Days 29-30: Finger Painting & a 2nd Scavenger Hunt

We're in the final stretch of "31 Days of Play." Technically, the challenge ends today, July 31st, but we missed a day of "play" on Sunday, so I'm making up for it with one final activity tomorrow, August 1st.

On Monday I made some homemade finger paints using a recipe that I've used before. They are very easy to make, and you probably have all of the ingredients on hand.

Recipe: Homemade Finger Paints

1/2 cup cornstarch

3 T sugar

1/2 t salt

2 cups water

Food coloring

Combine all four ingredients in a small pot. Stir on medium low until mixture warms and thickens. It should be pretty thick. Remove from heat and cool. Pour into containers and mix in food coloring.

I taped down some Kraft paper to our kitchen table, distributed bowls of finger paints, and let the girls dig in and paint. Of course, I painted, too. Actually, I think I enjoyed finger painting more than they did! There's something incredibly relaxing in smearing globular paints with your fingers.

Cora thought the paints were a little too icky for her liking.

Kate painted with them the longest; however, that was only 15 minutes. I think both girls really struggled with what to do with the paints because you can't actually draw anything with them. You more or less spread them around with your fingers and make a big mess, which I thought was totally fun; them, not so much.

All in all, I think finger painting would be a good quiet time activity for my girls because, at 8:00 in the morning, they were both more interested in running around outside than painting. But I will definitely do this art project again.

Today, we had another outdoor scavenger hunt. This time, instead of taking photos of natural objects in our yard for the kids to search for, I made a list of items for them to find.

Scavenger Hunt List

• A yellow leaf
• An ant
• A purple flower
• Something rough
• A stick to use as a magic wand
• A bird
• A dry patch of grass
• Something smooth
• A pine cone
• A really big rock
• Something unique that catches your eye

 One yellow leaf

 A purple flower

 Something rough

A stick to use as a magic wand

 

 Something unique that catches your eye--clumps of mowed grass :)

Blessings to you,
 

Keri

For comments or questions, contact me at: growinginhisglory@gmail.com

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This post may be linked to: The Better Mom Mondays, Monday Mom Musings, Raising Arrows Welcome Home, Teach Me Tuesdays, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2Days, Encourage One Another, Top 10 Tuesdays, Loving Our Children Tuesdays, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers Wednesdays, Works for Me Wednesdays, Raising Mighty Arrows Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Beautiful Thursdays, Hearts 4 Home, Faithfully Parenting Fridays

July Goals Update

 

 Free Image Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos,net

Last week I posted three personal goals for the month of July.

Here's how I did & my plans for this week:

(1) Continue Couch to 5K (C25K): By accident, I skipped a week of the C25K program, so instead of completing Week 2 last week, I actually completed Week 3! I am pretty proud of myself for not giving up and am LOVING how I feel after exercising. It's amazing, but I actually look forward to my next day of working out! 

I bought the app for C25K on my Android, which has made keeping up with the time so much easier. If you aren't familiar with C25K, you run and walk at different time intervals, so it is tricky and annoying to set your watch over and over again. The app does all the work for you and keeps track of distances and your pace. Plus, you have a virtual trainer pushing you on. 


Today I will start Week 4 of C25K, which means I'll be running 1/2 a 5K this week! I can't believe it! If you have been a couch potato (like me) and want to start exercising slowly, then I can't recommend C25K highly enough! Check it out here.

(2) Continue reading for 1 hour every day: I did a pretty good job meeting this goal. The only times I stumbled were on nights when my husband and I were watching Downton Abbey. {By the way, we're hooked!}

I finished Grace for the Good Girl, an excellent book that will definitely require a re-read because the ideas continue to swim around in my head even now. The depth of this book demands close attention, and I really need to go back and allow myself to be consumed by it. But not yet. I'm still processing it.

I'm on page 151 of Bird by Bird, which I'm reading and taking notes for some general writing advice. I love Lamott's style, and her humor keeps me attentive. However, I would advise you not to read it if you are offended by profanity. She has a bit of a potty mouth. Still, I am learning a lot more about a writing life.

In addition to Bird by Bird, I am also re-reading Tedd Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart. I'm on page 22.

I am also reading and taking notes on Growing Grateful Kids: Teaching Them to Appreciate an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Places by Susie Larson. My sister-in-law gave me this book for Christmas last year, and I've been meaning to read it for a while now. I love how anecdotal and practical Larson is. She reminds parents that we can't do our jobs effectively unless we are living for God. Each chapter concludes with a personal and parental application that is very helpful and insightful. I'm on page 61. 

(3) Continue writing for 30-45 minutes a day. Most days I am writing for at least 30 minutes whether I'm blogging, taking notes, or journaling. I do intend to write more in the coming weeks, especially once my "31 Days of Play" challenge ends on July 31st. 

The reading I am doing has definitely sparked some interesting writing ideas that I will share with you soon. 

A New Goal for August 

I know baby steps are key to keeping goals, which is why I have only 3 so far. However, I would like to add a new goal for August, that is, to give my undivided attention for at least 10 minutes each day to each child. I would like to work towards longer one-on-one time, but for now, I think 10 minutes is a good start. If I've learned anything from my "31 Days of Play" challenge, it's that my children crave my complete attention, and when I am playing, talking, or just spending time with them without my phone, computer, or other distraction, we have some fun times together with minimal whining and bickering. I hope this goal will smooth out some of the wrinkles we've had recently since our newest arrival. 

What about you? Do you have any goals set for August? If so, will you share?

Blessings to you!

 Keri

 

For comments or questions, contact me at: growinginhisglory@gmail.com

Find Growing in His Glory on Facebook.

I would love to see more of you!  If you are encouraged by what you read here and would like to have posts from Growing in His Glory delivered to your inbox daily, simply click here.  Or you can subscribe in a reader of your choice in the right sidebar.

This post may be linked to: The Better Mom Mondays, Monday Mom Musings, Raising Arrows Welcome Home, Teach Me Tuesdays, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2Days, Encourage One Another, Top 10 Tuesdays, Loving Our Children Tuesdays, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers Wednesdays, Works for Me Wednesdays, Raising Mighty Arrows Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Beautiful Thursdays, Hearts 4 Home, Faithfully Parenting Fridays