Creativity Box

Each summer I restock our "art" box.  Over time, our supplies dry up, get spread out all over the house, and just get used up!  My kids love to pull this out with paper and get creative.  Sometimes we have a project, sometimes they come up with their own creations!  Some ideas for an art box include: crayons, markers, paint (washable, paintbrushes, buttons, glue, scissors, pom poms, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, stickers, water color paints, paper scraps, sequins, coloring pages, tissue paper, etc.  The ideas are endless!  Go check out the dollar store for cheap craft supplies.  I keep this in a closet where it is in plain sight, so when they open the closet when they are bored, they will want to do something crafty! 

Have you ever been to the site Fun Family Crafts?  It is LOADED with craft ideas for kids.  It's kind of like Pinterest, where it links you to another site for the instructions.  But you can search by age group, type of craft, supplies.  I love this site.  Some ideas are so simple that you can easily come up with something fun your kids when they get bored during the day. 

Another place I end up often for simple craft ideas is Parents.com. 

What fun crafts are you doing with your kids?  We'll post some fun ideas soon!

End of School Ideas and Traditions

It's the last week of school here in Arizona.... what are you doing to celebrate the end of the school year with your kids?

Here's some ideas:

My Mix of Six does end of school year buckets - this year she combined one for all 6 kids.  I love all the goodies she put inside.  This is a great idea and a fun way to start summer.  If I had more than 2 days, something like this would be showing up in our house.  I think I will try to do a smaller version or something similar.  If you look at her site, she shows you what she has done the past few years as well.  I'm thinking squirt guns from the dollar store, otter pops, movie candy, books (already ordered some for my 9 year old), etc.   I love how she buys things she will need, but combines them together for a fun basket!

I did this for family night with our kids this week.  We always like to create a summer bucket list of things they want to do, places they want to go, etc.  It's fun to hear what they come up with, and what they remember from previous summers.  We use a white board and then we fill in what we want to do on our calendar.  I also keep a hard copy.  The one below came from google.  Click here.

One of friends takes a picture of her kids on the first day of school and on the last day of school in the SAME clothes.  I love that idea too.  (If the clothes still fit!)  It's fun to see how they change during the year.

My kids ride the bus to and from school, so I always pick them up on the last day of school and we go out for ice cream!  This year they also get to go to a swim party with friends.  Yay for the end of the year!

Summer Reading Programs

Maricopa County Library System does a summer reading program every year.  This year it starts on May 24th.  Go to your local library to pick up your reading charts, check out books, and find out how to get registered.  They have something for all ages.  You get prizes as you go along and a big prize at the end.  You can also check out your library's calendar on www.mcldaz.org for free events throughout the summer.  The past summers have included the Reptile Guy, a magic show and more!



Mesa City libraries are also doing a similar program.  We haven't done this one, but it looks very similar to the Maricopa County library's program.  Looks like we are celebrating Arizona's 100th year!


Bookstores also do summer reading programs.  Here is the link for Barnes & Noble's.  Kids that read 8 books, get a free one to pick out.  There's also a summer reading kit to download.

The important thing is that your kids are reading!

Getting Organized for Summer

 

I'm down the to the wire.  When I woke up my kids this morning - I reminded them it was the LAST week of school!  FOUR more days (counting today!) till they are home for the summer.  I realized I need to get organized.  For me, being organized helps me be a better mom, keep my house clean, and lets my kids  make their own choices, and know what to look forward to every day. 

So I got out my calendar, and I organized the next few months.  We have a modified year round schedule, so my kids start school again at the very end of June.  But I wrote down all our doctor appointments, camps, swimming lessons, birthday parties, planned vacations, etc.

Then I got to work.  Here's a few things I created:

Summer chore chart and weekly schedule.  I've assigned chores to each child each day, some are the same every day, some change.  I saw somewhere were 20 minutes of physical activity was also included in their daily tasks.  I love this idea.  We have a pool in our backyard, so we swim almost every day in the summer.  It's too hot in the summer months to be outside for long periods of time in Arizona, and since I know we will be swimming often, I did not include that. 

Here's a close up of our weekly schedule:

 And our chore chart:

I got this idea from Pinterest.  Here's the link to Kristen Duke's blog.  I did it a little different....my kids are younger and I didn't want to have to keep track of fake money.  My kids drive me crazy about food!  So this summer I'm being proactive.  I got these cute tubs at Target.  I divided up the snacks to "semi-healthy" {crackers, pretzels, goldfish, healthier granola bars} and "not-so-healthy" {cookies, granola bars, pudding} and then I labeled the semi-healthy snacks for am, and the "not-so-healthy" snacks for pm.  They can choose one snack in the morning, and one in the afternoon.  They can also have a yogurt or string cheese in the afternoon to help keep them full for dinner.  I also have a stash of popsicles, fruit snacks, and more candy-type treats for trips to the movies, random treats, and field trips and car rides.  I will have fruits and veggies stocked up for "free" food that they can eat anytime. 

I hope this helps them to stay out of the pantry, eat better at meal time, and not bug me for food all day long!

Stay tuned for more summer organizing and planning.....

Summer Movies

We love Harkin's Summer Movies!  We have been doing this for years now.  $7 gets you in to all 10 movies.  They run all week long, and start at 9:45am each day.  Here's a link with more info from Harkins, including what movies they are showing.

If you live near a Dickensen Gateway Theater they are also showing summer movies.  They have 8 movies, and admission is free.  Seating is first come first served and shows 3 days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, two showings per day.   Here's a link to the flier for Arizona.  They have kids popcorn/candy/drink combos for $4.00 each.  They also take Harkin's movie cups at $1 per cup for a refill. 


The Queen Creek Performing Arts Center is also showing movies.  Here is a link - just scroll down a bit.  It's 9 weeks for $5.00 - movies show on Mondays and Tuesdays.  You can buy tickets through the link. 


This is a great way to get out of the heat and catch up on some fun kids movies!

Welcome!

Hi Everyone - I am Megan - mother of 4 young, busy, children (9 and under).  We live in Arizona, where we have a modified year-round school year.  This means we have a shorter summer (when it's super hot outside) and then three 2-week breaks during the year.  My kids and I love to come up with fun, creative things to do when they are out of school.  The purpose of this site is to share what we are doing with all of you - so you can enjoy some of the same activities!