Waiting for Spring

Spring is almost here!

Jumping in puddles, insects, fresh spring buds on trees and flowers. The anticipation after a long winter is almost unbearable, but here are a few spring activities to get us into the mood for a change of season.

1. Puddle jumping

Every spring when the snow begins to melt, one of the first things we do is find puddles. We really enjoy cracking the layer of ice that formed on the top of puddles when it's still just cold enough to freeze the top layer.
It's so neat to see the water moving under the ice.

2. Looking for new Buds

When the weather turns warmer, we always check out the branches of trees and bushes we pass by. Once the new Buds start appearing, we know the world will soon be changing from white and grey to green, Brown and every other beautiful colour of the rainbow.

3. Hunting for Insects

I'm not  too into this one. I still find insects creepy (yes even the pretty ones). However, we always seem to start gathering different types as they emerge from a winter sleep (or hatch, change etc).

This year we are planning an ant farm, to see how they act together.

4. Starting a Vegetable Garden

Every year around this time, we begin our indoor planting. We start the tomato and cucumbers inside early. This year we are adding pumpkins and zucchini, so there will be other indoor starters this year.

5. Spring Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are always fun, but as spring arrives, there are many new and interesting things to find, letting us know spring is finally here.

We love celebrating the beginning of every new season with some seasonal activities to get us in the mood for the upcoming season.

What kinda of activities do you do to bring in spring?

Let us know and we will try them out.

Peace, joy and love until next time.

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Monday Madness

Do you ever feel like Garfield, and just wish Monday's wouldn't arrive? Or that sleeping through them would just feel oh so great, and you could wake up Tuesday fresh as summer rain?

Even though we homeschool, sometimes Monday's can be crazy! What better way to deal with a crazy day than to have a dance party complete with a karaoke machine?

Several months ago (when it was still snowy) we acquired a karaoke machine. Although we haven't used it for its intended purpose, we often put on music we love, grab a microphone and start singing. Usually, one or 2 of us put on a song performance while the others dance away until we're out of breath.
Then the next person takes over singing and the dancing continues until we're all tired and happy.

Sometimes we make up games with a pair of dice, (or just one) where each number represents a new dance move or action.

Here are a few moves we use when we roll the die:

Roll 1 and clap your hands once

Roll 2 and hop on one foot two times

Roll 3 and wave your hands while spinning 3 times

Roll 4 and do 4 popcorn kernel jumps (scrunch down into a ball and jump up from that position, opening arms and legs as though you're exploding)

Roll 5 and do 5 robot moves

Roll 6 and spin on your bum 6 times

Whether you make  up your own moves, play freeze dance ( where everyone freezes when the music stops) or follow along to someone else's moves dancing is a great way to let off some steam and brighten up any morning.

Peace and love.

Science Fun: Fun with Water

I really enjoy doing science experiments with my kids, whether playing with chemicals, like baking soda and vinegar, or pulling apart a plant to see how it's put together. We own a wide array of science and 'magic' books, most of them older and using items we can usually find at home.

One experiment we tried that was quite fun, fast and simple to do using items we can easily find around the house.

WHAT WE USED:
plastic zipper style bag
Water
Sharpened pencil crayons

What We Did:
We carefully filled the bag with water and closed the top. I asked the children what they thought would happen if we pushed the pencils through the water filled bag. Will it leak, or will the water stay in?
They both thought it would leak all over. So we stayed over the sink while they each took turns pushing pencils through the plastic bag. It didn't leak! The children were amazed, and we proceeded to fill more bags and poke them with pencils.

Of course water play wouldn't be complete without actually letting the water go, so we pulled the pencils out and watched the fountains of water flow out of the bag.

We all enjoyed learning why it doesn't leak when you push the pencils through, but will once the holes are unplugged.

How It Actually Works:
When you push the pencils through the plastic bag, usually made from a polymer plastic called low density polyethylene. The bag pulls itself against the pencils, creating a type of seal. When the pencils are pulled out, the plastic cannot go back together, so the holes remain, and the water leaks out.

How do you play with science in your home? This is one simple experiment almost anyone can try out.

Peace and love.

Outdoor activities to try this summer

Tug of war

I've made it a personal family goal to allow my kids the freedom this summer similar to what I had growing up. And along with that, I decided to create a list of games from my childhood I'd like to teach to them, so they can play the games with their friends we enjoyed as children.

1.red rover

Remember this game? We all stood in rows facing each other, arms linked and yelled out "red rover red rover send  (whoever) over. They'd run full speed into a set of arms they thought was the weakest link. If the got through they picked one for the other side. If they didn't they stayed with the opposing team.

2. Mother may I

Mother may I

Another oldie but goodie. Grab a bunch of kids, line all but one up at the starting line and one stands a few meters away, as mother or father. Each child asks one at a time if they may take steps forward. Mother or father replies with a yes you may, or a no you may not. Mother or father may choose something else or keep them in place. Whoever reaches mother first becomes the new mother (or father,)

3. What time is it, mr. Wolf?

Similar to mother may I, but with a twist. Instead of asking to move forward, the group of moving children ask "what time is it mr.wolf?" The wolf proceeds to say a time, and the children move forward that many steps, big or small. But beware! When mr. Wolf yells it's lunchtime better get back to the start before wolf tags you or you're out for the round.

4. Tag

Pick a version, whether it's freeze tag, grounders or just tag! You're it, this game can be a lot of fun. To keep it fair, I'd try to keep littler ones together and bigger ones together, but as a large group or separated into sizes there's sure to be a version to suit everyone.

5. Red light/green light

A great way to learn following directions. The traffic light faces a group of children as a red light. When he or she turns their back they yell green light. The other children try to reach the traffic light as fast as they can before they turn and yell red light. The movers FREEZE in place and if the traffic light catches s movement sends the offenders to the starting line. The first one to reach the traffic light becomes the traffic light.


6. Musical chairs

Grab some chairs or cushions, make a circle with them, put on music and start walking or dancing around the chairs. Make sure there's one less chair than people. When the music stops, everyone scramble for a chair. Whoever doesn't have one sits out until the next round.

7. Telephone

This one was always fun! Will the message last until the end or will it change into something hilarious? Sit in a circle. One person begins by whispering a message into the ear of whoever is next to them. Keep passing the message until it reaches the last person. They say the message out loud and whoever started it says whether it was correct or not. Sometimes this can get pretty funny.

8. Picnics

Grab a blanket, throw together some sandwiches and drinks and head outside. Picnics can be held anywhere from the living room floor on a rainy day to a park complete with fire pits and anything in between. Don't worry if you can't go far, picnics are a blast anywhere you have them.


I'm positive that while I play these games with them, My mind will go back to memories I had as a kid playing until our parents hollered, all the while making new memories to share with my children as they grow.

Getting outside

Although we all want our kids to go get out and play, with many of today's lifestyles we can't always bring our kids to the park, and apartment living in cities leaves us with no back yard to let our kids run around in.

We have been lucky, we moved into a house with a huge yard, a park across the street and lots of kids. Trying to drive down the street on a weekend could prove dangerous, as the kids playing on roller blades and bikes, enjoying games of street hockey, catch, foot races and running from house to house fill the bay. The kids take over and the neighborhood is filled with sounds of children at play.

They run around like we did in the 80's, parents peeking out windows while cooking, or sitting on the front steps watching from not too far away, but far enough to just let them go.

It's hard to do at first, but when the other children come knocking at the door to play earlyin the morning, and your kids beg to go play with their friends, how can you say no?

The days I remember most from my childhood summers are the days I was out from before lunch, when I was so busy getting into different games and types of play with my friends I barely stopped to eat. The freedom of hopping onto my bike and roaming the neighborhood, catching frogs with my best friend in the ditch beside her house and the best, going away to the country for weeks and just getting lost in my imaginary worlds.

I want my kids to experience a similar world. One without parents hovering always, but still close enough to call over to look at some new trick they learned, or a new insect they discovered.
I want the scraped knees, the tree climbing, the mud, the bare feet and the looks of joy from my children as they learn, with freedom to play and love to grow on.

Check back for some summer activity fun as the days go on.
Peace and love.