Brainstorming over lunch! No more wasted lunch breaks.

The Doodle Tablecloth is pre-shrunk 100% cotton and is printed to look like a giant piece of graph paper, complete with printed lines, holes, and red margins. It comes with eight wash-out fabric markers. Get your kiddos excited about dinner by having them draw placemats for each member of the family. Doodle the vegetables that will be tried that evening (one bite, just one bite!). No matter what gets doodled on the tablecloth, it all washes out in the Hot cycle of your washing machine, so you can start with a clean piece of paper the next evening.

More info: Scribble Tablecloth

-Travel Guides

Ohhh – I like mysteries! But I must admit if I would have seen this game in a store I would have gladly skipped on that one. But Mike got it for his mother last year and she got instructed to wait until we were in the US as well to play it.

So, we did during our recent visit and guess what! It was fun. We all got into our characters very much and since I had to play the role of the German wine buyer I didn’t even have to act much.

Put on your own mystery dinner theater: murder’s on the menu, and everyone’s a suspect in this grownup game for six to eight players. The game includes everything you need to serve up mystery, murder, and fun: a shopping list, menus, and recipes by cookbook author Sandra Gluck; eight party invitations and envelopes; place cards; secret clues; and, best of all, a murder mystery to solve.

Just invite your friends to dress up and play the roles of the devious suspects (each with his or her own character booklet with roles and background info): Otto Von Schnapps, Tiny Bubbles, Papa Vito, Marilyn Merlot, Ralph Rottingrape, Hedy Shablee, Bonny Lass, and Bud Wizer. Serve up a meal or light snack, play the (included) cassette tape with its introduction, summary of events, and solution to the crime. Find out who killed California vineyard owner Barry Underwood, and why. –Rebecca Hughes

Link: Wine and Murder Mystery Party Game – Collection of other murder mystery games

- Weird Christmas Tree Ornaments