JULY 16, ‘25 // House Art This works if you have concrete house walls or light-colored tiles. Grab some water guns, a pool squeezie, your empty spritz bottle, or a combination of all these, and give every child a weapon. Then, each child gets a space on the outdoor wall that is ‘theirs’, and the outdoor canvas is ready. Some children like to draw pictures, others will simply shpritz and spray until the wall is covered in water, and still another will try to see how far he could stand and still get the spray to reach the wall. If you’re reading this and wondering where the rules of the game are, and more importantly, where the goal of the game is, the point is that there are none. For a few minutes, everyone can be their own boss (in terms of what to spray, not where to spray), and all that’s left for the mother to do is compliment their art skills or get in the way and cool off with a good old spray. Bean Collecting Grab a bag of beans, popcorn seeds, and some tickets. If you don't have real tickets, cut paper can work just fine - with the added bonus of a paper-cutting activity. Let the oldest child spread the beans and/or seeds out on the backyard grass before the rest of the children head outdoors. Then, at the count of ten, everybody collects the beans and seeds. When everyone has finished collecting, gather the exhausted children inside. Every ten pieces is worth a ticket, and the tickets can then be used to purchase a treat like ice-cream or a special snack. If you're not as exhausted as the kids are, yet, you can pop the seeds and have a popcorn party, too. 126
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTY1MDA0