Best Two Player Games for Couples

Okay, so this post is not really parenting-related, except for the fact that before we had kids we did not spend most of our evenings playing board and card games.  Now, this is usually how we spend time together after the kids are in bed (since we're out and about on the town, like, not at all anymore).  Playing games is more interactive than laying around watching TV, and for us at least, it's a lot more fun.  There are so many awesome games out these days-- here are five of our current favorites (in no particular order)!

1) Battle Line.  This is a card game that has elements similar to poker, chess, and rummy.  It's easy to learn and can get intense as you battle it out with your opponent to gain 5 red pawns (or 3 in a row) to win the game.    This is my husband's favorite game to play as a couple.  He beats me most of the time, so I'm extra thrilled when I can pull out a win.

2) Pente.  Pente is all skill.  You're placing pretty colored stones on a grid, trying to get five in a row or capture five pairs of your opponent's stones.  The link I've shared will take you to the version we have.  You can get a newer version for a more reasonable price, but I highly recommend getting some pretty mancala-like stones to use as your pieces, as opposed to the wooden pieces sold with the newer version.

3) Dominion.  I am borderline obsessed with this game.  It can be played with up to 4 people, but it is really fun with only 2.  Once you get past the huge instruction manual and 30+ types of cards, the game is actually really straightforward, and so much fun.  You're building your own personal deck of cards with the goal of obtaining the most victory points along the way.  It sounds more complicated and less fun that it really is.  It moves quickly and has a great balance of mostly strategy with a little bit of luck thrown in.

4) Backgammon.  Sometimes you just have to stick with a classic.  I don't have a link for our backgammon set because it's old, but they're super easy to find.  You're rolling the dice and trying to get all your guys around the board (and ultimately off the board) before your opponent.  Beware of being captured!  Good old-fashioned fun.  I recommend playing with a cozy fire in the fireplace and a hot toddy in hand.

5) Jaipur. I bought this game because it looked pretty, and it didn't disappoint in that department.  Thankfully, we also found it to be challenging, quick-moving, and fun.  You're trading resources with a shared marketplace, and there is a fine balance between trying to get the resources you need, while not opening opportunities for your opponent to get what he/she needs.  The cards are really beautiful, and collecting a big stack of coins is fun! 

Playing games in the evenings has been a great way for us to connect and have fun together after long and busy days.  I hope the same for you!  Enjoy playing!

Decorating Witch Hats!

So, Halloween weekend was super busy and fun, and I'm just now getting around to writing a quick post about it.  We had a little family Halloween get-together, and I did a witch hat decorating activity with some of the girls, ages 8, 6, 3, and 2.  I set out four $2 witch hats, along with a bunch of art supplies to decorate them with.  I decorated an extra one myself as an example.  I gave them orange and black feathers, black tulle, glow in the dark fabric paint, sparkly adhesive gems, pom poms, and glitter glue pens. 

The girls went to town decorating their hats! The biggest hits were sparkly adhesive gems and glow in the dark fabric paint. 

My mom and I used a hot glue gun to help the kids glue on the tulle, pom poms, and feathers.  They personalized their hats with whatever they wanted-- they drew their names, favorite animals, and used more fabric paint than I would have thought possible.  Their hats lit up the Halloween night!

Best Toys for Two-Year-Olds (Under $20!)

With the holiday season fast approaching, I wanted to share a countdown of these awesome toys that have been keeping my two-year-old happily playing for months.  These are her favorite toys, and in making this list, I realized that they are all super affordable-- so great! 

5) Mr. Potato Head, or as my two-year-old lovingly calls him, "Mister Head."  She loves this guy. 

Something about being able to stick his nose where his ear should go, or give him two complete faces on opposite sides of his head, really appeals to her.  I have to admit, I like him, too.  Sometimes you just have to go with a classic!  And he's only $9.99!

 

4) Ice Cream Duplos!  I should add that my daughter loves Duplos in general, but these ice creams cones and popsicles are her favorite.

Duplos are easy for little hands to snap together, and these make her feel like she's having a treat (without any sugar consumption).  She loves making ice cream cones for everyone in the family, including the cats!

 

3) Button Art!  She got this for her second birthday, and it has remained a constant favorite ever since. 

Snapping these buttons into place is hugely satisfying for her, with the added bonus that she's practicing color recognition and matching every time she plays with this toy.  There are 10 different scenes to complete, and with practice, she's gotten really good at putting them together.  This is a toy that we keep on a shelf and use only with adult supervision, so the little pieces don't get lost.  She requests to play with this all the time.

 

2) Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket.  This one has been an unexpected long-time favorite.

 

She actually received this for her first birthday, and it was an immediate hit.  At first, she just loved taking out all the pieces and making the picnic basket sing it's various songs.  Now she enjoys practicing her shapes with the food and plates, and having picnics with her stuffed animals and her baby sister.  I've really been surprised with how long this has held her interest.  She plays with it multiple times a day.

 

1) Play Doh Fun Factory!  Words cannot express my two-year-old's love for play dough. 



We usually use the tools in this "fun factory" with our own home-made play dough.  This is our go-to rainy day activity, and it can occupy my daughter for hours.  The cookie-cutter type shapes provide endless entertainment, and she loves making "snakes" with the extruder.  This is definitely not something I let her do by herself, but I must admit I enjoy playing with play dough quite a bit myself, so I don't mind supervising.

 

Have fun playing!!

 

 

 







Creepy Glow-in-the-Dark Hunt

I'm somewhat holiday-obsessed, so we start celebrating Halloween early in this household.  The Dollar Tree has some pretty awesome Halloween stuff this year, and I picked up three packs of glow-in-the-dark thingies-- bats, rats, and spiders for $1/pack. 

I left the creepy critters under our piano lamp all day long so they would soak up the light.  I decided to do the hunt in Big Sister's room, so she would be in familiar terrain when clambering around in the pitch black darkness.  I gave her a Halloween bucket to collect the spoils, and we were off on the hunt.  There was a lot of "hunt hype" during the day leading up to this, so she was super pumped to get going.

She loved this.  Unfortunately the critters don't photograph well in the dark, but she had a blast finding and collecting these little guys.

We also had a good opportunity to practice counting and sorting at the end of the hunt-- 12 spiders, 6 bats, and 4 rats.  We'll definitely be doing this several more times before October 31.

Apple Cider Playdough

Since we took our old playdough outside and got woodsy with it (see my post Bringing Playdough Outside), it was time for making new playdough.  My go-to playdough recipe is easy and quick, and Big Sister loves to help make it.  Since it's September now and we're pumped for Fall, we decided to add some yummy-smelling spices to it.  It ended up smelling like delicious spiced cider, so we named it Apple Cider Playdough.

Here's what you need to make it:
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 cup of cold water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
food coloring
spices of your choosing

Mix the dry ingredients.  I got crazy with the spices because sprinkling them in is Big Sister's favorite part, and she really can't mess it up.

 

 

 

 

Add the wet ingredients.  Stir well.  Cook it over medium heat until it has a playdough consistency, stirring frequently.  Big Sister's been asking to make red playdough for months, so that's what we went with.

 

Knead it up and let it cool, kneading it a few more times as it cools.  Super simple!  This stuff stays good forever if you store it in an airtight container.

Ready to play!  Except for some salt on the floor, this one was pretty mess-free.

 

Toddler Chef: Chicken Tacos

Aside from the tantrums, toddlers are so much fun!  They're super excited about everything, and they're busy learning every waking moment.  Big Sister wants to do everything I do, and that includes activities I might think of more as work than fun.  She enjoys cooking, cleaning, and weeding just as much as playing with toys. 

I like to get Big Sister involved in the kitchen for several reasons-- the main one being that if she's occupied helping me cook, I don't have to worry about what else she's getting into, and therefore it's actually easier for me to get the cooking done! I also hope that by participating in the cooking process, she'll be more willing to try a variety of foods since she's helping to prepare the meals herself. And finally, I'm happy to be teaching her skills as a toddler that she'll use for a lifetime. She helps make dinner almost every night.  Last night, we made chicken tacos.

I got this awesome recipe out of the Oprah magazine several years ago, and it has become a family favorite. You can find it here: Tomato-Braised Chicken Tacos

I'll begin by saying that this activity ended in a huge mess...I'm surely living up to the "messy" part of my title with this one.  This is the first time I tried photographing while cooking with a toddler, and it definitely complicated matters (details below)!

When I chop vegetables, Big Sister is my "trash lady" (she gets a kick out of this name now...we'll see how long that lasts!). Being the trash lady means that she takes the vegetable scraps and puts them in the trash bowl. She loves putting things where they belong, so she's enthusiastic about this job.

I also let her throw the veggies into the blender.

Big Sister likes to help me pour salt, pepper, and spices into whatever we're making...this is tricky because her hand isn't steady enough to hold a teaspoon without dumping everything out, so we both hold it and dump it in together. 

She also loves to push buttons, so she gets to pulse the blender.  Of course, it would have been wise to let the toddler know that the top should be on the blender before pushing the pulse button...this mama was busy photographing and before I knew it, shredded tomatoes were covering the kitchen.  That's when the picture-taking ended.

I deal with the chicken and tortillas by myself because I don't want her touching raw meat or getting too close to the hot stove.  She does like to peek in on the chicken with me and check how it's cooking, and watch me stir it.

While making the avocado salsa, she gets to suck on the leftover lime after it's been juiced (possibly her favorite part of the whole process).  She also helps to gently stir-- "gently" being the word I repeat over and over during this step.

All done, let's eat!  Despite the mess, it turned out yummy...this recipe never fails me.

Bringing Playdough Outside!

Big Sister (age 2), and I decided to have one last hurrah with some old playdough before throwing it out.  The colors have all been mixed together over the past few months, resulting in the appealing gray/black color you see in the pictures.

We live in the woods, so we didn't have to go far for some good messy fun.  I didn't have a solid plan for this activity, but I suggested that Big Sister find some things from nature to stick in the playdough.  She started with sticks.

 

She was very happy with the finished product.

  Next up, nuts.  She wanted to see how many she could squish in there.

Then, clover and herbs from the garden.

 

 And finally, rocks and ferns.

 



This was so simple and fun, we'll definitely be doing it again whenever we have old playdough.  Big Sister always loves exploring the little bits of nature surrounding our house, and this gave her something new to do with them.  Plus, it involved playdough, so it was a sure thing that it'd be a hit!