have to do's with little kids

[Guest]

i've been thinking bout the stuff i really liked as a little kid now that i have two.

h is 7 and s is 5. and they like the usual stuff little girls of that age like.

but life is totally different now to what it was 40 years ago when i was a little jessi.

and i want to give them the "have to's"

so what would the have to do's be in your life if you had two of that age?


here's a start
i made them watch the goonies with me. the movies old but one of my fav and they LOVE it totally

i make them go barefeet as much as i can. whats with kids and shoes?? i dont get it.

peas and beans fresh and directly from the pod. used to eat em like that on the farm. who needs tinned and frozen vegs if you can pick your own sometimes.

going through all my old books with em to read old stories

old pictures and showing them what stuff looked long ago



ok enough me. your turn

 

[kendo1]

Making fairy cakes.
Painting, and generally getting mucky - kids like grown ups who don't mind making a mess. (hand painting, foot painting! , using potatoes)

Throwing stones into a river.

 

[Jeanx2storm]

Making fairy cakes.
Painting, and generally getting mucky - kids like grown ups who don't mind making a mess. (hand painting, foot painting! , using potatoes)

Throwing stones into a river.

Yes, getting messy...
We were doing some work in our backyard so there was alot of dirt. When it rained we sent the kids outside in their swimsuits and they had a mudfest, got some great pics of them covered in mud!

 

[Guest]

Making fairy cakes.
Painting, and generally getting mucky - kids like grown ups who don't mind making a mess. (hand painting, foot painting! , using potatoes)

Throwing stones into a river.

we love art

 

[Guest]

Yes, getting messy...
We were doing some work in our backyard so there was alot of dirt. When it rained we sent the kids outside in their swimsuits and they had a mudfest, got some great pics of them covered in mud!

sounds fabulous!!

 

[sweetness6280]

I have 3 grown children and D is 4. I am so lucky that my mother came to me when my first child was born and told me to play with my kids. There will always be chores to do, but the kids won't always be 4 (or 5 and 7). I will never regret leaving a dish in the sink or dust on the furnture in order to enjoy my kids.

Rake up all the leaves and then jump in them. Have a leaf fight.

Go on nature walks. Let them make up stories about the animals, or anything their imagination can dream up.

Lay on the floor surrounded by crayons, and use the "wrong" colors for everything.

Finger paint, yes it is messy, but it cleans up.

Lie on the ground, looking up at the clouds, finding shapes. Wake them up in the middle of the night to go outside and see a meteor shower. LOL, my older kids still talk about it!

Dress up (like a pirate, or a queen, etc) to go to the store, or wherever. Let your kids see that you are not afraid to be different.

LOL, I'll stop.. I could go on for hours. Just enjoy them, and laugh. A lot.

 

[Guest]

I have 3 grown children and D is 4. I am so lucky that my mother came to me when my first child was born and told me to play with my kids. There will always be chores to do, but the kids won't always be 4 (or 5 and 7). I will never regret leaving a dish in the sink or dust on the furnture in order to enjoy my kids.

Rake up all the leaves and then jump in them. Have a leaf fight.

Go on nature walks. Let them make up stories about the animals, or anything their imagination can dream up.

Lay on the floor surrounded by crayons, and use the "wrong" colors for everything.

Finger paint, yes it is messy, but it cleans up.

Lie on the ground, looking up at the clouds, finding shapes. Wake them up in the middle of the night to go outside and see a meteor shower. LOL, my older kids still talk about it!

Dress up (like a pirate, or a queen, etc) to go to the store, or wherever. Let your kids see that you are not afraid to be different.

LOL, I'll stop.. I could go on for hours. Just enjoy them, and laugh. A lot.

wow fabulous stuff!!

 

[SimonLeBonbon]

you live, you learn...

I got a six yr old boy....

Love him (but that's the easiest part)

Play, play and play again....

Teach him respect for life and every living thing.

Collecting his baby teeth (and show and compare them with mine)

Let him explore the world, starting at home

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2371/2223540426_9f6ce900ec.jpg


Go outdoors and enjoy the beauty of nature:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/42813807_2f2f88d2a0_m.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/42813829_3f91d562df_m.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/42813850_18d3aad72e_m.jpg


Have I mentioned loving him already?

 

[starrkers]

Lie on your back in the grass and look at the clouds - find the pictures in them.

Watch a spider spin his web (depending on the kid and the speed of the spider, this is often a better time lapse type thing - keep coming back to check the progress).

Keep a caterpillar until it becomes a butterfly.

Do crayon/pencil rubbings of interesting things.

Make your own playdoh.


eta: I need to type faster and quit reminiscing - from start of post to posting time nearly all these ideas appeared from others!

 

[Guest]

things i loved doing and still remember as a kid that made a difference...

playing board games or card games together.

family vacations or weekend getaways, camping, campfires, hiking...wonderful memories, photos, stories, and special moments that last forever.

baking cookies.

dressing up and building a fortress in the living room and letting imaginations run free

 

[voluptuary_manque]

The natural habitat of a child is outside. Electronic games are demonic. Have Daddy take them fishing. Little girls absolutely require Daddying, as do little boys, and the thought of going out and catching your own fish to fry and eat along with all those garden fresh vegetables anchors kids to the Earth and makes them understand that the Internet is but a dream.

 

[Alex De Kok]

< ... partial snip ... >Watch a spider spin his web (depending on the kid and the speed of the spider, this is often a better time lapse type thing - keep coming back to check the progress).
< ... snipped again .. >

Okay, I'm not a parent. Not planned, just happened that way! But I think I still have a big chunk of kid in me.

Waiting at the bus stop after a day at the office (must have been around 1990 - we've had a car since about '92 - didn't need one before!) I noticed a spider spinning its web in a broken window frame of the shelter at the bus stop.

It has to be one of the most fascinating things I have ever watched in my life. Didn't need time lapse - that little devil was quick! Might be the only time I was ever pleased that the bus was late!

Alex

 

[Weird Harold]

Museums, parks, and hiking trails (hiking difficulty suitable to their ages.)

Kites! not just the store-bought kind of kites either -- a couple of sticks, some newsprint or wrapping paper, some glue and some string and "vye-owe-la ya gots yerself a kite."

If you're into it yourself, Fishing is always a favorite with small kids, but they'll pick up on the fact you don't like fishing real fast if you're not a fisherman.

Tents made out of sheets over tables or built from plankets in the back yard -- overnight camping in the dining room is good preparation for the big adventures to be found in overnight backyard expeditions.

 

[starrkers]

One that's fun even for non fishing types - a jar with plastic stretched over the top, preferably held with string and a long bit left as a handle, cut hole in plastic about the size of a five cent piece. Put bits of bread in jar.
Immerse whole thing in stream/creek/rockpool. Go have fun elsewhere for awhile. When you come back (if you're lucky and the creek's in good shape) they'll be little fish or other aquatic critters in it to be checked out and released.

 

[Guest]

sitting outside on a warm summer night looking at the stars and pointing out constellations.

building sand castles on the beach. searching for sea shells.

 

[buxxxom]

Catching fireflies and making jewelry out of the light up bits

Tying a long piece of thread to a june-bug to make a helicopter

Planting sunflowers in the middle of the vegetable garden

Making cookie dough, and eating it raw, not baked into cookies

Fishing

"Tenting out" in the backyard, complete with weenies, marshmallows, and bacon and eggs cooked over the campfire

Working for weeks on a 1000 piece puzzle, leaving it on your kitchen table and having meals on the coffee table so it's not disturbed

Building birdhouses with their daddy, and watching the progress as birds move in and out

Sandcastles on the beach

Sledding on an old car hood in the all too infrequent snowfalls

 

[glynndah]

The sheer joy, the potential, the creativity, in a brand-new box of crayons or Play-doh.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Morton Juster's "Phantom Tollbooth"

Legos, Legos and more Legos. Build different spaceships and then have space battles and negotiate treaties and celebrate armistice over cookies and milk

Bubble Tents made by wrapping the end of a bed sheet around a box fan then anchoring the rest of it with shoes or books.

My oldest is getting into Water Rockets and bringing back so many great memories for me.

For his last birthday I got him "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and we have been having a blast going through it.

Ghost stories around campfires

And now and then sleeping in the living room staying up way too late and then sleeping late the next day and making french toast for breakfast.

 

[Xelebes]

http://lh3.google.com/Nitro2k/R5iKuONSvbI/AAAAAAAAAvI/ozRqAFHlHJQ/s400/1007.jpg

 

[Xelebes]

http://lh3.google.com/Nitro2k/R5iKrONSvXI/AAAAAAAAAuo/YssYRwfQl9E/s400/1002.jpg

 

[Xelebes]

http://lh6.google.com/Nitro2k/R5iK0-NSvlI/AAAAAAAAAwY/Y6oOMRmK1Jg/s400/1015.jpg

 

[Xelebes]

http://lh4.google.com/Nitro2k/R5iK0eNSvkI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/oUQGTt0DMLY/s400/1016.jpg

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

http://lh3.google.com/Nitro2k/R5iKrONSvXI/AAAAAAAAAuo/YssYRwfQl9E/s400/1002.jpg

Dammit I wish I had seen this 4 tears ago. I've been playing chess with my kids since he was 5 months and now he kicks my ass!

 

[cloudy]

Tying a long piece of thread to a june-bug to make a helicopter

OMG, I thought I was the only one who still did this!



Have a water balloon fight on a hot day.

Sing loudly and off-key in the car - make appropriate faces to fit the lyrics (youngest son LOVES this). Accompany your noise with air guitar on their belly or back...great when they're ticklish.

"Camp out" in the living room. Make s'mores and eat hot dogs.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

"so what would the have to do's be in your life if you had two of that age?"

Have a mom like jessi.