A Little Music & Movement Does A Lot of Good

Something I have done to help with summer boredom is I put together 2 jars with activities. One jar has chores in it for the child who dares utter the words "I'm bored." The other is full of fun activities for when they just need some new ideas.

Now that I have 4 kids I am finding it even harder to spend one on one time with my kids, especially my oldest. So, I decided that we will use the fun jar to help out with that. Every day (that's the goal but I won't kill myself if it doesn't happen) they'll each choose something to do.

Today Noah wasn't super excited about his choice: PUT ON SOCKS, TURN ON FUN MUSIC, AND DANCE ON THE WOOD FLOOR

I wasn't going to let his gloominess win, so I taught by example. I put on my socks and Pandora, and the perfect song came on- Day-O by Harry Belafonte.

And I danced.

I really am a horrible dancer, but I started to get pretty into it. You know what? It was really fun! I shimmied and slid around and lip sang with Harry. My brain was sending lots of happy signals to my body.

It wasn't long before my two oldest ran upstairs to get their socks. Even after he had his socks, it still took Noah a few minutes to let go and move around with us.

Then the funnest thing happened. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy started playing, and I grabbed Noah's arms and showed him how to dance properly with a girl.

I taught him that the boy is in charge and showed him how to spin me. He was a natural! He gave me a firm but gentle push on the back, lifted my arm and spun me out. I could tell he enjoyed it and felt good about himself because we kept doing it and doing it. I'll be calling him Fred Astaire now!

Even thought it was only a few minutes, they were special ones for me and my boy. There were lots of benefits of this music and movement activity- physical, musical, and emotional. The emotional ones are my favorite.

I'll be honest. I wasn't really feeling like doing this activity, but I'm trying spend more time with the kids and be more positive. I love these two quotes I recently shared on my facebook page:

"Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway." -Emory Austin

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." -George Bernard Shaw

Both are very true and worth remembering and implementing in our lives. Just think what kind of kids you'll raise if these things are taught them?

So, let's sing/dance/play even if you we don't feel like it

Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime?

4 weeks ago today we welcomed our 4th child and third boy! This is Gerik. We love him so much and are so happy to have him here. It will be nice to teach Kindermusik without a big baby belly!

Having four kids is definitely an adjustment, but having a baby in the middle of an Arizona summer is it's own special challenge. Not only are we stuck inside because of baby but also because of the eyeball burning heat! Keeping kids entertained in the house all day can get tricky. It's super tempting to watch movies or play the wii all day, but I really don't like doing that. Of course, my kids would love to watch movies and play the wii 'til the cows come home, but I hate what it does to them. They always get more grouchy if they've had too much screen time. So, my goal this week is to figure out how to limit screen time without hearing "I'm bored!" all day long.

I started by making just two "Wii Days" a week. Yikes! Now what do we do the other 5 days?!

When I was little I absolutely loved playing Hopscotch. I even had a rug that I could play on indoors (which apparently my mom still has).

My cute sister-in-law gave us this Hopscotch game for Christmas a few years ago. It's made out of bubble wrap, so you hear POP! POP! when you jump on the squares. Cute! (FYI, if you make one for you, wear socks or the plastic will stick to your feet!) I pulled the game out of the closet one afternoon last week, and it was a hit! We had such a good time together! We were able to get some exercise, laugh, and cheer each other on, and all without turning on the T.V. Loved it!

I was so glad I thought of getting that game out, but unfortunately it's not always easy to come up with activities for my kids to do. I try teach them to think of they're own activities, but sometimes they need a little help...and so do I!

I decided to brainstorm some go-to activities for those moments when we all need something to do. Here's what I've got so far:

Build a fort

Scavenger hunt (make a random list of things for them to find- they can work together or

separately)

See how many jumping jacks they can do (add other exercises to it)

Have them put on a play

Write a story

Write a letter

Sock sliding race on the downstairs floor

Make playdough

Math games

Color by number

Make tic-tac-to rocks

Musical wet sponge- toss a wet sponge, when the music stops, squish it on your head

Write a RAK Summer List

Choose a new cookie recipe to make

Make a food list of veggies and fruit you like and ones you want to try

Mattress slide down the stairs (might lead to broken bones, maybe not...)

What are you favorite go-to activities?