Entering our first real "summer vacation" now that Selah finished kindergarten, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure, I run my family child care and that would fill up much of my week with them with activities and things to do, but still. Would I have to hold my ground and set stricter technology rules for their personal down time? Would I have to plan additional things for them to do, on top of the activities I already plan for my daily child care program?
Well it's a good thing I've always encouraged and been a proponent of free, open-ended art and play. No activity sheets, no craft instructions. Just materials, tools, and something to inspire them. It hasn't been long, but I am so excited about how my daughter has chosen to spend her own time. Lots and lots of creating.
I have started a collection of recyclable materials. While sometimes my husband and I cringe at how much "junk" we are collecting, I keep it to only what fits in the tub. So long as my daughter has tape (lots of it), she will spend hours creating.
Purses. Treasure chests. Televisions. Books. Car seats with seat belts and steering wheels. Robots and butterflies.
Beats a cable bill and bored kids! It's not too hard to create an art space for your kids. I had a donated plastic floor mat from a local office to protect the floor. I shopped thrift stores for filers for the construction paper and mostly recycled paper (kids usually don't care if their paper is blank on both sides or if one side has an advertisement for lawn service). Some other things I keep handy are glue, empty cups, string (old shoe laces, for example, or bits of yarn), bottle tops, old hair ties that don't work well anymore... Really it's whatever is accessible to you and is safe for kids to use.
So here's to many hours of art and inventiveness and creativity spent this summer. Cheers!
P.S. Yes it can get messy, but I will check on my daughters at different points to remind them to clean along the way, so it's not too hard at the end. Hope that helps!
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