Ways To Keep Your Kids Occupied During A Whole Week At Home With Them

I get such mixed emotions when the kids are home for extended periods of time during the middle of the school year. Initially, I am SUPER excited cuz I really do enjoy my kids and I enjoy acting like a kid right along with them. I get excited to teach them and explore with them because i think that is what i do best: teach.... So i made a "Spring Break List Of Things To Do" for this week. I almost had to trim the list down as i was getting a bit too eager. So I'll post some fo the list, but before i do let me explain my 2nd emotion when ALL THREE OF MY CHILDREN are by my side FOR 12-14 HOURS A DAY FOR NINE DAYS STRAIGHT. Sometimes i feel drained and wonder why they just can't get along and i feel like a i can't keep my head above water drowning in the" Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Watch this. Mom. Can i? Mom. Mom. Will you? Mom. Mom. Why not? Mom. Mom. Ya, can't breathe sometimes. So far we are good.... ya, i know it's only Monday, but i am optimistic that my list will keep them interested in things and stimulated enough that boredom doesn't turn into Let's Drive Our Mother Crazy Week :)

WAYS TO TAP INTO YOUR INNER CHILD DURING SPRING BREAK

~ Do a 100 or more piece puzzle with your kids over the week. I actually bought kienan and mackenzie their own 100 piece puzzles to stay one step ahead of the bickering. They've both worked on them off and on since Sunday. We had a family 1000 piece puzzle over the summer that now hangs in our bathroom! Good memory.

~ Kienan's idea was to sell something "cool." Apparently, he needs to disclose that to me just in case i was about to act "uncool." Tomorrow since it's suppose to rain we're hoping it will just be cold so we can sell warm brownies and hot chocolate. Kienan wanted to throw in the warm milk also to go with the brownies.... he's that cool. Of course, part of the money we will donate somewhere and then the rest they can keep. So many lessons in this one: money of course (counting, sorting, identifying), entrepreneurship, marketing ideas (creating signs for the neighborhood which also includes art), philanthropy, patience, social skills (customer service), and being a part of our community.

~ Paint naked (with sunscreen) in the backyard. We did this today and used the baby pool water as our paintbrush water. The girls painted themselves and the paper.

~ Play in your Garden. Whoo-hooo! My favorite. YES, we have started planting and I HAVE BABY GRAPES. Kiera planted onions all over the yard yesterday cuz she thought the seeds looked like confetti and throwing them up in the air was waaaaay more fun then dropping them into the itty bitty holes mommy had made. The other two were more into the bugs. Just sitting for 10 minutes and we had 5 different kids of insects come past us. Kienan made a "Bug Barn." The Roly-Polys are every one's favorite. Just look under the things in your backyard that have not moved all winter. Guarantee you'll find something that wiggles :).

~Eat a bowl of ice cream with NO HANDS. Yep, we did it had the kids had fun plus it took longer to eat the ice cream :).

~ The library is always good to us. My kids really, really love to bring quarters for the Used Book Store. It's a tiny little room with 200 books or so and they choose and pay with their own money. Means something to them when they get to pay for it!

~ We made a list of "20 Reasons We Love Daddy" and taped it to the garage door as a surprise when he came home. Mackenzie and Kienan helped me make the list using all kinds of colored markers and then kenzie decorated it with her adorable art! (some of my ideas come from Magical Childhood Blog. She's fantastic!)

~ Use the Wingding font and make a Secret Code. I gave them their own Secret Code sheet with their own secret to figure out. For kienan i had 3 secrets to solve all leading to the next and eventually ice cream eating with no hands. Mackenzie's was simple and just said " I Love You."

~ Play in beans. Pros: all 3 kids played in the beans for 3 days. They poured them , laid in them, and made a game. Big SENSORY activity. CONS: BEANS EVERYWHERE!!!! I kept wondering why i was finding random beans throughout the house. As we went for a short walk i noticed the beans dropping out of kiera's diaper one at a time onto the sidewalk.... laughable moment! But seriously, they are literally EVERYWHERE inside and out. If you know Kyle, you can only imagine his opinion about Mommy's Wonderful Bean Activity. (side note: we are tiling the whole downstairs and the tiles are laid, but not grouted yet. Guess what keeps falling between the tiles?)

~Do a science experiment together. Vinegar and Baking Soda with a little Food Coloring will ooze and fizzle all over the place! Expect to get a reaction! There are tons of online resources for kids' science experiments with stuff you already have in your own kitchen!

~We are gunna attempt to play Restaurant. I told the kids they can pick the food and we will dress up and make menus and serve daddy. I have not completely put all this together yet, but it's Friday's activity so i have time.

~ Ride bikes, go to the skate park, go for walks or a hike, take a ride in the wagon, go to a park you've never visited, feed the ducks (good chance there will be ducklings), just be outdoors!

~ Sidewalk Chalk is just good stuff. I recently taught my kids the timeless sidewalk game hopscotch. Draw outlines of their bodies and let them draw the faces and clothes, play hangman or tic tac toe, write welcome messages on the driveway for a certain someone, practice name writing and so on.... The best way to keep them drawing for a long time is to join them :).

~ Bake together and deliver to a neighbor or friend or family member. We bake muffins and cookies and breads for people. I've even let my kids crack the eggs which has a 50% success rate, but who cares (just make sure to wash their hands right after handling raw eggs)!

~ Set up a bird feeder in the yard. We have hummingbird feeders and seed feeders. Today we added an orange rind and craisins to see if the birds will like something new. I hoping to make those pine cone peanut butter bird feeders this week. I have seeds and some other goodies to stick on there.

~ Stay up a little later and read some stories in the dark with a FLASHLIGHT! You can even play FLASHLIGHT tag in the dark. While you have it out, try some shadow puppets. This website shows you how to make all kinds!

That's all for now. Happy Spring, and Happy Easter and Happy Week With Your Offspring!

~MAKE MEMORIES!!!!!!~