Thinking Out Loud Thursday - December 6, 2018

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  And happy St. Nicholas Day!  Did your kiddos put their shoes out last night and find a treat in them this morning?  It was a fun tradition we did in our house for years.

Today I'm thinking about some of the fun things my son found in his shoes on St. Nick's Day and also in his stocking on Christmas morning back in the day.  I'm not going to lie, I miss having a little one around.  So I'll live vicariously through my friends that still have kids at home and offer these suggestions.

Decks of cards were the perfect size to slip in stockings.  They are also great to have around and play with your kids.  Grandmas out there -- a deck of cards doesn't take up a lot of space to store and are great to have on hand when the grand kids stop by.  Some favorites are ~

• Race in a head-to-head competition with Blink , the lightning-fast card game!

• Using sharp eyes and fast hands, 2 players try to match the shape, count, or color on their cards to either one of two discard piles

• Play all the cards from your draw pile to win the game!

• Colorfully designed cards have large symbols that range from moons to triangles to stars, making it easy for anyone to play. Watch as your reflexes and response time improves round after round

• Includes 60 symbol cards and instructions

Skip-Bo is the ultimate sequencing card game

• Players use skill and strategy to create sequencing stacks of cards in ascending order (2, 3, 4, and so on)

• Be the first player to get rid of your stock pile!

• The Skip-Bo ‘Wild’ cards add extra twists to keep the game interesting and help you beat your opponents

• Includes 162 cards and instructions

I loved having a few hands-on activities around the house.  When the weather is too bad to go outside and run off some energy, hands-on activities can help everyone in the house stay sane.

Growing Dinasaurs

• JUST ADD WATER AND WATCH THEM GROW. Fun little water growing dinosaurs grow up to 600% of their original size when you put them in water.
• A GREAT VARIETY OF DINOSAURS. Water growing toys come assorted among the species of dinosaur: from triceratops to tyrannosaurs. Perfect for party favors and gifts.
• THE BEST GIFT CHOICE FOR KIDS. If you want to give a little joy to your child, expanding foam animals (grow water dinosaurs) will be a perfect idea. Our new expanding water animals are very bright and attractive, resilient and pleasant to the touch.
• NON-TOXIC MATERIALS. The polymer, or hydrpgel, is similar to the non-toxic chemical used in baby nappies. So dont overlook the educational value of our water growing toys for kids.
• WATER PLAY FUN. Create a long lost underwater land with these water growing dinosaurs! Place your expandable water toys in a glass, bath or in a scenic aquarium! Watch the grow water toys become of a “T-Rex” size at your next jurassic-themed party.

Who doesn't love a little dot to dot challenge.  This book of 50 puzzles would definitely keep the kids occupied for a while!

An activity that takes a little patience is crystals.  Seems like we always had some crystals growing in the windowsill!  These look fun ~

• Get started immediately with this Kit that includes everything to grow beautiful crystals that glow in the dark.

• Learn about crystal formation with this fun and luminous chemistry experiment.

• Use under adult supervision only for safe crystal growing.

• This Kit is recommended for ages 10 and up

Hope these ideas help you fill the stockings at your house.  Now I need to start thinking about some items to fill adult kids stockings!

What are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!

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