Last week the kiddos were pretty sick. Actually, everyone was: mom boss, me, kiddos, and my own family. Eeek. The kids were still their crazy selves and wanted to do everything, unfortunately we couldn’t go to their classes or go out to museums. So I had to depend on my never ending creativity (being sarcastic)….and pinterest. Here are some highlights from the week!
(I’m still figuring out this blogging thing, so please don’t mind the look! And if there are any blogging experts out there, I’d love for you to share any tidbits of knowledge:))
So, the week was crazy. Yes, the kids had loads of energy, but they got stir-crazy and began getting fussy! I did my best with the three littles!
G3.5 (girl that is 3.5 years old) I’ll call her “L”, has been obsessed with the plastic Easter eggs since the beginning of April. She loves to fill them with her own toys or would hide them for us to find! So MONDAY comes around and I jump right in to my role…help get breakfast cleaned and dishwashers emptied!
Baby C slept a ton and I got paper and scissors out and wrote out the alphabet. I’ve seen tons of letter matching activities on pinterest and instagram. I made upper case and lower case letters, taped them to an egg half, and hid them (easily) around the house!
Once mom took B2 and G3.5 to swim class, baby girl was stuck with me at the house! G4mo slept most of that time so I caught up on laundry and cleaning. Then I decided to create an activity with Easter eggs!
Both older kiddos wanted to find all the eggs when they got home. They had so much fun hunting for the eggs but lil man B2 had to go to bed. I love to have quiet activities for L to do during her quiet time. We sat down and matched up the big and little letters!
It was quite the success, she loved it! And we STILL have the letters to use for more activities! STAY TUNED!
These kiddos truly love crafts and expect crafts ALL. THE. TIME. LOL!! So I have stepped up my craft game! Some days just call for a mess!
One day last week, I pulled out a huge piece of paper, set out all the paint, and told the kids to create a mural! They loved it! B2 lasted about 15 minutes which is A LOT for him. This is an easy, go-to activity for rainy days or killing time! Encourage their creative minds to do whatever they want! Do be afraid to get messy:)
G3.5 goes to pre-k 3 times a week. On those days, I sometimes have some one-on-one time with B2 while mom is with baby girl. We try to get outside as much as possible. Last week we just went for a walk around the block looking at dogs and saying hi to strangers. We picked up a few tiny sticks and I told him he could use the sticks to paint with!
It’s hard to find activities that hold his attention for longer than 5 minutes. But this sure did. We tried painting with the sticks but ended up painting and then using the sticks to make designs! And then just painting the sticks.
When L got home from school she ate lunch then saw lil man’s artwork! She wanted to do some too. The perfect activity for rest time. She absolutely LOVED this and literally said “WHOA” when she used the stick to make designs in the paint!
This girl loves all things paint!
A few other things we did during the week that I didn’t capture:
L wore her princess dress multiple times throughout the week, so I pulled up a youtube video of disney princess ballet so she could follow along! Another huge hit!
This is a big one!! I try to include the kids in everyday chores. O (B2) absolutely loves to help me unload the dishwashers. He’s good at the silverware! Both older kids love to do dishes, pretend to fold laundry, and their favorite chore to help with is sweeping and cleaning the floors! Nanny parents bought them this Broom Set and they use it at LEAST once a day!
We as caregivers have so much on our plates. We have the kids to play with and care for of course. But most of us have other responsibilities: groceries, laundry, dishes, cleaning, errands etc. Get those kiddos involved! They love to feel like big kids and be involved.