Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Friday Mom – Erin:
Rory has become quite the story teller.  This morning at breakfast, he told me a very elaborate story about finding a “very scary snake, with big, big teeth” on the playground at daycare.  According to Rory, he and his friend discovered two different snakes, both of which just so happened to have the same names as Rory and his friend.  They slithered all around the playground, and the kids had to run away so that the snakes did not bite them.

In another recent tale, Rory proclaimed that he had seen a purple fire truck driving on his way to school. He explained that the firemen put water from the purple truck on the fire with big, big hoses.

Listening to these tales is very amusing to me, but I am trying to remain an adept listener and avoid over-correcting or otherwise interfering with his creative impulses.  Rather than, “I don’t think there were snakes at school, Rory,” I try to be sure to chime in with new prompts, such as “where did they slither to next?” or “what color was the snake?” It’s a basic reaction, but I do find myself having to purposefully engage and encourage on occasion, as opposed to just giggling.  Encouraging his learning and fostering his creativity are critical motivations for me.  While I may not have time to engage in purposeful lessons with him each day, I know listening to and helping tell stories is a great way to do exactly that.

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
We had a fun-filled first weekend of summer break. We met some friends at the playground, ate messy snow cones, swam at a birthday party, played in the mud, littered our backyard with every toy we own, had a water gun battle, and enjoyed not hearing the alarm clock go off. Today, we have nothing on the calendar, and my children automatically complain they’re bored. We’re less than a week into the summer break and I really hope this doesn’t continue until August.

I’ll admit, I’m always on the hunt for camps, classes, lessons, or events for my children to participate in. They aren’t always organized, and they don’t all cost money, but nature hikes and trips to the library are fun outings. These little adventures keep us busy (especially because my husband is often out of town), and get us out of the house. However, I don’t think it’s my job to be the “Director of fun” 24/7. It’s OK to be bored every now and then. It’s nice to have some down time and read a book, or watch a movie. Relaxing on the couch is something I look forward to just about every day.

I’m trying to let my kids know they don’t always need a plan for entertainment. They need to provide their own entertainment and create their own fun. They have plenty of toys, puzzles and Legos to keep them busy. After some creative thinking, and mommy ignoring their complaints, by the end of the day they built some pretty cool Lego creations, drew some pictures, built a fort for their stuffed animals, and invented new versions of board games and sports. I explained that “boredom” is actually an “opportunity” to be creative. They agreed their minds could think up some cool things to do.

From Friday Mom – Erin:
As I may have mentioned before, I am a huge Amazon Prime shopper. Sure, sometimes that limits the available options, but being able to buy things cheaply AND have them arrive at my house in 48 hours or less makes it a no brainer. Plus, avoiding spending time out shopping means more time spent with my family.

What this also means is a high volume of cardboard boxes at our house each week. Sometimes we reuse them to send our own packages, and other times we simply put them out for recycling. Recently, however, Rory and I have found a new way to recycle: building out of boxes.

Equipped with a pair of scissors and Rory’s crayons, our boxes become whatever we can imagine. Last fall, I made Rory a firetruck out of a fairly flat box. Sure, it was basically a fire truck caricature, but he gleefully donned his fireman a had and climbed on in. We only recently took it out to the curb with the other boxes; it was that big of a hit.

During last week’s snow day, I made Rory a “laptop” computer out of a box flap. He was bent out of shape that his daddy had to take work calls from home, so I made him his own computer so that he could send emails, just like daddy. We helped him type emails on its little keyboard, and he folded it closed when we finished.

Finally, over the weekend, I fashioned Rory a banjo out of a paper plate and some more box flaps. Now Rory and I play “gicktah” (guitar) together– he turns his popper toy turned upside down while I use the banjo. During yesterday’s snow delay, we had a good old fashioned jam session, with renditions of favorites such as old McDonald, BINGO, and Baa Baa Black sheep. The cardboard is growing weak from all the use it has received over the past few days.

Rory has a playroom full of toys that we purchased or he was given as gifts, but he always gets so excited by the novelty of our cardboard creations. He loves the new opportunity to pretend, and I love knowing that I am combatting his boredom AND showing him the value of creativity. Plus, a cardboard banjo and imaginary guitar are MUCH quieter than their real life counterparts. Thank goodness.