Our local zoo had a light show every half hour where the lights blinked to the music. It was fun to watch (even for this adult). It had the kids ooohing and ahhhing.

Some of the indoor animal exhibits were open, and we even saw a couple of Santa’s reindeer taking a break before their wild ride on Christmas Eve.

If you’re looking for a fun holiday activity your kids will enjoy check with your local zoo to see if they have a Christmas, or winter light show. The Wildlight show at the Columbus Zoo continues through January 2nd.

Columbus Zoo Wildlights Images (c) L Gerlach

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I thought I’d put together a few fun Veterans Day activities for kids to help teach a little more about the importance of veterans, and what they do for our country.

• Veterans Day Word Ladder and Scramble Worksheets
• A Veterans Day Printable Coloring Sheet
• Make a handmade card to thank your favorite veteran
• Write a Veteran’s Day story
• Make a Patriotic Paper Wind Streamer
• A Veterans Day Word Search
• Make a camouflage friend
• A list of Childrens Songs for Veterans Day
• Make Veterans Day Door Hangers

What’s your favorite Veteran’s Day activity to help children learn the importance of honoring their Vets?

Image sxc.hu

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This year we will be watching the 83rd edition of the Macy’s Parade. This year’s parade will be setting another new milestone, it’s marched down parts of Broadway for 82 years, the 2009 procession will be the first to bypass Broadway during the route.

Joining Macy’s parade favorites this year will be several new high flying giant balloons, including:

The Pillsbury Doughboy~ The Doughboy marches in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with his arms outstretched, with his bright blue eyes shining ready to ring in the holidays. At more than 63 times his traditional 8 3/4-inch size, the Doughboy balloon will measure 53.7 feet in length, 34.4 feet in width and will be 46.4 feet tall. This Doughboy will rise to the occasion filled with 12,280 cubic feet of helium.

Ronald McDonald~ This year, there’s a new Ronald McDonald. He’s in a playful mood and has strapped on the world’s largest pair of ice skates for some fun-filled holiday activity. This giant balloon is 76.4 feet long, 28.8 feet wide and 48.6 feet tall, Ronald will be inflated with 13,650 cubic feet of helium on Parade day. Wow!

Sailor Mickey~ Sporting his nautically inspired red, white and blue sailor gear, Mickey will salute the crowds as he rides down the Macy’s Parade route. Mickey measures 48.1-feet long, 33.6-feet wide and 60.9-feet tall. Sailor Mickey will be filled with 14,750 cubic feet of helium on his maiden voyage on Thanksgiving Day.

Spiderman~ After a decade, the legendary crime-fighting web-slinger returns to the Macy’s Parade line-up in celebration of Marvel’s 70th Anniversary. Spider-Man made his Macy’s Parade debut in 1987, becoming an instant classic. The new, more modern and muscular Spidey is in full crawling mode with one hand set to release his web. On Parade day, the Spider-Man balloon will measure 78-feet long, 37.8-feet wide and 29.1-feet tall and will be filled with 11,800 cubic feet of helium.

Other Macy’s parades highlights include Santa in his new sleigh, after 40 years, and the magical world of Yo Gabba Gabba Live! comes to life on the brand new There’s A Party in My City float.

Is the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade a tradition at your house?
Image: Newscom

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I know schedules are hectic, both children and parents are busy, but why not devote one night to getting “unplugged” and enjoying each others company over a game? If you can’t do it on the 23rd set aside a day and hold everyone in the family to making that date.

National Family Game Night comes right in the middle of Turn Off TV Week, so it’s the perfect time to spend a little time reconnecting as a family.

You can visit Hasbro’s Family Game Night website for more information, and a list of game ideas. You can also follow @familygamenight on Twitter for daily fun game facts and tips for planning your own family game night.

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At the end of voting the three hospitals with the most votes will receive a gameroom makeover, valued at $10,000 each. The contest is part of Xbox’s larger effort with the Children’s Miracle Network to raise funds for the 170 children’s hospitals in the network and to provide new equipment to create a more fulfilling patient experience.

Everyone is encouraged to visit the official Xbox-Children’s Miracle Network website to vote for the hospital of their choice. As a bonus, each time you vote for a hospital, you will be entered to win one of five Xbox 360 Elite consoles!

The contest began Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, and will run through Friday, Oct. 16, 2009, so log on and support your favorite Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

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One of my favorites is the Crayola Portable Art Studio. Kids can have all the art supplies they need all in one place. The best part for us is when we’re heading out of town or to the lake. We can grab the Art Studio and my son can use it to draw, color, and create on the go.

Crayola Model Magic comes in handy when you have a school project that requires you to create a model, or figure for a book report or science project. We’ve had to make a zoo animal for school two different times, both times it worked really well to make it from modeling clay. It’s also fun to just create at the kitchen table.
Color Fillz use the Model Magic colors used to create 2 complete 4” x 6” mosaics. The mosaics come in patterns for both boys and girls. When they’re done they can hang them in their room, in a window, or you can use them as decorations on the Christmas tree.

Dry-Erase Activity Center – Zany Play Edition has fun, interchangeable templates that slide under the clear dry-erase surface. The Activity Center contains 8 game and activity sheets and creative elements like mustaches, hats to embellish photos, 1 page of re-positionable stickers, and 4 Crayola bullet tip dry erase markers. This would make another great travel idea!

All of these Crayola creative ideas will be available at Staples starting in November this holiday season.

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Denny’s new Better For You choices for kids include Tumbling Vanilla (vanilla yogurt with strawberry topping), “High Diving Veggies” (carrots, celery and cucumber), Apple Dunkers, Jell-O®, “Spaghetti, Set, Go!” (spaghetti with marinara sauce), and pudding.

Denny’s also took several items off their kid’s menu, including Big Dipper French-Toastix™ (French toast sticks), hot dogs, and “D-Fusion™” sugar beverage packets.

Denny’s is trying to be proactive in adding healthy alternatives to their menu, while still providing fun and interesting choices for children. They’re hoping to make children and their parents happy at the same time.

For more information on Denny’s new healthier menu for kids you can check out Dennyskidsandparents.com.

What do you think? Will it be a hit with kids? What about their parents? I’m all for healthier choices, and my son would enjoy the apples and dip, or the carrots (as long as they have Ranch dipping sauce) and he loves spaghetti with marinera sauce.

Images: Denny’s

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After I set up my little farm towns I would spend hours in my make believe world moving the animals and the people around. I love to see that kids (and adults) still create those farm towns today.

The other day I showed you some of the Lego creations at our local county fair. Today I have some of my favorite farm towns. I’ve been trying to talk my son into creating our own farm farm since I saw these the other day. I’m not having much luck. I think if I told him we could add in some Star Wars ships, Lego creations, or a Transformer or two he might be on board.

Many of the farm sets incorporated real grains, dried flowers, dirt, and stones, just like the farms I set up when I was a kid. Maybe I’ll have to make my own for next year. I think it would be a ton of fun.

Think they’d notice if our farm truck was Optimus Prime, or if Chewbacca was feeding the cows?

Images (c) L Gerlach

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Saturday my son showed his dog in obedience and showmanship, and even won a couple ribbons! This was his first year to work with the dog, and he was stoked after the show, and ready to do it all again next year.

He’s learned so much through his projects, and he’s also learned about working with other members of his 4-H club, and the members of other clubs. It’s so fun to see him learn and grow like that.

I think I look forward to next year as much as he does!

Image (c) L Gerlach

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We have several parks here in Ohio, including a couple giants, King’s Island, and Cedar Point. Most amusement parks offer discounted tickets if you look around. You can find even better deals toward the end of the summer.

Here are a few more tips for saving money at an amusement park:

• You can pack your lunch or breakfast and have a picnic before you enter the park. Have a little tailgate party at your car, or find some parks even have a family picnic area you can use.
• Bring a refillable water bottle you can strap to a belt or belt loop. Load it with ice a the beginning of the day.
• Stay away from the high cost souvenirs, you can probably find the same thing for less outside the park, or online.

Amusement parks can be fun without breaking the bank. Have a good time and enjoy your family. Go with the flow, even if the day doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned you can still have fun, quality family time.

Image (c) L Gerlach

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