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summer activities for preschoolers #6

(the sixth in a weekly series of ideas for families with preschoolers...

please feel free to share your own by clicking "comments" below!)

6. keep the postman busy.

Address some envelopes to friends and family you don't often see. Do you hang on to your child's artwork? I keep each week's art (summer activity #4) in a file and bring it out when we post.

We talk about each person the envelopes are addressed to, by

understanding how we know them

or

remembering visits with them

or 

discussing memories of them.

Then I ask each child to choose some of his or her artwork to send along to that friend or family.

We don't have any expectation for our children's art to be framed by the ones we post to... the idea is just to say hello, we miss you, and we're thinking of you!

tea time

summer activities for preschoolers #5

(the fourth in a weekly series of ideas for families with preschoolers...please feel free to share your own!)

5. host a tea party. Invite a friend over and think tiny! Serve tiny treats: slice up fruit, cheese, little crackers, cookies, and candies in little dishes. We crack open individual packs of hot apple cider or hot chocolate and add semi-hot water from our children's sized tea pot.

art museum

summer activities for preschoolers #4

(the fourth in a weekly series of ideas for families with preschoolers...please feel free to share your own!)

4. break out the paint. Let your little Renior explore colors, shapes, sizes, dots, lines, and ideas 

with fingers or a brush and paint. Or, draw Mary Poppins style by heading outside with sidewalk chalk.

gingerbread

summer activities for preschoolers #3

(the third in a weekly series of ideas for families with preschoolers...please feel free to share your own!)

3. extend the fun. After reading a favorite book, add a craft. 

Take the learning one step further with an activity such as

re-telling the story (the child dictates and you are the scribe), 

illustrating the story (using paints, crayons, even play-dough), 

cooking, 

singing,

or acting out the story. 

If you want inspiration, google (your book + activities or craft). 

*

On the bookshelf for our family this week is the fable The Gingerbread Man,

 illustrated by one of our favorite illustrators, Barbara McClintock.

After reading the story a couple of times, we extended the learning with a craft.

The craft from this book was obvious!

For me, one of the most fun parts of this time together was watching the kids, who waited with baited breath to discover if our gingerbread men would try to escape when we opened the oven.
*

Our kids created this one on their own:

Under the condition that they know when it's OK to play and when to stop,
they dramatize the story by acting like the Gingerbread Man:
putting their hands on their little hips and saying
"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
We chase them about until they are "caught" and "gobble" them up.

dappled

summer activities with preschoolers #2
(if you're just in, catch #1 here!)

2a. pack a picnic! We live in the Rocky Mountains, so saying it's pretty easy to get out and explore is an understatement. So for the suburbanites or city dwellers amongst us, even the simplicity of a stroll that ends up in a shady sun-dappled grassy spot to enjoy a little lunch with your children is something out of the ordinary and memorable. The fresh air, the blue sky, the birds over head are sure to please even the littlest in your party (God even refreshes this mama outside!)

2b. bring along! We toss a Little House chapter book (or something similar) in our picnic bag and read a chapter between bites of peanut butter and jams.

2c. while you're sitting there in the grass, don't miss out on this ever-changing art show...

sidewalk monet

endless summer

When summer says freedom!, as a mom with three preschoolers and one infant, I still have to lead. As parents, Erik and I certainly don't want to over-structure the summer and strip it of its fireworks- and firefly-magic, but (you've heard this before!) in a family our size with children this young and this close together, we do need some structure. So how do I take this mass of time called summer and give it to our children in a meaningful way? This is what I've been praying about recently. 

Each week, I'll be sharing some ideas for summer activities that we're discovering. These ideas are drawn out of my hat, but if you have any in your hat you'd like to share, please do! Share what you're doing (or have done if you no longer have preschoolers) by leaving a comment. 

thankyousomuch.

summer activities for preschoolers #1

1. load 'em up!

Our library has no limit to the number of children's books we can check out. This could prove dangerous for our family! Through the summer, we continue to carry our super-sturdy LL Bean bag into the library and come out loaded. The librarians joke about the length of my receipt.

Our kids appreciate continue having some structured time during the summer months, so we continue to have quiet reading times and shared reading times each day.

Need an incentive? Our library has an excellent summer reading program for school-aged kids and preschoolers. Maybe your local library has one, too?

Because books are the foundation to many of the crafts we do throughout the summer, they are number one on our list!