Who needs Power?

So this past weekend we ended up with one nasty storm come through our area of the province.  It consisted on extremely high winds, started with rain and continued onto SNOW and way to much of it.  Along with all this joyful weather came a power outage due to knocked down power polls.  This wasn't just a short lived outage either, for the area we lived in it was a dreadful 63 hours.  Ya, that's right 63 hours without power, heat, and water (here in small towns if you don't have power you don't water seems how the pumps can't run).  So lets just say it was a really long weekend for the kids and I, as the husband was stranded in the city due to the weather here (of course he had power, water, and heat.  There was no sight of the storm there besides some extra wind). 

So as the first day moved on and there was no sight of power coming back on anytime soon, I had to try and figure out how to keep my kids warm and entertained at the same time.  Now that's one large task as kids now a days don't know how to live without that power.  NO.... t.v., video games, music, computer, etc.  And of course we couldn't go down to the play room in our basement to play because along with the fun weather and power outage meant we had a soaking wet basement cause out sump pumps were unable to run. 

So mommy (me) was on a mission to entertain this little ones as much as I could.  We did everything from reading about a million books to coloring about 10 million pictures (OK I know that was extreme numbers but after the first 8 hours of doing it, one really does get tired of it, no matter how much you enjoy them).  So as i lay there while we have quiet time, I was trying to figure out what w should once they all wake up again.  Here is what the following day and a half consisted of:

• Many rounds of hide and go seek
• Building a large fort out of blankets and pillows
• Playing catch the bad guy and put them in jail (of course our jail was under the blanket, so one could stay warm)
• Ring around the Rosie
• Duck duck goose (not to easy to play with only 3 people!)
• Building towers out of Lego
• Practicing our printing and sight words (my oldest is in grade 1)
•  Watching the vehicle get stuck at the corner of our street, we even had a large semi get stuck, the kids thought that was crazy, how a big vehicle like that could get stuck
• Of course more coloring and reading happened too!

As for food, it was so hard to have my daughter understand that we can't "cook" Kraft Dinner because you need power to run the stove.  So we all lived on sandwiches, carrots, pudding and granola bars for the time our power was out.  We did luck out and the husband brought home a pizza from the city for us.  No it wasn't hot by the time he got home, but it did taste yummy after eating sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and supper the day before and the first part of the following day!

None the less, it might have been a long cold weekend for us.  We were able to learn and teach the kids, on should never take for granted what we have cause many people in this world have to live the way we did for those 63 hours all the time.  It was a joy to have so much fun with the kids, but we were glad to have power back on in the end. 

How to play Ring around the Rosie

What you need: All you need for this game is a group of children. This game can be played both indoors and outdoors.

How to play: The children join hands in a circle and walk around the circle singing, "Ring around the Rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down." When the word "down" is sung, children must stop walking and sit down.

The rules: Don't sit down until the end of the song.

How to win: The last person standing is out of the game, and the game continues until one person remains.

How to play Duck, Duck, Goose

Objective:The objective of Duck Duck Goose is for the person who is the ‘Picker’ to take the place of a player sitting in the circle.

Game Layout:Players sit in a circle facing inwards while one player, the picker, walks around the circle and touches each of the sitting players in turn, calling them either a ‘Duck’ or a ‘Goose’.

Game Description:Then the Goose is named, the Goose must get up and chase the Picker back to where they were seated. If the Picker gets to the spot and sits down before the Goose can catch them, then the Goose becomes the new Picker and the game continues. If the Goose manages to tag the Picker before the Picker can sit down, then the Goose may sit down again and the Picker resumes walking around the circle declaring Ducks and Geese.

Rules:The Goose must get up and chase the Picker. In a normal game the Picker and the Goose must run in the same direction around the circle.

Many variations of Duck Duck Goose can be played. For example, ‘Duck’Duck Grey Duck’ is a variation where the Grey Duck replaces the Goose, and other Ducks are described by an adjective, eg
Rag Tag is a very similar game, but instead of calling out Ducks and Geese, the Picker drops a rag or cloth behind one child, who must pick it up and try to Tag the picker. Duck Duck Goose can be played in numerous variations by replacing the words, eg Ninja Ninja Pirate, Elf Elf Santa etc. This can be done to suit a theme at parties and other events.

Strategy, Skills and Tactics

The key to Duck Duck Goose is being alert and getting up quickly after being called the Goose, and running quickly. If playing the variation Duck Duck Grey Duck, then the adjectives can be used to trick the other players into thinking that you are calling Grey duck, eg ‘Gr…oovy Duck’, which will slow down their reaction time. In Duck Duck Animal, choosing the animal carefully can also give the Picker an advantage. Choosing an awkward movement style when picking a fast runner can be an advantage.

Leading up to St. Patrick's Day

We Start off our St Patrick's Day crafts at the end of last week.  I was short on kids so I didn't want to move into the next farm animal yet so.... what better to do then more fun crafts!

Here are some of the crafts that lead us up to the big Irish Day.


We colored numerous St. Patty Day pictures:

Page can be found at Parenting Leehansen.com

Page can be found at Craft Elf

Page can be found at dulemba.blogspot.com
 



Tie-died Coffee Filter Shamrocks

This craft came from Kaboose website, I just changed a few things to make it easier for the younger ones.

What you need:

• coffee filters
• green markers
• Q-tips
• Small dish of water
• scissors

How to make your tie-die Shamrocks:

1. Have the children color all over the coffee filter with the green makers. (Don't worry about designs or anything fancy, just let them scribble for once!)
2. After they have colored the filters dip your Q-tip in the water
3. Then on to the colored filters
4. Now watch the magic happen...... the water makes the coloring run and forms fancy designs of its own
5. Set filters to the side to dry
6. Once dry cut the filters into the shape of shamrocks and hang up for decorations!

Treasure Boxes

I found some cute little wooden boxes at the Dollar store and thought that they would make great little treasure chests for the children.

What you need:

• Small boxes (doesn't have to be wooden ones they could be cardboard too)
• Green paint
• Paint Brushes
• Gems (we used little jewels, that I found at the Dollar Store)
• Glue

Instead of gems/jewels you could use:

• buttons
• beads
• stickers
• little rocks

How we made our treasure chests:

1. Paint the boxes green
2. Let dry
3. Glue the little gems on to the box
4. Let dry
5. Now your little ones have their very own special box to keep whatever they like to in it

A Treasure Hunt

While the children were painting there Treasure Boxes, I headed to the living room for a bit and started hiding some St Patrick's Day goodies.  Also at the Dollar Store, I found some green coins and shinny shamrocks... I picked them up just because I knew the children would love them.  So I thought for a while on what we could do with these fun little items.  That's when I came up with the idea for the treasure hunt to go along with our sparkly boxes.  With having younger children, I decided not to hide our treasure in any place all to hard for them to find.  They were all located in plain sight for them to find, yet they still had to look for them.  Once they found them they were able to put their treasures in their own boxes to keep and take home.

Remember to check out Ducky's Photos for more amazing pictures of the children having fun.