Let’s get creative!

This year I wanted to do more creative, fun activities with the kids during school. I always mean for us to do art projects but we never quite get there so I’ve pulled the art supplies down to arms reach and I get to watch the kids invent and create without my hovering. It’s fun to see David get involved as well. He wants to be a Big Boy and jumps at any chance to join us. Unfortunately his staying power hasn’t quite matured so I involve him when he’s interested and I let him run off when he ready to build Lego soldiers instead of letting me read to him.

My absolute favorite is watching the kids paint. I love watching how careful and precise they are when they choose their paint colors. I also love watching them get carried away and see how they change colors by mixing and swirling several together. The organizational freak in me LOVES to see the bright colors in the paint trays.

One of the problems with being a freak about organization is that I like control and getting organized is really about gaining control. So, how do I stay in control when I have two tiny kids running around my house. Well like I said, I try to include David and Laurelyn whenever I can. I also try not to get too bent out of shape when things might take a little longer or if I have to set them up with a Dora video while I tackle the harder subjects like math. I hate when the TV is on but that’s what you do when the focus needs to be on the older kids. It’s what I do anyway. If you have better ideas, let me know!

Something else that I want to do more of is taking field trips. The other day we took the kids to the Whyte Museum in Banff and we got to walk through an exhibit of Robert Bateman’s paintings, an exhibit on one of the families that settled the Banff area and learn about some of the past times and popular things that people did during the early 1900′s. It was fun to see the original porcelain dolls or to learn about taxidermy. The kids had a blast! I can’t wait for our next field trip!