Review: Fat Brain Toys trio for tots to pre-teens (and beyond)

/
Review: Fat Brain Toys trio for tots to pre-teens (and beyond)

The holiday gift-giving season will soon be upon us, and Fat Brain Toys is among the tops spots for grandmothers and others seeking screen-free fun to give the grands.

Fat Brain Toys sent me a special trio of toys to try out with my favorite boys — two ideal for my tiniest grandson plus one that’s fun for the bigger kids (and grownups, too).

Read More

Grandma challenge: How full can she fill forty-four hours?

/
Grandma challenge: How full can she fill forty-four hours?

My desert-dwelling grandsons and their parents visited my house last week—for forty-four hours. The family had taken a road trip to Vail for a wedding, and Jim and I were fortunate they fit in a stop at our place on their way back home.

I was thrilled to host them and was determined to squish as much into the visit as possible, unsure of when I'd see Brayden, Camden, and Declan (as well as Megan and Preston, too) again.

As all three boys have birthdays in June…

Read More

Throwback Thursday: Kids and games—18 fun ways to choose who goes first

/
Throwback Thursday: Kids and games—18 fun ways to choose who goes first

This #TBT piece originally published May 13, 2014 on Grandma's Briefs and seemed fitting for replay in anticipation of the summer fun to come. Thank you for reading!

When playing games with kids — or directing getting the ball rolling — choosing who gets to go first can sometimes take longer than the actual gameplay.

That no longer need be the case thanks to the following fun methods I've gathered for grandmothers and others.

Read More

Kids and games: 18 fun ways to choose who goes first (a Friday flashback feature)

/

Summer time is game time, and whether you're hosting an all-out Grandma Camp or a simple gathering of grands of another sort, the fun can't begin until the gang figures out who goes first.

Here from the Grandma's Briefs archives is my popular post on various ways to choose who goes first — some of them offbeat ideas that can serve as minigames on their own.

KIDS AND GAMES: 18 FUN WAYS TO CHOOSE WHO GOES FIRST
Originally published May 13, 2014

When playing games with kids — or directing getting the ball rolling — choosing who gets to go first can sometimes take longer than the actual gameplay.

That no longer need be the case thanks to the following fun methods I've gathered for grandmothers and others.

ways to choose who goes first 

Creative Eeny Meeny
When I was a Girl Scout leader eons ago, I taught my Daisies...

Read More

5 reasons I like to play games with my grandkids

/

My grandmothers never played games with me. My daughters' grandmothers never played games with them, either.

Considering the grandmas who came before me, the ones from whom I most learned what grandmothering looks like, I'm unsure how I became a game-playing grandma. But I am.

And I love it. Here's why:

 

I enjoy watching them learn.
Kids learn so much from playing games. They improve motor skills and ...

Read More