So much to do, so little time, and so many children to entertain. If you are like our family you have a gaggle of fraggles and all their friends at your home during the Christmas break. Of course you can’t spend all your time with the littletons and get tasks accomplished. You find the kids playing with a toy and begin to work on an item on your To Do list. Just as you get all of the tools needed for the task in comes the troops asking you a question. You answer and they retreat from your area. You regain your focus and begin your task when you feel someone standing right behind you. Yup. There they are. The littletons are hungry, bored, need help, etc. The cycle repeats. Will you ever get anything done?

Here’s an idea for a way to get them having fun AND for you to get some tasks crossed off your To Do list. Grab a roll of masking tape. Escort the children to a room or an area that has carpet. Tell them they can use the tape on the carpet to set up games and let them go at it. The idea of taping the floor is so unique that kids are consumed by it. They will continue to make lots of game boards and then proceed to play. My kids even make score sheets for each game on the carpet with the masking tape. You do not have to have them remove the tape as soon as they are done. It can remain there for a few days. When you notice the kids are “over that” simply peel the tape up. Before you know it they will be back again asking for masking tape to create new games! Believe it or not, kids are creative and when given the opportunity to do something a “taboo” they are drawn to it like ants to sugar; they will not leave the activity until the last bit of fun has been drained right out of it.

I have included photos of our latest floor game designs. The big one is a combination of corn hole and skee ball. We have a marble ring, tick tac toe, and some game I don’t even begin to understand.

When you need time to prepare for Christmas, keep your mind thinking from your kids’ perspective. Think of things they would not normally be allowed to do, but that don’t harm anything. Another great idea is to have them draw Christmas pictures on windows or mirrors using dry erase markers. Again, the FUN factor is Huge and the cleanup is minimal. The idea is to offer an activity that is either new or rarely used that has a little bit of a “you are not supposed to do that” factor. Your kids and their friends will have a blast and you will get your list accomplished!

These are my thoughts.