Science Experiments Made Simple (and Fun!) at Home {A ScienceandMath.com Review)

Do your kids love science?  Do they thrill at hands-on learning?  Are they always asking, “Why?” and wanting you – or someone else – to guide them to an answer if they cannot discover it for themselves?

If so, welcome to the club!

I have just described my children and, in essence, why I – a Language Arts/Drama type – have now become a Science type, too, and one who is quite grateful for Amazing Science, Volume 1 DVD by ScienceandMath.com that my family has recently had the privilege to review in exchange for a honest review.

What is Amazing Science, Volume 1?

In short, it’s two DVD’s packed with 23 experiments about buoyancy, chemistry, electricity, heat, magnetism, physics and more that is targeted at children in Grades 1-3, but which we found engaged and taught our entire family (age 3 through 40-something).

Each of the experiments on the Amazing Science, Volume1 is:

• short, yet engaging

• explained in full by an expert (not Mom!)

• completed using relatively easy to find materials, many of which you probably already have at home
• shot with multiple camera views so you can see what happens clearly

So, basically, the DVD can become a teacher, guide and lesson plan all wrapped up in one.  You can simply watch and learn.  Or, as our family did, you can gather the materials needed to try experiments out yourself, watching, DOING and learning.

Who knew milk, food coloring, dish soap and a Q-tip could bring such colorful Science fun?

To do some of the experiments you’ll need such household items as dish soap, water, cooking oil, etc.  There are also some that require additional supplies you can pick up inexpensively, such as balloons or match sticks. And, a few require specialty items, such as LED lights or a piece of copper pipe.

Our Experience

We have been thoroughly enjoying Amazing Science, Volume1, usually during post-dinner family time, but sometimes at other times, too, such as when I was sick in bed one day and Daddy used the videos to direct part of the children’s homeschool lessons for the day.  (Thank you, Jason for being such a learned Amazing Science host and making lessons that day easier for us!)

Luke and Nina make a "lava lamp".

Whenever we gather to enjoy Amazing Science experiments, we typically pick one experiment (or two or three!), pop in the video, pause at the supply list to gather supplies and, then, start and stop the video, so we can make our own predications as to what will happen as we follow along.

Luke is eager to take the video off pause while Nina makes arrows for the reversing images experiment.

Or, so that is the method of using the DVD I had in mind: to watch, learn and do all at once.

My oldest son, I have recently discovered, changed things up a bit.  You see, he loves both science and screentime and I guess could not wait for me to be ready to do all the experiments with him and his siblings before watching the DVD.  I did not know this and found it odd the other night that he seemed almost clairvoyant as we did one experiment.  

That night, my oldest was a step ahead of the video whenever I paused it, always seeming to know what he and his siblings should do next or why something happened.  As I watched him trying to patiently wait as I stopped and started the video, making “I wonder...” statements to help my children predict what would happen in one of the experiments, it dawned on me:  My boy might have previewed the experiment.  When I asked him if he had, his smile told me everything!  

Somebody is loving Amazing Science, Volume 1

I guess when Daddy was with the children one day, they had watched some portions of Amazing Science, Volume1 just for fun without doing the experiments at that time.  And, hey, that’s okay!  It just goes to show that the video can be hands-on or simply watch-and-learn and that it engages children when viewed multiple times.

Do You Need Anything Else

As I mentioned above, if you want to do the experiments on the video yourself, you will need common household items and a few specialty things that are not hard to find. I also like to have age-appropriate lab reports on hand.   

Luke fills out a lab report while his siblings continue doing and re-doing the color-changing milk experiment.

Sometimes, to integrate writing while doing the science experiments, I have my children fill out pre-printed lab reports.  We pause the video so they can copy the supply list, pause it again for them to formulate questions and pause it again so they can capture what happened in words and pictures.

We don’t do this every time, but, I think, doing so sometimes works well.

My Balanced View

Amazing Science, Volume1 has added fun and learning to our homeschool experience.  In all honesty, some of the experiments on the DVD are ones you might find directions for elsewhere online, but the way the host Jason demonstrates and explains them "ups" their impact, in my opinion.  Plus, having a varied array of easy-to-do, yet educational, experiments collected on a single DVD set has made me more apt to make our post-dinner time Science time.

Several things I appreciate about the experiments are:

• They capture my children’s attention and feed their desire to ask and figure out the answer to “Why?” and “What will happen if...?”

• Experiments are brief, so you can easily fit them into a busy day, or make an event of things and do a whole series in a row.  (We did both.)

• Some experiments (like the Color Changing Milk and Match Speedboat ones), are based on similar scientific concepts, which not only reinforces these concepts, but can get a child’s imagination rolling for their own further experiments.

Nina paints blueberry juice on the paper to reveal invisible ink.

What I wish was included with the video, or would be made available at the ScienceandMath.com website:

• While necessary supplies are mostly common household items and are listed on screen at the beginning of each experiment, having a printed materials list as an insert or a printable one accessible online would be a welcome addition.  Because my children love the video and I do not like them to be disappointed when we don't have certain supplies on hand, I found I wanted to pre-shop for materials.  It is a cumbersome process to click through to each experiment on the DVD to create a comprehensive supply list.  Having one ready-made would be a wonderfully helpful extra.

• A chart of concepts each experiment highlights would be welcome, too.  For while the video host Jason is effective in explaining experiments onscreen in understandable terms, I wish there were a package insert or printable chart available online that outlined what concepts each experiment centers on.  Having something like this on hand would allow me to more easily integrate the DVD with our other learning experiences as I could quickly see which experiments might dovetail with other things we are learning and doing. 

Besides that, there is nothing I can think of I would change or add to Amazing Science, Volume1.  The video is an award-winning one for a reason!  It makes doing experiments at home easy, fun and effective!  

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I’d recommend it to anyone with young children, and even with children who are a bit older.  It makes an entertaining and educational addition for everyday homeshooling or family time.  I can also see the DVD being helpful for co-ops and enrichment programs.

Jack tests the surface tension of the water after video host Jason suggested it.

Find Out More

Learn more about Amazing Science, Volume1 at ScienceandMath.com, where you can view a trailer and experiment lesson samples or purchase the DVD for the current price of $17.95 (a 28% discount off list price!)

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Find out more at the ScienceandMath.com Facebook page.

See how many other families have used Amazing Science, Volume1 by clicking through Schoolhouse Review Crew reviews.

What encourages you and yours to enjoy education fun doing Science experiments together?
 

It's Not Too Late to Bury Those Alleluias

Yesterday, I shared how we may pray, fast, give... and listen this LENT with 14+ activity ideas that we have observed during this season with in the past.  Today, I wanted to spotlight one of those activities, which is a quick, easy and appropriate one for the first Sunday in Lent (if you didn't do it just before Lent started):

Burying Alleluia

In Catholic churches, we do not sing the Alleluia during Lent.  (A concise explanation as to why can be found at Catholicism.About.Com.)  Therefore a custom has developed in some churches and homes of "burying the Alleluia".  This custom can be as formal or as simple as you like.  (In our home, it always leans toward the latter!)

Since I was sick the day before Lent this year, but the kids really wanted to make their Alleluia banners, I kept things simple.  I let each child pick a font, printed out giant outlined letters, gave the kids markers and pencils, and set them to work.

At its simplest, you simply write the word "alleluia" on a piece of paper and hide it until Easter when you resurrect it.  

At its most formal, you create a fancy banner with the word "alleluia" on it, hold a formal prayer service and bury the banner in a casket.  

Most families, however, will fall somewhere in between if they choose to take part in the burying the alleluia custom, by using a well-decorated paper banner, an embroidered one or wooden letters.
 
{Disclaimer: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.}

Even very young children can easily enjoy this activity.  This Alleluia banner was made by my kids when they were 1, 4 and 6.  That year, we used Do A Dot Art Markers to fill in and decorate hand-written posters.  The kids loved it and all of them were able to participate!

However you choose to go about it, burying the alleluia becomes a concrete aid for making young children aware of liturgical traditions.  As children make and bury their alleluias and then discover them resurrected on Easter, the concept becomes solidified in their heads.

And, bonus, the activity can encourage handwriting, spelling, art and physical activity as well as faith formation, depending on how you frame it!

Lat year, Luke practiced copying the word "Alleluia" before making his banner.  Gotta love gentle, purposeful handwriting and spelling work!

To encourage Jack's fine motor skills, last year, I wrote alleluia in bubble letters for him and he colored them with small pieces of  Crayola Color Pencil Sticks.

Sensory-smart "heavy work" plays in perfectly to burying the Alleluia.  For example, last year, Luke and Nina used their muscles to lift a mattress while Jack crawled onto the bed frame to "bury" his Alleluia.

Nina was so proud of herself this year after she wrote "Alleluia" two times on her poster all by herself!  (She then used it as her "music" to sing along to the Sitting on Top of the Rainbow song on a CD we like.)

Whether you use a handwritten poster, wooden letters that you decorate, cardboard cut outs or something else to make your Alleluias, just by making them, burying them in your yard (if your lucky enough not have frozen ground like us!), in a closet, in a box on the Liturgical table, or even out in deep snow and then resurrecting them on Easter, you can help the young children in your life begin to "get" the Catholic tradition of refraining from singing "Alleluia" during Lent.

(And, of course, please forgive me from using the word so often during this post even though Lent has already begun.  It just didn't seem right to say "the A-word" and I wanted to spotlight this activity today as it makes a great tie-in before or after Mass for helping children notice the changes in the liturgy during Lent.)

What other Lenten traditions help young children in your life to understand and grow in faith?  Feel free to share about them here in a comment or on our Training Happy Hearts Facebook page.  If you leave a link to an idea, I will pin it on the Training Happy Hearts: A Call to Faith Formation in Young Children Pinterest board.

Pray, Fast, Give and... LISTEN! (Plus 14+ Ideas for Family Lenten Activities)

{This post includes affiliate links to Amazon and Holy Heroes.  We thank you for supporting our family should you choose to click through any of these to make purchases.}

I’m participating in the Keep LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2014, hosted by the Catholic Bloggers Network, Equipping Catholic Families,  Campfires and Cleats, Truly Rich Mom, A Slice of Smith Life   and  Home to 4 Kiddos.
 
We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on  Lenten sacrifices, prayer and good deeds and how to carry them out with LOVE instead of a GRUMBLE.

Pray, fast and give.

 Pray, fast and give.

That's what we are called to do

as we learn, love and live!

Ever since the first year I focused our little ones on the concept of Pray, Fast and Give for Lent, versions of this little ditty have played in my head as Lent approaches and throughout the season.

Flashback to 2010

Earlier this week, I awoke with my little Lenten ditty in my head, eager to attack to-do's and to plan activities for our 2014 Lenten journey.  

However, minutes after waking, I was overcome with nausea and realized - ugh! -  I had caught the bug that I'd been nursing my daughter through over the weekend.  So, it looked the the day had other plans for me.  Or, rather, the Spirit did!

Our Perfectly Imperfect 2012 Lenten Liturgical Table and Pray, Fast, Give Jars

Just before the new calendar year, prayer and thought led me to a word to focus on for the year:  Listen!

I was reminded reminded of this word as I lay sick in bed, listening to my compassionate husband take over household and homeschooling duties for the morning.  With gratitude, I heard Mike put away groceries, prepare bone broth (with a little direction from me), facilitate basic lessons for the children, and, overall, love through service.

As I did so, I thought:  Love and service.  Isn't that what Lent is all about?  Not the number of Lenten activities, traditions and plans I had had buzzing through my head and had planned to map out betwixt other duties before realizing I needed to spend the morning in bed, but love and service!

Simple Lenten Liturgical Table from 2011

 
Sure, crafts, lessons and traditional to-do's can help us to focus on and learn about Lent.  However, they can also distract us.  They can become noise and clutter.

As I lay there sick the other morning, I heard a caution about this and I listened.

I am still listening...

Does that mean we won't following any of Lenten Journey traditions?  No!  It simply means that before I ask myself, my husband or the children what we might do any given day this Lent, I will ask us all how.  (With love!)  And why?  ( To serve the Lord and others!)  

It also means that should I begin a Lenten activity, lesson or practice with the children and find it going awry, I won't push on, intent to progress through what we started.  Instead, I will pause.  I'll ask myself, how can this moment become more loving?  How can we better serve one another and our Lord in this moment?  Then, I will LISTEN!

Listen and act.

Yes, Pray, Fast, Give and Listen!  That seems to be what Lent has in store for me this year. 

What Traditions and Practices Might We Honor While We Listen

Books and Free Online Resources
 

We LOVE Holy Heroes!

Undoubtedly, we will snuggle for reading times and take advantage of a myriad of free resources online just as we have done in the past.  

In fact, this year, we've already been enjoying the Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure and, before getting sick myself, I stocked up on Lent and Easter book basket materials at the library.  So this week we snuggled up to have Luke read us God Gave Us Easter and An Easter Prayer while I was struck with laryngitis.  Plus, we enjoyed an audio version of The Egg-cellent Easter Adventure while I turned the pages of a physical copy of the book while I was sick in bed.

Brainstorming and Committing to Lenten Promises 

As a family, we recalled what the Lenten season is about.  While doing so, we also made suggestions to on another about what we might want to fast from or add to our lives in order to decrease habits and actions that don't bring us closer to God and to increase those that do.  Then, each settled on personal Lenten promises to honor.

Burying the Alleluia

Last Year's Alleluia posters unburied and displayed on Easter.

 In fact, after laying in bed sick and resting the other day, I rose to take over the children's care only to have my daughter tell me that, since Lent was beginning this week, we needed to make and hide our Alleluias.  So, the children set to work decorating Alleluia posters that night and the following day they "buried" them in the house.

Count Down Chain
 

An Old Count Down Chain (We write Pray, Fast, Give challenges for the day inside the loops.)

We have yet to make a paper count down chain to Easter and, surprisingly, the kids have not asked to do so yet.  I might suggest doing so though since it is a great way to get them thinking about more ways to pray, fat and give and also gets some purposeful handwriting practice in!

Count, Pray and Give (with Rice Bowls)

Jack After Counting in 2013

We picked up our Rice Bowls at Ash Wednesday services, but have yet to begin using our free Count Pray and Give printable from last year yet.  Luke says he wants to use his rice bowl in a different way.  The other two think they want to count, pray and give again, though.  So, we'll likely figure out what we're actually doing this year over the weekend.  Either way, the rice bowls will encourage giving!

Egging

My Happy Eggers in 2013

Luke has already asked if we can go egging again this year.  So, as Lent transitions into Easter, we may just use the free You've Been Egged printable we shared last year to strike some friends and neighbor's yards!

Exploring Our Senses

Mixing Colors to Make Purple Sensory Squish Bags

With three young children in the house, one of whom has definite sensory challenges, we always integrate sensory activities into life.  This year, that might not mean making Lenten sensory squish bags again, but it will mean exploring senses in some way undoubtedly!

Gospel Dioramas and Crafts

A Make-and-Play Diorama of the Temptation of Jesus from 2010

Following the children, we may make some gospel dioramas and crafts again this year.  Our crafty kids seem to connect with the Word best when it becomes hands on.  And who am I not to listen to their developmental "needs"?

Holy Week Word and Art Evenings

Holy Week Art

Last year, we read different Bible passages each night during the week preceding Easter and made different related art works.  On Sunday, we painted, cut and collaged palm branch shapes.  Monday we did multi-media collages of hair, feet and perfume.  Tuesday was color and collage.  Wednesday was coin rubbings.  Thursday, Friday and Saturday were simple coloring projects and Easter Sunday was happy watercolors.  We will likely do this again.

Maple Syruping

Learning About Maple Syrup in 2013

Technically, maple syrup adventures should come on Pancake Tuesday or before, but, since that did not happen for us this year, we will likely spend one Sabbath enjoying a maple syrup field trip, and, if I can dig it out, we will likely get silly reading and listening to Marsupial Sue Presents "The Runaway Pancake".

Pray, Fast and Give

Pray, Fast and Give Jars from 2010

We've been making Pray, Fast and Give jars for some years now, and the kids have already asked to make some this year.  So, it's in the weekend's plans - should the weekend work that way.

Nature Walks and Twig Crosses

Twig Crosses

Should the weather warm up and the iced over snow melt (or, perhaps, even if it doesn't), we may take our Lenten journey outside for a nature walk followed by three-cross crafting as we have in years past!

Sharing Lenten Love with Animal Friends

Sharing Lenten Love in 2013

Our yard happens to be the only one on our street that still has snow in it that has not melted.  Unfortunately, the snow that is out there is hard and crusty.  Still, we may head out one morning soon to leave a little Lenten love as a kindess to critters as we have in years past.

Stations of the Cross

One of Luke's 2013 Stations Sketches

I had a bad case of laryngitis today and was not feeling well enough to take the children to church for stations nor to read our favorite stations of the cross book The Story of the Cross: The Stations of the Cross for Children here at home.  So, it was YouTube to the rescue!  

As Lent continues, we may use any of the Stations of the Cross resources I rounded up before or some new ones, always keeping special needs in mind as we do.

Keeping Myself Listening with the Spirit Speak Section at the Top

And, as always, we may be finding our rhythm and letting Lent happen, all the while reminding ourselves to keep our hearts soft.   Between bugs, changes in work schedules, opportunities that arise, etc., we become rather arrhythmic at times, but even in our arrhythmmy (how's that for making up words), we can listen with love and service!  So far, the Lenten planner which I made (and shared freely as a printable!) is helping me.  It's not as filled in yet as it could be, yet the scripture at the top and the Spirit Speak box have been a daily reminder to pray and listen!

How have you been praying, fasting, giving and listening so far this Lent? 

You CAN Find Your Latent Housekeeping Prowess {A Motivated Moms Review}

What's a mom to do when sudden nausea and chills tell her she has caught her children's recent bug and yet her on her to-do list for the day is sharing about a new chore system she's been trying out?

If that mom is me - and it is - she forgoes getting up to find her camera to download further pictures to "pretty up" the post she wants to polish before publishing and simply trusts that folks will appreciate the "meat" of her honest thoughts and evaluation even if they come with only a few the "sides" of snapshots. 

For, right now, standing vertically brings on waves of "ick" and  "ick" is never good.  Thus, I  have decided that just like I have been appreciating the image-free, but well-thought, practical and focused lists of manageable tasks in the Motivated Moms Chore Planner I've been trying out, you might still appreciate the following review without additional household snapshots woven into it:



If you're anything like me, somewhere along the path of marriage, home ownership and children, any housekeeping skills you once thought you possessed got lost.

Do not be chagrined though.  You can rediscover whatever ability you once possessed to keep a reasonably clean home.  You can even uncover latent housekeeping prowess that you never knew was in you.

Or, that is what I keep telling myself.  And, with thanks to Motivated Moms I know I am not lying.

I can do it.  I am beginning to do it.  And, beginning is half the battle.    Keeping up with it is another part of the battle.  One I don't always meet with gusto, but am increasingly meeting with persistence with thanks to Motivated Moms.

Get Your Home Clean Despite Your Motivation to Do Other Things...

Six weeks or so ago, I was given the opportunity to try either Motivated Moms Ebooks or the Motivated Moms iOS App (with full year server access) in return for an honest review.  When I clicked over to the Motivated Moms website to read more about these home management systems, I knew without question that I wanted to do so.

As I read the About Us page at Motivated Moms, so much resonated with me.  I:

• struggle with balancing creative endeavors and keeping an orderly, clean home environment.
• could use a tried-and-true system for completing necessary chores without dedicating entire days to just housekeeping.
• appreciate help with prioritizing which housekeeping needs to tackle when.
• am comforted by the thought that housekeeping to-do's need not snowball into a massive catch-up list.
• relish the idea of easier home management.

So it was I signed on for the Motivated Moms review with high hopes that the chore planner would help me get (and keep!) my house clean despite the fact that I am so often motivated to do anything but clean.  Without question, I need help habitualizing housekeeping tasks so I don't simply overlook them as I dive into creative projects, independent contracts and, of course, living and learning alongside my children.

A Good Choice...

Motivated Moms comes in two main ways:

1. as an app for iPhones, iPads, iPod touches and Androids at $7.99 for a year
2. as a printable Motivated Moms Chore Planning System for $8

You can choose between the app version and the printed version.  Since I don;t have a "fancy phone", I chose the second option. 

As someone who wanted the printed version of Motivated Moms, I had 16 styles to choose from, which included:

• full and half-sized pages
• black-and-white or color pages
• page-per-day versions and weekly versions

This is what the half-day, color, "page-a-day" version looks like.

Since the page-per-day planners had appointment sections that did not match my usual appointment hours, and since I did not like the idea of printing out tons of pages, I went with a weekly planner like the sample page pictured below.

The version I chose looks like this, but not in color.  Being frugal, I wanted to save ink costs.  Black ink costs so much less than color ink on my printer.

I liked the idea of a weekly chore planner so that I could see an entire week's worth of tasks at a glance.  That way, if I happened to have extra time on a given day, I could buzz through more than one day's tasks.  Or, if I slacked on a certain day, the lack of checkmarks wouldn't taunt me so threateningly.  (There would be other checks to balance that day's checks off.)

I am glad I made the choice that I did.  For, admittedly, there were days when I tackled few of the listed tasks and other days when, while the kids played with one another or enjoyed online science lessons, I knocked off assigned tasks from several days at once.

So Is My House All Clean and Tidy Now?

To be honest, no.  It is not.  

Um, yes, that is a pile of Christmas stuff behind my sons' head that still needs to be sorted and put in the attic before Lent begins tomorrow.  Sad, but true.

But, small portions of it are better and I am more confident now than I was six weeks ago that the rest of it can follow suit. 

Here, our living room was living up to it's name by being lived in.  It may look a bit messy, but it was clean, manageable and livable when this photo was taken last month and has remained that way more often than not.  To explain the seeming mess and how it actually speaks or progress to me:  On the pink chair toward the top right of the picture are some books that the children and I plopped right into a book basket during a tidy time.  Underneath the table on the right are a stack of trays that the children use as work trays and a basket that the children's rolled work-and-play rugs go in when they are not in use, as they are in this snapshot.  Behind my daughter's head on the chair is a basket of laundry that was folded and ready to be put away when my husband was not in our bedroom sleeping after an odd work shift.  The floor was dust bunny free.

So, you see, housekeeping progress is happening in some rooms here, and I know that even if there are still piles falling over in one spot and dust bunnies multiplying in another, that, eventually, all such homekeeping failures will dissipate.  With the gentle prodding of the clean, simple Motivated Moms tasks lists, the uphill battle of conquering the mess in my home can not only be won, it can end.  

In fact, I dare say Motivated Moms has already done one key thing:  It has ended my war with housekeeping.  Truly, it has.  Since starting Motivated Moms, I have called a truce on the angst I usually feel when faced with the long list of obvious to do's that need to be done in my home a decluttered, clean and welcoming place.  Instead of feeling like I have fight, I have just begun to trust that by using Motivated Moms tried-and-true task lists as a guide, everything will become orderly and appealing in time.  In short, manageable and peaceful periods of focused housekeeping, positive habits are being built!

How I Have Used Motivate Moms

You know that old saying about a thing in motion staying in motion?  I have used Motivated Moms as a stimulus for momentum to help me stop regularly choosing to spend 10 minutes here and a half hour there on attending to homeschooling, work, volunteer or creative tasks that experience tells me will bring me success and happiness, and, instead, to buckle down and make some headway on the house.  I have also used it as a tickler to do tiny tasks I wouldn't think of that take mere minutes.

In more concrete terms:

• One day, I cleaned just the second shelf of my fridge while the children enjoyed a Science4Us.com lesson.  
• Another day I cleaned the bathroom mirrors by adding just a moment to my personal hygiene time in the bathroom.  
• Still another day I pulled dead leaves off the houseplants as my son read his siblings and me a story.

I also, of course, kept better track of which daily chores my husband, children and I tend to tackle with ease (dishes, putting laundry in and reading to my children), which ones some of us need reminders about (like making beds and clipping children's nails) and which ones we could definitely focus on more consistently (um, sweeping the kitchen and entryway and wiping out the bathroom sinks).  And, I tackled weekly, monthly and seasonal tasks with greater focus.

As a side bonus, my daughter must have noted my increased efforts over the past six weeks to make and keep things clean here.  For, on more than one occasion, she simply grabbed a spray bottle and rag and started spot cleaning walls and wiping door knobs (a habit we had let flag previous to beginning Motivated Moms.)  She also often came alongside me to help with chores before I asked her, too, becoming a champion of putting dishes and silverware away on some occasions.  Yep, there is something to be said about things being "caught" not "taught" and Motivated Moms has definitely helped at least one of my children "catch" the housekeeping momentum.

A Balanced View

Among the things I like about Motivated Moms are:

• Most tasks and chores are "small bite" ones.  
• Chores are written on on side and are things you should get done daily to maintain peace and cleanliness; tasks are written on the other side as a nudge in the right direction.  However, if a day gets too busy to complete all the tasks, you need not worry that you have to "catch up" on them on a later day.  The tasks actually recur within the planner to ensure they get attended to at some point or another.
• Chores and tasks highlight personal care and child care as well as household tasks.
• There are blank lines to write your own chores on.
• The lists are detailed and include things I might overlook, such as "Walk through home, notate and schedule repairs."
• Weekend tasks are ones that are not that manual, thereby encouraging a sabbath rest.

What I wish the printable version of Motivated Moms offered:

•  A way to edit the chore list.  Some of the chores on it are irrelevent to my family (like feeding pets) and some are not daily tasks for us, but weekly ones (like collecting the trash).  My inner Type A self does not like scratching these off or writing N/A over them and would rather they just not be there at all.  My get-it-done self has a hard time staying positive when seeing the blank check boxes next to these items even when I know why they are blank.
• More sensible (to me, at least) order in some of the tasks.  For example, putting plan menus the day after inventorying the fridge, not the day before.
• A five or six day option for tasks.  We try to keep a Sabbath.  Others I know try to free up one or both days of the weekend for family time and special projects.  Thus, the regular rotation of listed Sunday and Saturday tasks is easy to keep missing.
• Blank lines for tasks as well as chores.  It would be hard to customize the pre-printed tasks to meet a variety of people's needs, but having some pre-printed lines would be helpful for self-customization.

My Bottom Line

If you struggle with housekeeping and need a tried-and-true help for building momentum and habits, then Motivated Moms is worth checking out.  You can try a sample page of the printable version or try out a Lite version of the Motivated Moms app for free.  Or, if you are ready to just dive in, you can just pick the Motivated Moms product that best suits you.  Whatever you do, be confident.  If I can find my latent housekeeping prowess -- as I have started to do -- you can, too.  One small, well-defined, managable task at a time.  

You can also find Motivated Moms on Twitter and Facebook.