Activity Wednesday!

Hey everyone! It's the middle of the week already! Whew! On Wednesdays I am mentally strewn out on the floor, hair spilled around me in a wild halo, reeling from what we have already accomplished this week and what is still yet to come. And it's only the second week of school! The first week you are always eased in to it.  Last week was a shorter week due to the holiday and  I only got in 4 workouts but my goal is 6 days a week.  This week my oldest starts ballet, my youngest starts music class, there are meetings and bible studies and homework and daily blog entries...in other words, it's getting real people!

Today we are going to talk about Activity!
What do you mean activity? Didn't she just list a hundred activities that we are all scrambling around to get done every day!?  Well yes and no.  Do you remember when I mentioned this book?

Summer was easy, right? We were outside non-stop.   You hardly needed the book although I had used it to make our bucket list so it was easy to think of ideas if we were stumped on what to do! But now they are coming home from school and will have less time to spend playing outside but to make sure we get our 15 min a day we will need to be more purposeful about it.  And on those days it just doesn't happen at least I know they get recess outside!

Here are a few activities you could try this week:
1.  Go old school. Play a childhood game outside with your kids like Four Square or Red Rover, get neighbor kids involved.  On a night when you are having leftovers or something easy for dinner spend an hour before dinner time rounding up the kids for some outside time to blow off steam. While all the other moms on your street get a chance to whip up dinner I am sure they will be extremely grateful for their kids preoccupation during this difficult hour of the day.
2. Prepare for winter by planting easy to plant cool-weather veges in containers.  Even if they aren't things you have tried before you can plan to expand your eating horizons over the winter with your kids.  My kids are always more willing to try "green stuff" that they helped grow.
3. Do homework outside. Throw out a blanket and plop down in the grass for some homework time.  Even on the days there is no official homework my first grader always needs reading practice.  Bring a few books out for a reading party in the fresh air!
4.  Find a fall crop to harvest, go apple picking or visit a farmers market to stock up on produce.
5.  Throw a blanket in your car and enjoy an impromptu dinner picnic or stop at a playground/park on the way home from school.  Or meet your kids on the playground of their school. Enjoy time while it's less crowded helping them master the monkey bars or giving them a push on the swings.
6.  Take a Rainbow walk.  My daughter and I often play the rainbow game in the car.  Someone calls out a color and you have to quick find something out your window that color.  Even harder is when it can't be man made.  Take a nature walk and look for natural items from each color of the rainbow and spend sometime inspecting them.
7.  Hold on to summer. Find an Indian summer moment when it's warm, don your shorts and flip flops, drink lemonade or eat a Popsicle outside and live it up.  It's a long time until next June!

Have a happy active week!