Spending time in the backyard!
                                                  Water
                                                      &
                                               Lady Bugs

I know that this is a tough time for everyone; it’s truly sad no matter how you look at it. Being optimistic doesn’t mean that there is always a brighter side to situations, but it does mean to try and find the light in situations wherever possible. As we all should be doing, my family and I have been on lock down, and let me tell you, it’s been ROUGH! I am not a home body and I absolutely love to get out whenever the opportunity arises, so you could imagine how tough this has been. You start to run out of ideas on what to do, you get into sluggish ruts without ever needing to leave the house, and things can tend to get a little edgy with the other family members. How did anyone ever live in a world of no entertainment, electronics or other luxuries? (Let this be a reminder, and possibly a rude awaking of how blessed we are on a normal basis, we tend to, naturally, take life for granted!)

My family and I have been trying to stay busy with some of the obvious choices of things to do……and some of the less obvious. We have children that range from one year, up to fourteen years old, so we have to get creative at times. Lucky for us, our eldest ones tend to help out a lot and enjoy getting involved with the games and activities we even have for the younger ones.

Start off by getting the family together and making a BUCKET LIST! We all love making seasonal bucket lists; and this alone is something to do with the family and is full of fun. Make a game out of it!! Get creative, have each member write down 3-5 activities and toss them all in a hat. Maybe from there, you can all take a shot at guessing who came up with that idea, or maybe rate which idea is best. Then appoint someone to write these ideas down and pick one to two a day. Some of the things that we have done so far together are, of course, chalk your walk, an outdoor bubble party with a bubble maker, and board games! All fairly simple and doable!! Have a movie date, create a movie theater feel where you and your family all get together and watch a film! Get a drink…. call it soda pop for the little ones, and throw some popcorn in a bucket or a paper lunch bag. Maybe even prior to your movie date, make some fun pop corn! Use sprinkles, melted chocolates, or flavored powders. Now, I know that the idea is to stay in, so you may not have all of these ingredients in house, so work with what you have. Maybe at the time of making your bucket list, you can consider adding certain items to a shopping list so when you have to sneak out for that grocery shopping trip, grab several other items while you are already out. “Play” school, have your kids act like the teachers and switch up the roles; keep it fun, throw in some coloring, and some stickers for the little ones to use for grading. I have two boys, they love Nerf guns!! Actually, we all have a taste for Nerf guns; we like to make our house a battle field and go haywire on each other, we’ll all come up with warrior names and drag the thought of being out on a real battle field as long as possible.

Here are some more great ideas to do with the kiddos……

• Scavenger Hunt
• Outdoor Sports; Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, Street Hockey, etc.
• Bike Rides
• Bake cookies, cupcakes, and/or other sweets.
• Exercise together, watch a work out video or take turns teaching a particular exercise.
• Plant a flower or some other plant and watch it grow.
• Have a fashion show with your kids, have them pretend that their on the run way with outrageous outfits.
• Easter/holiday prep, make Easter banners and other cute decor that can be used for Easter.
• Rock Painting
• Make & play with Play Dough
• With a bucket of JUST water and a paint brush, pretend to paint the backyard fence. (for the younger ones)
• Make a fort
• Snail mail- Have your kids write their friends letters.
• Reading Night- We will all pick out a book and read it out loud to everyone.
• Make “Spring” cleaning a fun way to get your kids involved and your house cleaned at the same time.
• {My husband started playing Pokemon with my seven year old.}
• Nature Walks 
• Balloon Party                                                                     
• Dance Party
• Walk the dog
• Take a trip somewhere outdoors – a walk/hike (away from other people!) [The closest to us would be Knights Ferri]   Take a picnic!

Falling asleep playing Lego’s.                                                            Ice Cream in the front or back yard with the siblings.              Simply hanging out and playing with toys with the siblings.

Although my older ones are so great at participating in activities that meet the qualifications of a three year old, they also like to do things a bit more at their own level. My twelve year old loves giving me a make over a doing my nails. She also likes to pretend to be a masseuse, I’m usually her client. We recently subscribed to a magazine subscription and enjoy reading those in our spare time, we have also had fun making collages out of the ones that we have already thoroughly read. They like baking and doing crafts with me, we seem to always have a mess that follows whatever project we are working on at the time; this seems to keep us busy for at least a couple hours out of the day. My eldest LOVES binge watching TV shows, she will sometimes, sit there for hours catching up on whatever is the latest among the kids. She likes having my company, so out of my good judgement, I will sit there sometimes and discuss what’s going on in the show every now and then. My girls also really enjoy going on jogs together; they’re getting to that age where they are more health conscious! 🙂 

Some more things to do with teenagers who are trapped within a certain radius of their home.

• A in home book club
• Journal back and forth
• Rearrange their bedroom.
• Even though having a “Tea Party” seems like something for the smaller ones, a cute Tea Party setting with the older ones are always fun and cute!
• “Conference Calls” with their friends. Set up live or three way phone calls with their friends to stay in touch.
• Make future time lines with them! (Near, Far….)
• Hang out with them in the kitchen, they can find that cooking is a lot of fun. (Google or look up a recipe up in a cook book and wear Aprons)
• Starbucks or Yogurt Mill Run through the drive through!!   They LOVE doing this!

All of these fun things should keep you just as busy and entertained as much as they will keep your little ones going. But, whenever you ever you are not busy hanging out with the kids, start a new book, play a sudoku puzzle, or get around to organizing that room you never had time to get around to in the past. I know that everyone isn’t into making changes to their home as I am, but if you are, take advantage of this time and get to work!!! Maybe start to follow a yoga instructor online and practice some moves in your living-room or possibly a meditation strategy. No matter what it is that you chose to do, try and make the best of it! I understand this is a tough time for everyone, so just hang in then and pray that this passes sooner than later! I hope that I was of some help, and if the bare minimal, I hope that you just enjoyed spending a little time with me 🙂