Our afternoon adventures (leaf rubbings and modeling clay)

Sometimes my personality feels like an odd mix.  On the one hand, I rather crave unstructured, serendipitous moments.  A little spontaneity, if you will.  Of course, it also took me several seconds to recall the word "spontaneity", lol.  I was sitting here thinking how much I like when things aren't so planned and thought "What's that word again?"  

So I suppose that proves the point that a little bit of planning does me good too.  It's the former teacher in me I suppose.  This summer the girls and I were footloose and fancy-free.  If we had a schedule, it was purely based on fun.  Then along came school and we got our acts together a bit more and I found myself dreading the late afternoon.  A time when it's not dinner prep yet, but not the energetic level of lunch activity either.  
Memories started to trickle in of how enjoyable it always is when I put a little extra thought and effort into this particular time of day.  So one morning while the girls were at school I made a list of about 25 activities we could do at home.  Easy things that required very few materials and most things you'd have around the house or could buy at Dollar Tree.  Then, you guessed it, I stocked up at Dollar Tree.  My, what a change that bit of planning has brought!  We now look forward to late afternoons.  Most days I have something fun waiting for the girls after rest time.  Not every day and that's ok.  

It's a time I can give them my full attention, with house chores put aside for the moment.  We talk, ask questions, play, wonder, and experience new things together. 

This particular day I put out a try of modeling clay and nature finds, then read to them from a book of poems. 

In Betsy's own words, on the left "A blanket!" and on the right, "A airplane!"  




Anna blew me away by drawing this sail boat!
A different afternoon we made simple leaf rubbings and then transitioned to trying weeds and grass and whatever we could get our hands on.  







And of course, a romp around the pasture never, ever gets old. 

This little dreaded time of day has become a delight. 

How can you change your routine up a bit to add more delight into your day?


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