activity jar

My days are filled with routine. Lots and lots of routine. I'm not complaining, I love routine. I find I function much better with routine and everything you read about small children emphasizes the importance of establishing routine. We all know that in the mornings we: eat breakfast, get dressed and make the beds then play and, without fail, bedtime is: dinner, clean up, bath time, book and bed. As great as routine is I feel like I've been getting too caught up in it lately. Having a second child and dealing with the sleeplessness and emotions that come with a new baby as well as the additional work that it takes was a harder adjustment than I had anticipated. I feel like I have been holding tightly to our routine as a way of holding on to my sanity. In the mix of it all I haven't taken the time that I used to with Amelia to be spontaneous and creative.

She's such an animated little girl with this excitement about her with everything she does. I love watching her see and try new things and she's growing and changing so fast that I wish I could slow it down sometimes! I want to make sure that, while a lot of my time has to go to Marinn right now, she still feels like she's important. This desire is what led to the concept of an activity jar.

I took a canister from my kitchen that was no longer being used and filled with pieces of paper, each containing a different thing for us to do together. Things that will stimulate creativity and imagination and give us some time to not worry about the day to day things that usually dictate our day, but just enjoy each others company and do something fun. I hope to, at least once a week, let Amelia draw a paper from the jar, drop everything we are doing, and get busy having some fun!

Most of the activities in our jar are simple things that we would normally do with a few fun things that will get us out and about and even a handful of things I feel no sane parent would encourage! The idea isn't necessarily trying new things so much as making sure to take the time to do things. I can't wait to add new activities as I come across ideas on pintrest and other blogs. I hope that as she gets older we can continue this, adding things for both her and Marinn to do.

Here are a few activities from our jar:
Go on a scavenger hunt and collect things of one color (to start a book like this)
Take a bath with glow sticks
Paint an old sheet to use for our forts/tents to play in
Make a giant ice cream sundae and invite friends to share it with
Go fishing and make fish prints (if we're lucky enough to catch something)
Fill an entire room with balloons and play

I can't wait to share pictures and stories from our adventures!