Setting The Stage For Break

Jenny GK 0:22

It's Tuesday.

Caitlin K 0:24

Yeah, it is. And uh, we're so glad you're here. And you can tell that we're recording in the morning early before my coffee because I sound like this. Like I have a frog in my throat. Okay, well, today we are giving you ideas for what you're gonna do with them kids during a long break, such as a holiday break. You're like, I got we're here for a week and a half, and I gotta do something with these kids besides just sit in the house and play with grandma and grandpa, whatever it is, what you're gonna do with those kids. So stick around because we have a bunch of ideas for inside and outside activities that will be really helpful.

Jenny GK 0:59

Yay! But before that, just like my treetopper, Caitlin's an angel.

Caitlin K 1:06

Oh my gosh, I have like little happy. Okay, um, and that's Jenny, my spectacular cloud of brilliance.

Jenny GK 1:16

Ooh.

Caitlin K 1:17

Who's probably gonna add some of that brilliance to this episode today because she has so many good ideas for stuff to do with kids. You guys, she's so good at this. Maybe. We'll see. Good ideas.

Jenny GK 1:27

I don't know. Ideas, yes.

Caitlin K 1:28

Good, but uh I guess it maybe depends on your kid, but they're good for her kids, but they work really well. So we're gonna we're gonna get to it. Okay, so I need to say a couple of things about this. One, you need to plan a routine. Okay. Try to set a routine for yourself during a long break. We talked about this with summer. You need to do it here too, okay? Like, they help everyone. You're gonna plan parts of the day where you get to sleep, where you get to have your coffee. You're gonna plan parts of the day where your kids are gonna watch TV because PBS is a great babysitter

Build A Flexible Daily Routine

Caitlin K 2:07

as long as you're in the house with your kids.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Sure.

Caitlin K 2:10

Uh-huh. You're gonna plan parts of the day.

Jenny GK 2:12

I love that you say PBS.

Caitlin K 2:14

Yep, because uh it's usually Netflix, but I'm putting PBS educational content.

Jenny GK 2:20

My 12-year-old would definitely be watching educational content. However, it's all about Taylor Swift on YouTube.

Caitlin K 2:26

Right, yeah. Different, yep. There's also gonna be parts of your day where you allow for technology like screen devices, things like that. Gonna be a little bit of screens, and then there's gonna be a little bit of something else that y'all do either together or you plan or something, okay? I'm not advocating for anyone to be go, go, go over a break. It's a break, especially over the holidays. You're supposed to be able to relax. It's not easy to do, especially pre-Christmas, if you're a Christmas family. However, you need to be able to find a way to relax a little bit. So that's why I'm saying build in those breaks for TV time. Okay. Um, this is just to keep everyone from being bored. I already did that. I write there's no more Taylor Smith videos to watch, whatever it is. Like, okay. The other thing I'm gonna say is feel free to adapt these activities based on your kids' interests and any resources that you have available. These are very general ideas, and I'm giving you a little bit of extra detail to support it. This list is not exhaustive, okay? If you have other good ideas, I want to hear them, please share them with us or go comment on the blog post for this episode because um there's tons of ideas that I I probably missed, okay? Also, I have to say this. We live in Texas. So when I'm talking about outside activities, I am aware that some of you may live in a climate that does not support outside activity time at all over a holiday break in particular.

Jenny GK 3:57

Right. So here's the deal Texans are out in December, but in in July, unless we're on the water. So if you live in a place where your summer is gorgeous, our winter is.

Caitlin K 4:15

Right. It's like 65 here most of the time. We can get cold, we get cold days sometimes. But cold for us is like, you know, 47 as opposed to cold for me when I was a kid, which was like negative 12. So like I get it.

Jenny GK 4:31

It's yeah, you might not the entire state shut down and ran out of energy when it was in the 20s.

Caitlin K 4:37

Right.

Jenny GK 4:37

Like we we were not like below zero here, guys.

Caitlin K 4:40

No, no, it was ridiculous. Okay, so I'm gonna start with the outside activities, okay? I've broken them up by kind of age groups. So preschooler outside activities. Ready?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Yes.

Caitlin K 4:53

Nature scavenger hunt in your backyard. Don't even have to go anywhere. You can still be in your jammies and just be in the backyard. Now, if you're not sure how to do this, go on to your searching machine,

Outdoor Ideas For Preschoolers

Caitlin K 5:07

whatever that might be, your Google machine, your Bing machine, ass Jeeves. I don't care. Search for kids scavenger hunt. When you do that, about one million different ones will pop up and there'll be all these cutesy stories behind them, but you don't care, change it to images. Okay, change the search to images and then look for printables that you can just steal. All right. Yeah, they're on the internet and you can click on the image in a new tab, go print that sucker out and make it be the thing. No big deal. And then after that, you can find the most beautiful leaf that your child created and turn it into a craft, and we'll get to that in just a minute, okay? So, nature scavenger hunt in the backyard.

Jenny GK 5:47

We used to do this on our COVID walks.

Caitlin K 5:50

Yes, we did it too. And we did it by color some days.

Jenny GK 5:53

Yes.

Caitlin K 5:54

Yep. So yesterday we found a brown leaf. Today we need to find a green one. Right.

Jenny GK 5:59

Yep.

Caitlin K 5:59

Now, granted.

Jenny GK 6:00

And it would be okay, we're gonna find all the numbers zero through nine in order.

Caitlin K 6:05

In order, yep. This is a motorcycle and a car, and a you have to find all the different kinds of vehicles. Let's go. All right, next one sidewalk chalk art. We also did this a lot during COVID. And one thing that I thought was super cute was a woman used um painter's tape or like masking tape, and she made a frame on the driveway, and then she used the painter's tape to like outline designs. So one of them was just like a stained glass window, and she made them kind of random, and then another one was like an actual like outline of something. It could be an outline of a snowman, and you can use all the leftover white chalk that you have from your teaching days. Also, you can use chalk to get stains out of clothes, but we'll talk about that another time. So, um, that came out super cool. Sidewalk chalk art. Okay, another one playtime at the local park. Now, I have to say this: if you do this all the time, you can make this fun. Go to a different park, go to one that the kids don't usually go to, make it outside your three mile radius of places that you drive to and and go to one that's completely different. Um and that way it it's a new fun playground, and the kids will want to stay there longer, it won't be so boring for them, right? We've already done this. Okay, well, go play anyway. It's a new playground. Have fun. Do a scavenger hunt at the new playground, watch what happens. Ah, here you go.

Jenny GK 7:31

Two birds, one stone.

Caitlin K 7:33

Bubble blowing. Now, if you're going to do the bubble thing for the love of all that is holy, buy yourself a bubble blowing machine and put it on the holiday gift list. And it can be a gift to parents or to the kids, and that way you are not the one blowing the bubbles all the time because that's it gets old really fast. Yeah. Oh gosh, does it ever? And if you're if you're your child can blow their own bubbles, I recommend taping the bubble bottle to like a part of your fence or something so that it stands upright. And then they can just stick the wand in

Novel Parks, Chalk, And Bubbles

Caitlin K 8:12

the bottle and blow the bubbles, and you don't have to hold it or worry about them holding it and spilling it everywhere. The bubble blowing is all right. Yeah, thanks. All right, moving on to some elementary school kids. We're talking about like six to ten-ish, right? Bike riding or scooter fun. Again, I recommend doing this in a novel place, a place that your family doesn't usually go to. It's a break. You're you all have the time. Instead of driving for six minutes to get to the playground, you can drive for 12 and see what happens. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yes.

Caitlin K 8:46

DIY mini garden planting. Uh oh. This is one that I thought would be cute to like start your seeds so that when it's springtime, you can transfer the plants outside. That's so smart. So, like if you need to do this inside because of the weather, just you know, prepare a space that won't make it too messy. But then it could be an inside thing, and then you're saying, okay, but now in the spring we'll have tomatoes or whatever you're gonna Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Outdoor sports like soccer or basketball. Um, if this is something that's within your resources, look for like half day clinics that Abby just did one for football. Yeah.

Jenny GK 9:30

And people wrote down her name.

Caitlin K 9:33

Ooh, yeah, exciting and also scary appearance.

Jenny GK 9:39

No, they were it was the people running the clinic. Oh wanted to know who she was.

Caitlin K 9:44

That's awesome. That's so good.

Jenny GK 9:46

Yeah. Yeah, it's like this those coaches, they're taking your name down because they're interested in having you play for them. And John speaks up. He's like, um, she's gonna be playing for me. Remember, I'm coaching. Oh, jeez.

Caitlin K 10:02

He's coached every season. I don't know why everyone thought of that. Yeah. Yeah. Also, if she's good, he's gonna want to keep her on his team because he's just that level of competitive, right? Like he's not gonna let her go anywhere else. Yeah. Okay. There are half-day clinics in our area that they spend all their time focusing on a few sports. There's some that are like all sports, so they'll do like, you know, one sport every day for a few days. This is a great time to see what your child is interested in in terms of sports, and that way you get at least half a day. But then again, you still have that time for relaxing TV screens, etc.

Jenny GK 10:43

Also, your child does not need to be an athlete to participate in the city. Clinics.

Caitlin K 10:49

And I'm speaking from experience. You do not have to be able to do that. This is a chance to

Elementary Outdoor Fun And Clinics

Caitlin K 10:52

be an athlete.

Jenny GK 10:53

Right. This is a chance for them to either grow skills in athletics or grow skills socially because there's teamwork involved.

Caitlin K 11:02

Right. And leading new kids and things like that.

Jenny GK 11:05

Yeah. Yeah. So this is valuable even if they're not into the sport.

Caitlin K 11:09

Right. Another one for this age group would be picnic in the park. Again, make it a novel park, but I feel like this could be a good time to make it be something that's fun to eat, that's a clear treat, right? Like if your kid never gets McDonald's, go grab McDonald's and go sit in a new park and have a picnic. Just make it be something different because that's what makes it fun and exciting. Right.

Jenny GK 11:35

And we have done this where we've made like a special grocery list too. Yeah.

Caitlin K 11:42

Right. Exactly. Love it.

Jenny GK 11:44

That's not to say that my kids don't eat fast food. Oh. That was not what the message that I was trying to send.

Caitlin K 11:50

My child had his first bacon eater yesterday. Do you I spent so much.

Jenny GK 11:55

Did you like bark it on your calendar? I shouldn't have. First bacon acre.

Caitlin K 12:00

Baby's first baconator. He had it on the pretzel button, and let me tell you, I wanted to eat that so bad. I left it for him. So like preteenish, 11 to 13, somewhere in there. Um, okay, hiking or nature trails if they're into outdoor stuff. This is a really good time to put those how to talk to your kids strategies we gave you earlier in the season to use. Um, and just see what you know what kinds of conversations happen, and a really good time for them to take selfies and you to be a part of those selfies and enjoy each other's company in a way that that they like. Okay. Rollerblading or skateboarding, but you go too and you try it. Ooh. Just, you know, make sure you bring the helmet and the knee pads and the elbow pads, and then of course the Tylenol for after you're done. Yeah. Um, organizing a neighborhood sports competition. Now, this is work. I understand that, but it could be really worth it. You could meet some new people. If you find that a sports competition is not your thing, I just kick your kid out and make them go play basketball in the front yard and see what other kids show up. When they're old enough to handle that, you know, that's right. It's a good one.

Jenny GK 13:13

I have a friend uh who used to do happy hour in her front yard.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Yes.

Jenny GK 13:20

And she would pick the day and put flyers on all of her neighbors' doorsteps, and it there was a snack for the kids and cocktails for the adults.

Caitlin K 13:30

Love. Love this idea. This is genius. I love it. Okay, camping in the backyard. Again, climate dependent, but you could totally turn this into a camping in the living room situation. And if they're 11 to 13 and it's they're gonna stay up all night as long as they don't keep you awake, whatever, they can sleep the whole next day because they're on a break, and so are you. Okay. What about teenagers? Yeah, they're gonna want to sit and do stuff on their phones all day long. Again, we're allowing for that time. Okay. However, we gotta get them out of the house, right? And interact with the, you know, 3D people. My first one is community service projects. Now, especially for kids who are in their teenage years in high school, this is really good for two things. One, reality check, right? Like this is when we're like, hey, there are people outside of you and our family who need support and animals or whatever. Also, if you're someone who's planning to send your child to college, this is a good time to rack up some community service hours that could look really, really good on those college applications. So I will say most places you can't just like show up and say, I'm gonna volunteer today. You need to like fill out some forms and look at their availability. So do some pre-planning here. But this could be a really good way to squeeze in some of those community service hours that will make your child look extra good. And who knows, they might find something that they really love and really, really, really become enamored with the idea of serving other people, which is such a cool, cool thing.

Jenny GK 15:14

And don't overlook the opportunities that you can create for community service. For example, instead of sending your uh younger kids to a clinic, have your older children run one.

Caitlin K 15:31

Love that idea.

Jenny GK 15:33

Okay, this is something that they can include neighborhood kids in, but all the hours that they spend planning as well as running

Preteen Adventures And Backyard Camping

Jenny GK 15:42

community service hours. And think about uh drives or collections that you can do in your neighborhood. Again, all the time spent on planning. You walk around and pass out flyers and then say you're gonna come back two days later. All of that counts towards the project.

Caitlin K 16:01

And the idea of your child starting a community service project in the neighborhood, it probably looks even better than someone who signs up for volunteer hours at an organization. You know what I mean? Like there's there's value in that too. So just putting that out there. This is a really good time to do that. All right, another one outdoor yoga or fitness challenges. Anyone? Anyone? I love this, but again, you have to participate too as the parent, right? It's also a really good way to get a head start on your New Year's resolution if that's something that you're looking into.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Hmm.

Caitlin K 16:33

Um, I'm channeling my inner bluey here with some beach day or water activities. If you live in Michigan, you probably can't go to the beach, just saying.

Jenny GK 16:41

But if you're one of our listeners in New Zealand, hey, yes.

Caitlin K 16:47

However, I I'm gonna say if there's an indoor pool nearby, tell your kids to grab a couple friends and take them all to the indoor pool. Like, you would be amazed at what happens when you get a bunch of 15-year-olds in the pool. Like they, it's like they're seven all over again. It's really, really fun to watch. Um, just find a place that has open swim and take a, you know, tell your friend or tell your kid to grab a few friends and go. It's fun. Okay, photography scavenger hunt. Now, this is where you, as the parent, create a hashtag. Love this. They have to be a part of this Instagram family photo challenge, and the whole family participates, and you all find things that are on this scavenger hunt. Now, you and I did this. This is where my idea came from. Yes. You and I did this when we took our seventh graders to the Alamo. Shout out to the Alamo and all the people there. Um, but they did you shout out the Alamo? Yeah, because we brought in 85 kids to the Alamo and then we just let them loose at the Alamo. So yeah, I'm shouting out the Alamo because then there were kids who were like picking up old like cannonballs and stuff when they weren't supposed to be. So yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I'm moving on. You and I did this because we wanted our kids to learn about specific things at the Alamo and go find things and make it fun for them, but also keep them engaged. So we let them have we created a hashtag and then we told them they had to take pictures of themselves doing all these things, and some of them had to be like moving pictures, and some of them had to be specific to like putting a certain person in a certain place, and they had to be pointing. It was like so random and ridiculous, but it was really fun to look at the pictures later. And if you get the whole family to participate, then big fun, right? Everyone's gonna have a good time with it. Okay, so those are all of my outside activities. Ah okay. Now we gotta do the inside activities. I'm gonna go back to the preschoolers and I'm gonna talk about that. Remember

Teen Volunteering And Fitness

Caitlin K 18:42

that scavenger hunt we talked about where I said you could take that leaf? Yes. Arts and crafts time. Ready? Here we go. Arts and crafts time with those materials you got from the scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do with Sam is I would like draw a random shape, like some sort of squiggle on a piece of paper, and tell him, turn this into something.

Jenny GK 19:01

Oh fine.

Caitlin K 19:02

Right? Or like you draw what looks like a fluffy cloud and you say, This is not a cloud. What is it? And they have to draw something that's not a cloud, so he'll turn it into a sheep or something, right? Like something like that. And it's cute and it keeps them entertained. Also, fun fact um, Home Depot does free in-store kids workshops on the first Saturday of every month. And you can take your kid to Home Depot on a Saturday, the first Saturday of every month, and they'll do a craft with your kid. So you just have to contact your local store for details or look them up or whatever. Fun one.

Jenny GK 19:37

And if you cannot attend the workshop, a lot of times they will give you the kit to take home and do at your house.

Caitlin K 19:43

Very, very awesome. Love it. And probably instructions for yeah, it'll be. Oh, yes, no, no, no.

Jenny GK 19:49

Everything it comes in a little bag.

Caitlin K 19:52

Oh, brilliant. Love it.

Jenny GK 19:53

Yep.

Caitlin K 19:54

Again, preschooler age, story time or puppet shows, right? Check out your local library for free story time and puppet show events. Sometimes they do these at yoga studios too, where like it's like mommy and baby yoga or parent, you know, kid and parent yoga, and they'll do a story and you do some yoga with your baby, and it's a it's a good time. I've done it before, it's really cute and fun. Um, and a lot of the times, museums like your local museums. Museum, maybe a state history museum, will have free days and free events that you can go to as well. Like we actually just went to the Bullock Museum last Sunday because it's the free day, first Sunday of the month, and took our child there and he had a blast at the Bullock Museum. It was great.

Jenny GK 20:38

I used to take Abby to the art museum because it's free on Thursdays. And we would act out the art.

Caitlin K 20:46

Oh, cute. See, good idea.

Jenny GK 20:48

So when we were seeing uh sculptures, like we oppose like the sculpture, or if uh it's an abstract piece, what do you think is happening in it? And it was a chance to kind of move your body and honor the art.

Caitlin K 21:00

Yeah, I love it. Building forts with blankets and cushions. This is a classic. No kid doesn't want to do this. This is big fun. And then you uh clean up together, right? You sing the tidy up song. Tidy up tidy up, put your things away. That that song.

Jenny GK 21:21

Oh, that's a good one. Much like the skateboarding or the rollerblading. Get in there. Yeah, do it. Have a good time. It's so fun. Help, help build, help design, and then get in the fort.

Caitlin K 21:35

This is one that I put towards the end of the preschool age because it could also go into your elementary school kids. Simple baking or cooking together, right? Um this is a great time to teach kids how to do little cooking tasks, right? Things like breaking eggs, chopping with a safe knife, measuring ingredients, stuff like that. Also a good time to teach oven safety, right? Like we don't touch because it's hot. This is what we let mommy touch, stuff like that. So really fun to do um and uh good for teaching life skills as well. Elementary school kids, again, six to ten-ish, board games or puzzles. Now, you can usually find these like small like card games and stuff that are fun family participating games, probably less than 10 bucks for a lot of them, and I'm using them as stocking stuffers.

Jenny GK 22:29

We love a card game called Ratatat Cat. Okay, okay, it is a memory game. Okay, you're trying to have the lowest score, okay, and you cannot look at your cards while you're doing it. So you have to remember what you have underneath.

Caitlin K 22:47

Oh, that's hard.

Jenny GK 22:48

It's great for like eight and up. We've

Photo Scavenger Hunts And Pools

Jenny GK 22:52

been playing it for years with Abby. Kit's not ready for it yet. He's five. He's not ready to have to hold four numbers in his head.

Caitlin K 23:00

Yeah.

Jenny GK 23:01

But Abby, she loves it. That's it. And it's a quick game, right? Like you can play it in about five minutes, or you can play many, many rounds in half an hour.

Caitlin K 23:12

Yeah. This is also a good time to teach like card games, like classic card games to your kids. Like when they're eight, nine, ten. These are these are fun times to teach things like, you know, speed or rummy or whatever it is that what's there's a one that is a Midwest game that all my friends from the Midwest would talk about all the time. Um, Euchre, that's the one. They they all talk about these games all the time. So this is a good time to do that. You can also do puzzles together. You know, we've talked about this. I love to put a puzzle just out, like just have it out and just let people sit and congregate. And for whatever reason, they attract a lot of attention and people just sit there. And for me, it's like a Zen moment where I'm just like chilling and yes do it. It's great. So those are another good thing to add to.

Jenny GK 23:54

And the idea that you're not trying to do the whole puzzle in one sitting over the break is kind of fun. It does, it doesn't have any stress. Like, oh, well, I'm kind of bored of this. I'm gonna walk away from it. Right, exactly because it's just gonna stay out all break.

Caitlin K 24:07

Right. You just leave it out. Start, put it out the day that break begins, just roll it out and let people have it be there. It's fine. Okay, another one movie night or game night with friends, especially for um kids who are in elementary school when they're over a long break and they want to see their friends and they haven't in a little while. It's harder for these kids to get to see their friends, right? Because they don't have transportation and all that stuff. So um, I forget the word that you use, but I'm not gonna, it's not a sleepover.

Jenny GK 24:36

Oh, a sleep under.

Caitlin K 24:37

Thank you. So a sleep under, unless you're cool with a sleepover, but think of it like a parents' night out, right? Like you invite a few families' kids over, let them go and have a date or whatever it is, they come back, they get their kid, and then everything's all done, right? And I bet if you put one together, someone else will return that favor. So hopefully. Yeah.

Jenny GK 25:04

When we did this for Abby's birthday, we did a sleep under, and so it was like six to ten. We had um all the girls in the second grade at our house. And in the invitation, I actually listed restaurants in the area.

Caitlin K 25:19

Oh my gosh, that's so smart. Once you drop your kids off, here are some great date night places. I love that idea. Oh, so so good. Amazing. Okay, so a sleep under, movie night, game night, whatever it is. You could even do both. You could do games for the first part and then you throw together a bunch of. Chill out with the movie. Exactly. Love it. Okay, science experiments at home. There are tons and tons and tons of books and websites, websites, excuse me, that have lots of great um experiments that you can do at home with with like ingredients you already have in your house. So you don't have to go buy stuff, right? Like kitchen chemistry. Right, exactly. You could even search kitchen chemistry, and I bet a bunch of stuff would come up for you.

Jenny GK 26:06

A lot.

Caitlin K 26:07

Yep. We're going back to scavenger hunts, treasure hunt or scavenger hunt, indoors. You can do it. There's tons of printables online. And maybe, maybe it's maybe one of the things they have to find is like, you know, the socks that are stinking up the room, but you don't know where they are. Something like that. I don't know.

Jenny GK 26:26

Well, and depending on the age of the kid, they might also need to find the list, right? Like, I have a nine or a 10-year-old, I'm gonna say to them, okay, make a scavenger hunt list and you and I will do it together.

Caitlin K 26:36

Ooh, I like that. That's fun. Again, moving into preteens, we can we can still put DIY crafts and/or art projects here with preteens because they're not quite jaded yet. However, this is a tough one because they might not be into it. So you might have to do some digging and some web searching to kind of figure out what's gonna make them excited to try. I've seen a lot of um preteen girls who are very into this diamond painting thing. Yes, it is a thing. Um I don't know.

Jenny GK 27:09

It's arranging rhinestones in a color by number situation, exactly.

Caitlin K 27:13

And and you might have to buy a few materials, but a lot of them are coming in a kit, and you can just buy the kit. This is a good activity for, especially for preteen girls. Um, I'm seeing I haven't seen so much with the boys, but that's been one that I've seen a lot of lately. And and just do some digging and see if there's something they're into. Like my son is very artistic and loves to draw, and right now he's obsessed with drawing Godzilla. So one of the things we do is we'll put on a I can't, I just can't. We'll put on a Godzilla, how to draw Godzilla YouTube video and let him draw. And he follows along. And it's actually really good. I'm very impressed. I should show some of his art. I'll put it on the website. You guys will see it.

Jenny GK 27:51

Okay, yeah, it's amazing. Um Abby loves to collage. Really? And I think it's because we do it together a lot, and so I'm not sure that it's the collaging as much as it is collaborating on something, sure, and the attention, but I have a stack of old magazines. Anytime there's free magazines at the grocery store, I grab them and we just tear them to shreds and make art.

Caitlin K 28:20

I love that. That's so fun. You guys are really crafty together, it's cute. Okay, video game or tabletop game tournaments. Nice good time to teach your kid how to play ping pong. Um, also, we all know that um I would I love to play Mario Kart against my son. Why? Because I'm better at it than he is, and so think you versus your kid at Mario Kart, just see what happens. Yesterday, he had the audacity to say he would dominate me in a snowball fight. Are you kidding me?

Jenny GK 28:52

Oh, so maybe it's time for a snowball fight.

Caitlin K 28:55

Well, we live in Texas, so it's a little bit tougher to do.

Jenny GK 28:58

You can actually order snowballs from the snow cone place, Bahama Bucks. No, they wes, they sell like buckets of snowballs.

Caitlin K 29:10

That's amazing. Well, what he doesn't know is that I like basically grew up playing dodgeball every day. And when I was teaching, I did Colorado and lived in Colorado, right? So, like when I was teaching um at my previous school, I had we had a dodgeball tournament, and my teammate and I signed up with a few kids, which is how it was supposed to go, teachers and kids together. And I apparently surprised a lot of people by dominating this bracket that we were in.

Jenny GK 29:43

Like Adam Sandler of Dodgeball, where he's just like throwing it right at the kids and having them work. Yes, that's what was No, not have uh Billy Madison.

Caitlin K 29:51

Billy Madison, yeah. Yes, but yes, uh, but yes, I like I'm there's a few things I'm like shockingly good at, and dodgeball is one of them, and the other one is foosball. I'm really, really good at these things, and it's just because I played a lot when I was a kid. So um, another one, a cooking or baking challenge. You versus them, who makes a better cookie? You put the recipe out for both of you to follow and go. Oh, that's fun. Right? It could be anything, right?

Jenny GK 30:19

We we did the chop challenge. Oh, you did? Um, this is how John and I met, you know.

Caitlin K 30:25

Yes, I do know.

Jenny GK 30:26

I love that you guys. So every once in a while we'll do it and we'll go and pick wacky ingredients and then cook against each other. Um, most recently it was me versus Abby, and she won.

Caitlin K 30:40

Oh no, what did you guys make?

Jenny GK 30:42

I made a fish dish. The the fish was good, but it it was not as good as what Abby made with like avocado and chicken, and hers was much better.

Caitlin K 30:53

Got it. Yeah. Um, the other thing that you could do here is do like a gingerbread house challenge if if you guys are a Christmas family and you like doing that. But my pro tip for you when you are doing a gingerbread house challenge, decorate the pieces lying down and then assemble. You're welcome. Oh my gosh.

Jenny GK 31:13

So game changer. I have two gingerbread house kits that I'm holding on to until the right moment, but I cannot wait to try this method. It's gonna work. I've never done that, and it is gonna so work because the icing is not

Indoor Crafts And Library Wins

Jenny GK 31:32

gonna run down the front door.

Caitlin K 31:34

Exactly. Everything will stay up. You're not fighting gravity, like you're working with it. Also, did you know that Oreo makes You are brilliant? Thank you. I have my moments. It's because I just took my first couple of sips of coffee and now all the ideas are. Um, did you know that Oreo makes a gingerbread house kit?

Jenny GK 31:54

No?

Caitlin K 31:55

Yes, I have done it. It is worth it. Just putting that out there. Okay. Uh, movie marathon with homemade snacks. Go on to Instagram or TikTok and look up like dips, right? And they'll give you like holiday dip ideas. And it's like cool whip and like vanilla pudding, and you mix it together and it it's delicious, and you get some gingerbread cookies and you start dipping and you put some green and red sprinkles on top. Done. Look at that. Ooh, fancy. Get some stuff like that, do homemade snacks. I also love the idea. This I've done this before as a date night kind of thing. We did like a little stay-in date, and um we did one of those trends where you like say, Okay, this is someone's favorite color, and you have to get a snack, a drink, a present for them, and something they can wear. I don't know, whatever it is. That's fun. Yeah, it was super fun, and you just turn that into movie night, right? So it's like, yeah, you or you buy a movie that you think they might like, right?

Jenny GK 32:59

That sounds really fun. I like that. Um, we like to theme our food to the movie.

unknown 33:05

Yes.

Jenny GK 33:05

And by we, I mean me, and John just kind of tolerates it. One year for his birthday, no, Father's Day, because it was in the summer. Um, we watched all the Star Wars movies in the recommended chronological order. So like what happens in the themed food, and I was so proud of my Seven Leia dip. Nice. See?

Caitlin K 33:37

See? This is fun, this is ridiculous, and then you could come up with ridiculous names that go along with it. This is perfect for preteens. I love it.

Jenny GK 33:46

Also, um, a really great movie just released a couple days ago. It does cost $19.89 to stream it, but there's plenty of people out there who might want to watch it and maybe have some themed snacks to go with it.

Caitlin K 34:05

1989. I wonder if that's a clue. I think it probably is. Okay. Teenagers. Virtual escape room challenge or a regular escape room. How fun would that be to do with their friends? Um, also included in the online gaming session, right? Like virtual escape room. Yeah, like but like how fun would that be? You can either have them invite friends or a whole family goes together and you do an escape room together. Right? Love it. This one I really love. A DIY home decor or room makeover, especially for your younger teenagers. They kind of, you know, they they transition out of that like sixth, seventh grade mode, and they get once they hit, especially you and I have talked about this, there's a feeling right around February, March of the seventh grade year, where you're like, oh, you're not seventh graders anymore, you're eighth graders by like you're ready to, you're ready to let them go, right? There's a real and and as a parent, you'll notice it too. Like all of a sudden they don't feel like a preteen, they feel like a snarky teenager, and you're like, what the heck? That is a great time to figure out what they want in their room, right? Like they're growing up. This is a great time to feel like what they need in their room as their interests change, as their needs change. You can get some of these things for your child for the holidays if it's a holiday break. And then, and then you just block off time during the break to make those changes happen for their room.

Jenny GK 35:37

This is actually what we're giving Abby for Christmas this year.

Caitlin K 35:40

I love that.

Jenny GK 35:41

Yeah, so she has gone and picked colors, and she's actually consulted with an interior decorator. Oh, hey, who also happens to be a teacher at our schools.

Caitlin K 35:51

Nice.

Jenny GK 35:52

Oh, that's cool. Um, so they they worked together on a vision, and um, she's picked out paint colors, and she's in the process right now of cleaning and organizing, and with the understanding that all the furniture has to be able to move to the center, and we have to be able to reach all the walls.

Caitlin K 36:11

All the walls, right?

Jenny GK 36:12

But um, we're doing new paint, new bedding, um, switching up some of the furniture. It'll be fun.

Caitlin K 36:19

That's so great. She's gonna love that. And just think about like the satisfaction that will come from that. Like, you'll work together on it. They'll probably spend a lot more time in their room after it's done, which it might be sad, but you worked together to make it happen for them, and that that's a really special thing.

Forts, Baking, Puzzles, And Games

Jenny GK 36:32

Yeah. And we painted her room when we moved into this house five years ago.

Caitlin K 36:37

Right.

Jenny GK 36:37

And she is a different person now, different person than she was five years ago. So she's excited to change the colors. Like right now, it's like bubblegum pink and bright purple, and she's going for this like sophisticated grown-up uh rose gold and dusty pink and gray. Like it's it's very grown up.

Caitlin K 36:58

Oh, also, like my millennial heart is so happy to hear gray in there. Okay. Um a music jam session or karaoke. Now, karaoke, when I was a kid, we would go and rent one of those private rooms for karaoke and do it that way. I'm not saying go to a karaoke bar and make your kids sing in front of all these people. I'm saying let them get a few friends. You go to, make if you have a big family, go as a family, whatever it is. Get a karaoke room and just have at it in this private room. So much fun. When I again, when I was a teenager, me and my friends used to do this all the time. We had a blast.

Jenny GK 37:37

No, it's really fun.

Caitlin K 37:38

It's really fun, and it's so much less than that.

Jenny GK 37:41

Most of them you rent the room by the hour.

Caitlin K 37:43

Right.

Jenny GK 37:44

So you can say, I'm going for two hours and say, okay, it whatever the cost is, we're gonna split it with our friends. And um, you can a lot of them let you bring in your own snacks. Right, exactly. That's cool.

Caitlin K 37:57

Yep, yeah. Okay, this last one, holiday games. Now, these are things that pretty much everyone can participate in, but it gets a little bit more fun as the kids get older just because they can like you're not having to assist so much, right? Right. So I don't know about you, but recently my TikTok and Instagram has been flooded with family games in my Reels and For You page. So you could just search for family games on either one of those. And I don't recommend doing it on like a regular search engine. I recommend doing it in a social media platform, in particular, Instagram or TikTok, because it will show you how to play, like how it actually works, as opposed to you trying to read it or see pictures. So um, some of these games, I will say, when you search, they look like they are for some really rich people. Like we're talking rich AF, right? Okay, like these are people who are giving away things like phones as a prize, iPhones as a prize for these games. Excuse me. I'm dial it back, right? This is extra. Like, unless you're already planning to give your kids iPhones for Christmas, dial it back. It is okay to give away a bag of the Grinch Hershey kisses. Do not stress about it, right? Don't worry about it. So, some of the contests I've seen, which are super fun and cute. And I'm gonna have um, if you want to look at the games, I'm gonna have them all on our blog post for the episode so you can watch the videos of the blog post. One of them is a balloon cup battle. It kind of looks like um a beer pong, but it's not beer pong. You have the um Dixie cup turned upside down and you blow a balloon up, and then you use the balloon's air. You let the air out of the balloon to push the cup across the table back and forth, and whoever knocks the cup off is the winner. It's like air hockey. Yes, with balloons and Dixie cups. Yeah, so fun, right? Um, it's totally air hockey, really fun. There's a um a medley of videos that I found that one of them is like you put the whipped cream on your hand and then you slap your wrist and you try to catch the whipped cream in your mouth. Um, candy cane fishing, where you tie a string around your waist and you have the candy cane dangle from your backside, and you have to like squat over and like hook the candy cane crook around another candy cane and try and pull one out of a bucket. Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. You pull a string on a cup and see what it's attached to. And if there's a prize attached, then you get a prize. Yes. Another one was a muffin tray and cup. So like you, it's again kind of like beer pong. You bounce a ping pong ball into a muffin tray. The muffin tray has numbers inside. The numbers correspond to a numbered prize, like under a cup or on a plate or whatever it is. And then you get whatever is attached. And then if you don't get it into the muffin tray, you don't get a prize. But you can keep going because muffin trays have like what 24 slots or whatever. Right, right, right, right. Right. So just really fun games that you can do together as a family, enjoy each other's company and laugh. So they sound great. It's really fun. They're super cute. And again, just go to the website for this episode and you'll be able to it's linked in there and you'll be able to watch the videos and see how they how they play.

Jenny GK 41:11

Great way to entertain your children over a long break. And yourself speaking of break, let's take one.

Caitlin K 41:16

Yep.

Jenny GK 41:17

All right, welcome back.

Caitlin K 41:18

Okay, let's talk about our circle time fun. Yes? It's time to catch up. Do it.

Jenny GK 41:23

Okay, let me tell you what I'm obsessed with right now.

Caitlin K 41:26

Yes.

Jenny GK 41:27

The story of blueberry on Reddit.

Caitlin K 41:29

I don't know what this is.

Jenny GK 41:31

No, most people don't. Okay. Unless you happen to be in the reef tank subreddit.

unknown 41:37

Oh.

Jenny GK 41:37

And this is blueberry. She is a blue tang, like a dory fish. Yes. And this guy saw her at a very large pet store and realized that she had some injuries.

Caitlin K 41:53

Oh no.

Jenny GK 41:54

And so he got her from this very large pet store and has brought her home. And this thing is a sore,

Preteen Challenges And Themed Movie Nights

Jenny GK 42:02

an injury that like makes her face look like skeletor. It's like white and bony. And uh so he's been posting updates on how she's recovering and doing really well. Good. Um, but she just got ick.

Caitlin K 42:21

Oh no.

Jenny GK 42:21

And remember when we got ick in our fish tank, it was like a big deal. Yes. So um she's recovering from her injuries to her face, but she's getting ick. So it's like a soap opera for fish.

Caitlin K 42:34

The fish obsession. I'm glad to see it's still there because for me it's it would have been a hyperfixation and then I would have lost interest. But I love that it's still there for you guys. It's great. Yes. And it's actually growing because now you're reading subreddits about fish. So this is good. Yes. So um mine is Sudoku. I don't know what's happening with my brain, but you know, I like puzzles, and I don't know what it is, but like I so I am a psycho who pays for um the New York Times uh crossword app.

Jenny GK 43:09

Okay.

Caitlin K 43:09

Because when I spent too much time on social media and I still feel like I need to zen out or or disassociate, I use that. And it also I feel like it helps my brain.

Jenny GK 43:21

So um they have Oh, there's all kinds of studies that it does.

Caitlin K 43:24

Oh yeah. Well, you know, New York Times also purchased Wordle. Yes. So I go there to play my Wordle. Then they have a couple of other games like this one called Connections, and then there's one that's um called Spelling Bee, and I've gotten into all of those recently, but um Remember J Sco told us about Oct Turtle. Yeah, no, I can't. That's too hard. That's too much work. It's already hard enough to do like Wordle half the time. Like, what? No. I ran out of games while I was doing while I was getting my nails done. P.S. look at my nails. Oh my gosh. Very nice, so fun. Um, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna try Sudoku. Like, I'm just gonna try it. And you remember when you were a kid and you would play Minecraft and or not what Minesweeper? Minesweeper. Minesweeper, not Minecraft, that did not exist. Minesweeper, and you just randomly click because but then as I got older, I was like, oh, there's a strategy. There's a reason. This me this number means something. Oh, okay. That's how I felt about Sudoku until I actually like paid attention to what's happening. I was like, oh, you just put numbers. No, no, no. There's a strategy. And now that I know the strategy, I'm really into it. And I'm like, I really like it. And I've only been playing for like three days, but I've played far too many games. Like far too many games. And I was playing while I was getting my nails done, like just you know, switching my hand back and forth, and my nail tech was like, You play Sudoku? And I was like, Yeah, and she goes, I play on paper. And I was like, Oh, that's too hard. How do you play on paper? Like, I could I don't think I could do that. But I hadn't need a pencil, but with a pen. Right uh uh, no, no, you gotta use a pencil, and you gotta use the app because it'll tell you if it's wrong. But it's it's been fun, I like it. Very good for my brain, yeah. Okay, what about your gem?

Jenny GK 45:17

My gem.

Caitlin K 45:18

Yes.

Jenny GK 45:19

I got an email from Rob Walker.

Caitlin K 45:21

Okay, right.

Jenny GK 45:23

Aren't you excited?

Caitlin K 45:24

Kind of. Tell me more about this.

Jenny GK 45:27

Okay, so um every day in math, we start with what we call a community conversation, and this is kind of a chance to like center ourselves and like set intentions for the block, whatever. Um, kind of like at the beginning of your yoga, you're like, okay, what are you gonna be working on today? Um, and so we try and do some metacognitive work here, right? Like we're maybe we'll talk about growth versus fixed mindset, or maybe we'll talk about um the questions that you're gonna be asking yourself as you're moving through the block. But we have started working through a book that I found called The Art of Noticing. And it's 131 little activities that you can do to help like tune in and be creative and notice things around you.

Caitlin K 46:12

Oh, I love that.

Jenny GK 46:13

And the author is Rob Walker. So I emailed him and said, Hey, we're reading your book with my kids. This is uh how we use it. And he emailed me back and he's really interested in learning how they're doing and like getting pictures and stuff. So we're gonna start a whole communication train with the author of this book we're reading.

Caitlin K 46:31

That's so great! How exciting! Congratulations. This is so cool. I mean, this just goes to show you that like the worst he can say is no, right?

Jenny GK 46:39

Like the worst he can like or just like not respond, which respond, right? Which has happened to me before. Yeah, but it was pretty cool. He was like, Oh yeah, um, no pressure, no obligation, but I'd love to learn what they're doing. It's like that's so cool.

Caitlin K 46:52

I kind of had this feeling that you were gonna tell me that like remember I I sent you a video a while back of like how these kids get excited for math every day, and it's that they pick up their books and they turn it into the Lion King like circle of life, like hold the hold the book up like babysitter. Yeah. Okay. Um, my gem has to be. I have two, first of all. Um yesterday you and I did a recording with Mike and Tabby of Gray's Taproom Podcast. So fun. So much fun. They're doing they were doing a 24, no, more than 24 hours. It was more than that. Um, 24 hour plus uh marathon fundraiser for the Kentucky Humane Society, and they had a whole bunch of podcasts on to help them do a live stream for more than 24 hours. Wild. I couldn't believe they were doing it again because they've done this before. Four, yeah.

Teen Escape Rooms And Room Makeovers

Caitlin K 47:42

And they were so cute, they they dedicated that entire series to us, to you and I on that show, which was so sweet. But this was them um doing this as a fundraiser, and we had the best time talking to them. And it's so funny because their show is not for children. This is not this is an earbuds in show, and then you and I get on there and it's like obviously PG hour because that's just how we are. But they but they're so fun and they had the best time with us. It was so great, they were really kind about it. And our conversation went from Disney movies to movies that make us cry. And then Jenning just goes, I know this is not related to anything, but um, have you guys ever thought about how like toast and refried beans are like just cook it again? All of us were like, what? Like it was just it was a hysterical moment of like you could tell that she had jumped from one thing to another in her head. Like she leaped frogged like three different topics and then came back to toast and re-fried beans. And I knew, like, I knew that there was a connection, but I I obviously didn't know what it was, but it just made me laugh so hard. Like, and I'm still thinking about it because we were literally talking about old yeller and like where the red fern grows, and then she's like, and toast and re-fried beans. I was just like, What?

Jenny GK 48:57

So we um do this thought exercise in math class called analyzing algorithms, and I'll put another mathematician's work up and we have to talk through it and see what mathematical properties justify their thinking, do they have any uh bugs in their algorithm, things like that. Okay, and one of the things I love to do is skip the middle thinking.

Caitlin K 49:19

Clearly, because that's exactly what happened.

Jenny GK 49:21

So then the learners in my group have to go through and figure out okay, how did they get from here to here?

Caitlin K 49:29

Yeah.

Jenny GK 49:30

And they have to go through and say, okay, well, there's three lines of thinking here that aren't written down.

Caitlin K 49:35

Yeah.

Jenny GK 49:35

So I just skipped the middle thinking.

Caitlin K 49:38

You cle yes, you definitely did do that, and it made me laugh so hard. I thought it was great. But my other, my real gem also has to do with you.

unknown 49:45

Oh.

Caitlin K 49:46

The other day, you sent me a picture of your beautiful daughter getting ready for her first cotillion, and she looked so freaking grown up, and I kind of had a little panic moment where I was just like, uh, I've known this little girl since she was four, and I was like really kind of like heart palpitating. And I'm looking at this picture while I'm trying to get Sam to settle down, which was a bad idea. The lights were off in his room, and then I opened up my phone and had this like phone light blaring. And obviously it's a picture of a person, and he had to look. Well, she took a picture, we took this picture in front of the fish tank. Yes. And my son looks at the picture, sees the fish tank in the background, and immediately goes, Wait, zoom in on the fish tank. I'm like, No. The picture is of Abby. Look how beautiful she looks. She's getting ready for her first cotillion. He's like, Yeah, but what's that fish in the background? And he like zooms in on like the blue tang you have in the background. And then he's all mad. He's like, There's no other fish in this tank. And I was like, Are you kidding me? And I'm starting to point out like, you know, 15 different fish. And then I, of course, get lost in what the message was, which was look at your beautiful daughter, not count the fish in the background. So I just Oh my god.

Jenny GK 50:52

I am about to go make you a video of the tank.

Caitlin K 50:56

And you guys can count all the fish and you also know I do like to watch fish tank videos while I'm like working and relaxing. It that would be good for me, I think.

Jenny GK 51:06

Their sun has not risen yet. So it'll have to be a little bit later today.

Caitlin K 51:12

Their sun has not risen?

Jenny GK 51:13

Do you have a light that like simulates? Yes, we have we have lights that like change their spectrum throughout the day so that it is like what time their sun rise normally around like 11. Oh, okay, so that we can enjoy them in the evening.

Caitlin K 51:28

Ah, okay.

Jenny GK 51:30

Yeah. Um, we reset the lights when John is not home so that I can feed them before I go to school. Yes. And their son kind of mirrors our son.

Caitlin K 51:40

Okay.

Jenny GK 51:40

But um most of the time when John's at home, he can feed them midday. So Okay.

Caitlin K 51:47

That's a random thing. But that's that's all that was my other job. Okay.

Jenny GK 51:50

I love it. Okay, so you're about to go on break, or maybe you already are on break and you are loving having the extra time with your kids, and you are hating having all this extra time with your kids. Go through the list, try some of these things, watch some of those videos with family games. Maybe just watching the video with your kids is enough.

Caitlin K 52:10

Oh, I better be funny. Yeah, it might be. It might be enough.

Jenny GK 52:15

So, um, as we go into the holidays, make a choices and uh try to enjoy it.

Caitlin K 52:21

But just remember like there's a song about this, right? And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to school to start again. So try to enjoy it as well as much as you can. Okay, bye. Bye.