After school my kids decided they wanted to clean using wipes, uh sure! I gave them each a wipe and they cleaned the stroller, bikes, scooters, basically anything they could get their hands on. We have done this before with a bucket of soapy water and rags, but since it was slightly chilly we stuck with the wipes. Sometimes I forget how they love to help and serve and be useful too. What an awesome way to show their appreciation, as moms we don’t always recognize it! Here is a look.
Today we got to plant some of our seeds for our garden! I am really excited about our garden this year as we have lots of space to make it large. I decided to keep track of what we planted we’d decorate rocks and write the name of each plant on it. My kids really got into it! They enjoyed being able to spell the words on their own, choose their marker color, and make it their own. We just used Sharpies..quick and simple, and now I will know what is growing in my garden.
My son is just slightly obsessed with basketball. To entertain him, as well as our whole family, we made up a game to play with our hoop. We drew circles around our driveway (and then across the street) and wrote numbers inside the circle to show how much each one is worth. The closer the circle, the least amount of points. It was lots of fun. I started with numbers 1, 5, and 10. Isaiah added ones worth 30 and 90 points! It is a great way to practice basketball skills as well as addition. Love it! Here is a look.
Today my kids discovered water draining down the road by our driveway and we decided to turn it into a fun project. Here are some fun water ideas that we did.
* We brought out our water bottles and a bucket to refill them and slowly added more water to the stream to see how far it would go…they loved making it grow!
* We tried to float some of our bath toys in it but it wasn’t deep enough.
* We build dams out of different things to see which would hold the water the best. Some things we tried were sticks, leaves, and rocks.
*We studied it the next day to discover most of it was gone!
* Splashed it it, of course!
* We also made a big pond, as we called it, and measured the water.
* We raced the water we poured in the stream down the hill.
* We also made handprints by getting our hands wet and slapping them on the ground!
* Add food coloring and see the water turn colors.
It was a fun way to experience the good outdoors without too much exercise for my sweet daughter. I love the times when my kids are just creative and invent new games and ways to explore!
We have been loving the weather! Spring is here and it feels great. Here is something my kids and I have enjoyed doing together over spring break. Draw several squares with sidewalk chalk joined together and number them (we did 1-12). Inside each square write a number as well as an activity. Have your kids roll the dice and do what numbers add up to (mini math lesson!!!). Our kids really enjoyed the suspense of waiting to see what is rolled and playing some games we haven’t played in awhile. Here are some ideas for what to put in the squares.
1. Play Duck Duck Goose
2. Play a round of croquet or ladder golf
3. Paint rocks
4. Trace your body with sidewalk chalk and label the parts.
5. Take a family bike ride
6. Eat popsicles
7. Play 4-Square
8. Look for signs of spring
9. Play hide and seek or tag
10. Play a basketball game
11. Roller skate
12. Relay races
My kids were off of school for a few extra days (yeah!!) so we came up with some new fun games. Here is a look at a game that requires no preparation, you just need a deck of cards and a hat (or bowl). I gave each my kids half the deck and had them stand back and see how many cards they could get it. Lots of fun! My daughter got frustrated since she couldn’t get many in so we let her move up. You could also make it learning by having the kids add up the number cards inside the hat and outside the hat (or even simpler just count the cards). Easy and fun! Happy Playing!
This is a really fun snack idea I saw this idea on pinterest and thought we’d do it since it has been snowy and cold here lately. You need: Tortillas, oven, butter, cinnamon and sugar, and scissors. Simply give the kids a tortilla and scissors an have them cut it like a snowflake. Brush it with butter and cinnamon and sugar and bake at 350 for 5 minutes or so! Super yummy!
My daughter is such an animal lover! Today we decided to make bird feeders. It was quite simple and loads of fun! We poured water into muffin tins. Added bird seed and a piece of string. We set them outside to turn to ice, and hung them in the tree! Very fast and easy, she got to do the whole thing. She got a bird book and binoculars for Christmas so this is a great opportunity to wait for birds to come and see what kinds our feeders attract!