Family Life | Blog Category Archives | Meraki Lane

How to Keep Kids Motivated with Virtual Learning | If you want to know how to motivate kids during distance learning, we've got 9 ideas to help! Online learning isn't just a struggle for kids - it's hard for parents too as it's very hands-on and requires a lot of patience and creativity to keep kids engaged and learning. It can be even harder for kids who already struggle to focus and concentrate, and downright impossible for kids with autism and ADHD. I hope these tips help!

How to Keep Kids Motivated with Virtual Learning: 9 Tips to Help

22 Teacher Appreciation Gifts Kids Can Make | If you're looking for inexpensive yet meaningful gifts from students for teachers and for staff to show how much you appreciate their time, effort, and dedication, homemade DIY crafts are always a good idea. Whether your child attends school in person or takes virtual classes, these simple and easy art projects are creative, unique, and thoughtful. You can drop them off for admin staff to hand out, and we've included ideas you can give virtually!

Homemade with Love: 22 Teacher Appreciation Gifts Kids Can Make

21 Christmas Cards For Kids to Make | If you're looking for easy DIY Christmas gifts kids can make, homemade Christmas cards are always a great option. They offer a simple and easy way to add meaning to someone's holiday, and if you have crafting supplies on hand, they are a cheap and inexpensive gift idea too! Whether you're looking for ideas for parents that kids can make with their classroom while at school, or you want to make these at home for teachers, these ideas won't disappoint!

21 Meaningful Homemade Christmas Cards For Kids to Make

50 Stocking Stuffers for Women | If you're looking for the best gifts for women this Christmas that are both cheap and small enough to fit inside a stocking, you're in luck! Whether you're shopping for your sister, mom, girlfriend, or wife, we've curated tons of ideas to inspire you. Some are practical and useful, some are cute and fun, some are unique and meaningful, and many of them are inexpensive (under $5 and under $10!) and can be purchased on Amazon or at your local Dollar Tree.

Stocking Stuffers for Women: 50 Gifts She Really Wants This Chrismtas

24 Hanukkah Crafts For Kids | Whether you're looking for Hanukkah themed art projects for the classroom, or crafts and activities you can enjoy at home with your kids to mark the holiday, this post has tons of ideas to inspire you. Learn how to make a dreidel out of clay, paper plate menorahs, a sparkling Star of David, Hanukkah slime, Hanukkah pipe cleaner candles, and more! Oh, and don't miss the marshmallow dreidel recipe - it's delicious!

Eight Nights of Fun: 24 Easy Hanukkah Crafts For Kids

50+ Stocking Stuffers for Men | If you're looking for the best gifts for guys this Christmas that are both cheap and compact enough to fit inside a stocking, you're in luck! Whether you're shopping for your brother, dad, boyfriend, or husband, we've curated tons of ideas to inspire you. Some are practical and useful, some are funny, some are perfect for dads, and many of them are inexpensive and can be purchased on Amazon or at your local Dollar Tree.

Stocking Stuffers for Men: 50+ Meaningful Gifts He Actually Wants

54 Hanukkah Recipes The Whole Family Will Love | Whether you spell it Hannukah or Channukah, this collection of traditional Hanukkah / Channukah recipes is for you! With tons of traditional Jewish food items, including healthy upgrades to support your clean eating and weight loss goals, low carb keto recipes, and vegan and vegetarian options, you can make ahead many of these recipes. We've also included lots of delicious dessert recipes for kids! Happy Holidays!

Traditional and Tasty: 54 Hanukkah Recipes The Whole Family Will Love

90 Stocking Stuffers for Tweens | Looking for the best gifts for tween girls and tween boys that will fit in a stocking? Tweens can be difficult to buy for, but we've got tons of girls ideas and boys ideas that are cheap but good to help make Christmas morning extra special. We've also included holiday online shopping links so you can purchase everything from the comfort of your own home. With tons of creative and unique presents to choose from, these non-toy gift ideas won't disappoint!

90 Stocking Stuffers for Tweens and Teens Your Kids Will Actually Like

8 Unschooling Tips for Parents | What is unschooling anyway?! Is it the same as homeschool? If you've seen the word floating around lately and want to know more about the concept, this post is for you! We're sharing everything you need to know about child-led education, including the benefits of unschooling, unschooling activities, and unschooling schedule ideas. Whether your kids are in kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school, these tips are great for parents!

What Is Child-Led Education? 8 Unschooling Tips for Parents

How To Be a Present Mom | Whether you're a mom to toddlers, school-aged kids, or to tweens or teenagers, it can be hard finding a balance between parenting, your career, and managing a home. If you want to know how to be a better mom, these present parenting tips will inspire you! These positive parenting solutions take time and discipline, but they will teach you how to be a patient parent, allowing you to connect with your kids and give them the attention they need and deserve.

How To Be a Present Mom: 10 Present Parenting Tips and Ideas

10 Morning Routine Tips For Online Learning | Whether you have kids in kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school, having a solid morning routine is key to starting the day off right - especially when it comes to distance learning. While you may have a great home setup, it will fall apart if you don't have a proper schedule in place. Click for our best morning online learning schedule tips and hacks to help keep your kids motivated and accountable this school year!

Distance Learning 101: 10 Morning Routine Tips For Online Learning

11 Family Virtual Christmas Celebration Ideas | If you're looking for online party ideas to help you celebrate the holidays with family and friends when you can't get together in person, this post is a great place to start! We've included a list of planning tips to consider if you want to know how to throw a virtual party for the first time, tons of fun online games to play with friends and family that are suitable for kids, as well as creative ways to exchange gifts with the ones you love.

Online Celebrations: 11 Family Virtual Christmas Celebration Ideas

44 Easy and Delicious Dairy Free Recipes for Kids | If you're little one has a dairy sensitivity or allergy and you're looking for dairy free snacks and meals the whole family will enjoy, we've got you covered! From breakfasts, to packable lunches, to family-friendly dinners and desserts, many of these recipes are egg- and gluten-free as well. The dairy free snack and dessert options double as great party food ideas for food sensitive kids, and provide bento box lunch options too!

Milk Allergies? 44 Easy and Delicious Dairy Free Recipes for Kids

9 Virtual Classroom Party Ideas for Kids | From Halloween, to Christmas, to birthday parties, to graduation, to end of year class parties, there are lots of opportunities to celebrate as a class during the school year. If you're looking for fun ideas to make holidays and celebrations special for students while teaching online, this post has tons of ideas for kids of all ages - even for teens! From how to host a virtual party to our favorite Zoom games, these ideas compliment distance learning!

9 Easy and Fun Virtual Classroom Party Ideas Your Students Will Love

11 Typing Games and Apps for Kids | If you're looking for ways to make keyboard practice fun for your kids, this post is for you! Perfect for elementary school and for middle school, we've curated tons of free and paid ideas for students that can be used in the classroom and at home. Whether your child is a complete beginner, or you're looking for tips to increase his or her typing speed, these typing activities will help your kids learn to type the fun way!

Learning to Type: 11 Super Fun Typing Games for Kids

10 Virtual Halloween Games and Activities for Kids | Whether you're hosting a virtual Halloween party for your kids and their BFFs, or you're organizing a virtual classroom party for your students, we've got lots of great party ideas to help make it extra special. While traditional costume parades and trick-or-treating may not be possible (thank goodness for Halloween costumes with masks!), these interactive virtual party games for kids are easy, fun, and perfect for Zoom and FaceTime!

Halloween at Home: 10 Virtual Halloween Games and Activities for Kids

21 Sleepover Activities for Kids | Slumber parties are the best when you're a kid! If your child is having one or several friends spend the night - or having a sleepover with their favorite cousin or other family members - we've curated tons of easy and fun things to do for girls and for boys. Whether you're celebrating a birthday, or just trying to make your little girl's next sleepover extra special, these ideas are awesome. We've even included virtual sleepover activities to inspire you!

Slumber Party on a Budget! 21 Fun and Easy Sleepover Activities for Kids

Yoga for Kids | Whether you're looking for yoga poses you can do in the classroom, or kids yoga videos you can stream from home, we're sharing 12 kids yoga poses and videos designed to help little ones stretch and strengthen their bodies, while also allowing them to calm down, relax, focus, and concentrate. You can do these in the garden or at the beach in the summer, as part of your morning and/or bedtime routine to promote sleep, and they make great brain breaks for virtual learning too!

Yoga for Kids: 12 Poses and Videos to Help Kids Calm Down

9 Dry Ice Experiments for Kids | If you're looking for cool science experiments and projects you can do with your children and students at home or in the classroom, these dry ice activities are easy to setup, and oh so cool! From how to make dry ice bubbles to simple and fun dry ice rockets, these activities make great party ideas for the Mad Scientists in your life! We've also included a few Halloween activities, which offer the perfect way to get kids excited about chemistry!

Educational and Fun: 9 Dry Ice Experiments To Do with Kids

14 Ice Breaker Games for Kids | If you're looking for fun getting to know you activities for kids to do with your students on the first day of school, we've got tons of ideas that are easy to setup and perfect for kids in kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school. Whether your school is opting for in-person instruction, virtual online learning, or a combo of the 2, these group games make the perfect team building activities for youth groups and group therapy sessions too!

Getting to Know You: 14 Ice Breaker Games for Kids

How to Make Tie Dye Shirts with Kids | If your little ones are obsessed with all things tie dye like my daughter, and you're looking for easy DIY tips, tutorials, and videos to teach you how to make your own tie dyed tees at home, we've curated tons of ideas you can try using ingredients you probably already have on hand. Learn how to tie dye with food coloring, with bleach, with Kool Aid, with sharpies and more with this collection of tie dye techniques!

How to Make Tie Dye Shirts: 8 Patterns & Tutorials to Try with Kids