Grandpa Richards Kids

It is that time of year again. Soon, your children will either graduate from elementary school, middle school, high school, or college. What a proud and exciting time this will be. Unlike the old days when tons of pictures were taken to capture every moment, today you can use scrapbooking to chronicle the life of your child up to, and including, graduation. Here are scrapbooking ideas for graduation memories to last a lifetime. Read the rest…

It’s time to plan for your annual summer vacation. While you may have a number of places to choose from, you want to select a perfect vacation spot the entire family will enjoy. Here are a few family vacation ideas for summer.

Disney World

Number one on the list would have to be Disney World. There are a myriad of packages that are not only all-inclusive, but with advance booking you can lock into very good price deals available during the summer months. Let’s face it, it’s a wonderful place to take the kids and you can be assured the kid in you will love it too. Read the rest…

Here are four more ideas from Grandpa Richard’s Activities Book.

Take a trip to the airport. If you live in a large city you don’t actually have to go right to the airport. In smaller centres it is probably much simpler to do so. Park where its easy to see the planes, especially as they land and take off. Talk to your grandchildren about where the airplanes may be going, or how many people may be on board. Kids find airplanes fascinating.

Similarly, visit the train station, or a busy train freight switchyard. Again, kids are fascinated by anything loud and with an engine. Help them spot the different trains and talk about where the passengers or freight may be going. If you are checking out freight trains, see how many types of cars you can spot. If you have a digital camera you can “collect” frieght cars and make photo collages of them.

Go to the sea side, or a large lake. You don’t have to save the beach for summer breaks only. Go anytime of the year and collect rocks or sea shells. Maybe you’ll find an interesting piece of drift wood that you can take home, clean, and varathane. Let your kids play and run on the sand. Show them how to skip stones on the water.

Take them to yard/garage sales. Make a morning out of it and have fun. Tell each child they can choose a small toy or item. They can have fun chatting to different people, help you pay for things, and even get some good exercise if you walk or take the bikes.

Keep them busy with a variety of activities and they will look forward to trips with grandpa.

Kids (and Grandpas) love playing outdoors. Now that summer weather is here, what better way to make a party fun, than to plan some fun outdoor party games! Here are six (6) ideas to get you started: Read the rest…

Last posting was about slot car races, which was lots of fun. It was, however, just a simple activity. On the other hand, model railroading is a true hobby. I still remember going to the hobby shop with my hard earned paper delivery earnings and buying a precious sheet of balsa wood to make an HO scale building with.

Model railroading is not just for kids anymore. In matter of fact with the prices of even the most inexpensive trains in the $40 to $50 dollar range model railroading is out of the reach of most kids today. No longer is it the thing of a Lionel train running around a Christmas tree in fact it is a highly skilled, demanding and rewarding hobby for adults. Read the rest…

I can still remember the excitement my buddies and I had on most rainy days. We’d go into someone’s basement and set up a slot car track. Out would come the cars and the races were on.

Slot car racing is a type of racing hobby that is not seen as much these days. Kids want electronic gadgets such as phones and MP3 players. They want computers and high-speed Internet connections. Whatever happened to the simple toys? Slot car racing is making a comeback, and it doesn’t take lots of cash or skill to have enormous amounts of fun. Read the rest…

Do you look forward to Christmas, Easter, and other family holidays? Or do you get so stressed that you have trouble enjoying these special occasions? Stress is a common problem for moms during holiday seasons, but there’s no reason that you shouldn’t enjoy these times just as much as everyone else. Here are some tips to help you have great holidays without all the hassle.

Planning ahead is key if you want to avoid holiday stress. Don’t wait until the last minute, then rush to get everything done. If you do, you won’t be able to focus on enjoying the special time with your family. Read the rest…

When I was dating my wife, she taught me to crochet. It was supposed to get me something calm to do. It was good for guys to slow down and work with their hands. I don’t know about all that, but anything to have her close !!!

Well, I never did get good at it, but I made a whole bunch of granny squares and Heidi used them to make a small comforter type thing. I also did a hooked rug. Over 30,000 little pieces of wool! Gave me an appreciation for the time cost of “homemade” stuff.

On with the show, as they say. This article is about knitting, but it could be crocheting as well. Read the rest…

Children love the 4th of July, and all its activities. Although these games were originally written for adults, you can easily adapt them to younger participants.

Have fun.

If you’re hosting a 4th of July party, there are hours and hours to fill before the highlight events of the day begin - the fireworks. You’ll want to have plenty of activities and games planned to keep everyone busy and entertained.

There are a variety of games you can plan that have a patriotic theme. Read the rest…

Independence Day is a fun summer holiday, full of festivals, fireworks, and other activities. It is also a tribute to the beginnings of our country. Fourth of July crafts are an entertaining way for kids to commemorate the anniversary of our independence. Here are some ideas.

Windsocks are a fun and attractive outdoor decoration. They are also easy to make. All you need is an oatmeal box, some white and blue construction paper, red and white streamers, scissors, and glue. Cut the end out of the oatmeal box and cover it with blue construction paper, and cut out stars from the white construction paper to glue on. Then cut some red and white streamers to the same length, and glue them to one end. Tie some string to the other end for hanging. Read the rest…