Easter Basket Ideas

It's been a while since I've posted. Since that time, I decided to create a Facebook Page for Raising4Warriors in hopes to share some of the crazy daily life going on in my home, share blog posts and posts from mom mentors that I follow, as well as link up my blog. Since Easter is only a few days away, I thought I'd share some Easter Basket ideas that I do at home. We like to keep it simple and not go too crazy with Easter Baskets. We do not do the Easter Bunny in our home for those that are wondering. I typically try and keep the baskets similar between the boys because it just helps with less arguing about one brother getting one thing and another not. Just want to keep the peace if I can and since we don't go crazy with the baskets, it's easy to do. This year, though, I tried to find something unique for each child that they would enjoy. To be transparent, we budgeted $20/kid for Easter baskets. Some of that get shuffled around as the youngest isn't getting as much as the olders, but it all works out in the end so it appears everyone has the "same" amount of stuff. I probably used between $25-35 above the budgeted amount between my grocery store reward dollars and kohls rewards money to get some of the items to fill the baskets with as well which is nice. This is similar to what we do for Valentines Day Tubs of Love as well. I'll try and snap a pic of the finished baskets on Easter morning and post it here.

In our Easter Baskets you will find:

Candy - not much, but each child will get a candy that is their favorite. For my boys it would be Starbursts, Hershey's Milk and Cookies bar, Sour Worms, and Jelly Beans. I found 4 Ring pops for $1 so I'll add those in as well.

Money- each child has 1 plastic egg with their name on it and I will put in $1 for them in that which they think is awesome. As they get older, there may be less "toy" items and more money or a gift card.

Yellies - Brekan, our 2nd oldest, bought one of these with his birthday money a few weeks ago. It's quite funny actually and if you don't mind your kids yelling at a toy for a few minutes, it's quite comical. I got 3 for the other boys so we can have yellies going all around our house for a short period of time. Note that I didn't say all day, this will be limited for my sanity but I thought it was fun. I think they came out with Easter yellies for the season (little bunnes). But I thought the spiders were cute and Jehnsen (our youngest) walks around petting it saying "bu" (bug).

Mini Grass Grow kits - found these at our local grocery store and thought they were cute. The link shows the type I got, but I know I only paid around $1 for each little one, not what they are asking for on amazon (don't pay that much for one)

BeyBlade Micros - found these at Target for around $2 each and snagged 3 for the older boys, not sure if they'll work but they looked fun and the boys are in to BeyBlades right now.

Dragon Mystery Pack - We loved the new How To Train Your Dragon 3 movie that came out a few months ago. I found these mystery packs at Target for around $2 each for the boys. We have some of the toys, but the boys like little mystery packs of items and I knew this would be a good filler.

Easter Spot It - Found this at Target for Leyton because he is my Spot It Game Lover. Couldn't find the link for the Easter game on amazon so it may only be a Target exclusive thing, but any spot it game is wonderful in my opinion for ages 3 and up. We love Spot It! and probably have 5 different themed tins at our house from Dory, Planes, Shapes, Letters, Junior, and Camping.

If you follow my personal Facebook page you have seen the past few weeks how much my youngest, Jehnsen (almost 2) loves to draw and color. He recently found a sharpie and colored his neck, then he was coloring a picture of a penguin the other day while I was doing dishes and when he came up to me he was covered in Black/Blue WASHABLE (praise Jesus) market on his face...those colors are harder to wash off, but I did it with good 'ol soap and water. He's so adorable though it's hard to get upset. He will be getting Color Wonder Daniel Tiger paper in his Easter Basket this year. He loves to color and he LOVES Daniel Tiger so I think this is a win-win for him. No mess coloring clean up for me and coloring fun for him!

Mystery Hot Wheels packs - found these at Walmart. Again, my boys like all those little mystery pack type things, these were $1 each.

LED GUNS for Jehnsen - the boys love to play laser tag and this will allow their youngest brother to "play" with them. I found a 2 pack at Hobby Lobby.

Hatchimals - One of my boys thinks these are the coolest thing, so I found a few at our local grocery store buy 1 get one 50% off and got him 2 for $3 which I thought was a good deal. They came in single egg packs.

BOOKS: The two older boys will each be getting a book. Hidden Scrolls for the oldest, he has this last book in the series to read and Weird But True Animals for the 2nd oldest (they love to read me these in the car)

Zoom O - I found one at Walmart for $15 and then got another single one at Kohls with my Kohls Rewards. The 3 olders will get these. I'm thinking they'll be fun for outside on a not so windy day.

Daniel Tiger Magnets - A friend gave me this set at a Mom2Mom sale, I glued them to cardstock and then laminated and glued magnets on them for the fridge. I think Jehnsen will love these.

Bounceback Mini Sphere - Leyton (5 years old) saw one of these at the zoo the other day so I found one on Amazon and got it for him. This one is a lot larger than I was anticipating, I thought it was smaller, but it will still be fun for him I think.

Playing Cards - Our boys are really in to Michigan State after NCAA basketball season, I found this set of playing cards for our oldest so we can play war and do multiplication fact war with each other.

Hopefully this helps you with some ideas as you get ready to put together Easter Baskets in your home. What are some fun things you put in your childs Easter Basket? I'm always looking for new ideas for next year or to add to my stocking stuffers list for Christmas!

Tubs of Love

I'm excited to share about a fun family tradition that we started with our family when our oldest (now almost 9) was 7 months old. Each Valentine's Day we create a little "Tub of Love" for them. For one thing, the name is just cute and fun (hehe). It's a simple Rubbermaid shoe box size tub, I've decorated them with stickers and their name. They get the same one each year (like an Easter basket or a stocking), lined with tissue paper on the bottom, and filled with a few simple items for them. It's a fun way for us to share some love with our boys on Valentine's Day. Sometimes I have let them open them in the morning. But now that they are older, we are going to have a fun Valentine's Family Dinner (heart shape strawberries, cucumbers, carrots, no boiling baked ziti, and garlic bread with special valentine cupcakes...keep it simple around here) and then share their tubs of love with them. Below are pics from the past 8 years of doing them (still need to add tonights picture after we open them), one year they didn't have the tubs because we were living in my in-laws basement while building our current home and I think the tubs were in storage...we made do and kept the tradition!

First Tub of Love 2011

 2012

 2013 (no pic with kids, but at least a pic of the tubs)

 2014

 2015 (tubs were in storage)

 2016

 2017

 2018 (no kid pic apparently, but we had a pic of the tubs!

 2019

I was just approved to be a part of a book launch team for a new book that will releasing March 5th. I love book launch teams (this will be my 3rd one) because you get to preview the book before it's released and then share how amazing it is with all your friends! The book is called Memory Making Mom: Building Traditions That Breathe Life into your Home by Jessica Smartt. Seriously, this book is already amazing and I'm only on Chapter 4. It's all about how to set aside the distractions of life and focus on our families. It's about how to create traditions with your family that your children will remember as they grow up and look back on. It's not a book to make you feel like you aren't doing enough, it's simply suggesting that you take time to do simple things on a regular basis (which builds the tradition) and then continue to do them. I have been challenged to think outside the box and really look at my daily life and what things are being a distraction and what things I can do to make connections with my boys. 

Starting the book has allowed me to think of some of the traditions that I love doing with my family. Our Advent Book tradition, our Birthday Balloons (they get 1 balloon per age each year and we do a photo), Tubs of Love at Valentine's Day, just to name a few. But the book is also challenging me to think about how I can be less distracted and more engaged with my boys on a daily basis and build traditions in to our daily, weekly, monthly routines.

If you want to pre-order the book, you can do so HERE

Our Favorite Games....so far

With Christmas just a few weeks away (yay! I love Christmas). I thought I'd share a few of our favorite games that we enjoy playing in our home. I love games for many reasons.

There's a lot of learning that can happen from a game from the skill involved to play, teamwork if it's a team game, winning/losing, taking turns, and other educational concepts that you can add in when playing games. Also, they are a "toy" that can be brought out and put away and provides a different level of play beside just being a toy.

In our home, we love doing games for gifts! Below are a few of our favorites that we have found over the years as well as some classic games from my childhood.

Hi-Ho-Cherry-O (the original) - Hasbro has a "newer" version of this game, but it only comes with 1 bucket. Really? Granted, there are 4 different colors of cherries in this game which is nice, but to have everyone use the same bucket just doesn't make sense. Especially when someones bucket "tips" and you have to sort through them all. This classic version I love so much more because everyone gets their own bucket. This game focuses on taking turns, counting with one-to-one correspondence, number recognition and more. 

Shark Bait (by Melissa and Doug) - This game is small and great for travel! You can have up to 4 players in this game. You roll the dice and then have to dig in the sharks mouth to find your item (flipper, shovel, wheel, and anchor) of your color. If you get the wrong one, you put it in the middle of the playing area (so if someone gets that item on their roll they don't have to dig for it...sneaky), if you get the right one, you keep it. First person to get all 4 of their items wins. Sometimes you loose a turn too which is a great lesson to teach children. All around a fun game and it's quick too if you are in a time crunch to play something.

Take the Cake by Gamewright - This has to be one of my favorite games we have found. You roll the dice, which tells you how many shakes you get. 4 cupcake cards are placed in the middle of the playing area. You shake the container and have to create a cupcake with the correct shapes. If they don't all match, you put them back. If you complete a cupcake you "take the cake" and keep it. The person with the most completed cupcakes at the end wins. This is a great game for 2 people, though we have played it with 4. I love that you can talk about colors and shapes as well as counting. Great for ages 3 and up I would say. The pieces are quite small, so be aware of that if you have littles around. We use the game box (which is also small) to shake the container in as well as roll the dice so it doesn't go everywhere.

Hiss by Gamewright - Another favorite I stumbled across when looking for games for our boys. Players take turns choosing cards and creating a snake by matching the colors of the body. Once you complete a snake either by adding the tail or the head, you get to keep all the cards that build that snake. Sometimes the snakes grow very long, and other times, they are shorter. There are also two rainbow pieces (a head and a tail) that you can place on any part you choose. My boys get so excited when they draw the rainbow snake piece. The box is small which makes it great for traveling and it's easy to learn and play.

Uno Attack - Everyone loves Uno, and there are so many fun versions you can get now (dinosaurs, Disney theme, etc.), but we love Uno Attack at our house. This is probably the go-to game we play when choosing a game because everyone can agree to it (Hallelujah!). You play just like Uno, but there are a few different cards (like all hit 2), and if you don't have a card to play, you have to hit the button. Sometimes cards spit out at you and sometimes you get lucky and no cards come out. The boys love seeing mom and dad get thrown a bunch of cards at them. Our 18 month old has recently discovered the game and loves to just sit and push the button and laugh at the cards flying out of it. 

Enchanted Forest - I played this game with my brother when I was little. We got it last year for our now 8 year old (and 6 year old). You place a card at the "end" of the game, you take turns rolling the dice and making your way to different trees. When you get to a tree you get to peek under it. If the tree has the same pictures as the card at the end of the game, you make your way to that space. When you land at the "end" you must show where the tree that matches your card is, then you win. It's a fun memory/race game. My boys love it, and I enjoy playing it (which is a bonus).

Boom Blast Stix - This is kind of like Jenga (a classic, which we also have). You clip a piece together on your turn and place it on the lid of the container. You take turns placing the clips on the lid, trying not to make them "pop". If some clips fall off on your turn, you have to put them back on. The goal is to not let it "explode" on your turn. Note: The clips do fly all over the place when they pop. If you get jittery with Jenga, you will be even more so with this game. It's very suspenseful. Younger children (4 and under) may need help putting the clips together, but they aren't that difficult to do.

Ultra Dash - Are you looking for a game to keep your kiddos entertained and moving on long winter days when you are stuck inside? Get Ultra Dash! You place the 5 "stations" around a room (or we sometimes put them in different rooms of the house). You take turns racing with the base stick by going to the correct color that displays and locking it into the base, then move on to the next. The base stick keeps track of your time. This game is great to keep the kids moving (hello...4 active boys here), works on memory/color recognition and is just fun! We've played it in our unfinished basement for more room to run, but have also set it up upstairs in all the different rooms to make them run to them all as part of the challenge. You can even make it more challenging by not letting them see where you are putting the colors (but still tell them which rooms) and have them race that way.

 

Spot It - Spot It is another favorite in our home and a great game to take on trips because its small and packs easily. I think we have at least 5 versions of this game at our house which I'm totally ok with! They have the original Spot It or you can get Dory, Olaf, doc mcstuffins, cars, letting/shapes, fishing, camping, just type in what you love and spot it and you might find they have a spot it for you! In this game you flip over two cards and the first person to say the two items that match gets to keep both cards. My 4 year old is obsessed with this game and he's quite good at it. He's been playing since he was a young 3 year old and loves it. It's fun now to do it with the letters and numbers and shapes as he's learning more. They also have a Spot It Junior which I would recommend getting for a 3 year old as a way to begin learning this game. You can't have too many spot it games! My 4 year old loves playing this game with his great grandmas and it's his first choice of game to play when asked what game he'd like.

Rush Hour Junior by ThinkFun - This game is played by 1 person. Great for traveling because it comes with a mesh bag to store the pieces in. Great thinking/strategy game too. You set up the cars on the board according to the card and you have to free the ice cream truck by moving the other cars blocking it's way. They start with easy cards and move to medium and hard. This is a great quiet time game for children and allows them to do problem solving tasks. The junior version is a great way to start at age 5 I think. This year we are getting our oldest Rush Hour Shift (for 2 players) because he loves the first one so much.

Balance Beans by ThinkFun - Similar to Rush Hour Junior, but you have to balance the beans on a scale. 3 different levels with easy, medium, and hard. It's an individual game which is nice for quiet time and building problem solving skills. You can also work together to solve the cards if your child is just learning. Probably best for ages 5 and up.

I don't have a review for this game yet, but we are getting ThinkFun Hopper's Logic game for our 6 year old this year. Since I love the Rush Hour Junior and Balance Beans, I'm pretty sure this will be another favorite.

Stack Up by Peaceable Kingdom - I love Peaceable Kingdom games. Many of them are cooperative learning games, meaning you work as a team to complete the task or finish the game. This has been great for our boys to learn teamwork. Especially for when they are younger, there is no winner/loser, you work together to win the game. We started these games with our boys when they were around 3 and 4. Stack up is a teamwork game to stack all the blocks before the Hand guy gets to the tower. Sometimes you have to do a silly task while stacking the blocks. My boys get a kick out of this. Peaceable Kingdom games are great games for children just learning how to play games.

Hoot Owl Hoot by Peaceable Kingdom - another favorite cooperative learning game. Work together to get the owls to the next before the sun rises. 

Phew! That was a lot. If you read all the way to the end of this post, thanks for hanging in there! I have may more games I could recommend too, but these are some that I'm not sure everyone has heard of and wanted to give some ideas if you were looking for them for Christmas. Perhaps I'll create another post soon of other classic games we love at our house. What are some of your favorite go-to games you love?