Plenty of family activities only take 5 minutes

What can you do in 5 minutes? Anything constructive?

My friend's mom had her doubts about it as a young girl growing up in Oregon. One day she acted bored and fidgety while waiting for her dad to get ready to take her somewhere. He suggested that she do something constructive while she waited. She told him that a few minutes wasn't time enough to get anything done.

Right then they jumped in the car and he drove her to a little house at the end of a streetcar line. It had a stunning garden, full of beautiful flowers. My friend's mom was amazed.

Her dad told her the little house belonged to a streetcar operator. Each time the streetcar reached the end of the line where the house was located, the operator would hop off and tend his garden for the 5 minutes he had before he had to hop back on and begin the streetcar's run in the opposite direction. Her father said to her, "Look what the man has accomplished by making good use of the few minutes he had each time the streetcar stopped."

It was a lesson to remember.

You might want to sit around the breakfast table with your kids today and think of the things you can do together that take about five minutes, then make a list to refer to when you are looking for a quick activity to share. If you happen to lose track of time, remember that in family life there doesn't have to be a clock or a finish line.

Here are ideas to make 5 minutes in your busy days count:

• Pick a chore and finish it together. For example, fold towels from the dryer, wipe down kitchen counters, empty garbage from all the trash cans in the house, dust picture frames, take out junk from the car or wash bicycle water bottles.

• Floss your teeth

• Write a thank-you note

• Whistle

• Play a song on an instrument

• Recite the alphabet backward

• Practice times tables

• Shine a pair of shoes

• Fill a birdfeeder, wash a dog bowl or clean out the kitty litter box

• Grab a pen and paper and play tic-tac-toe.

• Read a picture book with a preschooler

• Tell recollections of a special event in your children's lives

• Put together a to-do list for tomorrow

• Delete emails, photos and messages from electronic devices

• At bedtime, tell a story from your childhood about a time when you misbehaved. Kids like to hear how you got out of a jam. Don't be surprised if they want to hear it over and over again.

Donna Erickson's award-winning series "Donna's Day" is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit donnasday.com and link to the new Donna's Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is "Donna Erickson's Fabulous Funstuff for Families."(c) 2016 Donna Erickson. Distributed by King Features Synd.