Today I took the kids on a treasure hunt!
We drove to a local flea market that's only open Saturday and Sunday. As we drove there, I laid out the ground rules:
1. Each kid gets $5
2. They have to find a "treasure" using their money
3. They can't get it if it's more than $5
4. They can only get one thing unless it's something that goes together
5. If they spend less than $5, they don't get change
I said at the end they could compare treasures. I said we weren't judging to see who had the best, but they each should find something they liked.
The flea market wasn't crowded because it had rained earlier in the day, which was a nice bonus.
My littlest one found his "treasure" first-a table of toys had several Star Wars action figures. He got an Emperor and what the kids say is a "pirate" from Star Wars. (I don't know the character.)
Next oldest son found a Magic 8 ball, which he loved. The words are a little unclear, so maybe it's an old one.
My daughter had the hardest time finding something. At 6 she's a budding photographer. She had seen some old cameras on a table and was looking at them, but we moved on. She looked at lots of toys without finding anything she liked. She said she wanted to go back to the cameras. I warned her some old cameras are expensive, but she insisted. Well, it turns out she got an Argus A-Four 35 mm camera for $4.
So, the "treasure" hunt was a success because they were all happy with their finds! You could do the same thing at a yard sale or flea market. And if $5 per kid is too expensive, challenge them and make it $1 or $2 per kid.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
When Will it End?
No matter how laid back or busy you are over the summer, you (as a mom) reach the point where you ask yourself, "When will it end?"
You start wondering, how many days until the kids go back to school?
I started thinking that this weekend! So, here's the math:
They have 19 days off in June, 31 days off in July, 31 days off in August and 1 day off in September.
We've gotten through 19 days in June and 18 days in July-37 days done!
We still have 13 days in July, 31 days in August and 1 day in September-45 days to go!
The magic half-way point for our summer vacation is Monday, July 27!
Now that I did the math and figured it out, I'm happy, because on that magic half-way point day, we'll be at the shore! What a great place to tell the kids, "Guess what? Your summer vacation is half over!"
I think they'll actually be happy. We've done a lot this summer, and I think they're tired. But they know there are still a lot of fun things in store: swim lessons, a trip to Disney World, trips to the pool, and just hanging out.
I hope letting them know it's the half-way point will re-energize them and relax them. They can look at how much they've done and know they've had fun, and know that there's still time for more fun.
They don't need to know that, sometimes as a mom, I'm counting down the days because I want them to be occupied all day in school. They can figure the reason I'm counting is because I want to spend as much time with them as I can making memories of the Summer of 2009! And 99% of the time, that is really the reason!
You start wondering, how many days until the kids go back to school?
I started thinking that this weekend! So, here's the math:
They have 19 days off in June, 31 days off in July, 31 days off in August and 1 day off in September.
We've gotten through 19 days in June and 18 days in July-37 days done!
We still have 13 days in July, 31 days in August and 1 day in September-45 days to go!
The magic half-way point for our summer vacation is Monday, July 27!
Now that I did the math and figured it out, I'm happy, because on that magic half-way point day, we'll be at the shore! What a great place to tell the kids, "Guess what? Your summer vacation is half over!"
I think they'll actually be happy. We've done a lot this summer, and I think they're tired. But they know there are still a lot of fun things in store: swim lessons, a trip to Disney World, trips to the pool, and just hanging out.
I hope letting them know it's the half-way point will re-energize them and relax them. They can look at how much they've done and know they've had fun, and know that there's still time for more fun.
They don't need to know that, sometimes as a mom, I'm counting down the days because I want them to be occupied all day in school. They can figure the reason I'm counting is because I want to spend as much time with them as I can making memories of the Summer of 2009! And 99% of the time, that is really the reason!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Rubber band Ball
I decided to do a craft with the kids today. When I made the craft list yesterday, I knew right away they'd love to make the rubber band ball. So after lunch we drove to WalMart to buy the rubber bands.
Since the kids are little, I "cheated" and we started the balls with a sheet of rolled up newspaper.It just took one half sheet, rolled up tight into a ball shape. We started with the smaller rubber bands first, saving the larger ones for the outside when the ball got bigger.
The basic craft is so easy, even my 4-year-old could put them on by himself. And he was very happy to be able to do the same craft the bigger kids were making.
I bought each kids two bags each with 100 multicolored rubber bands. They ended up only putting on half a bag themselves, and asked me to finish the first bag for them. I was able to double wrap the large rubber bands to make the ball tighter.
To be able to tell each kid's rubber band ball apart, I kept out most of one color until the outside, so they'd have not a solid color outside but mostly one color. (To make a solid color ball, buy several bags and separate the colors; then each kid could make a solid colored ball.
The end result was a baseball size ball that's solid enough it would hurt if the kids threw it at anyone, much like a baseball.
Since the kids are little, I "cheated" and we started the balls with a sheet of rolled up newspaper.It just took one half sheet, rolled up tight into a ball shape. We started with the smaller rubber bands first, saving the larger ones for the outside when the ball got bigger.
The basic craft is so easy, even my 4-year-old could put them on by himself. And he was very happy to be able to do the same craft the bigger kids were making.
I bought each kids two bags each with 100 multicolored rubber bands. They ended up only putting on half a bag themselves, and asked me to finish the first bag for them. I was able to double wrap the large rubber bands to make the ball tighter.
To be able to tell each kid's rubber band ball apart, I kept out most of one color until the outside, so they'd have not a solid color outside but mostly one color. (To make a solid color ball, buy several bags and separate the colors; then each kid could make a solid colored ball.
The end result was a baseball size ball that's solid enough it would hurt if the kids threw it at anyone, much like a baseball.
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