Thursday, November 21, 2013

A very simple way to create a family Christmas tradition!

I was intrigued by the 25 Days of Christmas kit created by Karen, a mother living just out of the Greater Toronto Area, and sold on simplyfunfamilies.com 

As the author of a popular family-tested guide on fun outings (see torontofunplaces.com), anything promoting simple fun for families always appeals to me! On her website, Karen promised simple family fun, and a cool way to create memories. So I asked her to send me a box.

The concept is simple indeed. Karen has printed a series of 35 pretty activity cards to choose from to create an activity advent calendar. She provides dated envelops. Once you're done, you can store all of it back into the box, until you're ready to take it out next year.

The following story really happened!
The first activity card I picked from the 25 Days of Christmas box went like this: "Tonight we'll jump in the car, turn up the holiday tunes, and tour the Christmas lights around town." It instantaneously brought me back in time.


My younger sister and brother are 28 and 30 years younger than I am. We never lived in the same city. I didn't get to see them often but when it happened, I tried to make it count. I especially make it a priority to visit them during Christmas time. When they were old enough, I offered to take them on a ride to admire the Christmas lights. 

They lived in a wealthy suburb with fancy Christmas decorations. We rode for an hour, admiring them all. When we got to a round-about, I played the silly card and made us do 10 tours in a row. They laughed so much, it was a delight. The next year, we did it again and once again got "stuck" in the round-about. 

That's when it became a tradition. To this day, they still talk about this fun time we had together.

Kids love traditions
Traditions have a way to bring joy to the family. Karen shows that it doesn't need to be complicated. She explains how to use the kit so you can plan activities for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. She leaves a few blank cards so you can create your own activities. She offers a good mix of indoor and outdoor activities. I suggest you LIKE her Facebook page to get ideas on the way to go about the different activities.

If a 25-day commitment scares you, why don't you use this kit to plan the 12 Days of Christmas. The idea is for this to be fun for the whole family including mom! Because mothers are people too.

To order now, visit simplyfunfamilies.com. The kit retails for $20 plus tax and shipping. She accepts payment by credit card through PayPal (no need to have a PayPal account).




Friday, November 15, 2013

About Santa Claus Parades!

Toronto Santa Claus Parade 
Sunday November 17 at 12:30 p.m.

See our post about this parade and six others in our post:
7 TIPS & 7 parades on torontofunplaces.com.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Post-Halloween debriefing

Pinterest to the rescue
I was very pleased with the idea of a Halloween door decoration I got on Pinterest.

It took me less than 30 minutes to make it with wrapping paper, some pieces of styrofoam and cardboard. I cut the top of the hole for the eyes, then cut strips down to the lower part of the hole to create eyelashes.

Taking it down today.
Now that it's Christmas at the local Starbucks...


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updates and family fun bits.

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair 2013

Wondering what's in it for your family at the Royal Winter Fair this year?
See my TOP-10 favourite things to do with kids on torontofunplaces.com.

The Winter Fair goes on until Sunday November 10th. It is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (closes at 6 p.m. on Sunday).