Tag: holiday activities

  • Color Me Green!  St. Patrick’s Day Activities

    Color Me Green! St. Patrick’s Day Activities

    Saint Patrick’s Day. A day where everyone is seen wearing a green shirt with the quote “Kiss Me I’m Irish.” Unless you’re a six-year-old, then you’ve just been coloring in leprechauns and making pots of gold out of construction paper.

    Do you think those people actually know the history behind St. Paddy’s Day or is it just an excuse to get totally sh*t faced? I mean, it was the rage in my early twenties, but once you’ve tied the knot and pushed a couple of humans heads out of you, you’re lucky to squeeze in a glass of wine.

    Getting off topic, I know.

    So I doubt many people know the story of Saint Patrick so to honor the Saint, here’s a quick summary of the infamous holiday.

    First, he was born in Scotland, and his actual name was Maewyn Succat, and he took the name Patrick after becoming a priest. When he was a young boy, the Roman empire was weak and under attack. By the time he was a young man, he was captured by raiders and sold as a slave. He was taken to Ireland where in his confessions, he mentions spending time with the sheep and finding solace in prayers and God. He mentions seeing God in his dreams and believing he had a mission for him.

    Long story short, he brought Christianity to Ireland and drove out paganism which was the dominant religion at the time.

    The Irish celebrate this conversion on the 17th of March every year. Here are a few activities that are adult and kid friendly to get you in the spirits of this Irish holiday.

    1. Teach Your Kids About The Holiday

    March marks Irish American Heritage Month. The Irish know why they’re celebrating this day, but many American households celebrate it because of the fun and sake of the kids. While it’s always great to take part in a foreign holiday, both children and adults should know the history behind it.

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    Printing out coloring pages with leprechauns, pots of gold, rainbows, and even the flag of Ireland is a great way to hype kids up and get them learning about the holiday. You can also hit them up with some trivia! There are many myths that surround the story of St. Patrick and kids love those! Who knows? You might learn something yourself.

    2. Green Desserts

    I’m talking rainbow cupcakes, shamrock gummies, lucky charms rice krispies, Bailey’s Irish Coffee Caramel Brownies, shamrock pretzels, St. Patrick’s Day cake, and a little something called drunken grasshopper fudge. Good Housekeeping has a ton more recipes but I only picked the ones I’ve personally tried and have fallen drunk in love with, haha.

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    So a majority of these desserts can be done with the help of a pair (or two) of little helping hands. It’s a great way to bond with children because well, it’s a lot of sugar and kids love helping out in the kitchen. There will be a lot of green frosting, and rainbow sprinkles so have them administrate the final touch.\

    3. Gold Hunt

    You create two teams, and each team gets a “leprechaun” bucket (just a tin bucket I got from The Dollar Store). I painted a four-leafed clover on one and a rainbow on the other to make it more fun, but you can paint anything else that’s related to the holiday.

    Both teams have to scour the area and find as many gold chocolate coins as they can before a certain amount of time. Of course, those gold coins would have been hidden by you the night before. If you want the competition to heat up, you can conceal dollar bills and whichever team wins, gets a payday. The other side gets chocolate gold coins! It’s a win-win!

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    4. Leprechaun Relay

    For this activity, you do need a leprechaun costume. You can choose to make it at home or take the easy road and purchase it from your nearest Party City. I love the idea of this activity because it encourages kids to get moving!

    You split your players into two teams and have them form two lines. You offer the costume to the first player in front. Then, they must run an obstacle course conducted by an adult, return to the line, take off the outfit, and pass it on to the next player. The process continues until one team uses up all its players and win.

    5. Celebrate With Irish Music

    Finally, some dancing.

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    I love watching kids dance because they get so creative with those dance moves! You can play Irish music and even hire a dancer to teach the children (and yourself) some new moves. If you want to make it a game, you can play Freeze Jig. It’s the Irish version of Red Light, Green Light. You play music, and when the music stops, the children stop dancing and freeze. The last person to freeze is the winner.

    There are so many activities to choose from! I promised myself I would never get sucked into the Pinterest Vortex, but Pinterest has a ton of great ideas for activities, food, and fun! It’s a day full of luck so you should be just fine! Good luck!

  • Holiday Activities That are a Must

    Holiday Activities That are a Must

    Holidays are expensive. Therefore, they can absolutely suck sometimes.

    Hey, I’m one of the broke and humble ones. I still got holiday shopping to do; I’m hosting this year’s Christmas dinner, I haven’t gotten a tree or decorations, and my list goes on and on…and on. While the hectic atmosphere that comes with the holidays makes you wonder why we have them in the first place, there are some things that you know are just meant for this time of year.

    Best part? Most of these activities won’t cost you a dime.

    Worst Part? Your kids or loved ones might get on your last nerve and cause that annual holiday nervous breakdown.

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    Here are some activities that are family friendly and hopefully won’t break the bank!

    Gingerbread Houses

    Do you know the muffin man? The one who lives on Drury lane?

    Fun fact: I did not know gingerbread houses were edible till my junior year of high school.

    Growing up, my family wasn’t big on sweets during the holidays. We ate our dinner, drank tea with cardamom infused biscuits, and moved on with life.

    Yeah, yeah, I know, it was traumatizing.

     

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    I had my first gingerbread house when I was working at a daycare center in college. I’ve learned that making it from scratch may be a process, but oh, was it worth it. Everyone has a role when it comes to building a gingerbread house, and I do mean everyone. We’ve got frosting and candies and milk and of course the main man, the gingerbread man.

    Kids love it as everything is hands-on and hey, they’re building a mini house for Gingy. What’s more Christmas-y than that? Just don’t forget the gumdrop buttons.

    Homemade Ornaments

    Want to make these holiday memories last forever? Build your own ornaments. There are several ideas for decorations. They may require to pull out your arts and crafts drawer, but I guarantee you, that is the best part. At the end of the day, you’ll have them hanging on that tree, and you could not be more proud of your creation.

    Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!

    Pick a cookie, folks, any cookie. We’ve got iced sugar cookies, snickerdoodle, chocolate chip blondies, mudslide cookies, gingerbread cookies, and over a hundred more.

    I make chocolate chip cookies with salted pecans in my house weekly. It’s a favorite among the hubby and my one-year-old. Holiday cookies are a whole other story, though. Even though we have a drawer full of cookie cutters, I always need more. Before you judge me, check yourself because I know I’m not alone in this.

     

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    They are my weakness. My Achilles heel, if you will.

    But ’tis the season, amirite? If by the end of December, I have more than one hundred dollars in my bank account, then was it truly Christmas??

    Snow Angels Turn to Snow Fights

    Damn you, California. Your beautiful sandy, sunny beaches have made me intolerable to the cold. Growing up in Southern California, I witnessed snow about…zero times per year. If we wanted to see snow, we’d turn on the Discovery channel and hope they were doing some documentary about the polar expedition.

    When my folks took us to Big Bear Lake for the first time, we thought it’d be fun to have a snow fight.

    Worst. Idea. Ever.

    Spoiler alert: snow is not soft like in the movies. It is solid. And tough. And hurts.  One thing’s for sure though, being surrounded by mountains of snow during the holidays sure makes it feel a lot like Christmas.

    Some More S’mores

    S’mores are not only a campfire favorite, but a holiday must as well! Gather up your friends, family, and all your loved ones. If you don’t have a fireplace, you can always use your stove to make s’mores. Here are a few recipes that will have your family begging for more.

     

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    The list of must-do activities for the holidays is endless. There’s Christmas tree shopping, decorating the house, carolling, holiday lights tour, and even movie nights that capture the true meaning of the holidays. No matter what you choose to do, make sure you don’t get caught up in the hectic atmosphere and always remember what the holidays are all about: being surrounded by family and friends and being grateful for all you have.