Summer Fun

I recently reviewed a book that emphasizes the need for children to MOVE in order to learn.  This inspired me to get the kids some new active toys for summertime.

Bucket Stilts:  It used to be that you had to save up two matching cans, punch holes in them with nails, and add your own string.  And you can absolutely still do that!

But I took the cheater mama easy way out and bought mine.  1) because I have a hard time saving up recycling with so many "helpers" throwing things away, and,

2) because I'm impatient and wanted stilts NOW, and

3) because it seemed slightly safer to have strong, stable stilts designed to hold people, rather than flimsy cans.  If you look closely, you'll see Eli is actually JUMPING in this picture.  Both red stilts off the ground.  Crazy kid.

The Scooter Board was actually something I bought with Luke in mind.  I thought he might like to lay on his stomach and pull himself around on it.  Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking there.  He was not having any of that.

Fortunately, the other kids thought it was pretty cool, and Hannah, Eli & Jack all enjoyed playing on it right away.  I used a coupon on this, and got it for $14.39 at Lakeshore Learning, which was the best price I could find.

Balance Board:  This is a recommended activity in the book I'm read, and I sought one out specifically because of the book.

However, I was dismayed, looking on Amazon, to discover that they're pretty expensive.  Imagine my surprise when the morning after I'd been looking at them, I saw the same balance boards on zulily.com for half the price!  3 cheers for Zulily!

I play catch with the kids while they stand on the balance board.  In fact, one day when Zach was here, he even tried it.

I got these buckets on clearance after Easter.  They make me smile.  I tend to color code a lot of things around here, so these would be perfect for First Day of School gift baskets, Easter baskets, I wonder if I could talk the kids into letting me use them instead of stockings...?

This has turned out to be like a Tot Tray for big kids!  I saw this really cool block set in a tray on zulily.com, and was gazing wistfully at it when Brianna came by and gasped.  "I wants it!" she said, breathlessly.

Well, she twisted my arm...

Actually, I'm glad I got this one.  It's very open ended.

You can make castles.

Or quilt stars.

Or just play with the colors.

And the boys play with it, too.

This was taken right after his tower fell down.

Sam loves to fidget with things, and he made a couple of interesting structures.

One of which was structurally sound enough to support a book.

Or two or three or twenty books.

I was impressed.

Picked up a little pool, thinking Hannah and Katie would enjoy it.

Yeah.  So do Brianna, Eli, and Jack!

If I had known, I would have gone for the next size up!

I hope you are having as much fun this summer as we are!

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