We’ve been trying a thing around here, or at least I’ve been trying a thing, to better organize our time. Because I’m not a homeschooler. But…I work. I work at home, I have a child in half day preschool (probably next year as well), I have a child getting 4 sessions of private speech and OT each week, I do not have childcare, I do not want to just park my 5-year-old in front of the TV all day.

I mean, let’s be real. It’s not screen free all day. She is four (five tomorrow!), and I have work to do. But she did get a snow day here today because of the blizzard named Stella, which is really more of a gross, slushy snow dump than a proper blizzard. But nevertheless, here we are cooped up inside. It seemed like a good day to share some screen free activities we’ve been doing lately (while the small human is tucked up in our bed watching Scaredy Squirrel).

It’s the last day of August, and it feels like a good time to check in with all the remaining summer fun we’ve had that I never posted. I did post some things a few weeks ago, but this is it. All the rest. It was a great summer! But, we are ready for one last vacation and then back to school. It’s time. She will have had 3 months of summer, with no camps or big summer programs (one day a week at a play gym), and this child NEEDS to go back to school. She loves it, she misses it, she’s ready.

This was another project from an Asia Citro book. These yarn-wrapped sticks were in her A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature.
We collected the sticks from our nearby woods and playground.

I bought some Lumi Inkodye supplies so that we could experiment with making sun prints, they just got here the other day. Read more on Happy 4th of July!…

I bought a big tie dye kit on sale when I was stocking up on summer craft supplies, and then I pinned some great projects on Pinterest. And one of them was this I Love to Create Tropical Twist Teepee. I knew I could sew the tent and get H to help me dye it, and then she’d have something really cool for her backyard play. And we had so much fun! I love how this turned out.

With no camp or school program for H this summer, and Mama still trying to get some work done, it’s hard to fight the temptation to let her sit in front of the TV for hours while I get stuff done. And I will admit, there are days when that happens. But aside from our summer field trips, I’ve been turning off the TV and trying to put different activities in front of her to stay busy and engaged.