April 17, 2011

101 Screen-Free Activities

Posted by Becka 0 comments
National Screen-Free Week is April 18-24. Here are 101 ideas for things to do during the week-long celebration. Please comment to share your favorite screen-free activities! (Click here for a printable version -- use it to cover up your TV!)


At Home
1. Listen to the radio.
2. Write an article or story.
3. Paint a picture, a mural or a room.
4. Write to the President, your Representative, or Senators.
5. Read a book. Read to someone else.
6. Learn to change the oil or tire on a car. Fix something.
7. Write a letter to a friend or relative.
8. Make cookies, bread or jam and share with a neighbor.
9. Read magazines or newspapers. Swap them with friends.
10. Go through your closets and donate items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or a local rummage sale. Have a garage sale.
11. Start a diary/journal.
12. Play cards.
13. Make crafts to give as gifts. Try a new craft.
14. Do a crossword puzzle or play Sudoku.
15. Save money: cancel your cable TV!
16. Learn about a different culture. Have an international dinner.
17. Teach a child some of your favorite childhood games.
18. Study sign language.
19. Write a letter to your favorite author.
20. Cook dinner with friends or family.
21. Make cards for holidays or birthdays.
22. Play chess, bridge, or checkers.
23. Play charades.
24. Have a cup of coffee and a conversation.
25. Repair or refinish a piece of furniture.
26. Make a wooden flowerbox.
27. Wake up early and make pancakes.
28. Read a favorite poem. Read poems by poets new to you.

Outdoors
29. Learn about native trees and flowers in your area.
30. Plan a picnic or barbecue.
31. Go bird watching. Learn the names of local birds.
32. Walk the dog. Wash the dog.
33. Plant a garden. Work in your garden.
34. Take a nature hike.
35. Feed fish or birds.
36. Watch the night sky through binoculars and identify different constellations. Observe the moon.
37. Learn to use a compass.
38. Take photographs and then organize them into an album.
39. Do yard work.
40. Go camping.
41. Take an early morning walk.
42. Climb a tree.
43. Watch a sunset; watch the sunrise with a friend.

Around Town
44. Attend a community concert. Listen to a local band.
45. Visit the library. Borrow some books.
46. Visit a local bookstore.
47. Visit the zoo.
48. Visit the countryside or town. Travel by bus or train.
49. Attend a religious service.
50. Walk to work or school.
51. Attend a live sports event.
52. Look for treasures at a yard sale.
53. Try out for a play. Attend a play.
54. Collect recycling and drop it off at a recycling center.
55. Learn to play a musical instrument.
56. Go to a museum.

On the Move
57. Go roller skating or ice skating.
58. Go swimming. Join a community swim team.
59. Start a community group that walks, runs or bikes.
60. Organize a game of touch football, baseball, or softball in the local park.
61. Go for a bicycle ride.
62. Learn yoga.
63. Play soccer, softball or volleyball.
64. Play Frisbee.
65. Workout.
66. Go dancing. Take a dance class.

In Your Community
67. Organize a community clean-up or volunteer for charity.
68. Become a tutor.
69. Join a choir. Sing!
70. Start a bowling league.
71. Visit and get to know your neighbors.
72. Start a fiction or public policy book group.

With the Kids
73. Make paper bag costumes and have a parade.
74. Design a poster for Screen-Free Week.
75. Discover your community center or local park activities.
76. Blow bubbles.
77. Draw family portraits.
78. Build a fort in the living room and camp out one night.
79. Research your family history and make a family tree.
80. Invent a new game and teach it to your friends.
81. Make a sign to tape across the TV during Screen-Free Week.
82. Play hopscotch, hide & seek, or freeze-tag.
83. Organize a neighborhood scavenger hunt.
84. Play board games with family and friends.
85. Clean up or redecorate your room.
86. Make puppets out of old socks and have a puppet show.
87. Write a play with friends. Perform it at a nursing home.
88. Construct a kite. Fly it.
89. Go on a family trip or historical excursion.
90. In the snow, go sledding or make a snowman.
91. Create a collage out of pictures from old magazines.
92. Shoot hoops with friends. Play a round of H.O.R.S.E.
93. Make a friendship bracelet.
94. Create a cookbook with all your favorite recipes.
95. Tell stories around a campfire.
96. Plan a slumber party.
97. Bake cakes or cookies and invite friends for a tea party.
98. Construct a miniature boat and float it on water.
99. Write a letter to your grandparents. Make a special card.
100. Create sidewalk art with chalk.
101. Everyone!!! Have a huge party to celebrate a Screen-Free Week!



Work At Home mom of 4 young kids, Nick the Sportsman, Michele the Princess, Wyatt the Wild One, and Evan the Baby.Bachelor in Early Childhood Development and Education, with 20 years experience. I could not ask for anything more!

April 13, 2011

Tropical Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Sandwich

Posted by Becka 0 comments
Chicken and Pineapple sandwich
Ladies and gentlemen, start your grills! Here is a delicious sandwich your family is sure to love.
You'll need...
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes), reserve 1 tablespoon
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh pineapple
4 (1.5-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted
Light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
4 large basil leaves

To make...
  • 1. Prepare grill.
  • 2. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done, brushing occasionally with lime juice. Grill pineapple 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
  • 3. Mix mayonnaise with reserved 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp mustard.
  • 4. Spread honey mustard mayonnaise on bottom halves of buns. Top each with 1 chicken breast half, 1 pineapple slice, 1 basil leaf, and 1 bun top. Serve immediately.
ENJOY!
Nutrition values per serving (4 servings)
333 calories
30.5 g. carbs
4 g. fat

Adapted from cookinglight.com



Work At Home mom of 4 young kids, Nick the Sportsman, Michele the Princess, Wyatt the Wild One, and Evan the Baby.Bachelor in Early Childhood Development and Education, with 20 years experience. I could not ask for anything more!

I told you so!

Posted by Becka 0 comments
Ok just had to say that, I feel better now! If you have looked back on my blog, I posted back in October about the harms of the Your Baby Can Read program. You can see the post HERE.

Well, someone showed me This Today Show video, that proves that I was right in saying that this program is a bunch of bull! Of course, the creator states that this program works, and that it worked great for his daughter, and the company itself states that they back their program...of course they do!!! At $200 a shot, they are making a lot of money, of course they would not want to be shut down, or have people stop buying their products!!!

I am glad that they are going after this program. Maybe more people will see that they are doing more harm then good when they put their kids in front of this program! What ever happened to INTERACTING with your kids!?


Work At Home mom of 4 young kids, Nick the Sportsman, Michele the Princess, Wyatt the Wild One, and Evan the Baby.Bachelor in Early Childhood Development and Education, with 20 years experience. I could not ask for anything more!

April 1, 2011

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Posted by Becka 0 comments

“It’s amazing how much free time you have when you’re not in front of a screen…I never realized how much fun I missed by using screens instead of playing outside.” Mackenzie Rothfuss, 7th grader, Bay City, Michigan

Screen-Free Week is coming April 18-24 and, with your help, we can make it the best ever!  Will you organize a Screen-Free Week in your school or community?  It’s easy and fun.  Click here to purchase your 2011 Organizer’s Kit today!

Anyone can be a Screen-Free Week organizer for any kind of group—from families, to schools, to whole communities.  Since 1996, tens of thousands of parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, scout leaders and clergy have helped millions of children turn off screens and turn on life by organizing local Screen-Free Weeks (formerly TV-Turnoff).  For 2011, we’ve created a new, improved Organizer’s Kit to walk you through the process; it includes all the suggestions, activities and handouts you’ll need for a great Screen-Free Week—as well as 2 beautiful posters perfect for promoting it.

By purchasing official Screen-Free Week materials, you'll be spreading the word and supporting our important work carving out screen-free, commercial-free space for children.  Order by February 15 and get free shipping! 

We know that children are spending way too much time with screens—a staggering 32 hours a week for preschoolers and even more for older kids.  The costs of excessive screen time are enormous—poor school performance, childhood obesity, and problems with attention are just a few.

Screen-Free Week is a fun and innovative way to improve children’s well-being by reducing dependence on entertainment screen media, including television, video games, computers, and hand-held devices.  It’s a time for children to unplug and play outside, read, daydream, create, explore, and spend more time with family and friends.  And, of course, Screen-Free Week isn’t just about snubbing screens for seven days; it’s a springboard for important lifestyle changes that will improve well-being and quality of life all year round.

CCFC is proud to be the new official home of Screen-Free Week, but we can’t do it alone.  We need thousands of you to step up and organize your own Screen-Free Weeks—for the children in your lives, for yourselves, and for a better future.


Stay at home, business owning mom of 4 young kids, Nick the Sportsman, Michele the Princess, Wyatt the Wild One, and Evan the Baby.Bachelor in Early Childhood Development and Education, with 20 years experience. I could not ask for anything more!


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