Kiddipedia
Every year when Father’s Day rolls around, you know countless dads across the country are receiving a brand-new pair of socks!
While it’s true, he probably does need a new pair, the real magic in Father’s Day lies in the memories and time spent with dad.
Here are some out of the sock-draw ideas for activities you can do with dad this Father’s Day, whether he’s a fan of sport or a food-lover – they’re all free and can be done at home.
Creative dad
Dave Blumenthal, author of the new ‘dad joke’ cartoon book, The Cartoon Chronicles of Sandwich Bag Dad, says a fun activity for Father’s Day, which also creates a great keepsake, is for dad and the kids to draw each other, cartoon style.
“It’s a fun activity and it doesn’t really matter what the end result is – the process itself is a great bonding activity and usually elicits a few chuckles,” says Dave.
Dave’s 4 tips for those new to cartoon drawing are:
- In the case of a cartoon portrait, the first step is to simplify a person’s main physical features as a starting point – do they have a round or thin head? Delicate or stronger features? Any obvious defining attributes (a beard, frizzy hair). Use those details to sketch out the basic structure
- Next, pick some features and start to build them into the picture. I like to draw eyes first as they are a focal point for the face and help define a particular expressions.
- Try to blend some humour into the process. Cartoon portraits often work best when you purposely exaggerate certain features. If your subject has a high cheekbones, try to elongate those for maximum effect. Bushy eyebrows? Make them as crazy as possible. It’s all about adding a certain level of craziness to differentiate your work from a normal portrait
- Lastly, and most importantly, just relax and have fun. There are no right or wrongs when it comes to cartooning. Things like the laws of gravity and normality don’t have to apply in the cartoon world, so make the most of it and just let your pen/pencil do it’s thing!
- Look to other cartoon artists for inspiration!
Foodie dad
Get into the kitchen with dad this Father’s Day and try something new (and foolproof!).
Author and Dadfluencer George Georgievski from @SchoolLunchbox shares a recipe that all kids and dads are bound to love – and chances are you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry.
Hot Nutella Doughnut Muffins in a Cone
Taken from his second book “Air-Fryer Express”, which is available at all good bookstores, K-Mart, Target, Big-W, here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
Some maple syrup
1 cup of milk
Icing sugar
Nutella
6 flat bottom cones
Directions
With a shaker or well-sealed container put melted butter, milk, flour, egg and maple syrup into the vessel and shake thoroughly.
Fill your ice cream cones ¾ full and place in your air fryer or into a normal oven at 180 degrees for 20 mins. Use a medicine syringe to fill the cones with Nutella and dust with icing sugar!
Follow the video recipe here.
Fit dad
There’s nothing like a bit of physical activity to get the happy endorphins pumping this Father’s Day.
Sam Merza, the National Fitness manager at Genesis Health + Fitness, says forming a love of exercise early can help maintain your kids’ health for a lifetime
emember, ‘play’ is the purest form of physical exercise, it doesn’t have to be structured or planned especially when with your kids. Let the game evolve and change from the start and just enjoy the smiling faces on your little ones, which tells you they will want to do it again.
“One of the simplest things you can do with kids is play the Mirror Game – where you complete a move – a push-up, a burpee, a squat – and they mimic you.
“Another great one is Hot Lava – which can be done outdoors if you have a backyard or inside the house – you pretend the ground/grass is hot lava, and various items you lay out – towels, picnic rugs, cushions, select furniture – are the ‘safe zones’. You can change up the placement of the safe zones to gradually make it more difficult.”
Sporty/Adventure dad
Bring the adventure inside by creating a home obstacle course!
Ninja Parc National Programs Manager Mitch Bird says it’s easy to create a fun course at home using regular household items.
“Let the kids come up with their own twists and turns for the obstacle course to make it their own. It gets their brain working which is part of the fun. You can introduce a clock and time how long it takes to complete the obstacle course just like a real Ninja Warrior contestant,” says Bird.
Here are a few obstacles you can create:
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CYCLONE SPINNER
Do you have a swivel office chair at home? The contestant can sit down and wrap their legs around the back of the chair – then a friend can help spin the chair from one side of the room to the other while they hold on. To make it harder, go straight to Shrinking Steps!
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SHRINKING STEPS
Cut about 10 steps out of felt or paper and tape them to the floor in a row, making sure the steps get smaller and further apart towards the end. You can complete this obstacle by jumping with both feet or just one to each step.
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BASKET TOSS
Do you have a trampoline at home? Each contestant is to bounce on the trampoline while attempting to shoot a basketball into a ‘hoop’ on the other side of the trampoline (try using a bin or basket if you don’t have a basketball hoop.)
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SPIDER JUMP
Set up different furniture in a row about a metre apart (avoid furniture with sharp corners!). Try sturdy chairs, pouffs, side tables and anything else that will hold your weight and won’t get ruined! Contestants need to scale each item, moving quickly from one to another without stopping or touching the ground.
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SNAKE RUN
Try using pillows to set out a course in the shape of an S. Contestants need to jump from one to the other. Increase the difficulty by setting the pillows further apart.
With lockdowns highlighting what really matters – take this Father’s Day as a reminder to treat every day as a chance to connect creatively with your loved ones!
