Are you looking for a few ideas to hold your sanity in tact until warmer weather arrives?  Even if you are already seeing signs of Spring, these are great activities in ANY kind of weather!

• Let’s go on a treasure hunt!  Hide a treasure somewhere outside, then leave a trail of colorful aquarium rocks, bread crumbs or even cereal for them to follow to find it.  If there’s snow around, the edible trail idea will be great for hungry animal-friends!  Too chilly for those little bodies?  Create a treasure hunt indoors!
• Become a weather bug! Have your child monitor the weather each day by writing or drawing what he or she sees.  Make a journal or chart of the changes in your local weather, and see if your child can predict what might happen the next day.
• If you are in an area still covered with snow, fill a few squirt bottles with colored water and bundle those kids up.  Have them spray the snow to create fantastic works of art right there on the ground!
• If springtime storms are starting to make an appearance, have your child create a picture with watercolor markers on a piece of posterboard or even a paper plate.  When the rain comes, place the drawing outside and watch what happens.
• Create an indoor snowman…make good use of those styrofoam packing peanuts be drawing an outline of a snowman on a piece of heavy paper.  Have your child glue packing peanuts all over the snowman, then embellish with spare buttons, scrap material, twigs, bottle caps or whatever goodies you have just sitting around!

Our senses are not simply tools to help us thrive and survive in the world; they can be excellent “accessories” for tons of fun with children!  Here are a few activities to try with kids to get them to listen to the sounds around them!

1. Name that Sound - my preschooler LOVES playing this game, and it is perfect to play just about anywhere.  We take a blanket and crawl underneath it and stay really still, listening to sounds around us to identify.  When the weather is good, this is a great game to try outdoors, whether the sounds are cars on the road, birds or wind in the trees or neighbors talking nearby.  By blocking the other senses (sight and smell in particular), the sense of hearing is heightened.  Playing indoors is just as fun, as we discover sounds like the refrigerator making ice, the clock ticking, and the heater turning on!
2. Telegraph - this classic game is good to play with a group of children.  Have one person start by whispering a simple message into another person’s ear, such as “My mother made eggs for breakfast.”.  Once the message is received, each person turns to another to whisper and pass it along until it reaches the last person.  That person states the message out loud and the group can find out how close the original message and the final message are.  It is a great tool to use to teach children to listen for detail!
3. Name that Noise - much like the song, “Old Macdonald”, children create sounds and then try to identify them.  The sounds don’t have to be just animal sounds made with voice, though.  Try a squeeky door, a rhythm that is clapped out, or humming a popular song.
4. Make A Sound Band - using only your body, try to create sounds and rhythms to fit together as a “band”.  Have several people create sound without the aid of instruments, such as a whistle, a clap, leg pats, tapping the cheeks, or other various sounds.  Put them together for a unique instrumentation!
5. Marco Polo - this famous “pool game” doesn’t have to be played in the heat of the summer alone!  Have the person who is “it” stand with his or her eyes shut.  Another person should move quietly around him or her, stop and clap a few times softly.  “It” should point to where he or she believes the clapper is standing.  This hones in on discriminatory hearing skills - being able to select certain sounds when there might be other sounds in range as well.

We’ve been hit with a huge change in our house this past week: my laptop, my beloved sidekick, essentially died a horrible death.  Or, it is at least out of commission for the time being.  Not even the Blue Screen of Doom could find its way to my laptop last week.  Just a hint: if you think your motherboard is going out - BACK UP EVERYTHING.  Thankfully, my machine was under warranty and was shipped off to Fix-My-Computerland for a makeover.  Or the dumpster.  We’ll find out one way or another in a few days.

In the meantime, I’m essentially computerless.   My husband does have a laptop through his office, but that is what it is for - his OFFICE.  Not my office or the kids’ games.  I’ve had to learn how to strategically check email and pare down to the bare minimum of computer-related tasks to complete while my baby is being reconfigured.

One thing I have noticed, though, is the changes that have occurred in my house this week.  Okay, maybe not huge changes, but differences between life with my computer and life without it.

First of all, my younger son naps a long time!  Wow!  I had no idea he slept that long.  It always seems much shorter when I’m racing around to get computer-related stuff done during naptime, like Spider Solitaire and Bejeweled (you know, the important stuff).  I got half of my house cleaned during naptime yesterday.  That would be the same house that takes me all week to clean otherwise.  Who knew?

Also, did you know that we actually have time to ride bikes and play board games after dinner?  I had no idea!  Usually, time after dinner is spent playing online (adults and/or children - we have Webkinz to feed, you know), but with the lack of computer this week, we’ve headed outdoors to visit neighbors, take a few spins around the block, and whip out Candyland.  I had forgotten we even had Candyland.

Speaking of games, instead of hearing the bickering over who’s turn it is on Lego.com or who gets to spin the Wheel of Wow in Webkinzland, I see my boys, giggling over their latest “cootie”.  I see my older son, teaching my younger one how to play Yahtzee or Memory.  And, their latest game has been to build a “town” in the backyard (heaven help my flower beds this week!).  Out of what?  Imaginary bricks.  Yep.  And a lot of imagination.

Technology is not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong.  My children have benefitted greatly from online resources and educational sites.  I would never deny them the opportunity to explore things we typically don’t get to see in Texas.  The computer, and the Internet, open innumerable doors for our children.  It is a great tool to use in educating and schooling our children.

But, time together is equally important and beneficial.  The key is to find the balance of the two.  Where does technology fit in with your family?  Is there balance?

Spring is a season of change.  The colder temperatures slowly give way to warmer and longer days.  Children beg to play outside as much as they can, so when the rains come, they aren’t always a welcome sight.  Here are a few suggestions to keep your kid happy and having fun, even when it means staying inside for the day.

1.  Singin’ In The Rain!  Turn on the shower and let the fun begin!  While my 3 year old is not a fan of bathing in the shower, he LOVES to put on his bathing suit, his water socks and grab his small umbrella for a bit of fun when we turn on the water.  Have lots of towels handy - it does make a mess!

2.  Rain art.  Create works of art with washable markers on paper (the heavier the paper, the better.  After they are completed, put them outside in the rain and watch the colors run together.  Or, spritz them with a water bottle for a similar effect.  Do new colors form?  Do any of the colors separate?

3.  It is always a good time for a campout!  Create a campsite with a blanket or bedspread draped over a couple of chairs.  Bring along some stuffed animal pals, and even serve up a snack in the new digs.  Turn out the lights, close the blinds, and fire up a few flashlights for some added fun.  Read a few books and cozy up together!

4.  Revive those board games.  Pull out some timeless favorites you have, a deck of cards, perhaps even some dice for a rousing game of Yahtzee.  Or, create your own board game by combining elements of older games! 

5.  Recycle old playdough.  Make magnificent sculptures and let them sit out to dry.  It may take a few days, or put them on a cookie sheet in a low-heat oven to dry out more quickly.  (My boys LOVE to make volcanoes from old playdough and then “erupt” them with baking soda and vinegar.)

6.  Write a story!  Sit down with your child or children and create a story.  Then, act it out and take pictures of each part of the story.  These can be printed out and made into a new book to read together.

7.  Try a few party games.  Why not make your own verson of Pin the Tail on the Donkey or Charades?  How about an indoor treasure hunt or a race of some sort?  My boys love to inflate a couple of balloons and see who can keep them off the ground the longest by bouncing them in their palm.

8.  Decorate the windows.  Give kids some shaving cream to smear on the window or table.  Not only will they clean the surface, they’ll have a great time doing it!  Or, try washable markers or even tempera paint.  They are both easily removable with a bit of water and a rag.

What are your favorite activities to do with your child on a rainy day?

My kids BEG to take baths.  It is quite possibly the highlight of their evening.  But, it wasn’t always this easy.  We’ve come a long way from the anguish of putting our toes in the water and the screaming of the thought of hair-washing.  Here are some of the things we do to make bath-time…play-time (and clean-time)!

• Bubbles.  The only other place my kids are allowed to blow bubbles is outside, but with the chillier weather, they don’t have much of a chance to participate in bubble-blowing - except for bathtime.  Bubbles are always fun for kids, and they are a great distraction to the real reason they are in the tub.
• Hide and Seek.  We put several bath toys in the water, and after playing with them for a while, I hide one object under a wash cloth while my child isn’t looking.  He tries to guess what’s missing, and then the fun begins all over again.  This is excellent with preschoolers on up.  Start with just a few items, then move up to larger quantities!
• Fill ‘er Up!  The bathtub can be a super place to work on measurement skills.  Take a set of measuring cups (plastic please!) into the tub.  How many 1/4 cups will fill a cup?  Or, use larger containers.  How many sour cream containers does it take to fill a whipped topping container?
• Bathtub Idol!  Grab that shampoo bottle and strike up a tune!  Kids love the fact that their voices echo-echo-echo!  Bring out their favorites, whether it is “Old Macdonald” or the latest from Hannah Montana.
• When my boys are feeling particularly anti-bath (which isn’t very often, but we do encounter it every now and then), we put on our bathing suits for a dip in the “kiddie pool”.  By simply wearing a bathing suit, my kids take on a whole new persona, and their attitude does a 180 degree turnaround.

If you have some great ideas to share for bathtime, leave a comment and let us know!