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Family Match Game

7/28/2018

Make your own match game or memory game, and use family pictures! Hours of fun for the little guys!

When my son and his child moved to another city, they were only able to visit 5-6 times a year. I saw a need to make a book or game so my grandson could learn family members and their names when he came to visit here. I ended up making a game, and based it on that old standby, "Memory."

Actually this concept has been around a while. You've seen the little books available in the baby department of retail stores. It's a baby-safe padded book that mom or dad can slip in pictures of family members. Parents can include that book in their nightly story time with baby, and eventually the child learns everyone's names.

Creating the game~

Because my grandson was over two years when he made these trips to our house, I opted for a match game. (Please note: Before he was born, I had made him a book to learn our names--instructions for that one are at the end of this blog.) The instructions for this matching game are pretty straight forward. Print up some pictures of family members, making sure they're fairly small. Walmart can print two images on a 4.6 size which would be perfect for the game. I also found an online site that would do a 2x3 size, also perfect for a memory game. Just know that you will need to print up two pictures of each family member.

I love my Print Shop application on my computer, so I made my own game cards. I just made a template before I started. Then I inserted pictures of family members that were appropriate size and I was set.

Individual squares in this template were 2x2 inches.

Here are the family pictures I included. I made sure they would fit in the 2x2 squares.

I happened on this kid-appealing card stock at Walmart. The whole tablet was $5!It worked great for printing up my pictures.

Finished game pieces.

Playing the game:

You know the drill. I had 24 cards and you simply spread them out on the table or floor, being sure to mix them up. Then you and the child play the game, turning over two cards at a time hoping for a match. An added plus is that the child can sometimes play by himself. You could mail him one copy, and keep another one at your house to play together. Even after they learn everyone's name, they still get a kick out of playing.

The set up. And they are not just learning everyone's faces and names. They are also learning geometry, math, and visual memory skills.

No match here. When they do find a match, they keep the two cards and then go again.

Of course you realize as my grandson got older, I saw a need to add names. Then they begin the process of learning to read and getting meaning from text.

Books, games and videos!

You can apply this same idea in a book, another game or even a video that you send to the grandchild in another city. I saw an idea on Pinterest wherein you use the pictures in an old "Guess Who," game. I just haven't felt that industrious to conquer that one.

But I do feel a book of family members is great. It can be for a new baby, a blended family with new relatives to learn, an adopted child, new grandchild, great-grandchild, or new cousin, niece or nephew. As I stated above, I made one for my youngest grandson and I made it before he was born. I included pictures of his cousins and other family members. It was a book to be read at bedtime (or of course, anytime), and it enabled him to become familiar with family members and family customs.

The page and text about his grandfather.

Page about his cousins!

Finally~

I'm sharing this idea this summer, because it's a great craft (making the game or book) to do as so many of us are staying inside where it's cool. This is a great creative endeavor to do at this time. Also, many of you are headed out.....going to family reunions. Often your kids and grandkids are seeing family members that they only see once or twice a year. This matching game can help them learn the names of their long-distance cousins!

Happy summer, everyone! Until next time!!

In case you're interested in that "Guess Who" game for family members, here's the website:

tipjunkie.com/make-a-family-guess-who-game-how-to/amp/

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Kindness Rocks Continued...

7/23/2018

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The many blessings of kindness rocks--who knew?

In my April 19th blog, I wrote about a recent discovery of mine--"Kindness Rocks." Actually I didn't write that blog, my friend Tricia in Albuquerque wrote it. It was fun reading how she first discovered a kindness rock in her travels, and then how she started painting kindness rocks herself. If you didn't read that particular blog, you might want to go back to my 4/19/18 blog or else do a search here for "kindness rocks."

I've returned to this subject today as I keep discovering the many blessings associated with this custom.

I keep my rocks on the entry hall table. My husband and I both grab one before we leave the house.

The many blessings:

The time spent with my granddaughters washing, drying, and painting the rocks. It's like the commercial--you can't put a price on that. Just bonding over paints and sayings for the rocks is a time to be cherished. I imagine it's like quilting bees of old--when women got together and talked and shared life stories over the quilting frame. That is such a special time with my granddaughters. Then the trip to Town Center to hide them--oh the laughs and giggles.
We recently took a road trip with our granddaughters to see their great-grandmother. You guessed it; the girls put their basket of kindness rocks in the car, and we hid them on our drive. Every time we stopped, whether it was a service station or a fast food restaurant--we hid those rocks. How delighted they would be if we hid them going into the cafe, and then discovered them gone when we came out. We would speculate who might have picked it up, and would wonder if the words of encouragement on the rock helped them on their journey.
I recently discovered in the Houston paper how kindness rocks were being found all over the town of Kingwood. How wonderful to read about that.
My husband takes our dog daily on a walk around the neighborhood. He always grabs a couple of kindness rocks to plant on his stroll. Recently he discovered our neighbor had picked up one and placed in on the bridge over his driveway. Made my heart happy!
A friend in Austin sent photos of kindness rocks that someone had found on a hiking trail there. No, of course they aren't mine, but I love that I'm a part of a community of rock painters who are trying to spread a little bit of kindness.
As I stated above, we took the rocks with us on a recent trip to see my mother-in-law. Since the basket of rocks was in the car, the girls put one on their grandmother's front porch, as well as hiding one in her garden. Mema discovered the one in her small flower garden after we left. I can just imagine the big ol' smile on her face when she discovered that. Before we left town, we drove over to their great-aunt's house and put two on her sidewalk and in a flower box. She discovered them after we were long gone. She reported that it thrilled her to death.
It's a zen exercise. When Tricia wrote that original blog about the rocks, she reported how relaxing it was to paint the rocks. You can only focus on the painting, and the cares of this world just float away. I certainly have noticed that myself. About a month ago, two of our great-nieces were in town for a long weekend getaway. One evening we came in from dinner, and I asked them if they would like to join me painting kindness rocks. They did! They were so creative, and put my efforts to shame. As we painted, the conversation kind of drifted away and then one of them said, "This is so relaxing." And it is, it really is.

This one was done by my visiting great-niece, Ryleigh.

But wait! There's more!!

Other blessings and benefits that can come. . .

While the rocks that I do are truly kindness rocks, that is they are hidden around neighborhoods and communities as a surprise and blessing to those who find them, they can be created specifically for a friend or loved one. A friend suggested this when I started doing them, and I kind of vetoed that as I like the anonymity of the original idea. But now I find myself wanting to do rocks specifically for someone. You can get tons of ideas for rocks on Pinterest, and I recently saw one with a coffee cup. How perfect that would be for a friend who loves coffee. And it set my wheels to turning as appropriate ones to create for family members. I can't wait.
I volunteer at the hospital. I always keep some rocks in my car, so as I was getting out at the hospital of late, I decided to grab a couple of rocks for the serenity garden. How wonderful to plant a rock there that might give a lift to a patient. I now create appropriate rocks to take there on a weekly basis.
And how could I leave out the nurses! I made a rock for them to find: "Nurses Rock."
And I now have a "Welcome" rock at my front door!

My next rock for the nurses when I volunteer at the hospital. I'll hide it on the parking lot by the entrance.

"Welcome" rock on the porch by my front door.

One final story I must share:

I really can't do a blog on kindness rocks without mentioning my friend Beth and her beautiful hand-painted rocks. She was painting rocks before there was ever a concept of "kindness rocks." She collected most of her rocks on her cross-country travels with her precious husband Ted. She preferred smooth river rocks and rocks she found at the beach. She's been giving her rocks away too. She does place them in her own gardens as a sweet memory of her travels, but she gives them to family members for their gardens as well. I've included a picture of her gorgeous rocks. And thank her for being such an inspiration to me.

My friend Beth's beautiful hand-painted rocks. They are truly done with zen energy

Your mission? Go find a rock, paint it, and share it with the world! It's fun!

I started this blog for grandparents, and I noticed that I haven't posted since June 29th! Sorry about that! I've been busy, and I've also been traveling. And I'm guessing I really didn't have any readers as y'all have been traveling too! But for those grandparents that have returned from your travels and are dealing with this terrible heat, painting kindness rocks might be the way to go. You can find rocks at your local garden centers or hobby stores. Hope you'll try it--spread the love! It's wonderful to think you might brighten someone's day!

I enjoyed painting this little guy. I put him at a local park thinking some child might find him and want to take him home. I also did it as my friend Tricia reported in that original blog that the first rock she found was just a face--no message. She said she and her husband just busted out laughing. I think this old world could use a good laugh.

Tricia's original blog about the Kindness Rock Project:

www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/kindness-rocks-project-with-the-grandkids

And the website with more information about the Kindness Rock Project:

www.thekindnessrocksproject.com

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Family Match Game

Kindness Rocks Continued...

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