Got a Bunch of Boxes?!

I don't usually complain about the weather...too much... But some days it is just TOO cold! So cold you don't feel like leaving the warm house. But when you work as a nanny, it can be tough to entertain a little one all day in the house. Sure, we color, paint, watch some tv, etc. That gets pretty old after a while. Today we decided to get a little creative. We didn't want to leave the house to go buy anything, so we worked with what we had. That happened to be lots of boxes.  Dad had invested in three space heaters for the next few frigid days!

We got to work with the boxes. The family recently got two kittens so we decided to build them some little houses!

Add some electric green duct tape and you got a prettty sweet kitty castle!

Kiddo desperatly wants a puppy so the next creation was a puppy house. I don't think kitty got the memo.

This killed about 2 hours and I think I might have had more fun than the kiddo... Overall I think the kitties had the most fun!

I don't know about you but as a kid I was always thrilled when my parents got a new appliance or something that came in a big box! We built space ships, cars, castles, the possibilities were endless!! 

What is the best thing you built out of a box??

Treasure Hunt

With all this cold weather and school cancellations lately, I am trying to come up with some fun indoor activities with the kiddos! At -10 degrees, snowball fights and sled riding are not the best choices. I don't want to be the nanny that had a kid lose a toe due to frostbite!

Anywho... I decided to set up a little treasure hunt. I wrote out about 10 clues and hid them around the house.

Just be sure to make a little cheat sheet so you know where all the clues go after you write them. Notice I numbered each card to be sure the hunt would be successful! 

Coming up with hiding places is fun. In the freezer...

In the oven...

Next to all the bunny crackers in the snack cupboard...

Also, I make one clue down in the basement, then one up stairs, back down, up two flights of stairs...Gotta make the kid work for it!

Then put the treasure in the last spot. Nothing too fancy, but I know kiddo will be excited.

Then I ever so casually tell the kiddo I found a clue with his name on it. We are both baffled?! I suggest we follow the clue. He quickly agrees!

"There is a clue with the ice cream!!"

He is looking so hard!! This one took him a little while to find. 

We were getting a workout running around the house. He got more excited with each clue he found. The whole time he kept asking who could have done this?!? Elves?? Minions?? Daddy?? A spy?? All good guesses kiddo!

A wet clue in the bath tub. 

Ha, love this picture! He is really searching hard for that treasure.

Yaaay! And then the treasure is devoured! While watching some Curious George of course :)

Kid legit has NO idea who did it all! Happy hunting :)