The challenges and joys that we've experienced as a family in many parts of the world, have taught us how to truly enjoy the simple pleasures in life, wherever we may be.
Some of the best things we've done together are simple, can be done almost anywhere, and only cost a little of your time and involvement - which is what children cherish most anyway!
Simple pleasures my boys have enjoyed:
1. Picking & pressing wildflowers.
Walking outdoors looking for flowers to pick is fun, exciting and easy.
We put the flowers in folded wax paper inside a heavy book and leave them for several days. We used them to make unique bookmarks by sticking the flowers to card paper and laminating them.
2. Water play.
It doesn't matter if it's a pool, a garden hose or the bathroom tub. You can even wash the car together and have them wear their swimsuits. We've done so many fun activities with water from splash pads to splashing in rain puddles. It's soothing and entertaining.
3. Growing plants.
We just recently picked the limes that ripened on the tree we planted in our backyard this year. Three years ago, in another posting, we had a somewhat 'wild' backyard area with many different fruit trees that ate straight from. But even when we lived in a home without a backyard, we grew cherry tomatoes and various herbs in a pot.
The boys love growing and watering plants and we are all excited when we get to pick and eat the fruits of our labor.
4. Quizzes.
We have done all kinds of quizzes, from guessing which poisonous animal we're describing to tracing letters with our fingers and figuring out which ones they are.
Online quizzes and quiz books work well too. Just pick a topic they like and a quiz that is appropriate to their level of knowledge.
5. Sidewalk Chalk.
Think outside of the white rectangle! In general, I've found that my boys prefer to write or draw when the medium is different to just paper.
Dry erase boards, sidewalks, shaving cream...anything but the good old paper and pencil becomes more attractive for their designs. It's fun and gets very creative too.
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