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After reading this post from the brilliant Forever Mommy from Planet Mommy it occurred to me that each of us mums have cottoned onto some gems in raising our kids--whether it be things that work for teaching hearing impaired kids vocabulary, helping foster attachment in kids with attachment disorder or just plain "raising them the way you want them to go."

Want to share some of your stellar parenting ideas? Come on and jump in! I'll start:

1) Pie Shop. Set up your living room as a pie shop. Cooking area at the back, cash register and counter at the front. You don't need great props. Just grab a dining chair for the counter and a bench or table for the cooking area. I make picture cards for four different kinds of pie and add sign language. You could write them down if you have readers or print out pictures from the Internet.

Divide up your kids into customers, cashier and cooks. After one turn everyone rotates. Mum and Dad should be the first customers. Drive up to the shop erratically. Order 15 pies. Eat them all there. Roll on the ground groaning. Mix it up. Have stuffed animals come by for pie. Have the animals fight over who is next in line. Have fun!

2) It's a hurricane. We all love this game so much. Everyone in the family sits on the couch. Daddy announces that the radio says a hurricane is coming. Quick! Grab your stuff, we've got to drive north. Grab stuffed animals, blankets, funny things. We have a papasan chair we all pile into. Daddy drives. Some of the animals are on the hood. Of course, there is lots of turns, twist, everyone trying to stay in the car. We stop suddenly and we're at our "cabin." Everyone piles out...and then gets to spread their blankets and camp on the floor that night. The next morning drive back home. This is perfect for a Friday night.



3) White Water Rafting. Our girls will beg for this game. Place a crib mattress on the floor. Don't have one....improvise. Everyone piles on including stuffed animals. It should be crowded. Mum holds onto kids. Daddy starts the raft down the river. First it's calm then oh no! Rapids. Daddy jerks the mattress all different ways while Mummy tries to keep the kids from falling in the water. All children are saved if they fall off. Stuffed animals occasionally don't make it. Repeat calm to sudden rapids until everyone is laughing so hard they cannot breathe.

Okay, your turn. Share the good stuff!