household Archives - Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Mar 04 2017

A natural hand sanitizer you can make at home

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When I made the commitment for my family to live healthier, I was overwhelmed with the number of things I had to think about. There was diet and nutrition, physical and mental exercise, examining lifestyle, and so much more. This would be a new way of thinking and acting — for the rest of our lives! Because of my tendency to seek perfection and want things all at once, I knew this would make me crazy if I didn’t pace myself right from the beginning.

I found that taking individual steps, and focusing on a couple of things at a time, was more manageable for me. Baby steps made it easier on my [reluctant] family, too. Swapping just one habit, or one group of products at a time helped us make progress without me feeling overwhelmed. The progressive approach also helped my family adjust, without as much grumbling as I think would’ve happened all at once.

It took a couple of years, but we were finally able to implement the healthier, more natural lifestyle we lead today. Looking back at where we started, I’m proud of how far we’ve come on our “greening journey”, as I like to call it.

The earliest changeovers we made included the foods we ate (or stopped eating), cleaning up our drinking water, choosing smarter cleaning products, and making changes to our home to eliminate toxins and irritants (read about that journey here). Later on, I began switching out personal care products, focusing on natural first aid and healing remedies, filtering our air, and researching ingredients to make certain products on my own.

One of the things I had forgotten about were those commercial hand sanitizers and wipes that were in the car. We were still using them after pumping gas, before eating in the car, or in place of washing our hands when that just wasn’t possible. I still had those purse-sized bottles hanging everywhere, and we’d easily go thru several of them at Disney, during a day of volunteering, or when my kids were working their part-time jobs.

When the FDA finally banned triclosan, a dangerous ingredient in anti-bacterial products, it finally got me thinking about what else was lurking in those bottles. I guess it was the push I needed to come up with a healthier way of cleaning our hands in the car, safer than absorbing chemicals into our skin like before. We used to hate the stink of those hand sanitizer products, and would always have to open the car windows when using them! I can’t believe I didn’t think about the consequences sooner, but no regrets, and glad I moved onward…

I love that we’re not only cleaning our hands*, but also naturally moisturizing them at the same time. My current blends are based on recipes found on the internet, with changes I made on my own. I’m sure there are other blends that work well, too, but here are our recipes if you want to give them a try.

Make your own [natural, healthier] hand sanitizer / liquid or gel:

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I’m giving you my simplest recipe and my super-duper one, so you can choose based on what you have on hand. Pay attention to the thickness before deciding whether to store it in a spray or squirt bottle.

* Disclaimer: This article is for education and information only, and is not a substitute for medical advice or scientific information. Always consult a professional and/or do your own research. Use these products at your own risk. I make no scientific claims about this product’s effectiveness against bacteria or viruses

Homemade Hand Sanitizing Liquid

Simplest Recipe

Fill a spray bottle with:

a couple of Tablespoons of any witch hazel without alcohol, I use THIS or THIS

a few drops of almond oil (test it to see how much moisturizing you like) I use THIS

tea tree oil (depends on bottle size, maybe 10-20 drops) I use THIS

water to the top

Add-Ins for Super-Duper Recipe

May need to transfer to a squeeze bottle:

lavender essential oil (depends on bottle size, maybe 5-10 ten drops) I use THIS

more essential oils (I recommend rosemary, thyme, peppermint, clove, or others to match scent)

vitamin E oil (break open a gel cap or two)

*pure aloe vera (liquid or gel) I use THIS

I don’t use the most expensive oils for this recipe, saving those for other uses; but by all means, use the oils you’re most comfortable with.

If I’m making a liquid recipe, I use either old spray bottles, or ones I buy at the dollar store. If I’m making a gel recipe, I’ll re-purpose old shampoo bottles with tight-fitting caps. (*Ours is usually runny because I use the same aloe liquid I put in my daily drinks.)

If you like the convenience of wipes, you can fill an old baby wipes container (with the pop top) about 1/8 full with the liquid recipe, then stuff as many crumpled up paper towels as you can fit in there. And if you’re feeling really ambitious, you can saw (yes, saw) a roll of paper towels in half and put the half roll in there. I only do that when I’m feeling really ambitious, but if you play your cards right, the pop top works remarkably well for pulling wipes out from the center of the roll.

Finally, I’ve noticed aloe doesn’t stay fresh forever, so if you use aloe, I wouldn’t make a huge batch at one time. If you eliminate the aloe, though, it will last much longer, especially if the bottles are dark or you keep it out of the sun.

To your good health,

As a coach, writer, recovered over-doer and busyness addict, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle while the mind tries to sabotage your success. In my journey to vibrant health, I created a personalized health system of nutrition and supplementation, lifestyle changes, and I retrained my mind and the energy of my body. I view my success as the formula to my happy, healthy life. I now empower other women to create their own personalized formulas, including the tools and strategies just right for them! Amazing life shifts come from our relationships. I look forward to helping you, too!

Dec 16 2015

Freaking out? Lighten your load and create holidays that count

Are you freaking out about now? Maybe you’re reading this during the winter holidays (when I’m writing it). Or maybe you’re reading during some other busy time of year. No matter what’s happening in your world right now, I’m about to help you win back your time and create a season that counts. We’re talking holidays that matter. And events that don’t steal your time, your sanity or perhaps worst of all — your long-term health.

Believe me when I say this: I’ve been there. For years, I crossed off every single item and checked off every single box. I kept up with all the things I thought I was supposed to do, even adding new things to my list each year. As my list increased, so did my resolve to celebrate with greater gusto and perfection. I didn’t miss a beat, cramming in more “special treats”, a longer list of “family outings” and even more of those picture-perfect “homemade crafts” (new traditions, so I thought) with each and every year. I loved doing it all, don’t get me wrong — holidays were (still are) my favorite times of year. But, on the flip side, holidays always left me exhausted, depleted and in need of weeks of recovery. Sometimes, I became terribly sick. And, in later years, holidays began leaving me pretty blue — darn near depressed now that I look back – when everything was finally over.

Crazy, right?

Are you affected by events and holidays in a similar way?

As a mom, and a homeschooling work-at-home mom at that, I was very needy in many ways back then. I was lacking nutrients and minerals, lacking emotionally, and lacking in — apparently – common sense. Even as I learned to adjust my diet, supplement my body, practice mindfulness and meditation, and nourish myself in other ways, I continued over-doing the holidays for another several years.

And then it happened.

I saw it.

I realized what I was doing, and finally ended my quest for the perfect holidays. Like so many other women (usually) I meet who do EXACTLY the same thing, I quit those mad behaviors and let up on myself.

Forgave myself, too.

You see, I recognized the image I had of celebrating holidays “right” was grander than anything I could ever really achieve. My standards were too high for what my body and mind could realistically handle. I came to understand that much of what I had been doing was unnecessary for achieving the joyous, satisfying, meaningful holiday with my family I so desperately wanted. I finally understood how holidays were stealing my health, happiness, and (ironic, I know) time away from the very people I was trying to spend time with — my family and friends. And stealing their time with me, too.

So, today, I want you to learn from my experience and understand what’s really important. I don’t want you freaking out about things that should be relaxing, joyous and fun. I want to spare you the ridiculous levels of preparation and craziness you may be creating over the holidays or other important events in your life.

Bottom line, I don’t want you missing the lesson that doing LESS means getting MORE. I wish someone had told me back then. That’s why I’m telling you now.

Don’t miss the lesson that doing LESS means getting MORE this holiday season.

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Trimming Your To-Do List

Let’s start by tackling your to-do list. (Er, do you even have one? If you don’t, take a step backwards and make a list. Successful people make lists and check stuff off. You should, too.) I want you to scrutinize everything on your list. Cross out anything that doesn’t make you or your family happy. I mean, really happy, not happy in your mind. Remember, you’re just one person and you can’t possibly do it all. Even with help, it may be impossible (not to mention, unnecessary) to get it all done. So, be ruthless. Start chopping everything that doesn’t belong on your holiday list any more.

Now, when I teach this skill to clients, some find it really hard to decide what to keep and what to trim off their to-do lists. I explain that if something on your list doesn’t: a) make you really happy, or b) directly benefit someone you deeply care about, off it goes. Period.

When in doubt, however, it can be helpful to lump items on your to-do list into 3 categories so you can see things a little clearer. Let’s call these categories:

Your MUST DO’s
Your WANT TO DO’s
Your FEEL THE NEED TO DO’s

Your MUST DO’s are things that cannot under any circumstances be eliminated from your list, lest someone may starve, get stranded, get fired, miss a dose of medication, be left unsupervised, or could die. No kidding. And if those things aren’t on your list, they should be, since they’re the anchors by which you should be living your life already. MUST DO’s always come first, and everything else comes later. Make sure to identify which of the items on your to-do list are MUST DO’s, and keep them on the list, so you’ll have an obvious framework for accomplishing everything else in between. Remember: these are things that need to get done or ain’t nobody gonna have any holidays anyway — like grocery shopping, doctor visits, prescription refills, airport pickups, going to work, paying bills, and the things of daily life, because these are always prioritized over anything else you want or “feel the need” to do.

Your WANT TO DO’s are the things you want to do, hope to do, like to do, or plan to do during the holidays or other busy times. These are the things that aren’t especially crucial to every day life, but make life a whole lot more fun, meaningful or enjoyable as compared to ordinary days. For many of you, this is that part of the list that includes baking special treats, selecting coordinating outfits for your children, planning lavish meals, selecting just the right gifts, taking perfect photos, traveling all over the place, attending every holiday event in town, and creating all the wonderful projects you see in pictures. For others, this section might also include writing holiday-themed blog posts, planning large holiday events, appearing at live events, or participating in virtual projects with like-minded teams and groups. In general, your WANT TO DO’s are the things you’d love to do if you had all the time in the world, but aren’t necessary for basic survival. Make up that list, too. Then, strike a few. Seriously. Pick some you can do without this year — ones that won’t ruin the holidays and probably won’t be noticed anyway – and cross them out. Done!

Your FEEL THE NEED TO DO‘s are the things I recommend crossing out altogether. Right now. Without even batting an eyelash. You might not even want to bother writing them down. That’s because these are things you feel you should do, sometimes things you’ve been doing for years, but really get no enjoyment from. Or, they’re for other people, but not your special people, you know? Or, maybe you’re doing them because you think everyone expects you to. Because here’s a news flash: nobody really cares about that special pie, or that special ham, or those special movies, or those special place settings. At least, not that much. You don’t have to send that giant cookie platter to the office party any more. You can stop sending greeting cards to people you never even talk to. You don’t have to attend every single gathering just because you always do. And, for gosh sakes, you don’t have to throw elaborate parties for people you never see throughout the year, hardly talk to at the party anyway, and don’t really care if you ever see again. That stuff needs to go. And quick.

Make Substitutions

The next strategy is about making substitutions. It’s also about being okay with them. Because, when it’s crunch time, making a decent substitution (or even a crummy one) is the best that you can do. Which is fine, because usually, you’ll be the only one who notices and the only person who really even cares. And even if someone else does notice, which is unlikely, it’s okay to be slightly less than perfect when you have lots of other things to do. You’re only human. People understand.

Substitutions will be different for different people in different situations. But, what I’m talking about is not sacrificing the act or gesture, just making things easier on yourself. We’re talking using the fake tree instead of cutting down the real tree. Buying cookies instead of making them. Wearing last year’s holiday pajamas instead of getting new ones. Using prepared products instead of cooking them from scratch. Choosing disposable dishes over fine china. Watching movies at home with cups of hot chocolate instead of dragging kids into uncomfortable situations, or visit people and places they’d rather not, and you don’t care for either.

Let me give you another example:

For years, our family held a neighborhood party in our home, for the holidays. It was a tradition I started when my kids were very young, and one we continued for many years. The whole neighborhood would come to our home, where we served delicious foods, signature beverages and homemade desserts. I would even make homemade egg nog — both adult and kid’s versions, too.

Though our party was enormously successful, it was a tremendous amount of work to pull off, taking weeks of planning and several days of execution before the big day. In addition to preparing the spread of food and alcohol, I’d heartlessly put my family through what I can only imagine was a hellish experience of scrubbing our home from top to bottom, cleaning the drive and yard, decorating the gates, lighting our trees, other various jobs I deemed crucial for a successful get together. It’s no wonder that after the party, I’d be left flat and exhausted for days, my husband scratching his head wondering what it was all for.

Fast forward some years later, and it finally hit me I needed to make substitutions. Instead of the party at our home, for example, we changed it to a progressive theme, where neighbors moved from home to home, enjoying a small treat (appetizer, beverage or dessert) at each one. Some years, we skipped the party altogether, choosing ugly sweaters and caroling around the neighborhood instead. Still other years, my husband and I would host the party outdoors (remember, I’m in Florida) making serving and cleanup easier (plus we only had to clean the bathrooms!). I began skipping the egg nog, and served only one beverage per year. We used fresh fruit instead of flower arrangements, party platters from warehouse clubs, or held dessert-only parties, instead of serving a full meal. The party was a blast, and didn’t level me like it did before.

Take Frequent Breaks

The third strategy is about taking breaks. Sounds counter-productive, right? That’s what everybody thinks. But the logic is this: you can’t be productive if you’re a mess. Taking frequent breaks to recharge actually makes you more productive, not less.

Taking frequent breaks actually makes you more productive, not less.

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Think of it this way. When preparing for holidays, you’re pulling late nights, using weekends, and cramming as much into every day as you can. You’re multi-tasking, too, darting from one task to another, scarcely focusing your attention on any one thing for very long (therefore hardly completing anything, either). Plus, during many of those hours, you’re tired. Exhausted even. You’re lacking sleep, grabbing meals on the go, forgetting your vitamins or exercise, and possibly even catching a virus as your system becomes less immune. If you’d take frequent breaks — for rest, for play, to hydrate, or to nap – your daytime hours become multiplied. Why? Because you’re heightened. In better shape to handle it all. So, you’re super productive. I didn’t make this up. Productivity experts agree — this really works!

These 3 simple strategies — and they really are simple to do – will absolutely transform your holidays this year, and for years to come. Do me a favor and try one. Or better yet — try all three.

I’d love for you to COMMENT about which of these tips you plan to implement this year. Make the commitment. Put it in writing as a COMMENT. You’ll be so glad you did.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Be well,

Mar 09 2015

How block scheduling works for me (it’s not what you think)

If you’ve followed me a while, you know I prefer to be scheduled. Schedules keep me focused, keep me productive, and give me peace of mind.

But what you might not know is exactly how I use schedules. Or how schedules don’t rule over me.

In fact, I rule over them.

In this post, I’d like to talk a bit about block schedules. I want to first tell you their traditional origins. Then, I want to tell you how I modify and use the traditional model to meet my family’s specific needs instead.

If you or someone you know wants to hear this information first-hand, I’d be glad to come speak to your group. Turns out, not only is this really good stuff to read about, it’s is one of my most requested talks, too.

So, the basic thinking behind block scheduling is this: you decide what needs to be accomplished each day, you divide the day into time periods from morning until night, and you schedule people into each time period so that everything gets done.

I didn’t invent this way of thinking — schedules have been around for generations. But, if you’ve never heard of the concept, watch this for a brief introduction.

The problem with this method of scheduling is it can be very rigid. Some people don’t like having the entire day planned out ahead of time. Many people find it exhausting to move from task to task all day long. There are also philosophical and psychological objections, as many people find schedules an assault on their way of thinking, their creativity — a big brother-ish type of mechanism controlling their every move.

Some years ago, I discovered a solution to that problem. I was pretty excited about it.

My discovery solved the block scheduling problems I was having in my home. Plus, it solved all of the objections I was hearing from the people who attended my scheduling classes and workshops, too.

The solution I invented was to “plan” unplanned time. You heard it here first!

This was a huge and ground-breaking discovery for me. Something so simple made such a tremendous difference!

What I now do in my home, and I now teach in my seminars, is how to “schedule” down-time. Crazy as it sounds, it really works!

Not only do I schedule down-time, I also schedule free time. Choice time. And times when nobody in the house wants to be scheduled, needs to be scheduled, or should be scheduled, either.

Oh, and I also schedule people who are not on the schedule.

Confusing?

It’s really not. Because by un-scheduling time and people, they receive freedom. The freedom they need, want and choose throughout the day. While still keeping the rest of the household and duties right on task.

By the way, I also schedule things! You’ll need to attend a seminar to hear about that part.

Block scheduling isn’t what you think. I’ve solved it!

I’d love to show you how block schedule can work for you, your partner, your kids, and in your life.

Let me know how I can help,

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Samples of block schedules?

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How long is a homeschool day?

A frequent question from parents is, “How long does homeschooling take?” It’s normal to wonder how long something will take if you’ve never done it before. It’s also normal to wonder if your school day is taking much longer than everybody else’s.

When we first started years ago, the time factor played considerably into our decision, as the nearest school involved driving dirt roads, paying a toll, and an almost 2 hour round trip. Though my husband and I were 99.9% sure we’d be homeschooling at that point, we were still keenly aware if we ever did decide to put our kids in a classroom, the journey back and forth would have a major impact on our time.

Parents each homeschool a little differently. Kids learn differently, too. I cannot estimate the average length of a homeschool day, because there is no average. But I can tell you this: when my kids were little, they were easily homeschooled (the formal lesson portion) in less time than it would have taken me to drive and pick them up from school twice a day.

It’s time for a little disclaimer. What I’ll be talking about in this article is strictly book work and the curriculum types of exercises that many people view as the “homeschool” part of the day. The reason it’s important you know this, is because kids learn all day long, whether they’re “in school” or not. What I am about to tell you, is how long the book work portion of homeschooling took in our home. But what you also need to realize, is that our success really came from raising our kids in an environment rich with opportunities for learning all day long. Please understand any estimate I could give would account for only a fraction of our success.

Now, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably still wondering how long homeschooling takes. I am about to give you an idea of how long it took my kids, in our home. But, please, make sure to read this article to the very end, as it is only then that you’ll understand fully how long homeschooling really takes.

Preschool / Kindergarten / 1st Grade

(2 to 2.5 hours formal lessons per day)

We simulated a classroom environment in the early years, and my kids did book work from a very young age. I was lucky, as my husband built us a dedicated area for our classroom, which included a learning area, a quiet area, a swing set just steps away so I could see the kids from the window, and a bathroom, too. The classroom model was all we knew, and it turns out, we enjoyed many years of using it, too.

In the early years, we began each day in a very school-like fashion: a calendar lesson, a day of the week, a letter of the alphabet, a weather report, and learning to tell time on a little plastic clock. We’d then read together for 20-30 minutes, and then split up for individual activities.

Because I schooled all my kids in the same room and kept the baby in there, too, it was easy to move from kid to kid. Those years included early curriculum, but also lots of reading, drawing, workbooks, audio and video tapes, and creative projects to accompany whatever we were working on. I kept boxes and boxes of early learning toys in the classroom, which I swapped in and out for children who needed a break or needed to be kept busy as I was doing something else. We had chalk boards, white boards, felt boards, and plenty of ways to learn for the several hours we were in there. We kept pets in our classroom, too, so there was always something fun to do.

I am not going to lie — those years were pretty exhausting. If I had it to do over, I would greatly relax my requirements (learn how) . But, again, it was what I knew at the time and, fortunately, it worked very well for us.

Grades 2 – 5:

(3-4 hours per day)

As my kids got older, I introduced more curriculum for the core areas we covered in the mornings, and more things we could all do together for hands-on and specials in the afternoon. We covered pretty much every subject, every day. Our days varied, but with several young ones in the house, it definitely took all morning long for the older ones to get their book work done — approximately 3 to 4 hours. We also worked through lunch, and I did music appreciation lessons and foreign language (on alternating days) during our lunch breaks at the kitchen counter. On a typical day, our mornings started at 8 or 9, and ended somewhere around 12 or 1 — even 2. The afternoons were when we came together for projects, electives, chores and play time.

Remember I had multiple children, so homeschooling one child would have been entirely different for us in those grades. And in the interest of full disclosure, I wasn’t above putting kids for naps or letting them watch a video when I really needed a break — which was quite a bit. These were the years when things could fall apart with no warning, and when I spent much of the time gathering the scraps of our days and counting them as school. Our well-planned days didn’t always go as predicted with little ones about, but there were enough days that finished well, so the accumulation of these years amounted to a whole lot.

Middle Years:

(4 to 4.5 hours per day)

The middle years were much more straight-forward in our home. In my opinion, they were easy. My children were assigned things to do, and they did them. I had trained them to work on schedule, they knew where everything was located, plus all of our household and chore systems were well in place by the time they were able to work more independently. Those were also the years when I moved more into a supervisory/tutor/helper role than that of the full-time teacher I had been when they were younger. And because my older kids spent more time working on their own, those years afforded me the time I needed to be with the younger ones. For those who were wondering, that may help to explain how homeschool parents manage to teach multiple children at the same time.

Honestly, if I had it to do over again, I would have skipped some of the middle grades with my kids. The truth is, they were all ready for high school work long before I ever offered it to them. I feel we wasted time during the middle years when I could have been accelerating them forward even faster than I did. Knowing what I know now, I believe traditional middle school is wholly a waste of time. But, I digress…

High School Years:

(6-7 hours per day, maybe more)

It is hard for me to estimate how much time my high schoolers spend on formal book work. That’s because their sleep schedules change (they don’t start at the same time every day), they are able to work for long periods on their own (thus I don’t always see them), and their classes and study periods often take place somewhere else (they take online classes and college courses). In addition, since my high schoolers make their own schedules for the most part (except in 9th, when I schedule them), there are days when they decide to work solely on one thing, and other days when they touch multiple classes in one day.

I estimate my teens spend approximately 6 hours per day on book work, but I think the number could actually be higher. It isn’t that I don’t observe my kids, because I do. I also go over their planners every Sunday night. But, so much happens out of my direct earshot, and so many classes happen somewhere else, I cannot always really know how many curriculum hours they put in. What I do know is that we all meet at the dinner table every evening, and oftentimes my teens have just finished their work, or say they still have more to do after dinner until late into the evening. Their workload varies pretty much every day. Sometimes, I don’t even get to see the work until it’s turned in for grading.

Final thoughts:

I hope this has given you a glimpse into how we do homeschool in our home, but I remind you that these estimates include only our book/curriculum work, and not all of the other things my kids do during the afternoons and weekends, and the activities they do with other homeschoolers and community groups. For instance, this doesn’t include the coops my kids belong to and the field trips they go on. It doesn’t include the classes they take at libraries and museums. It doesn’t include the things they listen to in the car, read in the paper, discuss at the dinner table, and books they bring along with them to the beach. It doesn’t include the programs they watch, the web sites they visit, the games they play, the hobbies they keep, the lessons they take, the sports they play, the volunteer organizations they work with, and the thousands of other things that add as much — if not more – to their education. I am not boasting about my kids, merely reminding you there is no way to measure all the learning that occurs during childhood by simply counting hours.

Remember, there are many paths to homeschooling success and our way is just one of them. I always encourage families to see what works best in their homes, and continually tweak the process as they move along. Whereas an hour may seem like a long time to work on one topic in one family, it is never enough time in another.

Please, always do what works best for you and your children.

When people ask how long homeschooling takes, though we can give estimates like these, what we also need to do is explain that homeschooling really takes all day. It takes all night, too. Actually, it takes an entire childhood. That’s because education is more than just the books and the schedules. Learning is the work of a child and homeschooling lasts until they take learning into their own hands as adults.

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Dec 08 2014

No Lesson Plans Needed — 100 ways learn without really trying

Homeschool parents tend to overflow in the areas of creativity and resourcefulness. It doesn’t take long before homeschoolers discover tons of neat, inexpensive ways to learn without really even trying.

Should your family be running short on ideas, however, may I present my list of “100 Ways to Learn (without really trying)”? Hopefully, you’ll find something here you’ve never done before, or something that may set you on a path of learning something new! And did I mention most are FREE?

100 Ways to Learn (without really trying):

Take a virtual field trip: Travel to The White House, The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the ruins of Pompeii, a car factory , or anywhere else you like.
Visit a pool store: Learn about pH, chlorine, acid, algae and watch real chemistry in action as store employees test pool water samples.
Attend a yard sale (swap meet, flea market): Hunt for bargains or just compare prices while having a fun day wandering the aisles. Better yet, give the kids a couple of dollars, then compare who makes the best purchase by the end of the day.
Return bottles and cans: Kids learn great lessons in recycling, cleaning up the environment, and about calculating their earnings with this free and worthwhile activity.
Buy a snack from a vending machine: Necessary life skills come from buying chips and sodas from these machines, including inserting [crisp, unfolded) bills and getting change, comparing prices, selecting items according to a grid (letters, numbers), security issues around using credit/debit, nutritional content and more.
Visit an auto care center: Car repairs offer all kinds of learning. If your local automotive center has a free self-diagnosis area, this is a great way to learn about battery life, tire pressure, brake safety and more.
Head to the community center (church, hall, senior center) for BINGO night: Playing Bingo is one of the fastest ways for kids to learn letters, numbers, matching and good sportsmanship. It’s fun, too!
Head to the food court: Food courts are famous for offering a variety of ethnic dishes (and free samples, too). You can buy lunch, or just enjoy traveling the world while checking out all of the different dishes from all around the world (China, Japan, Mexico, Italy, and more).
Shop a discount center: Discount food centers, discount jewelry outlets, and discount furniture outlets are great places to compare prices over full retail. Find new places to shop, and spot great bargains this way, too!
Visit a science center: One of the bests places to get hands-on science training is by visiting a science center, a children’s science museum, or a theme park with a science or engineering theme. A full year of experiments can be had for the price of just one ticket. Be sure to ask about homeschooler, teacher or student pricing before you go.
Use your bank’s drive-thru or deposit box system: This teaches kids about saving, while also learning about using drive-thru monitors and other gadgetry, accessing personal accounts “long-distance”, and the protocols and manners required to use systems like these.
Treat yourselves to a BOGO deal: Whether at the grocery store, coffee shop or department store, BOGO deals have much to teach children about shopping wisely, saving and spending.
Visit a construction site: Carefully observe (from a safe distance) the machinery, employees and activities at a local construction site. If permitted, check out the plans or other public documents to find out what is going on.
Vote: Watching a parent vote in person or completing an absentee ballot is a great way for children to learn about the legislative system. Cover voter eligibility, parties, candidates, platforms, precincts, and more.
Select an insurance policy (life, home, medical, flood, car, etc.) By helping their parents with this activity, kids can learn about comparing prices and benefits, plus gain valuable life skills having to do with the necessity of purchasing these plans (or the consequences of not having them).
Attend a town meeting: Any town meeting will do, whether a school board, emergency preparedness, energy conservation committee, budget meeting, or anything suitable for the ages of your children.
Shop online: Making a purchase online requires comparing prices, figuring shipping, entering a form of payment, and anticipating a delivery. All great life skills, rolled into one easy transaction.
Help a neighbor: Whether walking a dog, weeding a garden, or just bringing in a newspaper or mail, kids learn kindness and compassion by helping others.
Clip coupons: Browsing mailers or newspaper inserts is a great way for kids to learn about shopping and saving. This is a fun activity that has the potential to branch in many different directions (donating to a food pantry, saving enough cash to afford an ice cream treat, tracking the grocery budget, and more).
Mending, lengthening or shortening clothing: Repairing and tailoring clothing an excellent way to talk with children about extending the life of the clothes they wear. Here’s a real skill that lasts a lifetime.
Tenderizing or marinating meat: Inexpensive cuts of meat can be easily transformed using a little kitchen magic. Be sure to talk about the physical and/or chemical transformations that take place in the process.
Create your own: Spice blends, soap bars, cleaning products and more. Lots of extensions for learning beyond the recipes themselves.
Take, edit and store photos: Think composition and lighting, special effects, uploading to photo sites, or creating collages. Making prints, videos or sharing photos keeps the learning going even longer. Minimal cost for valuable skills plus a whole lot of fun.
Write notes, cards and letters: Handwritten sentiments are special to create and even more special to receive. Consider writing to loved ones, military personnel, fan clubs, pen pals, or even The White House. Penmanship and letter writing skills are more and more rare. Encourage your children to understand the value of the hand-written word.
Organize something: A closet, a drawer, the pantry or a toy box. Skills like these don’t always come naturally. Kids might need to be taught this skill, so they can benefit by being orderly and organized the rest of their lives.
Plan something: A vacation, an event or an outing. Depending on the activity, learning here may come in the form of scheduling, map skills, budgeting, creating invitations, buying tickets, and lots more.
Make (or participate in) a Scavenger Hunt: Creating a Scavenger Hunt is great fun that comes with hidden learning as kids identify objects, create scenarios, label items or establish a scoring system. Participating in a Hunt is equally fun, and comes with the possibility of object identification, physical exercise, beating a timer, healthy competition and more.
Visit a farmer’s market: Learning about new foods, local farms, and so much more by browsing fresh produce selections at the farmer’s market. Be sure to check out all the offerings, including honey, raw dairy, fresh eggs, to maximize learning too.
Go to work: Many moms, dads and grandparents are given the option to take a child to work every now and then. Seeing what goes on at the office, factory, retail store, or small business is experience kids can’t get anywhere else.
Reorganize a room: Measuring a space and mapping out furnishings is really fun to do by hand or using a computer. Discussions can also include efficient use of space, comfortable flow and principles of Feng Shui.
Read the FAQ section: Of a favorite place, product, service or business. Kids love learning more about their favorite toys, activities, celebrities and more. Reading FAQs can result in new learning and a greater understanding of whatever-it-is.
Visit a bookstore: I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. Spending is optional.
Take a nature walk: Observing nature has a way of bringing all kinds of curiosity and questions to light. Dream. Discuss. Hypothesize. Sketch. Photograph. Collect (shells, pebbles, pine cones). Look up the answers later on. Or not.
Watch the day/night sky: There is no better way to consider concepts like day and night, the Earth’s rotation, the changing of the seasons, and the vastness of the universe than by looking up.
Make a telephone call: Phoning a close friend or relative is a great way to teach children how to dial a telephone, engage in polite conversation and close out a call with good manners.
Etiquette practice: Kids learn etiquette and manners by doing. Setting a dinner table, escorting someone to an event, eating in a restaurant, and other situations like these often require slightly different behaviors than children might practice at home.
Take messages: Whether taking phone messages or leaving notes for mom and dad, this important skill is sometimes overlooked when training children in modern society. Proper message-taking is key for life and business later on. Teaching this early provides a great headstart.
Maintain something: Whether a bicycle or scooter, a guitar or a trombone, a set of tires or a refrigerator, keeping things in working order teaches valuable skills, plus extends the life of these expensive items too.
Wrap a gift: Gift wrapping and other paper folding activities are great for motor coordination and visualizing geometric and spatial relationships between objects. Kids enjoy giving, too, and this holds valuable lessons all its own.
Mail a package: Nothing illustrates the postal system more than experiencing it first-hand. Carefully packaging an item, weighing it, buying postage, and tracking it to its destination is fun and comes with great extensions into geography, measurement, and more.
Re-cover/reupholster something: Choosing foam and fabrics to recover a chair, stool, arm chair or felt board can be great fun. Doing the measuring, stapling, gluing and other needed steps to complete the project teaches recycling/upcycling, saving money, using tools, measurement, motor coordination and more.
Follow a recipe: This activity utilizes more than cooking skills, as it may also extend into measurement, chemistry, precision, world cultures and more.
Raise something: A chick, rabbit, puppy or tadpole. This is hands-on investigation at its best.
Plant something: Planting from seed or seedling, and watching something grow is both satisfying and productive.
Hang a picture: This activity extends into planning, measuring and using simple tools.
Stuff something: Remember the last time you stuffed a pillow or plush toy? You’ll probably recall that this is an activity that takes quite a bit of practice to get it right. Kids can benefit from from this exercise in coordination, patience and planning, too.
Clean something: Life skills should be taught early, and reinforced throughout childhood. Kids as young as 2 can begin dusting and wiping counters. Older children may gradually progress into more difficult jobs, giving them an advantage when they become adults.
Make candy: With supervision, using a candy thermometer and watching candy form is both a revelation and a great learning opportunity. Eating the results is a great reward!
Trim back a tree: Watching sap flow, observing wounds grow over, and monitoring new growth patterns is something many people pay no attention to at all. Kids can learn a great deal with simple observation, and even more by charting results.
Install a program or an app: Technology, security and practical applications collide when [supervised] children are allowed to install their own software on a PC, table or smart phone.
Play Minecraft: The benefits of playing Minecraft are now amply documented. Let kids play and watch what happens!
Visit a grandparent: One of the most valuable experiences in life is to spending time with a grandparent or great-grandparent. If no grands are within commuting distance, children can visit senior centers to spend time with citizens who have much to share about the past, life experiences, general wisdom, history and more.
Shredding documents: For children old enough to be trusted with this equipment, this activity is both fun and raises discussions about the need to shred certain documents, and the possible consequences of not doing so.
Visit a plant or factory: Factory tours are excellent ways for kids to see how things are made.
Go sight-seeing: Pretend to be a tourist and take in the sights where you live. Benefits to acting like a tourist are many.
Take in a concert: Most cities and towns offer a free concert series during the summer, or all year long. Great way to learn about musical genres, different instruments, parts of an orchestra, terminology, vocals and more.
Take and score a test: Any test will do. Most kids will need this skill eventually, so it’s a good idea to learn it early and practice periodically.
Visit a showroom: It can be very eye-opening to view prices and options of cars, furniture or appliances. Kids will also learn different features, terminology, comparison shopping, and maybe something about how these items are made too.
Tie a knot: Most people are never taught, thus are unable to tie a secure knot in anything. Believe it or not, this valuable life skill comes in handy more often than you realize.
Translate a passage: Online translators are free and provide a glimpse into learning a new language.
Set up an account: With parental supervision, older children should be guided through the process of setting up an online account. Touching upon careful password selection, choosing security questions, establishing a username and selecting appropriate levels or privacy and security should not be left up to teenage experimentation. The time to teach children is when they’re still at home, and may be guided by the parents, so that they do not make lasting, potentially tragic errors later on.
Protect and store valuables: Another life skill that many children should be taught, rather than left up to chance.
Grab some number cubes (dice): It’s amazing what people come up with when handed a pair of number cubes. Games and learning collide when children and adults alike put their heads together to make up crazy games and lessons with these simple learning tools.
Build (or try to build) a house of cards: This seemingly simple activity overflows with extensions into mathematics (geometry), physics and engineering.
Do the Sunday crossword, word jumbles or Sudoku together: Or select easier ones the kiddies can do alone, or with minor help from you. Versions available online, too.
Go to a trade show: Check the local listings for conventions and trade shows coming to your area. You new know what you’ll learn at home shows, tech demos, gaming tournaments and more.
Cathedral/church tours: Visiting places of worship can be about finding a church community. But, depending on where you live, it can also be about sampling different philosophies, learning about world religions, viewing different styles of architecture, learning the history of an area, and more.
Gourmet food trucks: These traveling restaurants on wheels are fun to locate, and even more fun to try. Introducing kids to new foods they might not be able to sample anywhere else is all part of the adventure!
“As Seen on TV” products: Depending on your point of view, checking out these sometimes-ingenious, often-silly items can be a great way to talk to kids about inventing new products, successful advertising, unnecessary spending, or whatever else you like. Such products can often be found in drug store chains and shopping malls.
Make a word collage: Using Wordle or a similar program/app, creating word collages encourages kids to think about word relationships and word choices while pulling together concepts onto a word board. Design sensibilities come into play when kids are forced to think about color schemes, word shapes and make other design choices. When framed, these make great wall hangings, too.
Open a tube of crazy glue: Bonding agents offer fascinating opportunities for learning. Adult supervision required.
Dig a hole: Remembering digging for “clay” as a child? If not, be sure to join your kids on this easy learning adventure. If you find any, be sure to craft a small vessel and leave it in the sun to dry for several days. Extensions include learning about nature, native peoples, ancient artifacts, or whatever else you like.
Cut paper dolls: These don’t have to be dolls, but paper folding and cutting repeated shapes offers lots of learning. Coordination exercises, too. Paper chains offer fun and learning, too!
Create a book shelf or home library: Asking children to pull books out of closets and off the shelves to put them in order is one of the best ways to spend a Sunday afternoon, in my opinion. Just watch as they learn and read, and also discuss book classification, writing genres, subject areas, and practical things like book sizes and placement, too.
Have an animal parade: When my children were little, some of the most fun we ever had was pulling out all the plush toys and having an animal parade. I’ll leave the learning up to you, but (hint!) it involves counting, patterns and shapes, classification, measuring and more!
Stage a production: A play, a fashion show, a variety show, a musical recital, sing-a-long, or anything else they can think up. Ready, set, go!
Hair styles: Hair styles have come a long way, particularly in the areas of up-styles and braiding. Looking up photos and duplicating them at home can be great practice for young people, and will result in many new ways to wear hair, too.
Pinterest ideas: Shop Pinterest for ideas you can do with things you already have on hand. Need I say more?
Make an obstacle course: Whether on the driveway or in the backyard, kids learn by designing the course, but also about their own physical capabilities and fitness, too.
Make (and bury) a time capsule: This fun activity can take weeks to pull off, involving many different areas of learning in the process.
“How does it work?” activities: Looking up a product or process, and discovering how it works, is an excellent way for kids to learn something new. Try television programs and online videos for starters, then search for web sites to explain anything they might still want to know.
Keep a journal: Many children enjoy keeping a journal of writing, sketches, ideas and more.
Set out to discover “The Best” of something: Whether searching for best cheeseburger in town or the best way to tie a shoe lace, kids will take this activity in many different directions, each packed with new and different ideas they never knew before! Establish a scoring system (thumbs up or down, or some kind of ranking) if you like, too!
Climb a tree: Think it’s simple? Think again! And if they’ve got a strong foot-hold or a safe place to rest, send up supplies like rope, a camera or a sketch pad, too.
Create a fitness training program: This is a great way for kids to plan activities and benefit from greater levels of fitness, too. Families can get involved in all getting healthy together.
Mix something together: Paints, melted bits of crayons, drops of essential oils or perfumes, glitters, liquid soaps, oils and vinegars, milk and food coloring, or anything else on hand. Predict outcomes. Invent new colors. Name scents. Live science in a fun way.
Polish something: It seems nobody polishes shoes any more, but why not let kids give it a try? Brighten up a sink or bathroom tiles, too. Polish silver or copper. What else needs a good scrub and a polish in your home? Creating polishing compounds can be fun and rewarding, too. Learn chemistry by studying reactions (think: vinegar and lemons). Learn about abrasiveness by trying different salts and powders.
Start a blog: Older teens in particular will enjoy this activity, plus having a place to post photos, writings and more. Whether free or hosted, this activity teaches web site/blog creation and give families the opportunity to discuss privacy and security issues, too.
Create a vision board (or idea board): Visual thinkers and dreamers of all kinds learn about pulling concepts, thoughts, designs and visions together by creating idea boards from magazine photos, paint chips, fabric swatches, famous quotations, and anything else that contributes to a thought collage.
Train a pet: Kids learn about animal psychology and physiology while having fun teaching commands, tricks and new pet behaviors.
Watch the “tube”: Lots of quality programs air during the day. Select your favorites and let the learning begin!
Discover lists: The internet is full of lists of best places to live, best colleges to attend, best educational web sites, best books for kids, most kid-friendly destinations, and more. Find some lists and explore these trails of learning. Final destinations not always required, as the learning occurs all the way.
Make art supplies: Kids enjoy DIY recipes for paints, chalks, doughs and more. Hit on chemical properties, cooking skills, measurement math, and other areas in the process. Talk about saving money, too.
Perform magic tricks: Magic tricks can be fun, but also a way to learn about the brain. Learn some tricks first, then study explanations for why these tricks (and the reactions of those who witness them) are so successful.
Play with small toys: Pocket toys (like a yoyo, a top, a Slinky, pick-up stix, a gyroscope, a kaleidoscope or jacks) offer fun and learning about physics,engineering, cooperation, coordination, game-playing rules, and more (without anybody even knowing it).
Read food labels: Extensions include wellness, nutrition, disease, standards, advertising gimmicks, measurement, grocery math, chemistry and more.
Play a keyboard game: Online games require kids to learn keystrokes or click sequences to move and score.
Sort laundry: For some kids, doing laundry signals fun. When turned into a game, many young children can be taught color matching, size matching, coordinating clothing items, counting, and lots more, just from helping in the laundry room.
Create/visit a maze: If there is a corn maze or hay maze near you, why not visit? If not, kids can create their own mazes out of cards, blocks, dominoes and more. Drawing mazes on paper can be fun, too. Don’t forget the learning that comes along with mapping out solutions, too.
Assign nap time or time out: Possibly the best learning of all comes from leaving children entirely on their own (supervised, of course). Children left alone, kids who should be napping, and children placed in a quiet zone (or time out), find some of the most creative ways to pass the time. Be a fly on the wall and just watch what your kids come up with — without any help from you at all. Guaranteed learning, and different almost every time!

…kids who should be napping…find some of the most creative ways to pass the time.

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I hope I have helped you recognize the tremendous learning that comes from even the simplest of activities, and inspired you to try some new things this year.

Feel free to share some of your easy and effortless learning tips here, too!

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And be sure to leave a COMMENT about how you plan to spend the next 100 days!