Spy Week: Part 3 - Fingerprint Matching

Now this might be more detective than spy - but I don't mind if you don't! This is a fun game/activity that can be switched up for just your own kids or a whole party of kids. Start by taking everyone's finger prints. For your own family you can do all the fingers but if you have a whole party of kids you may just want to stick with the thumbs.

There are 2 easy ways to do finger prints. A less messy way is with a regular pencil and Scotch tape. Scribble a square of pencil on a paper and place your thumb into the square.

Then press your thumb onto a small piece of Scotch tape

Peel off the tape and place on a sheet of paper and you have a perfect little finger imprint.

If you want to go the more traditional route  you can use stamp ink

For this game you'll need 2 sets of each finger prints. One is the record to go off of and the other will be for the crime scenes.

For a party you could hide all the presents at some point and place one of the fingerprints in the area. If you're just doing this at home you could place them around the house. Once they find a fingerprint they can try and figure out whose it is using their magnifying glass and their record of prints.

I love how this game can be changed up to meet your needs. For little ones it might be fun just to examine their fingerprints and then hid them around the hosue for them to find (with their magnifying glass of course!)

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Spy Week: Part 1

Welcome to SPY WEEK!

Spies (and I'm using this term losely) are sneaky, smart, and crafty. It's fun to pretend to be a spy (especially if you have an older sibling). A spy kit is a fun way to start off spy week and I wanted to show how easily you could pull together a kit like this for a birthday or surprise gift!

The only thing I bought was the magnifying glass and I found it at Michaels in the bargain section. They also had quite a few other fun spy gadgets but I thought I'd show you how to pull stuff out from around the house! The silver thing is a small flashlight. Flashlights are another thing I recommend keeping on hand for playtime. The moustaches and nose glasses I picked up in the party supply section last year. I try to keep an eye out for things like that on clearance to hid in a stash since you never know when you might need them! A little box, suitcase, or bag and you have a complete set!

For our first spy activity we made a laser beam obstacle.

We first saw the idea at Chicken Babies and posted about it HERE. Finally decided to try it on our own with some string and washi tape. I actually liked using the tape because if they touched/pulled on the string too hard it fell down and they had to try again.

(I think at this point we can start making a game out of seeing how many pictures Kona the dog can get herself into)

Such a fun game and reminded us of the Backyardigans Super Spy episode they watched when they were little.

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Surviving Sick Days - DIY Catapult Game

I'm happy to be back with Part 3 of our "Surviving Sick Days" series with Children's Mucinex! In our first post we talked about staying healthy (we all try SO hard) but when the cold or flu does hit I definitely go into full blown Mom mode. In Part 2 we shared a super fun DIY dry erase album that many of you loved! Today I have a game that my sick kiddos really love and I think yours will too! It's a DIY catapult game!

You'll just need craft sticks (slotted or not - these were the ones we had on hand), rubberbands (I had the small clear hair elastics), a plastic spoon, and whatever you want to catapult!

The design is pretty straight forward - stack up 6 or 7 sticks and rubberband them together. Make a "V" around the stack with 2 more sticks and secure with rubberbands making an x over the 2 sticks (as shown in the images)

When laying down I used a clipboard for a sturdy base and placed a bucket at the end of the couch to try and launch the balls into.

My boys like it best when I participate by holding the bucket and moving it around to catch the balls. It's fun to experiment with different angles of the catapult (more sticks on the bottom) and different sized/weight balls to launch into the bucket.

It's such a fun game to make and play!  Luckily Children's Mucinex helps them feel a bit more up to playing games since it does help clear their congestion and perk them up a bit when they are fighting the bug. This allows us to experiment a bit more.

Don't forget that Children's Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold is offering you a $2.00 off coupon to use on your next purchase!

Children's Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold

When your child has a bad cold, you both can feel miserable. Children's Mucinex is the #1 children's brand for relieving congestion* and provides fast acting relief from your child's worst cold symptoms. Try Children's Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold if your child needs relief from stuffy nose and chest congestion. Always use Children's Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold as directed. (*Based on IRI unit share data for the 52 weeks ending November 2012)

GIVEAWAY! 

"What is your or your child's favorite game?" Share your answer as a comment below for the chance to win a $100 CVS gift card!

No duplicate comments.

You may receive 1 total entry by leaving a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/20/2013 – 3/31/2013

Be sure to visit the Children’s Mucinex Multi-Symptom Cold page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Spider Web Game from Making Boys Men

I love this simple game from Making Boys Men. A game that could be fun for many ages!

A fun game for those that may be stuck inside! For the simple instructions visit Making Boys Men!

Travel Tuesday: DIY Tangrams

I have always loved Tangrams. I posted about them when I bought them for our long airplane trip but I really love this DIY version from Delia Creates

A fun magnetic game that holds their attention! You can make a little container of their favorite characters or tic tac toe pieces for even more magnetic fun!

Check out Delia Creates for the step by step

Family Game Night - When Pigs Fly

Ok so there was a bit of playing with the title there ;) My boys LOVE board games. My husband and I have found games that are good for game night and others that aren't our favorites (the ones that take FOREVER to finish). 

Imagine Toys and I started chatting on Twitter and they asked us if we wanted to review a new game for them. We thought it would definitely be fun to try it out.

We got When Pigs Fly

You get little plastic pigs with velcro wrapped around them and a spinner with a rotating sky above. You spin the spinner to see whether you can launch your pig, take a pig from the sky, or give a pig to someone else. The goal is to have no pigs.

Of course launching the pigs is what everyone hopes for!

They can't stick to the clouds which makes it a little more challenging

It's fun when a lot of pigs get caught up there - makes it a lot harder to find a good spot!

Launching pigs is very serious (and very funny) business.

The adults can get into it too (we are a bit competitive) and we definitely had a few fun games going! When Pigs Fly has made the cut into our regular Family Game Night rotation! 

About Imagine Toys: Imagine Toys is a specialty toy store guided by a mission of providing quality toys that encourage children to use their imaginations. We're picky about the toys we select and strive to offer unique toys and accessories that are fresh and different from what you might find at a mass-market toy store. Imagine Toys buyers are parents themselves and have taken the time to test products with children of appropriate age to make sure our products offer plenty of fun and educational play value.

Find Imagine Toys on their WEBSITE / BLOG / FACEBOOK / TWITTER / YOUTUBE

Disclosure: We were provided the game to review, no other compensation was given. All reviews and photos are our own.

DIY DOMINOS

If you're looking for a new (cheap) game or activity to do with your kiddos or just keep in your bag/purse Handmade Charlotte has a great free domino printable made by Mer Mag. 

A fun simple (and nice to look at) quiet game! These are the types of things I like to print out and keep on hand and ready to go for whenever we might need them.

Head over to Handmade Charlotte for the printable and game instructions!

Just Dance Disney Party [Kid Review]

We have another review for you today! Ubisoft's Just Dance Disney Party for Wii (comes in other platforms as well)

---> CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POST!