Father's Day Ideas

I just got sucked into a time warp of the Internet looking at Father's Day ideas. I have a long, long list of ideas to do for our Father's learning week, but our Father's learning week is happening while you all want to be doing Father's Day things, too, so I thought I would bring you some great ideas from the Internet. Here are some of my favorites:

Monogram Painted Hammer

This is something I think would be fun to do some day. My husband is a tool guy, so I think decorating a tool of some sort would be very fun, and something he could look back on fondly as a 60 year old man hammering a nail.






Cookie Gift Tube

I thought this could be fun to do in conjunction with your shape and color activity. Whatever your shape and/or color was for the week, you could have your child decorate the tube with. And what dad doesn't love treats?







Nuts and Bolts Frame

This could be really fun out in the shop--a great idea for the dad who likes tools. Only I would try to get a good picture of the dad and child working on a project together. If not, at least a picture of them together.






Picture Puzzle

This could be nice on Dad's desk at work.








Tie Greeting Card

You will find lots of versions of this card all over the internet. A fun card for your child to make to give to dad.










BBQ Apron

This is fun for the dad who likes to grill. You could do handprints and dad could pull it out when he is a grandpa and have the grandkids add their handprints...precious.









Scissor Skills Paper Craft

This is a good one for working on those fine motor skills.











Stained Glass Craft

This is fun for letter activities.









These are just a few fun ones I found! Enjoy!

Father's Day Books

Here are some fun books about Fathers!

Day Out With Daddy by Stephen Cook

This is a favorite of our children. This is all about a fun day out with Dad and the crazy things that can happen :)

Daddies are for Catching Fireflies by Harriet Ziefert

This book isn't just about dads, but moms and dads roles. The roles in this book are traditional, with mom home greeting children from school and dad teasing and playing.

Papa's Son by Kate McMullan

A book about helping a child fall asleep.

Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz

We love this book in our house, especially our youngest. She and my husband have a very special bond, so this is a favorite book of theirs.

Father's Day Thank You by Janet Nolan

A book about the search for the perfect father's day gift.

Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer

The Mercer Mayer books are timeless and great for the preschoolers and school-aged children. My son especially likes this one since it is about camping and he loves to camp with his dad.

My Father's Hands by Joanne Ryder

This is a sweet book that has a focus on gardening.

My Daddy Snores by Nancy Rothstein

And because you need to have something fun, especially for dads, we have this book.

Family Board Book

I made these board books for J when he was 12 or 13 months old. It was SO easy to accomplish and well worth it.  J has always loved them.  I think these would be great from infancy on.  Just keep your little one’s slobber away since the ink will bleed… or better yet, seal the pages beforehand.

I bought a board book kit from Amazon; I’m pretty sure this is the link. The kit included the books, blank labels for each page and a computer template to download.  Of course you don’t have to use the labels.  You can draw on the books or even have your toddler create their own book.

The family book I made is very simple.  I included parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We don’t live anywhere near ANY family, but I really wanted J to learn who all his relatives were.  This way when we are able to see them, he was already familiar with their pictures at least.  Each page in the book has just one labeled picture so it’s very clear who is who.  I used to read this book a lot to him before we took a trip to visit family to refresh his memory.  After each trip we’ve taken to visit family, J tends to return to the book a lot on his own too. I do think if I were to do it again, I would try and include photos that were a little more fun… like Grandpa playing with a ball or Aunt Jenn riding a bike (whereas I just have a photo of each one smiling).

“My Dad Loves Me” was actually a Father’s day gift (from J to daddy).  This is his favorite of the two board books, probably because Daddy is J’s favorite person in the world!  I included lots of pictures of J and dad from birth, on. I added a rhyming story to go along with the photos.  J loves that he sees them playing the guitar or playing with a ball in the pictures.  When we’ve taken a few trips without dad, I brought J’s daddy book along with us to read which he really likes.
Here’s the text of J’s daddy’s book:

Right from the start, Dad was my biggest fan. 

We share kisses and cuddles and lots of big grins.

My Daddy is teaching me to play the guitar.

I’m teaching him to take care of the car.

We work out together.

We act silly together.

We walk and we ride and we explore together.

We splash around in the pool.

We eat ice cream ’till we drool.

Whether we’re playing ball or just hanging out,

My Daddy loves me. You can’t get better than that!

Another side benefit of the board books is that when J has experienced a little separation anxiety and hesitant to play alone, I have kept the books within his reach so he has pictures of those he loves close by.  I got this idea from an online group I’m in.  I’m honestly not sure how much this helped since any bout of separation anxiety was very short lived for J.  It certainly didn’t hurt though!

Sidewalk Chalk Love Notes

For Father's Day, we decided to tell Daddy that we love him in Sidewalk chalk. My husband really likes words of affirmation to let him know he is loved. So the Friday before Father's Day, we went out and decorated the driveway to tell him why we loved him. It was something all three children could do...even if the one year old kept trying to eat dirt...

I wrote "We [heart] you Daddy!" and the kids decorated around it. Brayden made a stop sign so cars would know to not run over the writing.

Daddy loved it! This is something you can do during nice weather months. You could even go to a home of a neighbor and tell them how great they are in sidewalk chalk (but you might want to be pretty sure your neighbor won't mind).

Sidewalk chalk is always fun, but it seemed to be extra fun with a goal in mind.

Father's Day Gift: Book of Love

A week or so ago, I wrote a post on one of my other blogs about showing love through words of affirmation. One blog reader shared that her husband felt love best that way, and that one year for Valentine's Day, she gave him a calendar book with 366 reasons she loved him.

My husband also feels love through words of affirmation, and I thought this sounded like a great idea for a Father's Day gift!

I started by interviewing my children. I sat down with a piece of paper and a pen. I asked them, "What do you like to do with Daddy?" Then I wrote down their answers. I asked, "What do you like that Daddy does for you?" I wrote down their answers. Finally, I asked, "Why do you love Daddy?"

For my little 14 month old, I am coming up with her answers myself. It isn't hard to figure out because she is such a Daddy's girl :)

The interview process took all of our scheduled learning time for the day. I went through the lists and designated some for coloring pages and some for photos. For some of their answers (like, "I like to mow the lawn with Daddy" or "I like when Daddy pushes me on the swing"), I will put the answer down and put a picture of them doing that activity together. For others, we are coloring a picture of the activity. This way, he will have art work and pictures in his book of love.

This is obviously taking us several days to complete. We are far from done. But I wanted to share the idea with you now so you could do a version of your own if you are interested.

Oh, and I will be adding my own things in too.

I am printing four to a page on a piece of white cardstock. I think when we are done, I will laminate them all and then bind it somehow. Then he can have a small book of love he can take with him to work. Hopefully it can give him that extra kick to get him through his workdays :) He loves to know he is appreciated, and this will help him see that we love him, and that we recognize and appreciate all he does for us.