We’ve had a very wet spring here in the Colorado Rockies. It’s rained and rained and snowed and rained. My boys love to be outside, no matter the weather. But when it’s hovering in the 40s and wet, it feels really cold to me, and even my two boys get chilled more quickly than usual.
That said, things go more smoothly in our house if everyone gets outside every day.… Continue reading
Something From Nothing is a book that we’ve read over and over and over again. In fact, we love it so much, that when we loaned it to our friends and they accidentally left it on an airplane, I had to go out and find another copy so we’d still have one to read (Thankfully they had a copy at our favorite used book store!).… Continue reading
We go through a lot of bubble solution in our house. It frequently gets knocked over or spills, my toddler dumps it, and we just all enjoy being outside making bubbles, so it gets used quickly. There’s something magical about watching bubbles fly about in the air, and we all love to partake. Buying bubble solution gets rather expensive, so we’ve been experimenting over the years with making our own.… Continue reading
My boys received a package of rocket balloons as a gift from a dear friend. These balloons launch fast and fly high. My boys love them.
We spent a beautiful afternoon outside learning about aerodynamics, the force of propulsion, using power to push an object forward, creating and controlling thrust, and what happens when air moves from a high pressure to a low pressure environment, all in a fun, hands-on manner.… Continue reading
My boys love to help out around the house. I think kids instinctively want to contribute to a family, and to love to engage in tasks where their efforts are valued. In order to encourage these sorts of behaviors, my husband and I try to have the boys work beside us whenever we can.
When I cook, I try to find simple tasks for my boys that are appropriate for their skill and coordination levels.… Continue reading
This afternoon my 6-year-old wanted to play hopscotch. So we all headed outside and proceeded to draw a hopscotch course on our patio. Once it was complete, my two boys and I all took turns hopping back and forth up and down the course. We did the course with one foot, with two feet, with all left foot jumps, with all right foot jumps, and even tried jumping through it backwards (though it was hard to avoid the lines that way).… Continue reading
My 6-year-old makes art almost every day (you can read about it HERE). He has open access to a wide array of project supplies, a space to work, and full creative control over his art experience. His making art on a daily basis generates a lot of art. So much art, that we specifically set time aside to declutter his completed art projects (you can read about it HERE).… Continue reading
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is a very simple, but wonderfully put together book. In this book, we meet Pete the Cat, a hip blue cat who loves his shoes. The illustrations reveal Pete to be a hipster-esque cat, who walks through life to the tune of his own internal groove.
As Pete takes a walk outside, he steps in all sorts of things: strawberries, blueberries, mud, and water.… Continue reading
Music gives a soul to the universe,
Wings to the mind,
Flight to the imagination…
And life to everything.
–Plato
My boys both love music. Every day we make music together. Most days we sing, making music with our voices. Today we decided to pull out our bin of instruments and use those to make music too.
We spread out all of the instruments on the ground, so we had a clear view of what was available, then everyone grabbed his instrument of choice and we all began to play.… Continue reading
We make a lot of art in our house. I keep a wide array of open-ended supplies available, and my boys have a space that they can work on their own projects (my toddler, with some help; my 6-year-old, mostly independently). While I frequently choose and set up supplies for my toddler, my older son has full creative control over his art experience, and he’ll help himself to whichever supplies will help him to bring his vision to fruition.… Continue reading