School Holidays

Painting rocks this school holidays

Well, here we are in the midst of school holidays. Personally, I like this time. I like having the kids home and all of us operating as one group. I know not everyone feels this way, and there are times where I sometimes wonder how I am going to make it from one end of the day to the next.

A few basics get me through. Primarily I find if I work around the children’s basic necessities then I should have a failsafe plan; those necessities being food, energy exertion and stimulus. I start my plan with food. We have five meals in a day:

                Breakfast             Morning Tea      Lunch    Afternoon Tea  Dinner

I then punctuate these eating sessions with ideas on activities. They don’t need to be set activities but more a fall back plan should things go haywire in the day. After breakfast will be round 1 of physical exertion – a bike ride, soccer in the back yard, a swim, etc. After morning tea we wind down with a craft project, then lunch, some more physical exertion, afternoon tea, another craft, dinner and bed.

Sounds a bit simple but if I plan ahead and even prepare some of the activities before time then the anxiety of school holidays with four kids diminishes somewhat.

Here is an example of a schedule I have previously done on a camping trip:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast
Morning Activity	bush walk	bike ride	swim in the river	bike ride	swim in the river
Morning Tea
Craft	paper plate animals	kite making	rock painting	science experiment: make slime	science experiment: volcano
Lunch
Afternoon Activity	bike ride	kite flying	swim in the river	water bombs	game of soccer/cricket
Afternoon Tea
Craft	colouring in/puzzles	play doh monsters	science experiment: invisible ink	magnifying glass finds	treasure hunt
Dinner
Movie	Bolt	Toy Story	Monster Inc	Spy Kids	Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Now, by no means is this something I stick to strictly, but it is there if I need it. Ahead of time I will prepare a craft bag with each craft sorted separately in day order with all the supplies I would need. So for example, Monday will be a bag with paper plates, paints and instructions for the animals we would like to make (often a peacock or wombat as there are lots around where we go camping). Find an example here for a paper plate peacock here. And there will be a bag with some colouring in pencils, puzzles and some colouring in sheets (if it is Christmas they will be Christmas themed etc). Then I will do each day onwards. When looking after 4 small children days can get a bit tiring and it is hard to get the brain to function well. This schedule saves me during these times.

Building a volcano by the river in 2009

Here are some of the science experiments we do:

Invisible Ink:

Using lemon or milk dip in a paint brush or a cue-tip and write on paper. Once dried place the paper above a source of heat (such as a light bulb or stove element) and the secret message will be revealed.

Volcano:

Ingredients
small drink bottle
60 ml water
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/4 cup vinegar
red food colouring
few drops of detergent

Making the eruption
Place the water, soap, food colouring and vinegar in the drink bottle. Now pile dirt, clay or pebbles around the bottle so it looks like a volcanic mountain. Pour the baking soda into the bottle and the volcano will erupt!

Slime:

The following slime recipes are taken from “your lifestyle online”.

Slime (with borax)

What you will need:

3/4 teaspoon borax
1/2 cup white craft glue
Water
Food colouring (optional)
2 plastic containers
2 plastic spoons

Method:

• In the first container add 1/4 cup of water and borax into a container & mix
• In the second container add approximately 1/2 cup of water to 1/2 cup of glue. Add a few drops of food colouring & mix well.
• Add 1-2 tablespoons of the water/borax mixture to the water/glue mixture and combine. Eventually the mixture will become firm and you will need to use your hands to knead the mixture.

Slime (with cornflour)

What you will need:

1 cup of cornflour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water
Food colouring
1 plastic container 
1 spoon

Method:

• Add a few drops of food colouring to the water & mix.
• Add cornflour to a bowl & then slowly pour in the water until it has the consistency of toothpaste.
• Mix well.

Tomorrow we are hoping to make bath bombs which will then be followed by a bath (and hopefully a good sleep!)