Comments on: Household Dispute :: 4th Of July Activities

By: Food, Games, Friends…And The Police » Derek Semmler dot com

Food, Games, Friends…And The Police » Derek Semmler dot com — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:23:31 +0000

[...] moving into our home in 2000, we have been hosting an annual 4th of July party and had another great time this [...]

By: Damien Riley

Damien Riley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:58:57 +0000

Lin, that is so great. we are going to use that for my son Brandon’s 10th birthday in july. What a great idea! I’ll call it “Nurple shirts” LOL. It’s a survivor theme so it fits in as a challenge well.

By: Lin

Lin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:26:40 +0000

Derek, I suddenly remembered a family favorite from long ago. A Frozen T-Shirt contest.

My mom used to do this years ago when we had a large group of friends over for one reason or another.

Get as many cheap T-shirts as there are kids coming (adults can play too of course); get the shirts sopping wet, wring them out, fold and stack them on a cookie sheet with waxed paper between each shirt and store them in the freezer until party time. Each person is given a frozen t-shirt, and whoever puts theirs on first is the winner.

It was a blast for sure, and helped cool us off on hot summer days.

Lins last blog post..Childhood Obesity: Treatment and Prevention of Obesity in Children

By: Scott Pillar

Scott Pillar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:02:10 +0000

We have a huge family centered pumpkin carving party every year the Sunday B4 halloween. Don’t spend money. Games like bowling (knocking down beer cans) and ring toss or washer toss work great! The kids have a fantastic time. Focus on things that kids can do with their parent’s support and involvement. That is what they will remember AND it builds stronger families. Just my two cents.

By: Lin

Lin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:59:31 +0000

I agree that spending $250.00 is too much.

1. Create an Obstacle Course in your backyard. Amazon.com has a great one with traffic cones and other accessories, along with a play book/rules etc. Cheap too.

2. Create a Treasure Hunt game, with clues to discipher, and a “treasure box” full of small (cheap) toys like super balls, water guns, jump rope, etc. That worked very well for our large gatherings of kids coming over.

3. String a net across the yard for volleyball or badmitten, etc.

By: Genesis

Genesis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:07:05 +0000

$250 is definitely too much to spend. There are a few other options . . .

1. Get a big sheet of plastic and lay it out on the grass, place a sprinkler at the top and add a little no-tears shampoo and kids can slip and slide all they want for next to nothing.

2. See if the neighbors have some fun equipment to lend for the day.

3. Set up kiddie pools as bases and a strip of plastic to slide home for a wet game of California kickball (baseball, but kicking a soccer ball instead).

4. Get some giant inflatable beach balls and let them have at it. TheyÂ´ll come up with their own rules.

5. String up a couple of clotheslines and hang some old sheets over them to make tents. Kids can disappear for hours in there!

Just a few ideas. Good luck.

By: Kevin (ReturnToManliness)

Kevin (ReturnToManliness) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:16:09 +0000

Damien is right on here. You have to flank her to win this argument.

Daniel’s slip and slide idea is cool. He is right, the kids will figure it out. $250 is entirely too much in my opinion.

Bocce ball, horseshoes, jarts are all easy and cheap. I always LOVED playing kickball in elementary school. I would kill to play another game of that…

Kevin (ReturnToManliness)s last blog post..Fist Bumps: Have They Lost Their Manly Meaning?

By: Damien Riley

Damien Riley — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:46:34 +0000

I agree with you Derek but your wife's heart is in the right place. If you want to win the argument with her, how about saying you'll spend the $250 on a weekend road trip or something with just your family. ??? Damien Rileys last blog post..Amazing Visions Blog Carnival

By: Derek Semmler

Derek Semmler — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:32:53 +0000

@Wendy :: Great idea with the water guns, we have done that in the past and hadn’t even thought of it this year.

@Daniel :: That is along my line of thought as well. When we have our block party, everyone tries to plan all sorts of things to do but all the kids really want to do is ride their bikes in the street and run around, lol.

@Kelvin :: Bounce, bounce!

@John :: That would be one heckuva commute for some BBQ and fireworks! =)

By: JLow

JLow — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:21:40 +0000

I like the water gun idea too.

Can I come? I can bring my own SUPERSOAKER (ECHO ECho echo..)…

JLows last blog post..Blackmail as child discipline!

By: Kelvin Kao

Kelvin Kao — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:20:58 +0000

Well, if you adults don’t mind, you can be bouncing onto the bouncy to bounce too. (And when you are done and washing your clothes, you can use Bounce Fabric Softener.)

I don’t think kids need you to figure out what they are going to do for them. If they are hanging with adults, that’s more inter-generation quality time. If kids are hanging with kids, they will figure out something to do. No need to worry about that.

I like Wendy’s suggestion though!

Kelvin Kaos last blog post..Cool Links to Check Out (06/22/2008 edition)

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:21:59 +0000

Unless kids in your neck of the woods are different than where I live, I say let them figure out their own games. Kids are naturally creative and imaginative… get a pack of them together with a fort and a big yard, and they’ll figure something out.

Maybe spend a little extra money and get a slip-n-slide or something super cheap that kids love.

Daniels last blog post..R.I.P. George Carlin

By: Wendy Piersall

Wendy Piersall — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:39:25 +0000

Why not drop about $50 on a slew of water guns? It can't get as violent as the water balloons, and can't cost nearly as much as the bouncy-thingy. If you have a kiddie-pool, they can refill the guns on their own. Wendy Piersalls last blog post..Working at Home and the Two-Foot Buffer Zone