1. Make a MINI GREENHOUSE and chart your plant’s growth with this adorable project from Teach Preschool.

2. PAINT THE SIDEWALK with this homemade sidewalk paint recipe from Domestic Charm.

3. Create MIRRORED SELF-PORTRAITS. Visit Playful Learning for more details.

4. Play BALLOON PING PONG Details at Keeping it Simple.

5. Make MARIONETTE BIRDS with this tutorial from Red Ted Art.

 FAMILY DINNER QUESTION JAR: FREE PRINTABLE from How Does She?

I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn
Grammy Lamby and the Secret Handshake by Kate Klise
House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser

beans seeds
paper towel
water
quart ziploc bag
green construction paper (2 sheets)
ruler
marker
scissors
painter’s tape
glue OR stapler

water
corn starch
food coloring (Wilton gel works well)
muffin tin OR other containers to hold paint
paint brushes
old clothes

dry erase OR window markers
large mirror
paper towels OR and eraser

balloon
paper plates
large craft sticks

one cardboard paper towel tube OR two toilet tissue tubes
2 googly eyes
scissors
glue
paint and brushes OR markers
yarn
2 sticks OR small dowels
tape
clothes pins (to use as clamps)
twigs
leaves

Welcome to week one of Plan to Play. I hope this little list inspires you to walk away from the dishes and laundry for a bit and make some memories (and maybe some messes) with your children.  Follow the links for full instructions for each activity.. A color-coded (by activity) supply list for the week is included at the bottom of the post to make preparation simple. If you’d like to receive future Plan to Play posts FREE in your inbox, click here. Hope you enjoy!

1. MONSTER MURAL
This activity was inspired by photographs of a Little Monster Party via Celebration at Home. Hang large pieces of paper along one wall and use your imagination and a box of crayons to design a family of silly monsters. When you get tired of them, fold them, stuff them into envelopes, and mail them to friends and family.

2. MARBLE RUN
This is a great rainy day diversion. We actually made ours by tacking the tubes onto a large bulletin board that we propped against the wall but there are great instructions for two other methods at Tinkerlab and Spoonful.

3. DRAW ON FOIL
So simple but so much fun. Just remember that Sharpie markers are permanent so wear old clothes and protect your work surface.
Details at Picklebums.

4. IMAGINARY SOUP
This brings back sunny childhood memories for me.
More at One Perfect Day.

5. PET SNAILS
Have you ever kept pet snails? We are having so much fun with this. We’ve found fourteen in our backyard. Check under blankets of leaves, flower pots, rocks, and logs. We started out using aquarium gravel in their habitat but after reading a bit more, we switched to soil. They’re curious little creatures and so much fun to watch. You can find more information about creating an indoor habitat and caring for them from:
Mama Scout
Pink & Green Mama
Instructables
Teach Green in Brooklyn

And how cute is this free printable snail racing kit from Nature Detectives?

 START A FAMILY JOURNAL: FREE PRINTABLE at Gussy Sews

CHAPTER BOOK
Rascal by Sterling North
I’m doing a bit of editing along the way for my five-year-old but so far we are really enjoying this one.

PICTURE BOOKS
One Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards
The Reader by Amy Hest
The Rain Came Down by David Shannon
The Monster’s Monster by Patrick McDonnell
Are You a Snail? by Judy Allen
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

 roll of butcher paper or craft paper
painter’s tape
crayons

marbles or small balls
cardboard tubes from paper towels or  toilet paper
painter’s tape OR thumb tacks OR painter’s tape

aluminum foil
sharpie markers
sturdy piece of cardboard to wrap foil around
something to protect your work surface
old clothes

pot
spoon (or a stick)
pitcher of water
ingredients from your kitchen (flour, sugar, cornmeal, herbs & spices)
“ingredients” from your yard

snails
glass or plastic container
cheese cloth OR panty hose to use as a cover (allows air circulation but helps hold in humidity)
spray bottle of water
soil
sticks & rocks
fruits & vegetables
egg shells (for calcium)
bottle cap for a food dish

My lengthy absence here was unplanned. I kept thinking every day that I’d record a few snatches of our waking hours but full days melted into tired nights and I said “maybe tomorrow”, once again. And that 52 project? Don’t ask. I’m behind. Way behind. But I’m starting again this week for two reasons.

1. I can.
2. I need to.

I see His gifts of grace so clearly through the lens. Kneeling in cracker crumbs craning for the right angle, this kitchen floor becomes an altar, and I worship. It’s oxygen when one of those days becomes one of those weeks. It was a too-long, too-familiar string of them that jarred me.  I’m a self-professed lover of lists. As much as I love lists, I love tidy rows of check-marks even more. Too much. Way too much. I’m not sure how it happened really, but the lists loomed and I lost my way. Again. Failure. Defeat.

One night, I crawled into bed and cast a long look back at a day unfurled, and somehow unfinished. I wasn’t slothful. I wasn’t slow. Quite the contrary, in fact. I had a host of check marks to back me up.  But while the boxes on my list were full, the hours were empty. How could it be? Day after day, I allowed the “urgent” to crowd out the important. And the truth of the matter is, no matter how many urgent things I accomplish, if important things are left undone – truly important things –  the day unravels. So when I recognized the scenery for what it was, I began the journey back toward intentional mothering by His grace. But how?

1. I made a list. (Shocking, isn’t it?) Don’t judge. It was an altogether different sort of list. I listed the things that make a day inside these walls full. Vibrant. Alive. Have you done this? It’s eye-opening, I tell you. It included a host of seemingly smallish things that when heaped together, build mountains of memories. Things like…
good books read aloud over breakfast and lunch,
sharpened color pencils and paper at the kitchen table,
letting her take a bubble bath at 3:00 in the afternoon just because,
unhurried time to explore the backyard,
game night with finger food,
girl time for us to create beautiful (and sometimes not so…) during his afternoon nap.

You get the idea. I’m learning that if these things are done but there are four loads of clean laundry still piled on the bed, it really was a good day. A full day. Not wasted.

2. I’m starting to simplify. What is currently underway here just might go down in the history books as The Great Purge of 2013. I’m not done. I’m not even close to done. But already, we are reaping the benefits. Less stuff equals more time. I’m slow to learn this, but I’m really beginning to believe it.

3. I’m SLOWLY adjusting the rhythm our days. Preschoolers thrive on routine. This is not a secret. I’m not so good with routines. This too is not a secret. But I’m learning. I haven’t tried to overhaul our entire day at once. I pinpointed one or two critical (i.e. everyone’s coming unglued) times of the day and started working on those first. The fruit of these efforts encourages me to press on.

4. I’m planning to play. This might be the hardest one for me. The bottom line is that if I decide I’m not going to play until the house is clean, the clothes are clean, the children are clean, I’m clean, and dinner is ready (and cleaned up), I will never play. There is ALWAYS one more thing to do.  Always. So I have to make play a priority. A top priority. It’s not frivolous. It’s not time squandered. It shouts “I love you!” to my children. It requires more than physical presence. It’s how we connect. It’s one way I can serve them. Of course, we have plenty of unstructured, child-directed play going on throughout the day, which I’m not always a part of, but I also want to sow seeds that nurture curiosity and creativity. We’re embarking on our second week of “play plans” here, and falling into a new daily rhythm that feels beautiful and right.

Lately, been I’ve gathering a varied collection of adventures, indoors and out, to share with my five-year-old. The goal is one activity a day (Monday through Friday). Planning ahead helps to ensure that we have the time, resources, and appropriate weather. I thought it would be fun to share them with you, as well.  On Fridays (so you have time to plan ahead) I’ll post plans for the following week. All of the activities are things you should be able to do at home, and many of the materials you probably already have on hand. I’ll also include a supply list and post each weeks plans by Friday so you’ll have the weekend to gather any necessary supplies, check the weather, etc.. I have planned these with my five-year-old in mind but many of them are perfect for older children and easily adapted for younger ones. I’ll also share what we’re reading aloud as a family and a few other fun things.

See you tomorrow…

]]> http://seamlessdays.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/intentional-mothering-plan-to-play/feed/ 1 seamlessdays soup http://seamlessdays.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/illustrated-easter-garden/ http://seamlessdays.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/illustrated-easter-garden/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:42:36 +0000 Gina http://seamlessdays.wordpress.com/?p=9777 Continue reading »

MONDAY: The Widow’s Mite [Mark 12:41-44]: 1 cent piece

TUESDAY: Jesus anointed at Bethany [Mark 14:3-9]: We glued a tiny round bead to the top of a larger oblong one for our alabaster jar.

WEDNESDAY: The Plot to Kill Jesus [Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16]: We tied 30 tiny beads up into a piece of cloth to represent the 30 pieces of silver given to Judas.

THURSDAY: The Last Supper & the Garden [Mark 14:12-42]: We used a couple of unfinished wood knickknacks from the craft store that we already had on hand for a tray and a cup. We made and baked a tiny loaf of bread from salt dough and attached everything with hot glue. We also have a larger stone (not pictured) to represent the garden of Gethsemane.

FRIDAY: Jesus’ Arrest, Crucifixion, & Burial [Mark 14:43-15:47]: The cross is made from twigs and twine. The crown of thorns are pieces of wire bent with needle-nose pliers. The robe was a thin strip of cloth she colored with marker. We also have a peg doll wrapped in linen to place in the tomb on Friday evening.

SATURDAY: Read about sealing the tomb [Matthew 27:62-66]: We will not light any candles on Saturday, to represent this day or mourning and wondering.

EASTER SUNDAY: The Resurrection [Mark 16]: Our tomb was molded from salt dough. We formed the cave by molding the dough over a ball of aluminum foil. We baked the tomb (with the foil ball underneath for support) and the bread loaf (for the Last Supper) at 350 degrees until it was firm and dry. Just watch it carefully to prevent scorching. We have stone for sealing the tomb. We painted three peg dolls to represent the women at the tomb. We have another piece of linen to place in the open tomb on Sunday morning.

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We keep buying sketchbooks and she keeps filling them up. We finally bought two sketchbooks and two sets of colored pencils  – one for her room and one for the kitchen so we wouldn’t be constantly hauling them back and forth. Much of her sketching is done in bed after stories, prayers, goodnights, and one more cup of water, so every few days, I stop to thumb through the pages and take in all of her creativity. I’ve been looking for a simple, inexpensive way to display her growing collection – a way to easily rotate the drawings without removing frames and mats, but something more uniform than wire and clips. I also wanted to scan the artwork, rather than removing the drawings from her sketchbooks. I wasn’t sure this would work, but it did and she was tickled pink to see her own little gallery on the wall. You could easily whip up a few of these in an afternoon.

P.S. Yes, the top picture on the left is inserted a bit crooked. I realized this after I photographed them but we have had sick little people and have been in survival mode, so for now, it’ll just have to be crooked. Priorities!

MATERIALS:
scanned prints of artwork (we cropped ours to 4×4 using Picmonkey)
1 art canvas (ours is 15 x 30)
acrylic paint
craft knife
ruler

HOW TO:
Select, scan, crop and print your artwork.
Arrange your prints on the canvas. I found it helpful to use a ruler and draw a line straight down the center of the canvas before arranging the prints. I didn’t try to make them perfectly symmetrical, but close enough.
Trace around the corners of each print lightly with a pencil.
Remove the prints.
Using a straight-edge and a pencil, make a small triangle in the corner of each “frame”.
Using a craft knife, slowly and carefully slit along the base of each triangle to form frame corners, cutting a little past the outside edges of each frame that you drew (if not your print will bow and buckle).
Paint your canvas. Dry completely.
Insert prints.
Hang and enjoy!

linking to :
the 52 project   |   stills

P R O J E C T   5 2   G A L L E R Y  |  W E E K S   1   T H R O U G H   8

linking to :
the 52 project
this moment

P R O J E C T   5 2   G A L L E R Y   |   W E E K S   1   T H R O U G H   7

Sometime between age three and four, we began reading chapter books aloud to our daughter.  Now, as a five-year-old, she has an insatiable appetite for good books. I’m compiling a list of twaddle-free chapter books, old and new, to read aloud. Keep in mind that I chose to do a little editing with a few of these but it was very minor. I’ll be updating this list as we go along, so check this post again soon for new additions.

1.Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner | A.A. Milne
2. The Littles | John Peterson
3. Stuart Little | E.B. White
4. “B” is for Betsy | Carolyn Haywood
5. A Mouse Called Wolf | Dick King-Smith
6. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | Lewis Carrol
7. Tumtum & Nutmeg series | Emily Bearn
8. A Nest for Celeste | Henry Cole
9. The Incredible Journey | Shelia Burnford
10. James and the Giant Peach | Roald Dahl
11. Fantastic Mr. Fox | Roald Dahl
12. The Story of Doctor Dolittle | Hugh Lofting
13. Coyote Autumn | Bill Wallace
14. Mary Poppins | P.L. Travers
15. Little House in the Big Woods | Laura Ingalls Wilder
16. Raggedy Ann Stories | Johnny Gruelle
17. African Adventures | Dick Anderson
18. My Father’s Dragon series | Ruth Stiles Gannett
19. Mr. Popper’s Penguins | Richard Atwater
20. The Indian in the Cupboard | Lynn Reid Banks
21. The Hundred Dresses | Eleanor Estes

What are your family’s favorites? We’d love to enjoy them too!

l i n k i n g   t o:
p r o j e c t   5 2   |   c h é   &   f i d e l
t h i s   m o m e n t  |  s o u l e m a m a

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Several years ago, I read No Ordinary Home: The Uncommon Art of Christ-Centered Homemaking by Carol Brazo. (I can’t recommend this book enough!) She explains how her family began the practice of celebrating Easter with a Lent Tree. The book was one I borrowed from the library but I discovered that Andrea’s family has used the same resource and she was kind enough to post a list of the daily readings and suggested corresponding symbols. (Click over to her post for the daily readings.)  Her family has gathered objects for the ornaments – something we might try once our children are a little older – but since our five-year old is into coloring these days, I opted for simplicity. I’m sketching ornaments for each day to cut out and color. They could be hung on a Lent Tree (dried branches or twigs) or strung on a garland.  I am behind on getting these scanned and formatted properly, so I’m playing a bit of catch-up but we’d love to share them with you. The first sixteen days are ready to print. I’ll be adding the others as we go along. We’ll be doing more than one a day for a day or two to catch up. It’s not too late to begin! To print your own, simply right-click on each page below. Print each page as an 8×10 or smaller for best print quality. You can copy and paste them into a Word document, resize each image/page to 8×10, and print them all at once if that’s easier. Hope you enjoy!