Grow a plant

Start with something small and easy to grow, like monggo. Let your kids tend it and watch them take pride as it grows right before their very eyes.

Visit your hometown

If you can make a short out-of-town trip, visit grandma and grandpa’s hometown. Give kids the chance to experience things they can’t do in the city, e.g. climb trees and dig in the dirt (just be sure to clean up afterwards!).

Encourage your child’s interest in music, writing, or art

Kids nowadays usually have a good idea of what interests them. Since lots of affordable lessons are abound, encourage you kids’ hobby by enrolling them at their lesson of choice.

Read and Explore

Find quality books and spend afternoons reading to them. It will broaden their imagination and creativity. You’ll be surprised how responsive kids can be to listening to stories.

Create Bonding Moments

Play patintero or hide and seek with the kids, or simply engage them in a game of habulan. Or try lying on a blanket one afternoon and share with each other the hidden images you find in the drifting clouds.

Encourage the writing of thank you letters.

For sure, your child will be receiving gifts this holiday season. The very next day, before he or she forgets the excitement over the gift, sit your child down and have him write short thank-you notes. Tell him how happy his card will make the person who gave his present.

Walk the talk.

Use the words “Thank you” and “You’re welcome” often. Speak respectfully to others and before long, your little ones will be emulating you. As they say, if a parent does it to a child at home, then he carries this to school where the child infects his friends.

Saying grace before eating.

“Thank you Lord for the food we eat… the people who prepared it for everything.” Letting your child lead the prayers at the table teaches the child the value of gratitude and dependence on the Almighty.

Blanket for Bonding

Enhance your child’s imagination with this fun activity: lay on a blanket one afternoon and share with each other the hidden images you find in the drifting clouds. It’s surely something for your family to engage in to create simple yet unforgettable bonding moments.

Keeping Flowers Fresh

Don’t crowd the flowers in one vase and change the water everyday. Place flowers in cool places and make sure that the ends of the stems do not reach the bottom of the container

Hold a Garage Sale

One women’s trash is another lady’s treasure. Why not take stock of everything you own and get rid of some items you have no good use for? Set up a garage sale in your house or gather together a few neighbors, friends, and relatives and hold a community tiangge in your area during the weekend.

Family Organizer

Instead of a personal organizer, why don’t you share your to-do list, homemaking tips and calendar of activities with the whole family through a family organizer. According to Cynthia Townley Ewer, editor of Organized Home, this multipurpose planner will save time, reduce stress, and open communication lines among family members.

Make a To-Do List

Start the tradition of jotting down at least three things you wish to accomplish. Keeping a to-do list gives you proper perspectives of your goals and the things that give you joy. An added bonus: ten or twenty years down the lane, your to-do list will help you remember the specific things you did on a specific time.

Rediscover family and friends

Re-connect with people you’ve lost touch with. Swap stories and share photos from your childhood. Impart what you have learned in your journey through life and let them chare with you what they, too, have learned in theirs.

Keep yourself busy

Learning is a lifelong process. So continue to explore – read, keep yourself updated with the latest in technology, or learn a new hobby. Never let your brain be idle.

Join a community

Find people who nurture similar beliefs, values, and outlook in life. Be active in charity work or church service. Join an interest-based group, such as a movie or book clubs or dancing communities.

Tip for the fashionista

Strive to dress a little differently on your next day to work. Do this by recycling mom’s or even lola’s old clothes, bags, and accessories. Depending on the look that you want to achieve, you can go for vintage, trendy, classy, or chic. Experiment with good finds and modern pieces to come up with your own unique style.

Scrapbook your milestones

Your first birthday, your graduation a promotion at work, a memorable outing. Reminisce the happy times you had in the photo – write to your favorite aunt or make a card of appreciation to someone who helped you in your career. Text a friend from grade school! A rainy day is one of the best days to reconnect.

Chill and relax

Read something useful – a self help book, how to manage your finances, how to start a small business, etc. Do this as you sip your NESCAFÉ or enjoy your MILO FUZE. Dream about a trip abroad and read up on a travel guide to that country. Then plan on ways to earn the money to afford that trip. You’ll be surprised at how creative you can be at fund-raising!

Clean out your ref

Before buying food, clean out your ref first. Do this regularly so you get the most health benefits (and savings) from the food. Don’t stock up more than you have so that you enjoy your food at its freshest.

Think small and big

If you have budgeted an amount that has to cover a wide variety of goods, buy the smaller sizes so you stretch your peso to afford the wide variety that you need. On the other hand, when you have extra cash, go for the big sizes because you get savings on volume discounts.

Save through technology

Want to connect with friends and relatives abroad? Lean how to email or voice-chat over the internet- it’s for free! Ask your teen to teach you how to use the internet. Example, instead of buying recipe books, search for recipes through our website: www.nestlerecipes.com.ph

Bathroom Makeover

Re-arrange toiletries by placing them in spare baskets or clear food containers. If short on space, hang a large, colorful drawstring bag at the back of the door and use it as a hamper. Add a picture of a place you dream about or put a fragrant plant inside to keep it smelling nice.

Flaunt the Freebies

Get old calendars with breathtaking designs, artistic food menus, hip party invites, printed handkerchiefs or colorful postcards. Place these in a frame for display. Liven up the kitchen or your living room by hanging dishes or any interesting item on an empty wall.

T-Shirts as Throw Pillow Covers

A child’s T-shirt fits very nicely as a throw pillow cover. Turn shirt inside out and sew neck and arm openings closed. Stuff with cotton or old pantyhose until you have just the right plumpness, then sew the bottom part. This is a great thrifty idea!

New Life to a Lost Sock

There are many ways to recycle socks that have lost their partners. Why not use it for applying furniture polish, floor wax and other types of cleaners?

Mystery Keys

Mystery keys are those keys that you keep but don't actually know what they open. To avoid the mystery key syndrome, when you get a new key, immediately trace the new key and label it and file this information. It just takes a little time at first but will save you hours and hours of searching (not to mention the headaches) if you have to match keys to the right locks.

Moisturize as You Clean

When using rubber gloves to clean, put your favorite hand lotion or moisturizel it will help slip hand easily into the rubber gloves. And while your cleaning, it will moisturize your hands especially if you handle warm water.

Handy Spice Bottles

Spice bottles can sometimes be so pretty that it's a pity to throw them away. Recycle them by using these as containers when stooring spools of thread. Put the strand through the hole of the bottle to prevent tangles. Spice bottles can also store embroidery needles or hold craft things like safety pins, sequins, buttons, glitter powder, etc... Or you can fill these up with flour and use it to sprinkle flour to meat or fish before frying to prevent it from stick to the pan.

Get the Dirt Off Those Pans

For stubborn dirt on aluminum pans, boil the pan filled with 3 tablespoons of cream of tartar and 1 quart of water. Boil for 10 minutes. When the pan is cool, with just a little scrubbing the hardened dirt will come off easily, then wash and rinse the pan well.

Guess Who

Have each family member write a little known fact about himself or herself in an index card. (For example, I was prom queen in high school.) Use these for a “Guess Who” family quiz game. Lots of funny secrets are sure to be revealed!

Kid's Play

Instead of having your kids watch TV or play video games all day, why not play outdoor games with your kids? Bring out the kid in you by playing patintero or hide and seek, or simply engage them in a game of habulan- something to keep you active this summer!

Outdoor Fun

You don’t need to spend much for your family to enjoy. Take the fun to your backyard! Why not play some music at your garden and dance with the kids? You could even try dining outdoors, under the stars, with a lantern or candlelight and exchange stories. In this way, you create an intimate atmosphere for treasured memories.

Water Balloons

To make get-togethers more exciting, why not break up families into two teams (combine young and old and mix families for more fun). The teams stand a distance from each other and toss water balloons back and forth. The person who pops a balloon is out. Another water balloon is given to that team. Teams keep going until only one is left...and everyone is wet! This is best played outdoors.

Musical Dress Up

Let your teen organize this one- something interesting to make parties more memorable. Fill a black garbage bag with weird stuff (e.g. a mask, a green-colored wig, a moustache...). Play musical chairs and pass the bag. When the music stops, the person left holding the bag grabs something to wear from the bag (without looking in). The game continues until the bag is empty...and everyone looks silly. Take group pictures for posterity!

Spill the Beans

Delight your party guests with this simple yet enjoyable game. Pass around a bag of KITKAT bars, or NESTLÉ chocolates and tell people to get as many as they like but not to eat them yet. After everyone has gotten from the bag, then tell everyone that this is a game. For every piece of chocolate that they took, they have to tell the group one wish they want to come true for the coming year. This is a great way of getting to know your friends and relatives, as well as help them achieve their dreams.

Easy, Painless, Splinter Removal

Working with your hands this summer is bound to get you a splinter sometime or the other. Just put white glue on the splinter area. Let it dry and then peel off the dried glue and the splinter will come off with it.

Pest Repellant Recipe

A recipe to keep pests away from your plants: blend together 1 peeled onion, 2 peeled garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 3 cups water. Strain and refrigerate the liquid and coat your plants the next day.