Creative Activities for the Kids
There are some days when I feel like I can't get anything done. My house is a mess; my kids want to play, but I don't have the time; meals consist of bacon and eggs because it's quick, easy, and I know my kids will eat it.... etc cetera and so on. Then there are days when I feel like Super-Awesome Mom, and I come up with all kinds of ridiculously awesome things for the kids to do while I clean my house till it sparkles and make a huge, nourishing, delicious meal. I'd like to share some of those awesomely creative ideas here, and I would like to hear about some of YOUR awesomely creative ideas, too, because it's nice to share. 1. Build a Fort! I know, most of you have probably built forts for your kiddos, but it never gets old! We have built some pretty epic forts using the couch, the kitchen table chairs, huge blankets, pillows, those big giant foam blocks, and whatever else is sturdy that will hold things together. One of my girls' favorite things to do is lay a blanket down underneath the "roof" of their fort and have a snack while watching their favorite movie. They also like to play pirates, which brings me to my second idea... 2. Build a Pirate Ship! 
I sometimes fulfill orders for returns/replacements from my home office, and sometimes when I receive an office supply order it will come in a big box with these really huge flaps on them. I took one of these the other day and made a super fun pirate ship out of it! We made portholes, a pirate flag (because you have to have one of those) and the girls spent quite a lot of time coloring the inside and outside of the ship. I had planned to attach one of their Barbies to the front of the boat as the figurehead, but we got so wrapped up in everything else that we forgot. Remember the figurehead! Note: Boxes can be used for so much more than pirate ships. One day we put together a pretty large box-building with really random sections. I hung long socks from the interior "ceiling" of the main box so that it would tickle the girls as they crawled through, and we had another section dedicated to Weeble Wobbles, and another section dedicated to talking on the "box phone." You get the idea, and it was a blast! 3. Paint the Bathtub 
You may have just cringed reading that, but allow me to elaborate: I allowed the girls to bring their watercolors into the bathtub one day, and they had so much fun! The bath water swirled with color, they used their fingers to make pictures on the tiled wall, and they painted whiskers and cheetah spots and all sorts of things on eachother which rinsed right off because they were already taking a bath. 4. Make Magic Water Fill up a water-table or other big, clean vessel with water, a little Dr. Bronner's, and some glitter. During the warmer months, the kids love splashing around and washing their bikes in the "magic soap." The glitter sparkles in the sunlight and their hands splashing around make more bubbles! The girls literally play with their water table for at least an hour usually. And as an added bonus they're clean when they come inside! 5. Create Nature Bouquets 
My girls love picking flowers, and I don't blame them! It's fun to go out into nature and gather interesting-looking greens and beautiful flowers. In our yard, we tend to have a lot of Yarrow, Dandelion, Bluets, Wild Mint, Clover, Sweet Grass, and other various grasses that I haven't yet identified. Put the bouquets in a little mason jar or other vase (or you can decorate your own.... another creative idea!) and enjoy the bounty of nature for days to come. These are just a few ideas, though there are thousands of others. What are some of your favorite crafty ideas to help your kids have fun during "boring spells?"
I sometimes fulfill orders for returns/replacements from my home office, and sometimes when I receive an office supply order it will come in a big box with these really huge flaps on them. I took one of these the other day and made a super fun pirate ship out of it! We made portholes, a pirate flag (because you have to have one of those) and the girls spent quite a lot of time coloring the inside and outside of the ship. I had planned to attach one of their Barbies to the front of the boat as the figurehead, but we got so wrapped up in everything else that we forgot. Remember the figurehead! Note: Boxes can be used for so much more than pirate ships. One day we put together a pretty large box-building with really random sections. I hung long socks from the interior "ceiling" of the main box so that it would tickle the girls as they crawled through, and we had another section dedicated to Weeble Wobbles, and another section dedicated to talking on the "box phone." You get the idea, and it was a blast! 3. Paint the Bathtub 
You may have just cringed reading that, but allow me to elaborate: I allowed the girls to bring their watercolors into the bathtub one day, and they had so much fun! The bath water swirled with color, they used their fingers to make pictures on the tiled wall, and they painted whiskers and cheetah spots and all sorts of things on eachother which rinsed right off because they were already taking a bath. 4. Make Magic Water Fill up a water-table or other big, clean vessel with water, a little Dr. Bronner's, and some glitter. During the warmer months, the kids love splashing around and washing their bikes in the "magic soap." The glitter sparkles in the sunlight and their hands splashing around make more bubbles! The girls literally play with their water table for at least an hour usually. And as an added bonus they're clean when they come inside! 5. Create Nature Bouquets 
My girls love picking flowers, and I don't blame them! It's fun to go out into nature and gather interesting-looking greens and beautiful flowers. In our yard, we tend to have a lot of Yarrow, Dandelion, Bluets, Wild Mint, Clover, Sweet Grass, and other various grasses that I haven't yet identified. Put the bouquets in a little mason jar or other vase (or you can decorate your own.... another creative idea!) and enjoy the bounty of nature for days to come. These are just a few ideas, though there are thousands of others. What are some of your favorite crafty ideas to help your kids have fun during "boring spells?"