Family Life | Blog Category Archives | Meraki Lane

8 Time Out Alternatives for Kids | If you're looking for positive discipline ideas that don't involve time outs, this post is a great resource. While time outs are a great behavior management strategy for toddlers, removing a child from the situation can actually take away important learning opportunities, particularly when it comes to teaching kids self-control. Time outs can also cause power struggles. These positive parenting alternatives are a great idea for at home and at school.

Discipline and Young Children: 8 Time Out Alternatives That Work

14 Simple and Easy Melted Crayon Crafts for Kids | They say that broken crayons still color, and this post is proof! We've curated the best melted crayon art projects for kids of all ages - for toddlers, kids in preschool and kindergarten, elementary school and beyond. Learn how to melt crayons in the microwave, oven, or on the stovetop, and give some of these arts and crafts a try! From sun catchers, to candles, to ornaments, to jewelry, these ideas are colorful and oh so beautiful!

14 Easy and Creative Melted Crayon Crafts Your Kids Will Love

10 Dyslexia Strategies for Kids | Perfect for parents and teachers of children who are struggling readers with learning disabilities like dyslexia, these tips and ideas will inspire you to find new and creative ways to help make reading, writing, spelling, and math a little easier. We're included a list of signs and symptoms of dyslexia for all ages from preschool and kindergarten, to first grade, to middle school, and even teenagers. Use these learning strategies in the classroom and at home!

Helping Children Read: 10 Dyslexia Strategies for Kids

9 Water Bead Activities for Kids of All Ages | Orbeez have become a popular sensory activity for toddlers and kids in preschool and kindergarten, but they can be just as fun and beneficial for older kids as well! This post has lots of fun things to do with orbeez, from sensory bins, to making sensory bottles, to fun science experiments, to creating your very own DIY foot spa and more! Many of these ideas double as fine motor activities, and they are easy to setup and oh so fun!

9 Hands-On Water Bead Activities for Kids of All Ages

40 Meaningful Matching Tattoo Ideas | If you're looking for tattoo inspiration, and want to get inked with someone you love, this post has lots of designs to help! Whether you're looking for matching tattoos for best friends, couples, sisters, or mother daughter / mother son options, we're curated a range of ideas from small and simple, to cute and funny, to creative and unique. Whether you want a tiny minimalist wrist tattoo, or something big and bold, there's something here for you!

Get Inked! 40 Meaningful Matching Tattoo Ideas to Inspire You

17 Beading Crafts for Kids | Beading is a great way to improve fine motor skills in kids, and can also improve dexterity and strengthen hand muscles. Also? It's fun! You'll be amazed at what you can make with a pipe cleaner and a seat of perler beads, and there are tons of DIY beaded jewelry crafts you can do with kids of all ages. If you have wooden, plastic, or glass beads on hand, this collection of bead crafts and jewelry making ideas will not disappoint!

17 Fun & Creative Beading Crafts for Kids Of All Ages

14 Easy Homemade Fidget Toys Kids Can Make | If your kids are fidget toy obsessed and you want to know how to make your own fidget toys at home, this post has tons of DIY for kids ideas! Perfect for school and while doing homework, these DIY fidgets are easy to make using items you probably already have at home. Fidgets improve self-regulation while also improving focus, concentration, and active listening. Give these projects a try!

14 Easy Homemade Fidget Toys to Make with Your Kids

59 Easy Tween Hairstyles for All Hair Lengths | If you're looking for cute and stylish hairstyles for girls in their tween and teen years, this post has so many ideas to choose from. Whether you have short hair, medium length hair, or long hair, these hair tutorials include classic looks with a trendy twist, with lots of TikTok hairstyles you'll love. From half up braids and double top knots, to messy buns and side braids, to dutch braids and bubble braids, these looks are so stylish!

59 Simple & Trendy Tween Hairstyles for All Hair Lengths

9 Teen Stress Management Tips | Parenting teens isn't for the faint of heart. Whether you have teenage daughters or teenage boys, it can often feel like an emotional rollercoaster. You just don't know what to expect from one minute to the next! If you're on the hunt for positive parenting tips to help you help your teenage girl or boy navigate stress while still maintaining a positive parent-child relationship, this post has lots of great tips and ideas to help!

Teen Stress Management: 9 Calming Tips & Strategies for Parents

17 Air Dry Clay Projects For Kids | Whether you're looking for easy craft ideas you can enjoy with your kids, or specifically looking for simple DIY art projects that double as homemade gifts kids can make, air dry clay is a great option. You don't have to bake anything, and kids can paint them when they are dry with tempura, acrylic, and/or water color paints. Whether you buy Crayola clay or make your own baking soda clay, this post has tons of projects and ideas to inspire you!

17 Simple and Easy Air Dry Clay Projects Your Kids Will Love

17 Snow Globe Crafts for Kids | You don't have to celebrate Christmas to enjoy these winter-themed snow globe activities! If you're looking for easy DIY crafts you can enjoy at home or in the classroom with your kids and/or students, this is a great post to bookmark. We're teaching you how to make snow globes with items you already have on hand like mason jars and water bottles, and we've curated tons of art projects to try, including adorable photo snow globes you can give as gifts!

Winter Wonderland: 17 Fun and Creative Snow Globe Crafts for Kids

27 Road Trip Activities for Kids | Long car rides can be difficult at the best of times and when you add kids into the mix, it can be downright miserable if you don't have fun games and activities to keep them entertained. The iPad only goes so far, am I right?! Whether you're in a car or an RV, these car ride activities for kids are simple, easy, fun, and compact. We've included a mix of family friendly options you can enjoy together and independent travel activities for kids to keep you sane!

Are We There Yet? 27 Fun Road Trip Activities for Kids and Teens

21 Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Kids to Make | Whether you're looking for easy Christmas crafts to get your kids in the holiday spirit, or in need of DIY Christmas gifts kids can make for their Grandparents, this post has lots of ideas to inspire you! From simple salt dough handprint and footprint ornaments you can make with toddlers, to more complex crafts for older kids like pop can snowmen, clothespin snowflakes, and yarn wrapped trees, these ornaments will look beautiful on your tree!

Holiday Crafting: 21 Homemade Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make

11 Car Games for Kids the Whole Family Will Love | Whether you're embarking on a long road trip, driving car pool, or running errands with your kids, there are tons of easy to setup and super fun car games you can play together to help beat boredom and pass the time. Perfect for kids of all ages - even for tweens and for teenagers! - this post has lots of ideas to inspire you. From cheap store bought games to fun DIY travel activities, this list will not disappoint!

11 Fun and Easy Car Games for Kids the Whole Family Will Love

8 Easy-to-Learn Popular TikTok Dances for Beginners | If you want to learn how to do all of the TikTok dances you see in your feed as you scroll through TikTok and Instagram, this post is for you! We've compiled the best fun (and clean) tutorials to start with, which you can do alone, with your kids, with your boyfriend or girlfriend, and even as a family. These videos are easy, and we've included a couple of duet challenges at the end that are really fun!

8 Easy-to-Learn Popular TikTok Dances for Beginners

9 Simple No Carve Pumpkin Decorating Ideas for Kids | If you're looking for pumpkin carving alternatives to enjoy with your little ones, this post has lots of easy, no mess ideas that are creative, classy, and (most importantly) cheap! Perfect for a classroom Halloween party, as an after school activity, or for a Halloween-themed birthday party activity, these DIY pumpkin decorating ideas are also great if you're trying to create a no carve pumpkin decorating contest for kids!

9 Ridiculously Simple and Stylish No Carve Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

9 Immune Boosting Tips for Kids | If you're looking for natural immune boosters for kids, this post has lots of great ideas to help. While many moms use vitamins and essential oils, we're focusing on lifestyle changes and the best all natural food options to add to your grocery list so you can create healthy meals and immune boosting smoothie, juice, tea, and soup recipes your toddler, child, tween, and/or teen will love!

9 Immune Boosting Tips for Kids to Keep Your Little Ones Healthy

42 Halloween Party Ideas for Kids | Whether you're organizing a classroom Halloween party, throwing a themed outdoor backyard bash for the neighborhood kids, organizing a garage party for teens, or hosting a simple party for the family, this post has tons of fun and easy DIY ideas to make it a celebration to remember. From decorations, to food, to games and activities, we've curated the best simple and budget-friendly tips and we're sharing virtual Halloween party ideas to boot!

42 Spooktacular Halloween Party Ideas for Kids Of All Ages

20 Puffy Paint Crafts for Kids | If you're looking for easy art projects for kids, this post is full of ideas! We've included DIY recipes to teach you how to make puffy paint at home, and tons of crafts and activities for all ages and stages - even for teens! While we used puffy paint to decorate shirts when we were kids, there are so many other fun activities you can try. From sidewalk chalk, to framed canvases, to fabric bags, to window clings and more, these ideas are so fun!

Puffy Paint Crafts: 20 Recipes and Projects for Kids

30 Simple and Easy Wheat Free Meals | If you're looking for family-friendly gluten and wheat free meals, this post is for you! We've included recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as delicious wheat free desserts you'll wish you tried sooner. Many of the recipes are also dairy and sugar free, and since you can meal prep many of these ahead of time, they make the perfect weeknight dinners as they can be reheated in a pinch!

30 Simple and Easy Wheat Free Meals the Whole Family Will Love

27 Halloween STEAM Projects For Kids | Science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math, oh my! If you have children and/or students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, and/or middle school and you're looking for Halloween activities with an educational twist, this post is for you! We've curated tons of fun and easy to set-up STEAM projects for all ages to get your little ones in the holiday spirit. Use these to create Halloween lesson plans, or at home on bad weather days!

27 Spooky and Fun Halloween STEAM Projects For All Ages