When it comes to fulfilling all of your needs in a typical day, it’s easy to fall short somewhere or other. For instance, even though adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night, parenting sometimes means sacrificing an hour or two of sleep for a bit more time to get some exercise or prepare for the next day. But the one thing you shouldn’t be sacrificing is your family’s activity level.

Fortunately, there are a few simple things you can do to get everyone a little more active without ever leaving the house. Let’s get into it!

Chore Chart

While chores might not be the most fun thing in the world, a chore chart can certainly help make the experience a little bit more fun. And if you’re still struggling to incentivize everyone to get behind the chore chart, it’s never a bad idea to offer prizes for whoever completes all of their chores at the end of the week. Even parents can get in on the prizes! If the whole family gets all of their chores done by the end of the week, a trip out to get ice cream or ordering pizza is a great way to celebrate a clean and tidy house. Not sure what chores to include on your chore chart? Here are a few to get you started.

• Doing the dishes.
• Sweeping the floors.
• Organizing books or movies.
• Wiping down the kitchen countertops.
• Dusting bookshelves and other furniture.
• Cleaning the bathroom.
• Vacuuming the carpet.
• Brushing the dog or cat.

When it comes to chores, getting everyone to pitch in is an excellent way to get the whole family active and take a little bit of the burden off of your shoulders. Say hello to a little bit more sleep every night!

Home Improvement Projects

Did you know that almost 85% of homes in the U.S. were built before 1980 and are in need of some home improvement? Sometimes these projects can be pretty labor-intensive, but there are always smaller projects that the whole family can help out with. Sometimes all a room needs is a fresh coat of paint, some new furniture, and a few new light fixtures. Or maybe you’re refinishing your kitchen cabinets instead of replacing them entirely. Painting and sanding are two activities that, while simple enough for younger kids to help out with, are still pretty exhaustive if you do them for long enough. This is a great way to get the whole family involved in beautifying your home and get a little bit of physical activity in while you’re at it.

Cleaning Up the Yard

Whether it’s winter, spring, summer, or fall, it seems like the yard is always in need of a good cleaning. During the fall and spring, it’s all about raking up leaves and cleaning up debris from the surrounding trees. Summer and winter are more about checking up on maintenance tasks every now and again, but the fact remains that yard work is a year-round occupation. So while you might not be using shaved bats to play ball when it’s colder than 65 degrees outside, putting everyone to the task of prepping the yard for the upcoming season can be an excellent physical family activity. Teaching the kids how to mow the lawn, pull up weeds, rake leaves, and prepare shrubs and other plants for winter can get everyone outside for a little while and learning some pretty useful knowledge. Not to mention that your yard will look stunning by the time you’re all done!

Getting the whole family more active without spending a ton of money isn’t too tough. With these projects around the house, your whole crew will be happy and healthy all year round.

Your backyard is your family’s own little oasis. It’s where you have family get-togethers, neighborhood barbeques, and where your kids can run around and play without having to head down to the park. But certain features can keep your backyard from being as family-friendly as you’d like it to be. Here are a few ways you can transform your yard into a more kid-friendly area for family fun.

Add a sensory garden

Sensory gardens encourage kids to enjoy the outdoors in a way that’s fun and stimulates all of their senses. Bright flowers and multicolored greenery stimulates your child’s sight while fuzzy plants like sage encourage them to touch. If you’re interested in starting an herb garden to give your kids the chance to learn how plants go from the garden to the table, you can use a wood pallet from your local hardware store to create a recyclable herb wall your kids can admire. Wooden pallets last about five years and plastic pallets last for about 10.

Keep away pests by maintaining your lawn

It’s important not to let your grass get too long because long grass is a breeding ground for creepy crawlers like fleas and ticks, which can live for over 100 days without food. The optimal height for cool-season grass is approximately 2.5 inches and the best time to cut your grass is when it’s about 3.5 inches high. That said, make sure to keep your grass below four inches.

Keep summer going with an above-ground pool

Swimming in the local lake can be great summer fun, but it comes with its own unique set of problems. First, kids are more likely to get swimmer’s ear, which lasts seven to 10 days, when they swim in lakes for long periods of time. Second, the lake may close for the summer even when days are still plenty warm well into September. With an above ground pool, you can keep summer going as long as there’s a heatwave rolling.

Add a bike path around the yard

If your kids have bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, or scooters chances are they’ll find a way to roll around on any hard surface. While a patio can give your kids the hard, outdoor surface they need to move around and have fun, those patios are only so big. Consider getting more adventurous with your backyard and designing a curved track that your kids can play around on.

Incorporate play places into your hardscaping

If you’re thinking of adding some hardscaping to your yard, consider asking your kids for some ideas on what would make the space enjoyable for them. For instance, a sandpit in a rock garden can transform a peaceful spot into a play area when it’s your kids’ turn in the garden. Little water features like in-ground sprinklers that can turn toward your patio when you want them to can also give you a way to keep your lawn and garden looking fresh while keeping your kids happy on hot summer days.

I grew up in an older home in Duluth that had no dishwasher, so I spent a lot of my school age years washing dishes by hand. It was one of my chores especially as I entered the teenage years, when my appetite naturally increased as well (at least that’s what my parents said!).

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Just like buying a home, selling a home is a major milestone and it’s never easy. There are a lot of steps involved, and making the wrong move could make a big impact on your finances and your peace of mind.

To help you avoid making a mistake you might regret later, we’ve compiled a list of the top three mistakes you don’t want to make when selling your home so you can avoid making them yourself and dealing with the consequences that come with them.

Selling your home on your own

Approximately 11% of sellers actually sell their property on their own without the help of a real estate agent. While this may sound like a great idea to save some money while selling your house, it could potentially come back to bite you later. For instance, real estate agents have Errors and Omissions Insurance, which protects them when mistakes are made in contracts. Buyers who know you’re selling your property on your own can exploit that and every mistake you make. Real estate agents also negotiate for a living and could potentially get you a better deal on your house than you’d be able to get yourself.

Going overboard with renovations

It’s understandable to want to get the most value out of your house possible. After all, about 10% of mortgage holders in the U.S. believed it was likely they would face foreclosure two years ago and that kind of financial pressure can be devastating. But going overboard with renovations in an attempt to get your home to sell for more could end up costing you more instead. Keep in mind that not every project has a high ROI, and a project that attracts one homebuyer may repel another. Stick to small home upgrades like updating your hardware or adding a new potted plant out front on the porch. These small details are not only cheaper but they also make a bigger impact than you’d think.

Removing too much of yourself from the home

It makes sense if your first instinct when selling your home is to declutter. After all, on average, households in the U.S. have 300,000 things in them and that kind of clutter can turn a buyer away at the door. But it’s important to be wary not to declutter your house too much when you’re getting ready to stage your home.

Keep elements like furniture in your house while you’re staging to give potential homebuyers the ability to see themselves in your space. It’s easier for homebuyers to navigate clean, furnished spaces than to navigate empty rooms.