We do a mix of planned and unplanned activities.
This past week we have-
Gone on a walk around the neighborhood where we found pinecones. We took them home and covered them with peanut butter and birdseed and hung them out for the squirrels and birds. This was by far the favorite activity of the week. We watched while a squirrel took 3 pinecones and hid them around the yard.
Played outside a lot.
Painting- finger painted oceans. Then we glued sand and shells to the ocean. Then we glued paper sea creatures in our ocean. We also finger painted with red and white to make various shades of pink. Then I cut the pages into hearts to hang all over the kitchen.
Valentines- the kids sponge painted cards. My dd (4) signed her name to them. My son (2.5) stamped his name on one card then got tired of stamping
We put them in envelopes and my dd put the stamps on and mailed them.
Sand play- I have a large sterilite container filled with sand and shells. The kids added their little plastic sea creatures to the box and played for almost an hour.
Cooking- the kids made meatloaf cupcakes for the family for dinner. They did all of the pouring and mixing and they filled with cupcake cups with the meat.
Washing dishes- dd washed dishes, ds washed his plastic animals.
We do a preschool homeschool group once a week (we just started, so we've only done one week so far). This month is ocean themed. So last week in our group we did some ocean themed yoga and then played with playdough, sand, and ocean animals. This week we will do some more yoga, play a game with a large blue sheet (the ocean) and some inflateable sea creatures (think parachute- we will all hold the sheet and bounce the creatures in the sea), and do some sand art. My kids love theme months. We get tons of library books out on the topic. I have a table in the living room where I put the basket of books and some themed items. This month I have a glass bowl of shells and some magnefying glasses. The sensory box is filled with sand and shells. Later in the month I'll add some salt water, but I don't want to make a giant mess of the sand until we are almost through with ocean month.
Beading- both kids love beads. We did valentine themed bracelets. We will do ocean themed this week. They also pull out their beads often and make non themed creations too.
dd has been using her notebook to practice letters lately. ds watches her intently. He's getting a notebook of his own for Valentine's day tomorrow am.
dress up- we bought a garment rack this week and hung all of the dress up clothes in the playroom where the kids can see/reach them. dress up has been very popular since we did this.
a few little transferring activities- marbles from bowl to bowl with a mellon baller, rocks and shells from dish to dish with tongs, feathers with tweezers, pompoms into an egg plate with tongs, etc. The kids really like this and will play with it for a while- first transferring then pretending it's food, etc.
It seems like a lot when it's written down, but honestly, each activity doesn't last long. The longest we spent on anything was an hour with the sand play.
As for messes- I've decided that I don't care about messes. We love love love glitter. My kitchen floor was covered in birdseed on Thursday, and my kids were covered in pb and birdseed. The floor was covered in sand on Friday. It doesn't take much to clean it, but the kids really enjoy the making of the mess. I do leave them alone to create too. But mostly because I want a few minutes to myself every now and then.
This past week we have-
Gone on a walk around the neighborhood where we found pinecones. We took them home and covered them with peanut butter and birdseed and hung them out for the squirrels and birds. This was by far the favorite activity of the week. We watched while a squirrel took 3 pinecones and hid them around the yard.
Played outside a lot.
Painting- finger painted oceans. Then we glued sand and shells to the ocean. Then we glued paper sea creatures in our ocean. We also finger painted with red and white to make various shades of pink. Then I cut the pages into hearts to hang all over the kitchen.
Valentines- the kids sponge painted cards. My dd (4) signed her name to them. My son (2.5) stamped his name on one card then got tired of stamping
We put them in envelopes and my dd put the stamps on and mailed them.Sand play- I have a large sterilite container filled with sand and shells. The kids added their little plastic sea creatures to the box and played for almost an hour.
Cooking- the kids made meatloaf cupcakes for the family for dinner. They did all of the pouring and mixing and they filled with cupcake cups with the meat.
Washing dishes- dd washed dishes, ds washed his plastic animals.
We do a preschool homeschool group once a week (we just started, so we've only done one week so far). This month is ocean themed. So last week in our group we did some ocean themed yoga and then played with playdough, sand, and ocean animals. This week we will do some more yoga, play a game with a large blue sheet (the ocean) and some inflateable sea creatures (think parachute- we will all hold the sheet and bounce the creatures in the sea), and do some sand art. My kids love theme months. We get tons of library books out on the topic. I have a table in the living room where I put the basket of books and some themed items. This month I have a glass bowl of shells and some magnefying glasses. The sensory box is filled with sand and shells. Later in the month I'll add some salt water, but I don't want to make a giant mess of the sand until we are almost through with ocean month.
Beading- both kids love beads. We did valentine themed bracelets. We will do ocean themed this week. They also pull out their beads often and make non themed creations too.
dd has been using her notebook to practice letters lately. ds watches her intently. He's getting a notebook of his own for Valentine's day tomorrow am.
dress up- we bought a garment rack this week and hung all of the dress up clothes in the playroom where the kids can see/reach them. dress up has been very popular since we did this.
a few little transferring activities- marbles from bowl to bowl with a mellon baller, rocks and shells from dish to dish with tongs, feathers with tweezers, pompoms into an egg plate with tongs, etc. The kids really like this and will play with it for a while- first transferring then pretending it's food, etc.
It seems like a lot when it's written down, but honestly, each activity doesn't last long. The longest we spent on anything was an hour with the sand play.
As for messes- I've decided that I don't care about messes. We love love love glitter. My kitchen floor was covered in birdseed on Thursday, and my kids were covered in pb and birdseed. The floor was covered in sand on Friday. It doesn't take much to clean it, but the kids really enjoy the making of the mess. I do leave them alone to create too. But mostly because I want a few minutes to myself every now and then.
That sums me up in a nutshell as well including the DD who HATES being taught.
Everything else is normal life, cooking, art projects, imaginative play, going to the park... Even trying to expose her to Spanish fits into "normal life" for us, b/c it's a family value, family heritage thing, and not at all structured.
With as many acres as you have to enjoy, I doubt you have to do much to keep life interesting!
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