try to catch leaves before they hit the ground. This is easier said than done! That’s what makes it so fun though!

We run around like a bunch of little leaguers trying to catch fly balls and squeal with delight when we actually catch a leaf. Then we put these trophy leaves in a plastic bag for safekeeping. We don’t stop until we’ve caught at least five leaves each!

Some days, that’s enough fun for us! Other times, we use our precious leaves for various crafts. I recommend decorating a frame with the leaves to display a picture from this memorable day!

Follow these easy steps to make a frame:

• Cut a piece of cardboard into a rectangle (about 7 inches wide and 8 inches long).

• Use a pen to trace a rectangle in the middle of the cut cardboard, 1 1/2 inches away from each edge of the cardboard.

• Cut out the traced rectangle to create the opening for the photo.

• Glue the leaves around the edges of the frame.

• Glue small magnets to the back of the frame to display it on the fridge.

• To preserve the leaves, spray the frame with a clear varnish. (optional)

Have fun making a memory!

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Know that jar of spare change on your dresser? It’s time it started earning not only interest, but productivity time for you.

We all know that time is money. But, in this case, money is time. Those dimes, nickels, quarters and even pennies are valuable! Not only collectively, but because they can be used to occupy your kids. How? Have your kids roll the coins and give them a percentage of the total. If your kids are like mine, they’ll jump at the chance to earn money!

Not only will this activity give you time to check your email, make some calls or do some other task, it will help your kids with their math skills. To maximize learning, have your kids:

• Sort the coins by type to promote categorization skills (i.e., quarters, dimes, nickels)
• Group each type of coin into dollars (i.e., 4 quarters = $1, 10 dimes = $1)
• Write down how many coins of each type equal one dollar
• Roll the coins in order from pennies to quarters to promote sequencing skills
• Count how much money they rolled
• Calculate what 1%, 5%, and 10% of the sum equals

I highly recommend you wait until they have shared with you the sum of money they rolled, and what each percentage is worth, before you tell them what percentage they’ll earn. It’s tough to judge how much money is really in those coin jars!

You can then make your weekly trip to the bank. What once felt like an errand for your kids will feel like a fun excursion for them to collect their earnings.

If you want more productivity time, I recommend getting the State Series Quarters Collector Map. This educational tool not only provides your kids a place to put each state quarter, but teaches them a little bit about each state. My kids love inspecting each quarter to see which state it is from and then displaying it on the map.

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