Keeping Busy

This was bound to be a long summer for all of us. Other than the scattered camping week, VBS, tennis lessons, a quick trip to PA, and a few weekends of company, we really didn't have anything BIG to look forward to. No vacations. I was worried what I'd be doing with four kids all summer long... one of whom was brand new to the family and didn't speak much English. :-)

At the end of the school year, I read online a bunch of people's idea for keeping kids busy all summer. I found several lists of dozens (even hundreds) of ideas. So, I created an index box full of cards with suggestions of things to do.... most of which do not require my involvement, especially with my two oldest. So, not always daily, but when I see the kids bored or fighting or getting on each other's nerves, I pull out the box. The rule is they can pick three random cards out and choose one. And yes, it's usually Ben and Reagan that do the picking out... Tommy and Grace just follow along.

So far, they've done several cards.

1. Some of the things they've chosen so far include making paper-bag puppets. Reagan made an astronaut and Ben made an alien. They began making a play for them too... but somehow that got sidetracked. Dang it... forgot to take a photo.

2. Another idea was to create a journal of the things they did this summer. Our Brownie troop was asked to do this too, so that jogged Reagan's memory and she rushed off to begin the journal. We even took a photo of her in the shirt she made at camp along with her hat full of SWAPS (her first entry was about Girl Scout camp).
3. Another recent card from the idea box had the kids draw their silhouettes on white kraft paper and decorate them to look like themselves. After I traced each kid in a silly pose, I then outlined the silhouette in black marker (washable marker doesn't bleed through like Sharpies) and added edges of clothing, bangs, etc. Then I taped each kids block of paper to the hardwood floors with painter's tape and let them at it with crayons. Grace colored her face green; Tommy colored his legs black; Ben made silly eyes and went fast; Reagan took her time and colored for well over an hour. Over the next couple of days, I cut out the designs and then hung them on the downstairs wall near their craft table and craft cupboard.
4. One day they spent hours creating their very own menu for their own restaurant. The idea was to decide what options they would include on a menu at a restaurant of their design. Not only did they make a menu, but Ben created a kids' menu complete with games and puzzles. Then the four kids spent awhile playing "restaurant". I threw this idea back in the box since they did so well with it. I think next time I'll challenge them to be very careful in the design of their menu and find foods for all sorts of people, not just kids. Maybe even a theme to their restaurant. Plus I forgot to take a photo!

5. This morning, Tommy and Reagan picked out the one to create a train track. The card said to make a big train track and use our wooden blocks to create buildings around the track. They raced off to the rec room to get started. It kept them busy for about an hour or two. The track looked great, but they must've run out of fuel by the time the construction of the buildings started. The huge box of wooden blocks was spilled everywhere, but no buildings. Oh well, they got half of it done, and Tommy (a Thomas train fanatic) was happy.

6. Another idea was to make puzzles. I allow the kids to then take photos of the completed puzzles. I started this idea last summer with them when it dawned on me that we had DOZENS of puzzles of all sorts of sizes, many boxes of which were never even opened. Taking the photos gives them a goal... try to collect as many photos of completed puzzles as possible. They did these three puzzles today after the train track. Reagan took these photos... she did a nice job of staging the photos with the puzzle boxes, too. Maybe a digital camera for Xmas is in her future... I may buy a $1.99 photo book for the photos at the end of summer too.


Hmmm.... what card will they pick out next? What does Mommy do while they work? Today I got 80% of the quilt book for Gracelynn completed. :-) What is the quilt book? Check out this.... 100 Good Wishes Quilt.

Daddy was also very busy. He installed a light between our closets in our bedroom (only took us 5 years to do that one... and the plate was there... just no light fixture.) He also fixed a lightswitch in our master bathroom that's been sparking! Yikes! At least Daddy fixed it! Now I get to go buy more lights to install in the halls to replace all the ugly brass cheapies in our house now. Right, Mike?!