fun at home

Dec

2021

Christmas Gift Ideas for Less

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Need Christmas gift ideas for less? Just a short time before Christmas day is upon us. If you’re still not done with your gift list, you might be stressing out. But all is not lost yet. There are still some gifts that you can make for your loved ones and friends without having to splurge. Some of them you can make at home too.

Your gift doesn’t have to be expensive for it to be appreciated. Personalized gifts are always much appreciated. It gives the gift a sentimental value that commercial items cannot convey no matter how pricey. Here are some gift ideas for less that you can create at home for your loved ones.

Recipe Jars

This is a nice gift for friends and loved ones who love their pancake, waffle or brownies. Just pick a recipe, measure all the dry ingredients and place them in layers into the glass jar. Try to alternate the ingredients in such a way that the colors make an interesting pattern.

Print out the recipe on sticker paper and paste unto the side of the jar. Or print it on cardboard paper and tie to the neck of the jar as a gift tag. You can also use this for chocolate drink mixes or coffee blends.

DIY Kits

Got a family member who loves drawing and coloring? Gather different coloring and drawing materials; a sketchpad, pencils, erasers, a ruler and sharpener. Put everything in a handy file folder that they can conveniently carry with them.

For a friend who loves making her own jewelry, gift them with more beads and trinkets for their jewelry-making collection. You can get them the special beads, or a tool that they’ve been wanting to buy; but just can’t get their hands on. This is one of the Christmas gift ideas for less that’s always appreciated by young students. They are the ones who are passionate about their hobby but can’t afford all the materials.

You can also gift friends with a kit for getting rid of negative energy in their homes and work places. This gift does not only benefit them personally but the people in their space too.

Personal Coupons

If you’re broke but really want to make the effort; then gift your family members and friends with your time and energy instead. This is one of the Christmas gift ideas for less that doesn’t even cost you anything.

Design your own personal coupon stating a service that you will offer for a certain duration of time. For example, you can give your mom several coupons for a neck and shoulder massage for 20 minutes. You can give your dad coupons for washing the car and so on. Give the gift of a memorable experience that you will all recall with a smile later on.

For friends, you can give coupons for accompanying them to shopping errands. They can then claim these coupons any time of the year. Make sure that you state in the terms and conditions that they have to schedule these events with you first.

Use Your Talents

If you’re good at crocheting or knitting; make a scarf, or a beanie, or a pair of mittens, for a good friend or loved one. If you’re good at sketching, drawing or painting, then gift one of your creations to a valued friend.

Got a talent for writing poems? Create one for a special friend and print or write by hand on special paper. It would be great to present this gift by reading it to them aloud. Preparing this kind of gift is a fun process too. Plus, the result can be a very memorable experience.

Are you good with a camera? Take candid photos of your friend, select the best ones and display in a special picture frame. You can also put these in a scrapbook. Label each photo to tell a story about your friendship. Or just showcase your friend’s endearing character or unique personality. You get the idea, so go ahead and start planning for your next creative gift.

Use Available Resources

If you’re not too confident about your talents yet; then the next best thing that you can do is to use your resources to create a personalized gift. Get on your computer and go online.

For a friend who loves their tunes, download them a collection of their favorite songs. Transfer to a USB so they can load it on their laptops and mobile phones. Got a friend or relative who is too busy to take care of putting together a business card? Get your design skills to work and gift them with a simple calling card. Now, they don’t have to write their contact details on a piece of paper whenever they meet clients.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

You know the saying that one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure? If you’ve got stuff just lying around and gathering dust; think of who these might be of more use to and give that item to that person as a gift. Not only will you reduce your clutter, you get to reuse stuff and recycle them for a purpose.

You might have a friend who’s been pining to have a jacket or bag just like what you have. If you’re planning to buy a new one anyway, why not give your old jacket or bag to this friend? You might have a friend who loves your sense of style. If you’ve got a top that you already have several iterations of; why not give away the one you don’t use most often to your friend?

Got an old lamp that you’ve never even used? Check if the bulb still works and replace if necessary. Give to a friend who has just moved into a new house; or who has been wanting to make-over their bedroom. This is another one of the Christmas gift ideas for less that will definitely be appreciated by the receiver.

Give with Love, Receive with Gratitude

These are just examples of what you can do with your skills and talents. Some creative thinking is needed to make a personalized gift that your loved ones and close friends can appreciate. But before rushing for supplies; set aside some time to do some writing. Make a list of what gifts you can create or find in your own home. Think of what gift would suit the tastes and personalities of certain friends and loved ones.

As a last note, some of your friends and relatives might be giving you these kinds of gifts too. Remember to be grateful and appreciative of all their efforts. After all, it’s the thought that counts. Bonus! You can add gift-planning to the list of things you can do for fun.

DIY gifts take time and effort. Because of this, they truly communicate your appreciation for the person you are giving them to. So go ahead and give these DIY gift ideas a try.

Updated. Republished 2020.12.03. First published on Pinoy Smart Living on 2018.12.17.
Featured Image: Original Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash.

Nov

2020

5 Classic Board Games

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Playing these 5 classic board games is one of the best ways to combat stress. Sometimes, it is necessary to do something fun to stop ourselves from dwelling too much on negative thoughts and emotions. Do you find yourself taking life too seriously? It’s time to bring out your favorite board game.

Break away from stress and anxiety thru play. Keep a positive atmosphere at home with these fun and entertaining board games.

1. Battleship

2 Players

Children and adults alike enjoy this as one of the classic board games. Popular since the 1930s, this game from Hasbro has taken on many different forms since then. This is a naval battle game where each player tries to sink the opponent’s ship to win.

In an ultimate battle of wits, players start off the game by secretly placing their battleships own grids that only they can see. Each player then chooses specific coordinates to fire a missile and see if it hits the any of the other player’s ship. They do this in turns with the goal of eliminating as many of the opponent’s ships before they hunt yours down

2. Boggle

Multiple players

This word game made its debut in 1972 and is still popular today. It’s a simple board game that involves players wracking their brains to come up with words. Be sure to have a dictionary ready to check if a word actually exists!

The game starts off by shaking the cube to rearrange the letters inside. Once the lid is off, players have 3 minutes to make up as many words as they can from the 16 letters on the 4×4 tray. Having the same word as your opponent eliminates that word from your list right away. So be sure to listen what the other players are saying so you don’t’ use the same word. You can play by teams too.

This portable word game is tons of fun. The only downside is that it will be quite noisy when you play this game. Make sure you don’t shout too much so your neighbors don’t complain.

3. Checkers

2 players

Checkers is one of the oldest, classic board games. Even Greek writers Homer and Plato mention it in some of their works. The board consists of 64 alternating red and black squares where players can place their black and red checker pieces. There are other color variations available too.

This strategy game involves jumping over various squares to get to your opponent’s side of the board. You can do this by jumping over your opponent’s checker pieces and removing them from the board. Each piece can move only on the black square and only 1 diagonal square forward each time. You need to jump over your opponent’s piece to move 2 squares.

4. Chinese Checkers

2-6 players

Despite its name, this game was actually invented in America in the 1920s. In fact, it’s based on an earlier Victorian game called Halma which was originally played on a 16×16 square, checker or chequer board.

It has evolved into the hexagonal board that we are familiar with today. The holes on the board form the shape of a 6 pointed star. Each point forms a triangle with 10 holes. The hole is where players place their 10 pegs. Players have 6 different colors to choose from.

The goal of the player is to be the first one to move all 10 pegs into the triangle opposite them. Players take turns to move a single peg at one time. If less than 6 players will play, they must do so in pairs. They will place their pegs on opposite sides on the board.

5. Chess

2 players

Chess is another one of the oldest, classic board games in the world and one of the most familiar to adults and kids alike. Apparently, it appeared in the 16th A.D. century in India and spread to other parts of the world from there.

This game of strategy and wits is both fun but also mentally challenging. Even as a spectator to this game, you can feel the anticipation of each player’s next move. It’s the strategies that professional players use to win the game that makes watching a chess match truly amazing.

Try your hand at this game just for fun. The goal of this game is to put the opponent’s King in checkmate. If you don’t know what that means, then it’s time to learn the basic rules. See if you can come up with a strategy to hinder your opponent’s progress as you try to advance your pieces on the board. Who knows, you might discover a hidden talent for this game while you’re learning it.

If you are a parent, playing these board games with your kids will not only be fun. It will make your kids feel closer to you in many ways. This will also help them open up their thoughts and feelings to you so you can help them achieve their dreams. Plus, it will help train their minds and creative skills so more opportunities will open up for them in future. You experience the same benefits too.

Feature Image: Original Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.

Aug

2020

Take Back Your Life and Have Fun Again

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A well-balanced life is important to keep us healthy and motivated to reach our goals. However, most of us have become too focused on work-related matters that life becomes just a daily grind. Why not make it a goal to take back your life and have fun again?

As adults, we have come to view stress and struggle as a normal part of life. Most of us have forgotten how it is to have fun like children do. It is important to have fun even at work. There’s a very big chance that we will just quit at whatever we’re doing if we’re not having fun. Many people have resigned from high-paying jobs just because it wasn’t fun for them anymore.

Launch Challenge

Challenge yourself daily. Ask yourself: how can I make my day more fun?

There are many ways to make your life more fun again. If you’re stuck at home, try out these 10 things to do to have fun. Fancy yourself as a sporty or athletic type? Then try out these non-contact sports you can enjoy even during quarantine. Want to find out what your special powers are? (No, we don’t mean the type that the X-Men have.) Try unleashing the genius within you.

In taking up this challenge, a very important aspect to keep in mind is to maintain a childlike attitude at all times. Not childish, but childlike. Here are some tips on how to maintain a childlike outlook or attitude as you try to take back your life and have fun again.

Slow Down

Having more fun shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to beat a deadline. Allow yourself adequate time to enjoy living life and appreciating what it has to offer. All that rushing sucks the energy and fun out of the day.

Children know how to take their sweet time. Learn to prolong your time for enjoying things instead of prolonging your agony by worrying.

Be Unpredictable

Step out of your ordinary routine and out of your comfort zone and see what happens. Life can take interesting turns if you let it unfold on its own. Learn to loosen up on the reigns once a while and see where it takes you. We sometimes have a very tight grip on everything that we end up stressed about the smallest reasons.

Be like a kid and try to go with the flow sometimes. This way, you don’t close yourself off from receiving and experiencing many of the wonderful things that life has to offer.

Break the Rules

If you want to have fun, you need to learn to break some rules. Kids often hurt themselves trying to do things they think they can do. As adults we are better equipped to judge our own limits and capacities. However, this also makes us scared to try new things, especially if they don’t follow the norm.

Be like a kid sometimes and try to break the rules. If it doesn’t hurt, go for it and enjoy the moment.

You may want to play with kids once in a while to learn how they have fun. Don’t be surprised if you learn even more valuable tips or profound lessons from interacting with them. Maybe you can ask them how you can take back your life and have fun again. I’m sure you’ll get interesting answers.

Feature Image: Original Photo by Alex Alvarez on Unsplash.

Jul

2020

Non-Contact Sports You Can Enjoy at Home

Reading Time: 4 minutes

One of the benefits of being required to stay at home is that you can enjoy being with your family members daily. However, if you have kids who are physically active, it can be a struggle to think of fun activities to do while staying indoors. Especially if you or your family members are the sporty type, not being able to go outside or go to the gym can be frustrating.

You must have already tried a lot of online activities with your family members. If you want something that doesn’t require an Internet connection or a computer, then try these non-contact sports activities that you can enjoy at home. These can help keep you healthy and active while staying indoors. Bonus: all these activities make it easier to observe social distancing so you can play these in your backyard too. Not all of these can be officially considered as “sports”; but they are all fun and competitive activities to keep boredom out of your day.

Balloon Volleyball

Use a balloon and fans to play a game of volleyball. Instead of using your hands, each team uses fans to keep the balloon floating for a set amount of time or for as long as they can. To maintain social distancing, assign a particular area to be guarded by each team member so they don’t overlap with other team members during the game.

Blow Bubbles

Get yourself a set of bubble makers and let the kids and adults enjoy! Divide yourselves into 2 teams. Each team assigns one or two members to blow bubbles while the rest of the team tries to pop as many as they can in a set amount of time. The other team counts how many bubbles are popped by the playing team. The team who pops the most number of bubbles in the least amount of time wins. You can do 3 rounds or more and total the score for each team at the end of all the rounds. You can also assign areas for each member to maintain social distancing.

Charades

Create your own game by drawing different animals, gestures, etc. on index cards. Draw each card from a hat or box and act them out to see who can guess the most correctly. You can even make it a travel-themed charade where you try to guess different events from family travel pictures. No need for physical contact in this game at all. All you need is your imagination. This is definitely one of the non-contact sports that you can enjoy at home any time!

Dance Parties

Create a playlist of your family’s favorite dance tunes and dance away. Pick a theme for each day so you can try out different songs. You may also assign a different family member to pick the songs for each day. The winner can be picked by most votes at the end of the week.

Hide and Seek

This is one fun activity where social distancing is easy to observe. Make sure there’s a timer as to how long each seeker has to find those who are hiding. The seeker who finds out the most number of hiding spots, where each family member is hiding, in the least amount of time, wins.

Hula Hoop

This can be a contest between individuals or between teams. The team or person who can keep the hula hoop turning for the longest time is the winner. If you have more than one hula hoop, then both teams can play at the same time.

Jump Rope

Similar to the hula hoop game, this can be done individually or as a team. The team who lasts the longest or who has the most number of jumps while skipping, wins.

Name That Tune

Form a team and create a playlist of songs that you want the other team to guess the title of. You can change it up a bit by having the other team sing the chorus instead. They just need to make sure it’s the correct lyrics to get a point. Another variation is to guess the artist name or band name or the year it was first played. You and your family members can make up your own rules!

Statue Game

Assign a person as the “Curator”. The Curator stands at one end of the room or backyard while the rest of the members or “Statues” stand on the opposite area. The Curator turns their back and counts from 1 to 7 (or 10, you decide). Each time the Curator turns their back, the Statues are allowed to move to get closer to the Curator. Whenever the Curator stops counting and looks back, the Statues need to freeze in their positions.

If the Curator catches a Statue moving, he/she will be sent back to the starting point. Any one of the Statues can tag the Curator but they should not get caught by the Curator themselves. If they get caught, then they replace the Curator and the game starts again. For social distancing purposes, a fan or handkerchief can be used for tagging instead.

Trash Basketball

The best time to do this is after cleaning or decluttering your house. Select all the dry, paper waste (or cans or plastic bottles, etc. – just make sure they’re dry and clean) and divide it into 2 piles. Ideally, the piles should have the same amount of trash. Get trash cans and put them at the same distance away from the pile of trash. The objective of the game is to be able to shoot the most amount of trash in the trash cans within a set amount of time.

You can play these non-contact sports and enjoy them at home even if you’re not in the same house with the other players. Just take videos of each other and share it on a video conferencing platform to see who wins!

We’re sure you have other ideas that are not on this list. We would love to hear them! Don’t forget to maintain social distancing during the game, disinfect any game items you use and practice proper hand washing after playing. Let us all transform boredom into more productive and fun activities.

Featured Image: Original Image by Daniela Dimitrova from Pixabay.

Apr

2020

Smart Ways To Combat Boredom

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Having a daily routine is a good way to organize your activities. However, when you’ve grown tired of your daily routine, or when your activities are cancelled and you suddenly have nothing to do, boredom can strike. Taking a nap is one quick way to combat boredom but unless you truly need it, it isn’t the best way. You can play games of binge-watch TV shows but they are not that productive. We’re sure some ideas have already popped into your head but why not try some more uncommon ways to spend your free time? Try out these smart ways to combat boredom:

1. Redesign Your Life

Start redesigning your future life with a list. Sit down with some pen and paper and ask yourself these questions: “What do you want to become in the future? What areas of your life do you want to improve and how?” Write down a bucket list of all the things you want to improve in the different areas of your life.

2. Create a Vision Board

Once you have a bucket list of how you want your future life to be, get some old magazines, scissors, glue and cardboard. Sit down for a bit and write down a paragraph to summarize what your redesigned life is like. Take note of the important keywords and find the images that relate to those words in the magazines. Cut them out and arrange them accordingly on your cardboard. Your vision board should remind you of your future goals everyday so make sure to hang it where you will always see it.

3. Set Your Financial Goals

If you’ve been itching to tackle your financial situation, now is the time to do so. Focus on what your short term, medium term and long-term financial goals are and assess where you are now. From here, you can determine what you need to do to move towards your goals. Make sure that you are making S.M.A.R.T. goals so you can measure your progress.

4. Create Your Budget

So you might have your financial goals set but how about your daily, weekly, monthly spending? How do you allocate your money each time you get your paycheck? The answer to that is having a budget and while no one budget system is perfect for everyone, you can start with the Money Jar Budgeting System and tweak it according to your needs.

5. Plan Your Meals

A healthy body keeps you going so you can pursue your goals further. So what you eat is an important part of your success. If you’re going on a diet and even if you are not, planning your meals not only keeps you healthy but also keeps your budget on track. There are ways to get the most out of your meals while saving money on groceries. If you keep these in mind, your body and your wallet will surely thank you. Plus, you can ensure that you and your family get to enjoy all your favorite dishes too.

6. Organize Your Clothes

A messy closet can be a daily scene that seems normal when you are always in a rush to get out the door each morning. Now that you have the time, why not be productive and spend it organizing your wardrobe? You might find hidden gems that you can wear on your next party or items that you don’t want to keep but your friend would love to have. Make sure to check if you have the basic items and make a note of what you need to complete them. If you have a lot of items to let go of, then you can sell them for some extra cash.

7. Compose An Apology

Do you need to say sorry to a friend or family member but haven’t done so for whatever reason? Now is the time to compose your thoughts and learn to properly say you’re sorry. The important thing is to be sincere about it. It would be good to write down your thoughts first and practice saying your apology. When you think you’re ready, contact your friend or family member and ask them to listen to you as you state your apology. Hopefully, your sincerity should win them over and you can sleep with a lighter heart.

8. Hone A Skill

Got a hobby or childhood talent you’ve never had time to practice? Now that you’ve got the time, pick up that guitar, paint brush and canvas, or that manual and start training yourself again. Or you can learn a new skill. All the greats started where you are now and you may not be aiming to be a professional in that field but improving yourself in something you love to do can boost your confidence and help you perform better in other areas of your life.

9. Start a Gratitude Journal

Being grateful is life-changing so why not start being grateful right now? All you need is your favorite notebook and pen, or your mobile phone will also do. Review your day, week, month, and write down the things that you are thankful about. Don’t discriminate between the small things and the big things, they are all equally worthy of being grateful for. You can do this every day before you sleep so you can rest with good vibes around you.

10. Go On a Themed Staycation

This is especially fun to do with the whole family. Since you’re stuck at home, why not indulge in a themed staycation? It doesn’t cost much and it can be fun. It can be a game night, a musical where you are all actors and singers, movie night with kids movies, starting a garden, a home decluttering theme, or even making a game of finding things that you can get rid of in your home. While some things may sound like a chore, if a delicious home-cooked meal is a reward, it should bring a sense of fun into the activity.

These are just some of the things that you can do while you’re stuck at home, alone or with your family. What other things do you do to help ease boredom at home? We’d love to hear your suggestions.

Original Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.

Apr

2020

5 Family Staycation Ideas For a Tight Budget

Reading Time: 2 minutes

When we think of going on a vacation, the first thing on our mind is traveling to a destination. But what if you don’t have enough in your budget to travel far from home? Then a staycation is the answer! A staycation is a budget-friendly way to spend quality time with your loved ones. Here are 5 ideas on how you can enjoy a cheap family staycation:

1. Make it A Game Day

Ask everyone to bring their favorite games and everyone select which ones to play and the playing order. Depending on the game, this is a good way to exercise physically and challenge everyone mentally while having lots of fun. Make sure the games can be enjoyed by family members of all ages.

2. Enjoy a Movie or TV Marathon

Got a favorite movie series or TV show you’ve all wanted to rewatch? Or if you have a list of dramas or TV shows you haven’t watched, this is the time to indulge. Make yourself some popcorn and a cold drink or get food delivered and enjoy the shows. Got kids? Watch their favorite cartoon or anime series or their most favorite movies together.

3. Do a Cooking Marathon

Instead of doing a weekly meal prep, why not let the whole family help in cooking all your favorite recipes? Everyone gets to eat afterwards and you can even cook a big batch to be enjoyed throughout the week. You can also choose to try out new recipes based on a theme. For example, you can search for recipes of Japanese food items; lay down a mat and a low table and add chopsticks and fancy bowls to complete the Japanese theme for your meal.

4. Refresh a Room or the Entire House

Cleaning can be a therapeutic activity and gives everyone a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day too. Assign tasks or rooms to everyone for a general house cleaning or select a room in the house to redecorate or to rearrange furniture. You can also use the day to do small, DIY repairs around the house. Be sure to take breaks and reward the whole family with a delicious dinner which you can order from your favorite food place.

5. Start a Garden

Let everyone help with some gardening. Whether it be indoor gardening with these herbs, or outdoor gardening, family members of all ages can be assigned some task to help with the activity. Kids can pick up weeds or sweep the yard or count seeds and place them in pots.

Spend some time to teach kids what to do to help the plants grow better. A book with pictures that they can refer to repeatedly would be a great help. You won’t only be growing plants, you’ll be cultivating yours and your kid’s patience and interest for learning and doing and maybe develop a green thumb in the process.

These are just some quick ways to bond with the whole family while you’re all staying at home. The trick is to prepare for it like you would prepare for traveling so everyone in the family gets involved and they will feel the specialness of the staycation even more. Try these out next time you’re strapped for cash, don’t want to wander around the mall or just too tired to brave the daily traffic that travel entails.

Edited version. First published in Pinoy Smart Living 04.04.2019.
Feature Image: Original Photo by cottonbro from Pexels.