Creating a Dragon: Kid's Handpainting Craft

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

I love having our kids create crafts that will provide a remembrance of just how little they were at one time. Making a craft using their handprints provides such an opportunity. For my dungeon master husband's birthday, our kids made dragon cards using construction paper and paint.

Materials

• Construction paper
• Washable paint
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape (if needed) 
• Pens, markers, or crayons 
• Wipes 

Steps

1. Gather materials.

2. Prepare paper, choose colors, and have wipes nearby to clean hands.

3. You can cut out the pieces for the dragon face before or after you paint the body with hand prints. I looked through books and online to find inspiration for the dragon face. You or your children can design it however you want.

4. Paint your child's hands. Let them paint their handprints on the white paper.

5. Once your handprints are dry, you can attach the dragon head. 

Rolling Up a Character 

If your children are interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons with you and the rest of the family, there are many different options that will help you get them started on the journey of pen-and-paper role playing. My husband began playing role-playing games (RPGs) around 1981. After 30+ years of administrating and playing RPGs, he recommends folks try rules-light games that are either free or low-cost. The fastest (to learn) and cheapest games he recommends are Basic Fantasy RPG (based on the 1981-1983 iteration of the Dungeons & Dragons rules he learned from, also known as the Moldvay [or more correctly Moldvay/Marsh/Cook] version) and Swords & Wizardry Light (a very streamlined version of the original [1974-1979] Dungeons & Dragons rules). Swords & Wizardry Light can be played "as is" or later graduated from—into Swords & Wizardry Continual Light or the more thorough Swords & Wizardry Complete, which is currently free in its PDF form.

Playing games with your family is a fantastic way to spend time! You can even incorporate games into your homeschooling day if you wish. From simple games for preschoolers like Koala Capers to more complicated logic games like Cats Crimes, you can teach your children many different skills while having fun.

Holidays: Father's Day Gifts for Gamers

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

When it comes to gift giving for Father's Day, there are so many options available. One can make a homemade card with their children, provide their husband or dad with a gift card to a outdoor store, or find something that aligns with their personal likes.

My husband loves gaming – from video games that we play together to roleplaying to board and card games. If your loved one is also into games, here are few ideas to help you find the perfect Father's Day gift.

Board and Card Games

Two of our favorite games are the Red Dragon Series and the Munchkin Series. But there are also a lot of other games we enjoy including Superfight, Monopoly, as well as cooperative games that help us work together or grow team-building and communication skills.

Roleplaying Games

My husband has been a fan of roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, Top Secret, and others since he was in elementary school. Over the years he has collected a number of handbooks, modules, and materials that allow him to lead family and friends in adventures. As it is a genre where people are always adding new adventures, plots, and materials, there are multiple options for gifts within the RPG community.

And if you are really stuck, a gamer is always happy for a new set of cool looking dice! Or a way to store those dice in a purchased dice bag, lunch box (like we use), or a hand-sewn bag.

Miniatures are also a great gift for a gamer. Especially since it doesn't matter if they have one skeleton or a hundred skeletons - they can always adapt a dungeon to include the necessary amount for the adventure.

Video Games

Over the years my husband has gone from playing single-player games to those that allow him to play with our teen, other family members, and me. This way, what could be a time-consuming hobby that takes one away from the family is actually turned into a team-building activity where we can all work on communication skills. Whether we are playing Minecraft, Wii Sports games, or games rated for older players like Borderlands, we can enjoy time together.

There are many options for husbands and fathers who enjoy video games. Controllers, headsets, and games are great options as well as gift cards that allow them to make in-game purchases or DLC purchases for games they already love and play often.


Then you have the T-shirts, books, collectible figures, and more affiliated accessories that many companies offer. For example, one could purchase a Fallout Crate for a fan of the Fallout Series, a bobble-head or lunchbox, or T-shirts with a D&D theme. There are so many great options for the the Gamer Dad!

Birthday Party: Swords and Wizardry Light

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

For our teen's 15th birthday, we held a Swords and Wizardry Light-themed party.

Here is the link to my Pinterest Board: Party Ideas: Dungeons and Dragons Birthday.

Food 

Azer's Chili

I made a slow cooker freezer meal of Texas Chili for this dish.

Roc Nachos (Chicken Nachos)

For these I used the following ingredients and cooked on high for 3 to 4 hours.  After about 4 hours, I shredded the chicken and put out the nachos.

• 2 large, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• about 1/2 cup of frozen corn (you can add more or less depending on your taste)
• 2 cans of drained black beans
• 2 cans of crushed tomatoes (one drained)
• 2 TBSP of taco seasoning 
• dash of salt & pepper for taste
• dash of garlic power 

Treant's Broccoli Alfredo Pasta 

I cooked the broccoli on the stove top separately and then added it to the slow cooker with the sauce. I kept the pasta separate so it would not get too mushy.

Dragon Eggs 

Hard boiled eggs dyed different colors.

Bullywug's Jello

I used blue jello and put in gummy frogs and candy eyes (which melted during the setting process). I decorated the top with the frogs and eyes (and the eyes melted again). I would recommend saving the candy eyes for cookies or cupcakes. If our local candy store had gummy eyes, I would have used them instead.

Elemental Cupcakes, Brownies, & Cookies 

I made red and blue cupcakes to represent fire and water, baked brownies for earth, and sugar cookies for air.

Drinks 

I labeled the different drinks with Mana, Health, Potion of Strength and Fire Resistance to continue to theme. 

Role Playing 

Prior to the birthday party, my husband and I created over a dozen player characters from which our guests could choose to partake in the adventure. We used Wizardawn to help us generate ideas for names and characters as well as Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names by Malcolm Bowers.

My husband ran the actual adventure while I kept everything else running smoothly and entertained the adults and children who were not participating. My husband wrote about Rustam Riverhooper's Birthday Celebration on his own blog.

Party Favors

We picked up the two types of dice the children would need during the Swords and Wizardry Light game: six-sided and twenty-sided.

Decorations

We used a variety of items to decorate the house for our teen's birthday party from Dollar Store and Spirit Halloween costume items to actual Dungeons and Dragons miniatures.

Halloween Decorations

We used scene setters in the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. I decorated the table in the kitchen to look like a treasure room with beads hanging from the chandelier and coins and beads scattered on the table.

Scattered throughout the house were rubber and plastic mice, plastic bats hanging at the door, and bones and skulls. We also made a pole axe and trident as well as stained glass windows to help create the effect.

The littles helped decorate by coloring in different people such as a magic-user, druid, fighter, and halfling.

The party was a success with my stepson and his friends.  They had a great time with the adventure and got to use their imagination to solve the problems my husband set forth for them in the story.

I received the Wiz Dice Random Bundle last year and was not disappointed.