Nobody knows how it started, but today the house has been invaded by invisible patches of peanut butter. The only problem? They keep appearing in the worst possible places. Gather Your Gear - 10-20 small objects (socks, paper scraps, sticky notes, plastic cups, toy blocks, etc.) - A timer (optional) - A basket or bowl Steps 1. Scatter the objects around a room or throughout the house. These are the “peanut butter patches.” 2. Everyone starts at a home base. 3. The goal is to collect as many peanut butter patches as possible and bring them back to the basket. 4. There’s a catch: every round has a different movement rule. 5. Round 1: Move like a crab. 6. Round 2: Move like you’re balancing a giant book on your head. 7. Round 3: Move in slow motion. 8. Round 4: Move like a robot that needs charging. 9. Keep inventing ridiculous ways to travel until all the patches have been collected. Twist At any moment, someone can yell, “Extra Sticky!” Everyone must freeze and invent a completely new way to move before continuing. Variations by Age Ages 3-6 Keep the play area smaller and focus on silly movement. Invite children to choose the next way everyone travels. The more ridiculous the suggestion, the better. Ages 7-12 Let players earn the right to create new movement rules after collecting a certain number of patches. Challenge them to invent movements that are funny but still possible for everyone to do. Ages 13-17 Add a mission layer. Some patches are “super sticky” and require two people to work together to transport them. Encourage dramatic movement styles, character voices, and increasingly absurd travel methods. If you try this, let us know what worked or what you’d change. Happy crawling!

Did you know, here in the US, it’s “Eat Your Veggies Day”, but we’re not starting by eating them. We’re starting by giving them new jobs. A broccoli forest. A carrot superhero. A cucumber spaceship. Build something ridiculous, tell us about it, then enjoy your creations as a snack when the show is over. If you play along, I’d love to see what your vegetables become. Veggie Casting Call Vegetables spend a lot of time being vegetables. Today, they’re auditioning for bigger roles. What happens when a carrot becomes a superhero, a broccoli floret becomes a tree, or a cucumber slice becomes a flying saucer? Gather Your Gear - A variety of vegetables you already have on hand - Cutting board - Knife (adult use as needed) - Plates or trays Optional: toothpicks, cream cheese, hummus, or other safe “building” materials Camera (optional) Steps 1. Wash and prepare a few vegetables. 2. Challenge everyone to create the silliest scene, creature, vehicle, building, or invention they can using only vegetables. 3. Give each creation a name. 4. Have everyone present their masterpiece and explain what it does. 5. Vote on categories like Most Ridiculous, Most Creative, Most Likely to Exist on Another Planet, or Best Backstory. 6. When the show is over, turn the creations into a snack plate and eat them. Twist Each person secretly chooses one vegetable that must appear in every creation. The stranger the vegetable, the better. Variations by Age Ages 3-6 Focus on simple creations and storytelling. A cucumber can become a train. A carrot can become a rocket. Invite lots of “What does it do?” and “Where does it live?” questions while building together. Ages 7-12 Add challenge cards. Build a vegetable pet. Create a machine that solves a problem. Design a vegetable amusement park. Encourage bigger ideas and fun explanations for how everything works. Ages 13-17 Introduce a timed design challenge. Draw a random category such as movie character, mythical creature, famous landmark, or invention. Bonus points for combining multiple vegetables into one creation and giving it an elaborate origin story.

I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who re-runs lately, especially after the announcement that the Doctor may be on break for a few years. So, aliens have been in my thoughts. For this activity, have fun as you think about what might happen if Aliens tried to recreate Earth after finding a box of household objects. They were confident, committed, and wildly incorrect. Let's see how you work through this one! Gather Your Gear: - Cardboard - Paper - Tape - Markers - Recyclables - Foil - String - Fabric scraps - Boxes, cups, lids, containers, or other household odds and ends Steps: 1. Choose one familiar Earth place or thing for the aliens to recreate. It could be a kitchen, playground, grocery store, school, restaurant, library, pet shop, car wash, movie theater, or anything else your family knows well. 2. Build the alien version together using whatever materials you gathered. Let the mistakes lead. A kitchen might have sinks on the ceiling. A playground might have slides that go up. A grocery store might sell shoes, soup, and batteries from the same tiny shelf. 3. Add details until the creation looks wrong enough to be interesting. 4. Give the finished creation an official alien name. Twist: Want an extra challenge? Add one feature the aliens believe is very helpful, even though humans would immediately know it is not. Variations by Age: Ages 3–6 Younger kids can make the strange choices. They can decide where pieces go, what colors belong, what the aliens misunderstood, and which parts should be added next. If their idea makes no practical sense, it probably belongs. Ages 7–12 Kids in this age range can help make the wrong idea visible. They can add signs, shelves, buttons, doors, paths, labels, levers, windows, or tiny details that help everyone see what the aliens were trying to make. Ages 13–17 Older kids can help the family fully commit to the joke. They can look for anything that still feels too normal, add smarter wrong details, and help the whole creation feel like one strange alien misunderstanding instead of a random pile of parts.

Have you ever watched the TV Show, "Chopped"? Contestants are provided a mystery basket with 4 ingredients and asked to create an edible dish in 30 minutes. Today, you get to play your own version of chopped. Follow the prompt and share your creation. To keep it simple, limit yourself to 30 minutes. Gather Your Gear: - Something sweet - Something savory - Something salty - Something sour - Cutting board - Kid-safe knife or butter knife - Spoons - Small bowls - Plate or serving tray - Napkins Optional extras from the kitchen, seasonings, oil, veggies, etc. Steps: 1. Place your ingredients where everyone can see them. 2. Talk through a few possibilities before you start. Could this become a snack plate, dip, toast, wrap, skewer, tiny sandwich, salad, dessert bite, or something no one has named yet? 3. Create one shared dish using all four flavors. 4. Taste as you go, if it is safe to do so, and make small changes along the way. 5. Give your dish a name before serving it. Twist: Want an extra challenge? Plate it like it belongs in a fancy restaurant, even if the final dish is wonderfully strange. Variations by Age: Ages 3–6 Younger kids can wash produce, tear soft ingredients, spread, sprinkle, stir, arrange pieces, and help name the dish. Keep their part hands-on so they can see their choices become part of the food. Ages 7–12 Kids in this age range can help decide what the dish needs next. Is it too sour, too salty, too plain, too soft, or missing crunch? Let them suggest small changes and help assemble the final version. Ages 13–17 Older kids can help the family make one clear food choice instead of turning the plate into chaos. They can help decide whether the dish should lean sweet, savory, snacky, fancy, messy, or funny, then help bring the pieces together. Share Your Creation: Post a photo of your finished dish and tell us the name your family gave it.

Happy International Play With Sticks Day!! What will you create today? Playing with sticks is as natural as walking. Go outside with your child this weekend and create something awesome!!