No Kindergarten Monday. No Kindergarten Thursday. Or Friday.
A pox on parent-teacher conference weeks!
Most of the time I'm more of a "go play outside!" mom than a "let's make macaroni reproductions of the Empire State Building!" mom. I may feel a bit guilty about that sometimes... but then I look at how well my kids entertain themselves and I decide I'm doing them a favor. I think unstructured time is vital and I think kids get less of it now than they did in past generations.
So while there will be plenty of "go play outside/with your legos/with your art supplies!" moments this week, I'd also like to have a few activities up my sleeve. For 'coolest mom ever' recognition, you understand.
What sorts of activities do you like to do with your kids? (or... your cool niece/nephew/student/babysitting charge/furbaby with opposable thumbs, for my gentle readers without children?)
I'll be back tomorrow with a stairwell update!
Sock puppets are a HUGE hit at my house! Yarn, googley eyes and a bandana hung over a hole in a box gets them all excited!!
ReplyDeleteLet's see... dredging back into the past when you were just a sproutling, I can remember these:
ReplyDelete-A box full of dress-ups is a time machine to transform ordinary afternoons into pirate ships and castles;
- old blankets and clothespins turn any room into an instant playhouse;
- the public library is an oasis of calm fascination for kids and their grown-ups;
- popcorn makes the house smell all cozy and
is perfect to eat while watching "The Electric Grandmother," which you can check out at the library.
LOVE the sock puppet idea! Buy some large, blunt-tipped needles and it will make sewing the parts on simpler. You could collect all the handpuppets in a box, too, and spend an afternoon making a stage for puppet shows out of cardboard boxes. (What Would Tasha Tudor Do?)
Occasionally we have marshmellow fights in the house. I have 3 boys and they love to throw things, so marshmellows fit perfectly. They also love to use the camcorder to make "movies" of themselves. There's really not much of a plot but more of just being funny.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog too!
Cindy
Mom... "The Electric Grandmother"??? Perish the thought. ;)
ReplyDeleteCindy, marshmallow fights sound like so much fun... we might have to try that, teehee!
There's this website 'Fotoflexer' where you can upload pics of kiddos and turn them into coloring pages to print. It can be hilarious. Also, I am a big fan of unstructured time. :)
ReplyDelete