Fun Things
My original intention in writing this was to share fun and new things we are doing around here. I am always encouraged and inspired when I hear of other moms' fun activities and often try to recreate them at our house.
This week my eldest and baby are both sick. Not too conducive to fun activities, but we did our best!
This week was the week of experiments for D. He was so interested when his big sister came home from school with a snow globe (made of an old baby food jar, glitter, beads, etc.) He begged me to recycle some of C's baby food jars for his own creation. And we did it! A little food coloring, an old bead bracelet that I took scissors to, an old wooden doll of my husbands, and a hot glue gun. 20 minutes later he had a beautiful (subjectively) snow globe of his own.
We also did a lot of ice/water experiments since it was nice outside. We used an old tuna can and filled it with water and placed it outside of our door. Every hour we would go check it to see how much ice had formed. We also brought a big baby food jar full of snow inside the house. D watched it melt and wondered why there was so little water when we put so much snow inside. I LOVE those little teaching moments with kids!
We also did painting. I started by having the kids paint paper bags. These bags are going to be their reusable grocery bags to help me at the grocery store. While D was finishing his, I went upstairs to put K down for a nap. I came down and found this:
What an artist. He's actually nude in this photo (before I cropped it) and yes, everything was painted. Even his toenails. His response when I walked downstairs? "What mom? Are you mad? Maybe you should go back upstairs and have some alone time with C" It was precious.
We also started a chore chart this week. What an amazing concept for me! Doing chores WITH the kids. I am not kidding, this was an enlightening week for me. Instead of fighting them, I included them. They loved it! K helped me: mop floors, wash tables, feed the dog, wash potatoes, and do the dishes. D also did his fair share of chores.
Each time they do their chores for the day without my reminders, they earn a star. Then the stars end up earning them little "treats". We practice counting every day (without any prompting from me) because they love counting their stars. They are engaged, and have a much healthier appreciation for my chore list. D just asked me this morning how I can have any energy after doing so many chores. Hah!
This week my eldest and baby are both sick. Not too conducive to fun activities, but we did our best!
This week was the week of experiments for D. He was so interested when his big sister came home from school with a snow globe (made of an old baby food jar, glitter, beads, etc.) He begged me to recycle some of C's baby food jars for his own creation. And we did it! A little food coloring, an old bead bracelet that I took scissors to, an old wooden doll of my husbands, and a hot glue gun. 20 minutes later he had a beautiful (subjectively) snow globe of his own.
We also did a lot of ice/water experiments since it was nice outside. We used an old tuna can and filled it with water and placed it outside of our door. Every hour we would go check it to see how much ice had formed. We also brought a big baby food jar full of snow inside the house. D watched it melt and wondered why there was so little water when we put so much snow inside. I LOVE those little teaching moments with kids!
We also did painting. I started by having the kids paint paper bags. These bags are going to be their reusable grocery bags to help me at the grocery store. While D was finishing his, I went upstairs to put K down for a nap. I came down and found this:
We also started a chore chart this week. What an amazing concept for me! Doing chores WITH the kids. I am not kidding, this was an enlightening week for me. Instead of fighting them, I included them. They loved it! K helped me: mop floors, wash tables, feed the dog, wash potatoes, and do the dishes. D also did his fair share of chores.
Each time they do their chores for the day without my reminders, they earn a star. Then the stars end up earning them little "treats". We practice counting every day (without any prompting from me) because they love counting their stars. They are engaged, and have a much healthier appreciation for my chore list. D just asked me this morning how I can have any energy after doing so many chores. Hah!
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