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Sarah
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 6:26pm | IP Logged
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Can we start a list of things to do at home during summer months?
We have a new baby coming this summer and other than baseball we will be home.
Brainstorm ideas for all ages and genders.
I need some new, fresh, simple ideas and this will be a great place for us all to come when kids say they are bored.
Also, I said simple, but add elaborate ideas too!
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 6:29pm | IP Logged
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lay down a big tarp.. add cheap dish soap and a sprinkler.. and slip slide to your hearts content.. just don't leave the tarp down too long or the grass under goes yellow.
ETA - I use the grommetless tie downs (they're plastic and can be added any where on a tarp) and tie to stakes that are set back away from the tarp and nails flush to the ground.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 6:55pm | IP Logged
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LOL, Jodie beat me to it! That was the first thing that popped into my head, too.
Kite-flying...
A big art project, like papier-mache, that would be too involved to do during the school year...
Bubble-blowing...(find websites and learn how to make bubble-blowers of all shapes and sizes - experiment with different homemade bubble solutions - insta-science!)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 6:57pm | IP Logged
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I've been inspired by Lindsay's blog pictures of her boys just covered in dirt because they are so busy digging. We have a shaded area that is our "digging" area...to just play in the dirt. Trucks, digging, buried treasure, you name it.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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ekbell
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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Let a bit of lawn go wild for a micro exploration.
Use One Small Square: Backyard as a guide.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 8:16pm | IP Logged
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jumpropes, pogo sticks, stilts (they don't have to be high to be fun)
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 9:14pm | IP Logged
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Sidewalk chalk. Sand table/box. Big bouncy ball.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 12 2010 at 9:25pm | IP Logged
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Another vote for dirt. Lots of it.
So many of my memories of childhood play involve dirt and mud pies and sand and digging...
You could set up an outdoor wash-up station (bucket, water, place to dump shoes, etc.) for your children. Wouldn't it be fun to spend all summer making truck roads and race tracks in the dirt?
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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hylabrook1
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Water balloon fights.
Toe/foot painting (like fingerpainting, only not). Use fingerpaints, apply to feet with a small paintroller or step into a pan of it, walk on to concrete pavement or brown paper bags; just mess around with painting with your feet and toes. Nearby hose to clean up so it doesn't get where it shouldn't.
I know you already garden, but maybe plant some *interesting* seeds and see what happens.
Build tents from blankets.
Peace,
Nancy
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 13 2010 at 9:31am | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| I've been inspired by Lindsay's blog pictures of her boys just covered in dirt because they are so busy digging. We have a shaded area that is our "digging" area...to just play in the dirt. Trucks, digging, buried treasure, you name it. |
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I'm so glad they could inspire people to do something besides bathe 
My Dad always told stories of his young childhood about his dirt pile. He didn't have a sandbox, just a pile of dirt that he and his cousin would play in for hours and hours. My own brother had cerebral palsy and wasn't able to be a "normal" boy example to me; so, I guess my strongest image of what it is like to be a happy little boy involves dirt and lots of it!
ETA: I didn't mean to imply my own brother wasn't happy--just a different situation...
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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sewcrazy
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We believe in a summer day ending with clean children is a day misspent
We have 2 acres and the back corner of the property is "The Hole". The hole consists of 3 very deep holes with trenches connecting them. Them cover them with tarps, build up walls around them, and other "stuff" The hole has been a castle with dungeon and moat, World War 1 trenches, air soft war bunkers, and much more.
Another special area in the yard is our bean tunnel and sunflower teepee. I used pvc pipe to form a tunnel that I covered in netting from a neighbors trampoline they were throwing away (but you can use twine or plastic netting or whatever). We grow beans, cucumbers, jack be little pumpkins and morning glories on the tunnel. The tunnel ends in a sunflower teepee. Plant giant grey stripe sunflower in a large circle (about 6 feet in diameter works well) As they grow, train the plants to grow towards the center of the circle. By the end of July you have a teepee.
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LeeAnn
Wife of David, mom to Ben, Dennis, Alex, Laura, Philip and our little souls in heaven we have yet to meet
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 13 2010 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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well with all the mention of dirt here.. I think this would get a laugh..
a friend told me this *meant to be funny defination* just yesterday..
boys - noun - noise with dirt on it
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Stay at Home activities
