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Some of the best ideas and recommendations that inspired our family activities were received from other moms who tried them before us. This is why I decided to start a monthly series on my blog to share with you some of our favorite finds from every month.
I hope that our ideas offer you some great inspiration for planning activities with your kids, trying new toys, discovering new family experiences!
Our favorite finds in July
This month’s list includes a book and two board games that are great for young kids.
1. A board game with a learning twist
We are big fans of board games, and we often play at least one game in the evenings, after dinner. This month’s we were lucky to discover two games that we really liked and I’m glad to share them with you.
To be honest, I didn’t expect this first game to be such a huge success with our son!
We got it as part of the STEM Club Toy Subscription for 5-7 year olds that we receive every two months. At first, I thought the game wouldn’t be of real interest for my son. But he loved it from the start and wanted us to play it over and over again.
The game is called Sum Swamp, and it’s the perfect game for encouraging young kids to develop their math skills in a playful way!
It is geared towards kids ages 5-7, and it helps little ones practice easy sums, substractions, and the concept of odd or even numbers.
Even if the game is very simplistic for adults, it isn’t boring, and I really loved seeing my son getting better at math with every game we played!
2. A book that teaches kids to make good choices
I bought the book “What Should Danny Do? School Day” because I heard great feedback about it and the story seemed great for preparing my son for the situations he might face at school. And I’m very happy that I did!
Not only that the book gave us the chance to have more conversations about good and bad choices, but we totally loved it!
The book talks about different situations Danny (the main character) faces at school. After the situation is presented, the reader has the power to choose between two possible reactions. Depending on the choices, the reader makes the story continues in a different way and comes to one of the 8 possible endings.
The fact that the kids have the chance to choose what Danny should do in a particular situation helps them understand better the consequences of their choices. The book is great for building social skills and teaching kids how to be kind to others, stand up for their friends, and keep trying even when things get hard.
You can get all the details about the book here.
3. A board game the whole family loves
The second game we loved this month is called “Ticket to Ride: First Journey“, a game that in a very short time became our family’s favorite! It’s fun for all of us, and we played it lots of times in the last month!
This version of the game is the simplified version of the award-winning “Ticket to Ride” board game, and it’s great for young kids. The recommended age for the game is 6 years+ (my son is 5 and a half, and he easily understood the rules so you can try it for 5-years-old as well).
If you are looking for a fun and interesting game for family game nights, I recommend you to check out this one! I’m pretty sure you and your kids will love it! (you can find it here)
Highlights of the month for us
I will use this monthly series as an opportunity to write down the highlights of the month for our family. It’s a nice way to keep an online family journal and share our experiences with you as well!
– We went to the first playdate at B.’s school to meet his future colleagues. It was an emotional moment for me, but I was very glad that he made a few friends and had a great time!
– The arrival of the new baby is getting closer, so we created a countdown to baby calendar to make the waiting more fun.
– B. went racing for the first time on an indoor circuit. He waited more than a year to get over the 48″ limit and be able to drive the karts, so he was very excited to try this experience!
– B. will go to school for the first time in the middle of August, so I created a countdown to kindergarten with nice activities to help B. get ready for the first day of school.
– B. took his first test at school, and he did great! I was very proud of him because this was a completely new experience for us!
– Some time ago, we created a special summer bucket list and started planning nice experiences to enjoy together. Here are the things we did in July from the list:
- Eat at a themed restaurant.
- Have a board game marathon outside the house.
- Go to an amusement park. We spent one afternoon at California Great America and enjoyed the family rides!
⭐ Related: Our special bucket list for a summer of joy and connection
August has just started, and I can’t wait to enjoy the last summer month! I wish you a wonderful month, with many happy family moments!
More inspiration for family fun
⭐ 17 awesome family staycation ideas that will make kids happy
⭐ 19 wonderful dad-child date ideas that every father should try {+ printable date cards}
>> Want to remember this? Save these ideas to your favorite Pinterest board!