How long is it since you and your kids did something kooky? Wore your undies on your head, or jumped in mud puddles or, well, danced like a chicken?

Tomorrow is Dance Like a Chicken Day. I can't resist special days that celebrate my feathered friends somehow, but also I'm using this day to remind me about something important. Something I tend to forget, and perhaps you do too? It's so easy to become absorbed in life's seriousness. We're surrounded by media that seem to delight in bringing us the bad news. We get to see and hear about natural disasters and environmental crises in minute detail. I'm not saying those things aren't important. What I'm saying is that I believe in making it a habit to incorporate fun activities into our lives too.


Isn't it possible to learn something and have fun too? I certainly hope so! But I also believe in doing some things for the sheer joy of being alive - things like making a fire outdoors and toasting marshmallows over it, sitting at the edge of the waves and building sloppy sand sculptures, sliding down a grassy slope on a flattened cardboard box, building a dam across a creek with rocks, making a cubby under the dining table and reading there. When your children are older, I'm tipping these activities will be ones that make great memories of their childhood.

My friend, Kelly, of BeAFunMum blog, often writes about ways she and her family have fun together. I asked Kelly to share some ideas with us for Dance Like a Chicken Day.

Fun: what is fun? Is it holding a hand full of balloons at a theme park, blowing out the candles on a cake, bounding on a jumping castle? Sure that’s fun. But you know what? Fun can be found everywhere, and you can see all the fun to be had, especially when you hang out with kids. Children find enjoyment from the little things. Fun can be smelling a flower, feeling the bark of a tree or even dancing like a chicken!
The chicken dance is a simple dance even five-year-olds can learn, so today would make a perfect time to practise it with your youngsters. You can see some enthusiastic dancers in this video. If chicken dancing doesn't grab you, (and it sure didn't grab the little one on the floor in that video!) I'm sure you'll find some other way to celebrate from all Kelly's great ideas. I'd love you to share: in what special or silly way does your family like to have fun?