Tag Archives: holidays

Bell Family Company

The Best Gift for Moms & Dads!

Want a holiday, birthday, baby shower or just a friendly “I care” gift idea for your spouse, mom and dad friends or family member?  What do parents need and want most of all … time off! Put money towards a Bell Family Gift Certificate to help with membership fees, a full or part time nanny placement, baby or night nurse placement or hours towards babysitting.

“I’m a new mom. Two of my friends were members of BFC, and each of them gifted me gift cards – it was amazing. I’m now a member myself!”

Of course the Bell Family team fully supports parent-time! The same old gifts can become rather dull, and if you’re anything like our mom team members, you want to pick out those things yourself. That’s part of the fun, right? We can make all arrangements for your friend or family member – no stress!

“One of my mom friends was struggling and needed a break. I sent her a $75 BFC gift card and she appreciated it so much!”

Simply contact us to purchase a gift certificate and indicate the amount you’d like to purchase. We will provide you with an e-card to print or email to the recipient. Happy gifting, readers!

Written by Taylor Bell, Marketing & Social Media

Play/Games

The Only Toy Gift Guide Needed From NY Mag feat. Lindsay Bell

It’s that time of the year where our minds run wild trying to think of the perfect gift to give the children. Our Founder & Owner, Lindsay Bell, teamed up with The Strategist at NY Mag, and helped to create the ultimate toy gift guide for children ages 7, 9 and 10. Read for Lindsay’s top picks and check out the full lists per age group below. Happy shopping, readers!

For your 7-year-old: Ultimate Secret Formula Lab

“This chemistry lab is mesmerizing for those kids who like to mix potions,” says Lindsay Bell, founder of the Bell Family child-care company. It comes with beakers, test tubes, petri dishes, the works, and inside them you can combine mixtures of, say, phenol red and ammonia to create invisible vapors.

For your 9-year-old: ThinkFun Code Master Programming Logic Game

It’s an enticing concept — your avatar traveling to an exotic land to collect “power crystals.” First you have to write a program for yourself using the included Guide Scroll to set out your pathways along the map (this mimics the step-by-step sequences that need to be followed in computer programming). Once you snatch up all of the crystals on your designed route, collecting “action” tokens along the way, you win. What might not be noticed in all the intensity, though, is just how many fundamentals of programming you’re learning (even “conditional loops” and “branches”), which is why this game is a favorite of Lindsay Bell, founder and owner of Bell Family child-care company. Plus there are progressive levels of difficulty: An Amazon reviewer whose husband is an engineer wrote that even he enjoys the harder ones.

For your 10-year-old: Snap Circuits Arcade Electronics Exploration Kit

Snap Circuits, says Rumaan Alam, a novelist and father of a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old, “is one of a whole slew of toys meant to appeal to STEM true believers. I don’t know if it’ll ensure your kid grows up to be an engineer, but I do know my kids spent many a cooped-up winter day building an AM radio or figuring out how to turn a little motor.” Ruka Curate, founder of the Tiny Treasures Nanny Agency, recommends this arcade-themed kit, which is a more advanced Snap Circuits version for 10-year-olds. Another option, according to Lindsay Bell, founder and owner of Bell Family child-care company, is Snap Circuits Extreme, although it’s a bit more expensive.

For the full gift guides from The Strategist at NY Mag, visit the links below.

Toy Gift Guide for 7-Year-Olds
Toy Gift Guide for 9-Year-Olds
Toy Gift Guide for 10-Year-Olds

Written by Taylor Bell, Marketing & Social Media

Travel

How to Avoid, "Are We There Yet?"

Holiday travel season is here, and people everywhere are wishing they could magically wake up in their desired destination without having to deal with the crowds of people. Travelling with the kiddos can be an added challenge, but what’s the holiday season without some hurdles, right?
We took to investigating some travel tips to help parents keep the kiddos entertained during both air and road travel. First up, try these ideas when it’s time for wheels up.

  • Story time: Bring a classic story to life with finger puppets! Three Little Pigs, anyone?
  • Who’s that relative: Use photos of Grandma, Grandpa and other family members to play the guessing game.
  • Origami: Fold origami paper into cranes and caterpillars. Print pages from the site Origami Club for simple-to-follow directions.
  • Arts and doodles: Don’t underestimate the power of a roll of stickers. Pro tip: for coloring, bring triangle crayons so they don’t roll off the tray. 

Keeping your feet on the ground for holiday travels? Try out these road trip games for fun entertainment!

  • Road trip bingo:  Search for road trip sights like bicycles, wind turbines and airplanes. The first player to find five in a row wins!
  • Word search road trip style:  Search for road trip-themed words using the word search puzzle template.
  • Are we there yet: Write in and number the cities you plan to pass during your route on the template cards. String the cards around the car and have the kids take down the card once you’ve conquered another city.
  • Scavenger hunt: Check off the road trip-themed list while in the backseat, at a rest stop, or while out exploring together.
  • Moving truck mural: Kids can practice their drawing skills to replicate the murals of moving trucks they spot while on the road.
  • License plate game: See how many license plates you can find during your road trip and check them off the map.

All templates for the road trip games can be found here.
Happy travels, families!
Travel-2
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Consultant, Taylor Bell

Activities

Holiday Memories in Your Own Photo Booth!

To continue Bell Family’s week of spreading holiday cheer, we rounded up a great activity for everyone in the family. A DIY photo booth!

The holidays are the perfect time to capture memories with your little ones, whether it’s gathering around the Christmas tree, or sitting down for a delicious meal. A DIY photo booth can be a fun way to not only snap some photos, but have some fun while doing it! Simply hang a backdrop or some festive decor, and set up a camera to snap the pics.

These photo booth props from Shutterfly are perfect for such an occasion. There are so many to choose from, from antler ears to hot cocoa. Pick your favorite, print them out, and get ready for hours of fun.

Children will love playing pretend with elf ears, top hats, and reindeer antlers! They can make believe they’re in a winter wonderland with festive hot cocoa or gingerbread houses. The pictures you’ll get of your little ones having a ball will be priceless!

Christmas-BeardsFlannel 1 goodies

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Consultant, Taylor Bell, with guest partner Karli Jaenike at Siege Media.

Activities

Treats for Santa and Fun for Kids

This week, Bell Family is spreading holiday cheer to families near and far by featuring some great, festive craft activities for the kiddies. Not only are they fun, but they pose as a great way to keep the kids busy while they are out of school for the holidays.
On the night before Christmas, Santa and his team of 8 reindeer deliver gifts and goodies to kids around the world. Many families leave cookies and milk out for Santa, but don’t forget about the reindeer! Help Rudolf and his team journey to your home this Christmas Eve with Personal Creations’ yummy reindeer food and adorable poem printables.
With a few ingredients you likely have in your cupboards (mix oats, sprinkles, and a pinch of sugar), create a special treat the kids can leave out the night before Christmas. This is the ultimate way to say “thank you” to all of Santa’s hard-working helpers. Once you have created your reindeer food mixture, sprinkle onto your yard and await the morning for a special surprise: presents under the tree!
Printable-reindeer
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Consultant, Taylor Bell, with guest partner Sherry Chen at Personal Creations.
 

Family

A Bell Girl Christmas Tree

Growing up, putting up the family Christmas tree was always such a spectacle. My mom has always been into interior design, so when you add that fascination to her love of celebrating the holidays, you end up with one jaw dropping Christmas tree. A Christmas tree that would have the heads of Martha Stewart and Nate Berkus turning.

Given that my mom is such a fan of the holidays, it’s only natural that some of the fandom gets passed down to myself and four older sisters. That’s usually how it works, right?

My sisters and I live in various places across the US. My oldest sister Lindsay lives in New York City, Courtney in Ohio, Jamie and I in Washington, DC, and Katie in Indiana. Now that we no longer live under the same roof, each year we put up our own Christmas tree. Our trees usually vary in size, type, and decorations, but I’m sure my sisters and I can agree that they all have one thing in common – we put them up thinking about all of the years we decorated the tree together as a family in small town Ohio.

This year we are sharing our Christmas trees with you and wishing all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Lindsay’s tree

Christmas_Linds copy

Courtney’s tree

Christmas_Court copy

Jamie’s tree

Christmas_Jamie copy

Katie’s tree

Christmas_Kate

Taylor’s tree

Christmas_Tay

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell

Uncategorized

Your Holiday Gift Guide

Looking for just the right gift this year for your friend, family member, or significant other? Well, you’re in luck thanks to Issuu – an online publication that posts thousands of digital articles that are all available to active readers.

Their 2016 Holiday Gift Guide is helping to make this the easiest shopping year yet. Below you can find some suggestions to get you started.

Top toys for 2016:
Hatchimal Hatching Egg
Cosmo Robot
Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar

Build and create toys:
Shape Mags Advance Starter Kit
Wonderhood Grand Hotel
Meccanoid 2.0

Wheels that wow:
Micro Kickboards
Penny Skateboard
PlayWheels Trolls Glitter Skates

Gifs for mom:
Josie Maran Argan Sugar Scrub
Madewell Tote
Duckfeet Arhus Boot

For the full 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, read through the online magazine here!

Uncategorized

A Radio City Rockette Newbie

I have visited New York City countless times and even lived there for about five months for a summer internship. It’s easy to rack up the visits when you have two sisters that move there by the time you are 10 years old.

Given all of my visits, I’ve done my fair share of activities – the top of the Empire State Building, walks through Central Park, Broadway shows, golf at Chelsea Pier, games at Yankee Stadium – the list goes on and on. However, there was one thing that remained on my NYC bucket list, and that was to see the Radio City Rockettes.

A few weeks ago my dream came true and I found myself inside Radio City Music Hall (thanks Mom)! The entire experience was like no other. It all started with a preshow drink with my mom and big sis, Lindsay, at Del Frisco’s. My sister considers this move a preshow staple each time she sees it. An hour later I found myself stepping into the grand lobby with two story Christmas trees and decorations to my left and right. We soon made our way to our seats and the show started right then. Cue the orchestra, dim the lights, and here comes Santa Clause.

Each act throughout the show was a show stopper. There were shopping scenes, toys that came to life, a tour through NYC, fireworks, snowfall, and the conclusion gave you a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas (tears might have been shed). If you sat near me you would often see my jaw dropped, eyes sparkling, or constantly poking my mom who sat next to me saying, “WOW!” I’ve been to many Broadway shows and musicals, and I can honestly say that nothing has compared to the experience I felt while inside this grand music hall.

We exited out of the gold doors and onto 6th Ave, when I felt as if I should be skipping down the street and singing Christmas carols. It was like I was ten again and believing in all things Santa.

If you haven’t seen the show… go! It’s great entertainment for all ages. Take it from the toddlers to the grandparents that were seen in the audience at the show I went to. If you can’t make it to Radio City, pull up your Netflix app. Believe it or not, you can watch the Christmas Spectacular right at home! You won’t have the live fireworks or snowfall (unless your are seriously invested), but you can appreciate the story just the same.

I’ll leave you with a photo I took of my favorite act in the show. The synchronicity of these girls was INSANE!

Rockettes

Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell!