Have You Played Today…and a $200 Gift Basket

Each day my 10 year old daughter, Miss Priss, comes home from school and shares with me the card trick she learned from her teacher.  This is time we use for play as a family where we can laugh about the new trick and talk about our day.  I’m happy to see that her teacher makes time for play each day; I believe that not all learning has to be traditional.

Last night Hubs and I were playing one of our favorite video games, we haven’t had the time to play in months so it was a nice break from the busy schedule for a few minutes.  The other kids decided to go to bed early; Miss Priss was the only one up a little later than normal.  She was doing her card tricks and said to us “How about an old fashion game of Go Fish?”.  Both Hubs and I giggled and immediately shut the game off to play the “Old fashion game of Go Fish”.  Sometimes the best games are those that are simple.

Now that our kids are back in school and the schedules are hectic, it’s not always easy to set aside special time each day for play time individually.  No matter which way, we try our hardest to make time for play each day with our kids as a family.  Besides card tricks, we do other various play activities each day.  One of my other favorite “play” things to do with the kids is to take them on a nature walk.  It can be a quick walk around the block or a stroll along the trails down at the river, depending on what we have time for, always stopping along the way to tune in to nature and the scents around us.  Fall is one of my favorite times of year for this activity; the change of leaves make for a beautiful colorful background on our walks where we can compare types of leaves and seek out little critters that are preparing for winter.  For us, simple activities usually bring us the most awareness and connection between each other;  these times are what we look forward to.

As a busy parent with the hectic school and activity schedule now back into full swing, we sometimes have to schedule play times.  Our family specifically sets aside Monday’s to involve the kids in our meal preparation; on regular days at least one of the kids usually offer to help me put their lunches together in preparation for the next day.  Not only is this our individual bonding time, I get an extra hand preparing and we have the opportunity to “check-in” with each other.  What ways do you make time for play each day?

Kinder Surprise is all about promoting families who make time to play together.  If you haven’t already checked out their Facebook Fan Page, stop by and “Like” their page.  Currently they are running a promotion on their fan page  to give 10 lucky Canadian fans a chance to win a KINDER® gift basket full of goodies worth $200!  Kinder is always popping up with new promotions; fan their page and be the first to know.

Disclosure: I’m part of the KINDER® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.