Blackboard Dining Table

I'm either the most self-punishing person I know, or the most hopeful.  I always, always do things with my kids with these visions of how wonderful they will be.  With each new idea I just know my kids will go along with it, not fight, be kind to each other....  Like I said self-punishing or most hopeful.

I have this really old dining room table.  Half of it was painted red, and the other half was fuzzy from where an arts & crafts project went wrong.  I hated this table, but at the same time I'm not going to throw out a perfectly good table and then have to replace it.  So I decided to make it a blackboard.  I just knew I had hit on something, that my kids were going to be drawing pictures and playing "paper and pencil" games on that table while I cooked dinner and even afterwards.  I envisioned uplifting messages being left from one sibling to the next (I should tell you, my kids are ages 20, 18, 16, 11, 10, and 8).  Now in reality I was expecting the teenagers to leave rude, snarky comments, to one another.

 Do you see what I mean?  Horrid, ugly table. Cute kid though.

So it wasn't as easy as I thought.  I tried sanding it with sandpaper.  My hands were cramped, I thought I was done, and then the boyfriend walked in and said I didn't sand it enough.  Luckily he ran out, grabbed a sander that I did not know we had and sanded the table for me.  No more fuzz, but still red.

I purchased a quart of Rust-Oleum black blackboard paint for about $15 and a small rolling brush.  Three coats of paint later and 72 hours of curing time and we have a fantastic blackboard table.  I wish I could say the same for the copper paint edging.  It took more than a week to dry, and it needs a third, possibly a fourth coat.  But I'm not sure I want to go another week without a dining room table.

Here are some snippets of the fun we have (and the snarky from the teenagers *L*).

Not too bad if I do say so.  I have a ton of paint left over, wonder what I will paint next???

The Zoo Again????

I don't know about y'all, but I prefer to have memberships to places like the children's museum, zoo, etc.  You pay one time and have unlimited access for the rest of the year. Pack a lunch and you're gold for the rest of the day. Or not....  Let's face it, we can only go to these places so many times before our kids can predict what is coming around the next bend.  As much as we'd like to see new and improved updates, we don't want to see our membership dues go up, so it is up to us to make the trip interesting and exciting.  So how do we do that?

Make a scavenger hunt!  It can be as simple or complex as your kids and you want it.  Here are a few themes:

• Color's:  each child is assigned a color
• ABC:  find something that begins with an A (apple tree), then a B (book), then a C (cone)
• List: Make a list of specific things they have to find
• Question:  Write specific questions that they have to find the answers to (hint look at the plaques)
• Flowers/Trees/Plants
• Animals
• The list is endless depending on where you are going, your kids ages, and how much effort you want to put into it.  HINT:  Decide how the kids will keep track of their findings, if it's on paper they will need something to write with, paper, and possible something to write on; if it's electronically bring extra batteries.  Also for younger kids I would post a picture of what they are looking for as well as the written word.

The above scavenger hunt ideas will work in your neighborhood, a mall, some car trips, and more.  But if a scavenger hunt is not your thing, try these ideas:

For younger kids decide to write a family story about your day.  Pass out cameras to your kids and make them responsible for taking pictures of their favorite things.  Print the pictures and let the kids write about the pictures (or have them dictate to you and you write the story), bind them into a book and your kids have a special keepsake that they can review whenever they want.

Start a family blog that has limited access to family and friends only.  Post all of the interesting things you see on these trips, silliness the kids make and do, and more.  More often people are moving away from home and really miss seeing these things, so it's a great way to keep family in touch for free.  DISCLAIMER:  If you are allowing your child to make this family blog independently have a strong conversation about internet safety and what is or is not allowed.

Walk through and make a verbal story with your kids.  You can start it, and as you all see different things the kids can add on to it.  These stories can be recorded to listen to and laugh over at a later time as well.

Give younger kids some paper, crayons, and a clipboard.  Have them draw pictures of some of the things they see.  The pictures won't be picture perfect, but they will be astounding.