Summer Reading Fun

If your family is anything like mine, keeping the kiddos interested in reading over the summer can be tricky. My littles have a lot of self-motivation when it comes to legos and art, and even looking through books, but not when it comes to actually reading them.

Libraries have great summer reading programs that we've enjoyed in the past, but I wanted to up the ante for my guys this year. I downloaded a simple reading chart and made a prize list with prizes that I think will keep them interested, excited, and driven throughout the whole summer. I hope. Fingers crossed.

Here's a simple summer reading chart I downloaded for free from Busy Momma Media. I like how colorful it is and how many slots there are for books. You also get to insert how many books you will require for what particular prize(s). My guys will need to read 5 books to pick a prize from a prize list I've formulated just for them. Again, I'm hoping for motivation to last the whole summer.

Summer Fun: Art Camp

This was SO MUCH FUN!!! I was texting a friend of mine about arts & crafts when all of a sudden I had a brilliant idea - an arts & crafts weekend. She has a little girl around Mateo's age who also loves creating, so we set a date and got to planning.



Some of the projects we ended up doing were simple and straightforward and only required the purchase of supplies. Others took a bit more prep and organization.



We decorated pillowcases and hand towels with fabric paint, made our very own comic books, and hammered nails into wooden boards for string art. We also did a directed multi-media project, photograph reproductions, and a segmented watercolor poster. These projects may sound overwhelmingly artsy, but they aren't as complicated as all that - especially in the hands of 7 year olds.

I also had a box of simple art supplies, and a sketch pad, for each child to use if they finished projects early and needed something to do.

You'll need an assortment of fabric paints for the fabric painting project. I found some at the dollar store that were easy to use. I also picked up some solid colored pillowcases and hand towels. You'll need to insert a piece of cardboard inside of the pillowcases as the fabric paint can sometimes bleed through. You could do aprons, cloth napkins, or t-shirts too. White is nice, but as long as it's a solid color, you're good to go.

For the comic books, I simply printed out some comic book pages from Kids Activities Blog and gave each child a stack. They used supplies from their art boxes to write and draw their stories. They also made covers out of folded 11 x 17 inch sheets of paper and then stapled everything together.

I had my hubby cut up a half inch board into 8 x 8 and 8 x 6 inch pieces for our string art project. Each child sanded their own board with a small piece of sand paper. Then, they traced or drew a simple shape onto their boards. After a brief demonstration, the kids hammered 1 inch nails every quarter inch or so along their shapes. I helped them tie the string of their choice at their starting point and they looped the string around the nails in the style they preferred, tying them up at the end.



I prepped for the directed multi-media project by scattering different art supplies down the center of the table like a runner. I used stickers, ribbons, different kinds of tape, tissue paper, glue and glitter glue, scissors, a stapler, a hole punch, plus the supplies in their art boxes. I gave each child an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper and gave them simple directions that they could interpret any way they wanted. "Draw a square on your page. Make your square into something. Add something shiny to your picture... ." It was a blast to see what each child came up with.



Our photograph reproduction project started with each child taking my camera phone outside and taking pictures of whatever they liked. We loaded the pics onto the computer and they chose which photograph they wanted to reproduce. They started drawing their reproductions with pencils and then chose which supplies to use to add in the color.

Our last project was a segmented watercolor poster. I showed the kids how they could make different patterns on their poster boards using lines. They could keep the lines from touching to make stripes or intersect them to make squares, diamonds, or triangles. Then they painted one segment at a time with water colors.

For those of you interested in planning your own art camp, here are a few tips. 

1. Gather all of your supplies before hand and have materials prepped - copied, cut, organized, packages opened, etc. 
2. You'll also want to make samples of some projects and print out photos or guides of others. 
3. Make sure each child has plenty of room to create. You can make stations for each child or a station for each craft or just make sure you have large spaces cleared for them to spread out.
4. Leave plenty of time for each craft. Different kids work at different paces and some will be more detailed than others. Have something available for children to do if they finish early. I had an art supply box and drawing pad for each child to use whenever they wished.
5. A dollar store is a great place to get all kinds of supplies.
6. If you notice any of the kids getting antsy or bored, take a break for a snack, a stretch, a game of chase outside, a splash in the pool, etc.
7. Get a plastic table cloth to cover your table for activities involving fabric paint, tempera paint, or glitter glue. This will save you many a headache.
8. Ask others to join in on the planning if coming up with all of the activities seems too daunting. Or, have someone else take care of the snacks. My lovely friend actually did all of the cooking for our meals and snacks. It was so nice not to have to think about that aspect of our time together. Also, her food is spectacular. Thanks Sweet Friend.

If you do decide to throw such an affair, send me a pic or post a comment. I'd love to hear about your experience, what projects you chose, and how the kids enjoyed it.

Lessons in Kindness

We're working on kindness in our household. It's a long haul kinda process. I've got a lot of hopes for my kids in this arena. I really want them to know the difference between being nice/polite/respectful and being kind, which carries with it a connotation of love. I want them to understand that kindness involves loving others, feeling empathy, being compassionate, sharing out of the goodness of their hearts versus sharing because they're supposed to. They can be nice with their minds and their wills (like following a rule), but kindness comes from their hearts. It's something that you are, more than something that you do. We're trying to model and explain that difference and how we should always be nice (a rule) while aspiring to, and working towards, being kind (formation of true internal character). Boy, am I lacking in this department. Talk about teaching out of a deficit.

We totally want to raise little gentlemen that say, "please" and "thank you," share their toys with others, and include new kids in their play. But we are also trying to teach and model what these things look like when they come from the heart, i.e., kindness - actually caring, forgiving someone even when they don't deserve it, self sacrifice, not judging others because they're different. You can't do those things with niceness. Niceness is just surface control, but kindness comes from, and exercises, love.

So, how do you teach your kid how to love other people? It's quite the challenge. I'll let ya know if I ever get it all figured out. Until they reach a certain age, kids aren't even capable of understanding that other people have thoughts and feelings of their own. Not until they reach that milestone will they be able to consider another person and their well-being.

Our current focus is to flood our kids with love in the context of structure, boundaries, and discipline. We think they'll have a better chance of learning how to give that kind of love to others and will, probably (hopefully), naturally want to give it. An overflowing cup, if you will.

Pointing our kids to Jesus is another way we're trying to teach our little ones to be kind. The way Jesus was with people when He was here on earth is a great example of kindness versus niceness - the things He did, the things He said, the way He treated people, His ultimate sacrifice. When you read the accounts of His life in the gospels you can almost see the kindness in His eyes. He wasn't always nice (remember the money changers?), but He was, most certainly, always kind. Of course, we're talking about Love, Himself, here.

Big job, right? You're telling me. Time will tell if we've gotten the point across to our little cherubs, and if we see the fruit of our labor - both in their hearts and in our own.

Along with teaching, talking, and modeling, we pray. We pray for their hearts and minds in a world that has seemingly given up on both kindness and niceness. Amidst the ugliness, I pray that my children can see people the way that God sees them - as creatures that He perfectly formed, deeply loves with the greatest of all loves, and intensely desires to be close to and to call his very own sons and daughters. I want to see people that way too.

Summer Fun: Robot Piñatas

What da ya do when you have a whole buncha leftover candy and a whole lotta time on your hands? You make a piñata, of course. We still had a huge stash leftover from Easter, so the boys and I made mini robot piñatas out of tea boxes.

We made our robots so that each part could be stuffed with candy - the arms, the legs, the body, the head. We left the box tops accessible for candy stuffing. The arms, legs, and antennae got sealed up with grey tissue paper. That way you can still get at the candy without destroying the piñata. We can just punch through the paper, or open up the little boxes that are filled with candy, and get at the good stuff without ruining our awesome creations.

We started with our raw materials - tea boxes and toilet paper rolls. These are great building and creating materials. Storing them is sometimes a pain, but necessary for the kind of creative fun we like to have around here. I like to keep a large trash bag or box in my closet. When it gets too full, it's time to make something.





We visualized what we wanted our robots to look like and got to work painting the parts gray.

After the paint dried, we started decorating our robot parts with foil tape, duct tape, construction paper, and aluminum foil. This part was fun, but sticky.



We used a hole punch to make a couple of holes in the head and body, and ran some strong twine through them, so we could hang up the piñatas later.

Next, we used a glue gun to put our robots together. I squeezed the glue onto each part, handed it to the boys, and they held the part to their robot until it was just set. The glue sets surprisingly sturdy.

After the robots were completely set, it was time to stuff. This was the really fun part. Candy in the head. Candy in the body. Candy in the arms and legs, and ears. Yummy robots!

We sealed up the robot's toilet paper roll extremities by gluing a simple tissue paper circle to the end of each. I used a small baby food jar to make the circles.



Lastly, I gathered the twine we had strung through the body and head of each robot and tied them together about a foot above the robot's head. Now you have something to tie a longer rope to if you actually want to hit yours. You really need the twine through both parts of the robot for the best support and balance. You don't want your robot's head popping off before it's time for his festive bludgeoning, now do you?



Please read this next part in your best robot voice: These - cute - piñatas - are - ready - to - roll!!



This is what you'll need for this project:
- a plastic table cloth to protect your table
- 1 large tea box per robot for the body
- 1 small tea box per robot for the head
- 6 or 7 toilet paper rolls per robot for the arms, legs, neck, antennae, ears
- gray paint and paint brushes
- aluminum foil
- duct tape and/or foil tape (I found these at the dollar store)
- colored construction paper
- scissors
- pencils and crayons
- glue sticks
- a glue gun
- twine or thick string for hanging
- a hole punch
- a bunch of leftover candy
- gray or silver tissue paper

Ezra wanted to break his piñata the traditional way, so we strung it up, and let him at it.



We also printed out some robot coloring pages and turned our Thursday into a regular robot party day. Robot voice again: Party - on!

Living with a Highly Creative Child

Mateo is one of a kind. He's got creativity oozing out of his pores. Ezra enjoys drawing and creating as well, so I have to keep supplies at the ready whenever their creative juices start to flow.



These days I have to buy 2 to 4 drawing pads a week. I keep certain supplies out on our supply cart at all times: stickers, glue sticks, scissors, a hole punch, markers, crayons, color pencils, and drawing pencils. Messier supplies only come out when we are doing special projects and I'm there to monitor their usage. I also have to make the boys ask for tape now as we have spent many an evening peeling tape off of furniture, walls, carpet, etc.

Keeping supplies handy allows the kids to grab what they need and create things like these...

Ezra wants to be a police man if the whole race car driver thing doesn't work out.

Lego Superman

Minion mayhem.

Teo is in the process of making a Frankenstein piñata for Ezra's birthday in four months.

Homemade race tracks.

... without this busy mama needing to stop what I'm doing to pull out supplies for them.

While they really enjoy planned art projects and following instructions to make a special craft, they also need space to themselves to put onto paper or boxes, or wherever (just not on the walls), what is in their minds and hearts.

As the boys grow older I'd like to hone some of their artistic abilities in personalized ways. Giving them some freedom to creatively explore is also important to me. We art together and we art apart. That's just how we do it around here.

Chore Chart

I recently put together a formal chore chart for the boys. For the past year they've been cleaning up their own room and picking up the living room floor every evening, but I thought it was time to up the ante.


We started the boys off with simple chores like wiping down counter tops. The boys put a checkmark on their chart after morning chores, and another after evening chores. We're providing an incentive at the end of each week to help the training process move smoothly (interpretation: without kicking and screaming). At the end of the week they get to pick out a toy and a snack at the dollar store if they've done all their chores. Sometimes we offer them the choice of getting frozen yogurt with Dad instead. Their reward is the incentive, but that they get to choose their reward for themselves is also an important part of our training process.

Mateo working on his morning chores.

Matthew and I have always planned on increasing their freedom alongside their responsibility as the kids grow older. One of our parenting goals is to help our kids gradually and naturally walk into adulthood by increasing their responsibility and their freedom as their maturity increases. We don't want them to continue to live like adolescents when they leave the nest. We also don't want them to wake up one day and be expected to live like adults without guiding them through that process. That's setting them up for failure. Before they're out of the house we want them to know how to do things like clean a house, do the laundry, cook a meal, balance a checkbook, fill out an application, check their car oil, yelp a good mechanic, etc. But we also want them to be confident decision makers. We want them to enjoy making fun decisions and to know that they have what it takes to make the tough ones.

We want our kids to take pride in getting older, taking on more responsibility, and moving closer to being a grown up. We want them to look forward to the freedom, independence, responsibility, authority, and influence that adulthood brings. I read a great Washington Post article by Judy Mollen Walters about how many children and teenagers are not looking forward to adulthood. Instead they think that being an adult is too hard and not something to look forward to, much less work towards. We want our kids to have a positive outlook on growing up instead of being afraid of it. We want them to embrace it instead of putting it off. Their chore chart is just one small step in their process.

As the boys' responsibilities increase the ante goes up for Matthew and I as well. One of the things that's challenging for us is the additional oversight that it takes to get the chores done right or to even get them done at all. The boys are ages 7 and 5 right now. They have a long way to go before they can do their jobs as well as Mommy and Daddy, especially without our reminding them. It also takes more oversight to lead them in the freedom and decision making process that will gradually increase as they grow. We've got a big job to do. Maybe Matthew and I should make ourselves a chart. Hee, hee.

Interpreting Easter for Little Ears

As Easter Sunday approaches the boys and I have set aside our regular Bible class. Instead, I haven been reading out the Bible stories leading up to and about the first Easter. I'm also having them draw a journal page each day about what we are reading and discussing together.

Here are some of their interpretations of the stories so far.



One of the things I'm trying to focus on is the celebration of new life that Jesus' resurrection represents. The life that we thought was lost when Jesus died on the cross is found again when He comes back to life. New life for Jesus means new life for us too. Putting that into terms my boys can wrap their brains around is challenging. 

My boys know that every time we ask for forgiveness our bad jobs are erased and we can start new again with a clean slate. That's their current understanding of new life. Unfortunately, that doesn't always apply to our relationships with people, but it always applies to our relationship with God. This is information my boys know and utilize all the time with God and with Matthew and I. My hope is that their hearts will grow to understand the power and beauty of this reality, how deep it goes, how wide it spreads, how true and everlasting it really is. Everlasting life!

Independent Creativity: An Impromptu Building Project

Boxes, boxes, boxes - little boys and boxes. Mateo found a box out by our garbage cans that Matthew intended on taking to the dump. Mateo to the rescue (cue Superman themed music)! There was no way he was gonna let that box meet an untimely end.

The boys dragged it into the house (it had yet to get soiled) and commenced fighting over what to do with it. Mateo wanted to make it into a toy box. Ezra wanted to turn it into a car. The tall skinny box was at their mercy. To stop the bickering (no one was backing down) I suggested they think about a project that would better suit a tall skinny box like that. Someone suggested a building and the other emphatically agreed. I don't always get involved in squabbles, but when I can tell it will end in tears I try to steer things in a different direction to spare us all the drama. It doesn't always work, by the way.

We worked together to tape paper to both sides. One boy drew one side of the building while the other boy drew the other side.

I like these kinds of projects because they are all kid - inspired by them, initiated by them, completed by them. I help by finding tape when asked. Otherwise, I stay out of it. That means a few mama moments alone while the kiddos are busy doing their thing. I can always use some of that.

First Communion

Communion comes around once a month at our little country church. We came from an Anglican church in Orange County where we took Communion every week, so Communion Sunday is a special time for us.

Different Christian traditions, churches, and families have different beliefs and ideas about Communion and kids. Matthew and I have decided to wait to let our kids partake until we think their hearts are ready with belief and their minds are ready with understanding. My husband said the other day that he would rather they miss a couple of Sundays of Communion while being ready than partake in it a couple of times without being ready. We don't believe it's wrong for them to partake before then, we just want our kids to believe in Jesus and to understand the meaning of Communion, forgiveness, and the sacrifice Jesus made for us by suffering and dying in our place. We're not trying to hold Communion hostage. We're hoping to foster a meaningful experience for them instead of a rote one. We also want to communicate the reverence they should have in coming to the Lord's table and the ownership they should have regarding their own faith decisions.

Communion is so fascinating to little ones. The little bits of bread and cute little cups full of juice. My kids' eyes glitter when they see these items coming down the aisle. It looks like a feast made just for them. And, in a sense, it is. They would often feel kind of bummed at not being able to partake. But it served as an opportunity for conversation, questions, and a better and deeper understanding each time.

This year my 7 year old took his first Communion. No big ceremony. Nothing formal or fancy. Just a little boy sitting in the back row with his family taking Communion for the first time with tears in his mama's eyes.

Mateo reading the Book of Common Prayer (much of which he doesn't understand)

Our 5 year old is still in process. He doesn't quite understand what Communion means yet. Sometimes he feels a little bummed that he doesn't get to have some of that little bread and cute little juice in that cup that's just the right size for his little fingers. But it's another opportunity for conversation and questions and deeper understanding.