Krafty Kid Fun

Creating portable games that can fit in a tin are a great way to keep your children entertained while traveling! You can get as creative as you want.

I used an old tin from a magnetic poetry set but have seen others use an Altoids tin. I've mixed and matched pieces from existing games lying around the house. The checkers magnets are from a backgammon set. The purple outlined cards, purple putty, paper die and blank sheets came from a fast food kids meal. The cards have challenges like come up with a silly song, tell a knock knock joke, etc and are double sided. This translate into limiting little idle hands.

I handmade the checker, tic tac toe and leafy dice game in the picture below. I even added a few magnetic words so my kindergartener and soon-to-be first grader can practice constructing words.

If you have an iPhone or android phone, then I recommend that you download the FREE PBS kids APP for shows on the go during small shopping trips and even in-the-car entertainment. My toddler loves it.

Taking a few board books along also helps.

Shea Butter = Better Body

For those who aren't familiar with shea butter, it's a creamy product that is smooth like creamy peanut butter and is made from the nut of the Shea tree native to west Africa. Shea Butter is great for eczema, burns, psoriasis, stretch marks --I swear mine almost disappeared-- and other skin conditions. I still use it on myself and my family! It costs about $7 USD for 32oz (946mL).

Even National Geographic was raving about it. Apparently, other countries use Shea butter for food product which is a testament to it being truly all natural and non-toxic.

Just be careful because the yellow color can stain white clothes or sheets. It's difficult to wash out of the whites.

I love using Shea butter and am a little upset that it has become such a fad with the mainstream lotion companies. They probably only add an extremely small amount but this is the pure raw uncut stuff. 

Body Butter Recipe:
8 oz. Organic Raw Unrefined Filtered Shea Butter
4 oz. Organic Coconut Oil
4 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1/4 oz. essential "scented" oil (ex: lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, etc)

1. Melt Shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler. Remove from heat until temp is below 60 F

2. Stir in the sweet almond oil

3. Place oil mixture in freezer for 20 min or until the mixture is partially solid

4. Remove the mixture from the freezer, add the essential oil and mix for 10 min

5. Place the mixture in the freezer again for another 10 min,
then whip until a butter like consistency is achieved.

6. Place the butter in a clean jar --you can use those clear travel jars or anything you choose-- which you may store away from heat and humidity.