The joy of a relaxing family vacation full of sunshine, waves, and good food renewed our souls before Winter. We loved our trip to the all-inclusive El Cid in Mexico. Here’s what you might want to know before your visit.
Kids Activity
The Arts and Bricks’s blog features many activity ideas for kids. Each KIDS ACTIVITY is geared toward preschool or elementary-aged children and encourages creative play and artistic development.
Digital Doodling on Photos
Our kids found that without unlocking our iPhones, they can access the Photo edit settings, which means they can take photos, draw, and doodle on our photos.
Finding new images in my Photo Library is always a fun surprise, especially when the images feature their playful drawings!
The surprising toy that 4th-grade boys love!
My son’s 4th-grade class is OBSESSED with Squishies. Have you heard of these? They’re little “squishy” creatures perfect for trading and imaginative play.
These are excellent cheap gifts for stocking stuffers, Easter baskets, Valentine’s, and birthday gifts.
Saran Wrap Candy Ball Game for Holiday School Parties
Perfect for family gatherings, team or club gatherings, and especially class parties, a plastic saran wrap ball game will not disappoint!
Elementary-School Science Dioramas
Love them or hate them, elementary school diorama projects are part of life for the typical parent! Here we’re sharing our process for making a grassland diorama in 2nd grade and a rainforest diorama in 5th grade.
I am feeling… drawing page for kids
As an artist and designer, I believe art is a great way to express yourself, including day-to-day feelings. This is one of the reasons I’ve loved my daughter’s daily Reflections pages, where she draws and writes how she is feeling each day. Check out this exercise and perhaps incorporate it into your day-to-day too!
Easy Holiday Gingerbread Houses with Kids
When our youngest was five, we started our family tradition of making ginger bread houses together. I’m always pleasantly surprised how well the store-bought kits are made. With no recipe and hardly any preparation, gingerbread house kits are a no brainer for busy families. Read on for tips.
Decorating Pumpkin Ideas with Kids
Pumpkin decorating has changed quite a bit since I was a kid in the 80s and 90s; now, there are ideas and kits galore, printable patterns for carving, and so much more. It can be a bit overwhelming. Here are a few ideas we’ve tried over the years. They’re simple, family-tested, and ready to become your next family tradition!
Make Your Own Crystals with Kids
Growing crystals is both a childhood right of passage and STEM activity extraordinaire! Here are the results of our crystal growing experiments.
Ideas For Children Who Love Battleships
For parents of children who love our United States Navy and Battleships, here’s some inspiration for you!
Why we love the Prodigy Math game for elementary-aged kids
To my son, Prodigy is an epic adventure game where he uses MATH MAGIC to win battles and earn pets and prizes. As a parent, Prodigy is a free math game that allows me to feel good about allowing him screen time.
DIY Fairy Garden Ideas
The best fairy homes use natural materials, especially gourds, rocks, twigs, moss, acorns, seeds, and leaves. Explore our inspirational Fairy Garden pictures.
Our Family’s Joyful Pumpkin / Gratitude Pumpkin
This fall, be mindful of what brings your family daily JOY by writing gratitudes on a family pumpkin. Here’s how we’re doing it.
Which Animal is Fake?
This is a Halloween edition of our family’s animal name guessing game for kids. Test your knowledge of vampire, ghoul, and ghost-named animals!