Something
A-mazing.
With nothing more than a shov-
el, you can turn your backyard
into a fun maze. All you have to
do is shovel a path, with lots of
twists and turns. To make cer-
tain your child has traveled the
entire maze (thus using as
much energy as possible), tie dif-
ferent colored ribbons to the top
of sticks which you place at
stops along the way. Once he
collects all the ribbons, reward
him with a treat And if you
have the energy, consider going
out and chasing your little girl
around and around and around
the maze.
Park
Your children will love a nature
hike, whether it's in your own
backyard, at a favorite park or at
a small wooded area. There's a
great deal to see, from animal
tracks to winter berries to small
creatures. When you're done,
come home to a cup of deli-
cious hot chocolate with marsh-
mallows.
Let's Get Physical.
Much of the problem with win-
ter is that children no longer
have the opportunity to release
all their vast physical energy. If
your son or daughter needs to
get physical, try turning on
some music and dancing to-
gether for half an hour, or rent
an exercise tape (no doubt it
will do you some good, too).
cow or two.
You might
want to consider
making your own
old-fashioned lol-
lipops. Here is one
recipe, which must be
prepared by an adult
The Best-Laid Plans.
Lollipops
You will need:
cooking thermometer
candy molds
lollipop sticks
I cup water
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 Tbs butter
food coloring
Children 4 and older usually
love to organize and coordinate
activities. Choose carefully and
you may be able to make this
into a day-long event. For exam-
ple, plan a county fair in your
basement You'll need to make
rides (a journey across the floor
in a wagon, perhaps, or a maze
of cardboard blocks), and games
(bowling with empty soda-pop
cans as pins is one idea). You
can buy inexpensive trinkets to
use as prizes. You and your
child can create decorations,
from balloons to hand-drawn
signs to homemade streamers,
and even make snacks (mixing,
pouring the dough, then deco-
rating cupcakes with frosting
and sprinkles should take a
good half hour) for a baked-
goods booth. You can come up
with your own crafts, as well,
which you can sell to each oth-
er (or invite neighborhood chil-
dren to the "fair"), and maybe
some farm animals, like your
pet dog and fish, along with a
stuffed-animal
Flavoring
I /4 tsp. oil of peppermint
or 1 tsp. oil of orange (most
other flavors require between
I /2 and 1 tsp.; you'll need to
test)
Bring water to boil in large
pan. Add sugar, corn syrup and
butter and bring to a boil again.
Cover and continue cooking for
3 minutes. Then uncover, with
pot still over the heat; do not
stir. Cook until thermometer
reaches 310 degrees, then re-
move candy mixture to low
heat.
Meanwhile, brush molds
lightly with oil and insert candy
' sticks.
Add a few drops of food col-
oring to candy, then flavoring.
CAREFULLY spoon mixture
into molds and let cool.
Make Snowflakes.
Remember how much fun you
had doing this when you were
little? Your child will love it,
too. Simply fold paper into
halves or quarters and cut tiny
designs. Later, you can make
your snowflakes sparkle with
glued-on glitter. Hang many to-
gether for your own snowflake
mobile.
Book Tan.
Plan a day around reading. Visit
your library and check out 10
books, then come home and
cozy up under the covers in bed
and read them all. You also
might want to check out a chil-
dren's book-on-tape, and listen
to it just before an afternoon
nap. Or, give your child $5 to
spend at a nearby used book-
store. You can even have your
daughter write her own novel,
either in a new journal or in a
book you have created by sta-
pling pieces of blank paper to-
gether:
Home Movies.
You may have a budding Steven
Spielberg living in your very
own home. Ask your son or
daughter to write, then direct
his own film starring family
members and friends. Videotape
the production. This is a good
project for families with chil-
dren of all ages as there's some-
thing for everyone to do.
Younger boys and girls can help
create the sets and costumes,
and even children as young as 3
(with a little prompting) can re-
member a line or two from a
script
Another idea is to film "A
Day In The T ife Of The
Family," with your young direc-
tor catching lots of spontaneous
activities: Dad doing the dishes,
little brother and sister joyfully
at play ("He touched me! He
took my blocks! He's pulling my
hair!" "She colored on my pic-
ture! She won't leave me alone!
She pinched me!" — Ah,
youth!), Mom putting in her
electric curlers. (You have to
have a sense of humor for that
one). Or, you could do the
"Family News," with live re-
ports from the kitchen, where
Grandma is cooking, and from
the garage, where Dad is work-
ing on a car he refuses to take to
the mechanic because "I know
exactly what I'm doing." ❑
DECEMBER
I cup cornstarch
I I /2 cups water
Combine ingredients, then
cook over low heat until mix-
ture thickens. Cool.
(Note: Dough will dry out af-
ter about a day).
Another idea is to challenge
your child to come up with a
fun, new costume for Mr: or
Ms. Snowman. A parent draws
three circles (the snowman's
body), which can then be pho-
tocopied to create many blank
models. Let each child draw
clothes, face, hat, etc.