What Do You Do All Day?

~1~

"What do you do all day?"

Luke and Nina crashed after a long, busy day.

A little girl at a playground once asked my children this question when she learned that we don’t watch TV at our house.  Adults often echo the same question to me when they hear that we are homeschoolers.

Today, as I was downloading some photos onto my computer and browsing through others, I recognized anew that the answer to that question is not, “Sleep,” – although, of course, we do that, too!

Jack and Daddy, so sweet in slumber together

It is, “A lot!”

Not only do we attend to short, focused lessons, daily chores and our usual round of weekly appointments, but we also allow ensure the children get ample free time to direct their own creative pursuits, such as…

~2~

Pirate Ship Design

One day, the kids decided that the marbles in their Q-Ba-Maze look like cannon balls and before long, decided to design their own Q-BA-Maze and Legos pirate ship and dock with chutes that “shot” the cannon balls.

~3~

Pin Sammi on the Scene
While I was finishing up morning chores today, Luke and Nina began creating their own  The Kidnapped King (A to Z Mysteries) scene and, then, turned it into a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey inspired game.

(They recently played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey for the first time ever at their cousin’s birthday party, where Luke was thrilled to win!)

Turn.

Pin.

Win!

~4~

Model After Mommy at Work

"Hello?"

"Yes.  let me check that."

Jack humored me the other day by setting himself up to work in the kitchen.  (Admittedly, it made me pause to think that perhaps I should do less working when he is awake.)

~5~

Luke Skywalker

The kids have been on a bit of a Star Wars kick, even if their only exposure to the movies thus far has been watching some youtube clips with Daddy, reading some Star Wars easy readers from the library and talking about the show with kids at the playground.  As part of that kick, Luke created himself this Luke Skywalker space suit, complete with bike helmet and Whisper Phone space helmet and air-and-communication piece.

~6~

Figurine Playground

Time to swing!

Paper, scissor, tape and floss are what they are in my eyes.  Not in Luke and Nina’s!  With their imaginations, these things become a playground for figurines.  Yes, one day they decided that they should not be the only ones in our house with an indoor swing and crated this playscape in the window between our kitchen and family room, where they still give the figurines rides at times.

~7~

Artists

Mommy and Jack

One night after dinner, Luke randomly asked who would like to sit still so he could draw them.  I volunteered and he set to work intently sketching me and Jack.  Little detail man, he even decided to add my forehead wrinkles!  Nice.

Mommy

Nina quickly followed suit in sketching Mommy, but she had a kinder eye.


My kids just love to draw!

What creative pursuits do your children enjoy in their free time?  Do they have any favorite “tools” for their trades?  I always enjoy hearing about others, so do leave a comment.