How to Stave Off Summer Boredom!

 

Step 1: Gather your cutting tools and scrapbook paper to cut two circles.
Be sure to choose cute colors!

 

Step 2: Adhere the two circles. Choose any letters to spell "idea jar."
Also go ahead and write all of your fun ideas on strips of paper to go into the jar. Ours included read a book, play Leapster, pretend to camp, swing, paint, dress-up, and more!

 

Step 3: Adhere the labels to the jar and adorn with a coordinating ribbon. (Abby chose everything for this project...papers, letters, and ribbon). I think she has a great eye for colors!

Abby and Isabella finished preschool for the year two weeks ago (May 13th). I am SO behind on blogging for sure! We had a week of stomach virus in our house, and then we had party week with Grant's birthday, Mother's Day, and my birthday....and we launched Duck Duck Goose Designs. We've been a little busy to say the least! So I have lots I gotta blog about.

Anyway, oh it took only about 2 days before Abby was wandering the house saying, "I'm bored." Now mind you she only went to preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays, so it's not like she's not used to being with us. But I do have to say in her defense that I too would probably be bored with a house full of babies and toddlers. As the mom, however, I can't hear this the next 3 months. So I made her promise that she wouldn't use the B word (bored) at all all summer. Well, it only took 48 hours before she started saying, "Mom, I'm that word I'm not supposed to say all summer." What a little genius! So the idea jar was born!

After rattling off a list of things she could do and have fun doing, I got the bright idea (pun totally intended) to make the idea jar. Off we dashed to my scrapbook closet to get some cute papers. First, we cut two circles with my cutting tool (I love this thing!). Then we adhered those together and chose some fun stickers from my leftover sticker letters (great way to use those up!). Abby listed off fun things to do (with my help), and I wrote them on slips of paper. She can pretty much read almost anything now, so I knew she could read these when she pulled them out of the jar. We then stuck this on a Mason jar that we'd gotten full of Krystal's yummy Christmas treats (of course it had been scrubbed of all sugary remnants). Then we added a sweet bow...and wow! An idea jar!

Yesterday she actually used this to my delight. She had that look on her face (and we'd already read books, eaten breakfast, done a memory verse, played school, learned how to count money, eaten snack, and played independently...and it was only 11 a.m...and she was already the B word). On her own, she goes, "Oh, I have to go check my idea jar." She read her slip "pretend to camp" and off the girls went to set up a pretend camp in Isabella and Ali Kate's room. That turned into a solid hour of imaginative play. Go, idea jar!