I’ve been on a family devotions kick lately over at the children’s ministry website. 

We’ve been diggin our feet in the sand, picking blueberries at the farm, and making zoo animal cupcakes.  We’re baking bread, making rainbows of fruit, and tasting the difference that salt makes.  We’re also making lemonade “to make a stand for clean water.”

Check out some of the latest articles if you get a chance:)  Thanks!   

5 On- the – Go Family Devotions for Summertime

Cooking Up Family Devotions with your Kids

and

Family Service Project:  The Lemonade Stand

Enjoy:)

It was for painting, but her favorite canvas was definitely herself!

She LOVED this stuff!

It created an afternoon of spontaneous running, swimming, and more painting!

Clearly The Little Man wasn’t as sold on the medium.  He wanted nothing to do with such antics!  But overall a fantastic afternoon for less than a dollar:)

These were Selah’s handmade Valentine cards to her friends this year.  We found the idea from the Family Fun magazine and loved it immediately!  It was such a nice project to work on together.  I made patterns for each of the hearts and leaves.  She traced and cut.  I hole punched.  She assembled.  What a team:) 

Here is the proud artist, herself, eating paper and dazed from her hard work.

Here is the proud sneaky brother, who managed to secure himself one too many pops on the sly.  We were in the same room and every time I looked over, he was playing with cars, reading books, and slamming baskets.  Little did I know…

He was sneaking these away while we were working.  He had his back turned for a reason, that Little Man!  Those little teeth are so going to rot over these Valentines!

But they are so cute and unique.  Maybe it’s worth a cavity or two:)

We did these activities over the course of a week and a half.  A couple every day and in some cases (Freeze Dance) tons of repeats. 

The biggest thing that I’m learning is to be intentional about time with our kids.  I know all of this stuff seems overboard/ridiculous, but if I don’t plan activities, I’ll spend my time with them organizing drawers and scrubbing spots out of the much neglected carpet.  I’d rather play.  Plus, they are growing out of their jeans, which makes me want to cry. 

Here are some art projects, games, food, and science projects you can do with preschoolers – whether in a classroom or with your own little tykes at home.  Whatever you do or don’t do, just be intentional:)

GAMES:

Penguin Waddle Race:  Have kids hold a ball between their knees and race each other.  Balancing the ball is a riot and will make them waddle. 

The Penguin Freeze Dance:  Put a winter hat on with some music and dance!  When the music starts, dance!  When it stops, freeze!  Of course, you’ll have to join in and show them how to move!
Adaptation:  Have floating pieces of ice scattered around the room (pillows).  When the music stops, have the penguins find a piece of ice to stand on.

Emperor Penguin Says:  Play the traditional game Simon Says, substituting “Emperor Penguin” for “Simon.”

Penguin Sledding:  If snow is available, have your penguins slide on their bellies down small inclines on sleds. 

ART PROJECTS:

Heart Penguin:  Make a penguin out of various sizes of hearts.  (See photograph below.) 

Recycled Art – Penguins:  Use whatever you have in your recycling bin to make a penguin.  You will need a bottle, black and white paper, orange foam (or paper works too), glue or tape, and google eyes.

Penguin Pointillism:  Draw an outline of a penguin or the letter “P.”  With a Q-tip and some black, white, and orange paint, have your little ones color the penguin or “P” with paint dots.

SCIENCE PROJECT:

Freeze water in a pan.  Have children predict what will slide on the ice:  cotton balls, dry beans, balls, whatever you have on hand.  Test out your predictions.

PENGUIN FOOD:

Fish Sticks and Macaroni (for the Macaroni Penguin of course!)

PENGUIN MATH:

Preschoolers have a hard time with one to one correspondence.  The more counting activities you can do the better!  We had bowls of goldfish and estimated how many were in our bowl.  (Preschool estimates are the best – 145 and 482.  There were about 10-20 some!) 

READING: 

There are plenty of penguin books at the library.  Our favorite was Augustine.  So cute!  As in our Snow Day, we threw a white sheet over the table and read books underneath, creating an igloo. 

I adore reading quality children’s literature to them and living it out
OR
just having fun with it.

Like reading

If You Give a Pig a Pancake – and whipping up syrupy pancakes
The Napping House – and taking a snooze
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed – and getting some good air
The Doorbell Rang – and making cookies to share
The Grouchy Ladybug – and painting rocks to look like ladybugs

Today we read Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert. Selah especially adored this book; Adden, not so much. But they both loved getting dirt underneath their fingernails and planting some seeds. Adden, well, he REALLY loved the dirt. Digging it, tasting it, throwing it up in the air. The child is in desperate need of a bath. We all are, but I diverge.

To be quite honest, I have my doubts that anything will grow. I’m not even sure why I attempted planting anything, knowing that I can’t keep already vibrant plants alive. But for the kids’ sake, I’m praying that something – anything – will sprout up. Even if it’s just a weed, they’re going to be psyched. And I will think that I’m a budding horticulturalist.

If you’re a parent, what are some of your kids’ favorite books?
And how have you linked literature to life?
I’m always on the prowl for good ideas. Thanks!

Selah and I had a mommy and me night, which was much needed after a day with a sad little Mr. Adden. The poor guy has been under the weather of late and I’m pretty sure he cried straight for about 3 hours today. I could not muster one smile out of him with any amount of parachute time, ball games, singing, or even yummies.

So it was pure delight to hear Selah giggle her way through the show. She was pretty patient today – cutting paper, coloring, and dressing her babies while I tried to make Adden not scream. During the show, she sat on the edge of her seat with big eyes and a bigger smile. She kept glancing over at me with this kind of expression like, “Is this for real?” We topped the evening off with lots of pancakes, butter, and syrup with Paul and Adden.

The night couldn’t have been sweeter…

A Pink Breakfast with Mimi and Papa

A Princess Lunch with Grandma, Grandpap, Daddy, Aunt Ashley, and Kayden

Blowing Out the Candles at the Party

Snow White and the Princesses

Waking up to a room of pink balloons (thank you, Court!)…

A sleepover with Mimi and Papa…

Celebrating with family and ice cream sundaes and princess crowns…

Princess party with Snow White… (thanks to Sarah!)

Sifting through sand for “jewels” (loved the history of this game from late 1800’s in Newport)…

Dressing up in gowns with all her friends…

Great looking princess cake (not so great taste)…

All in all, quite the princessy celebration for a girl we said would never wear pink. At least her only birthday request was a Steelers jersey? (Um, a pink one.) Even Paul wore pink in her honor. Now that’s a dad head over heels for his little girl.