What Can a Kid Do With Their Free Time?

Are you asked by your kids, "What can I do?" on a continuous loop? Our standard answer is, "Honey, it's not my job to entertain you, so you need to look around our great big house and find something to do."  Actually, Kendra just says, "I'm not your cruise director." They don't always like that response, but when we tell them that they could go memorize a poem, they seem to suddenly be able to come up with something to do on their own. Parents for the win.

Just to help our kids out, we printed and posted the following list. If you want a copy for yourself, feel free to download it below.

What Can I Do With My Free Time?

· Ask older siblings or grandparents if they have jobs you can do 

· Practice your instrument

· Practice your sport or dance

· Read

· Swim laps to improve strokes (breast, back, freestyle- 10 laps per stroke)

· Run 10 laps around the front circle, increasing to 20 by a certain date (you choose)

· Work on the keyboarding program 

· Write a letter on the following rotation-

  1. Grandparent

  2. Friend in a faraway place

  3. Aunts and Uncles

  4. Cousins

  5. Our president, congressmen, senators, governor

· Do a craft

· Do a puzzle

· Origami

· Carve wood

· Work on your nature notebook

· Organize a cupboard (ask Mom)

· Memorize Scripture

· Draw 

· Drawing class video

· Ballet class video

· Jump on the trampoline

· Ride bikes

· Skateboard

· Roller skate

· Sidewalk chalk

· Play a board game

· Research a subject you’ve wanted to learn more about and begin a notebook page on it

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE LIST!

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5 Days of Making Christmas Memories, Stress Free! - Day 1

Today kicks off our 5-day series on making this Christmas stress-free, so let's start with a few pointers. Stress-free Christmas? Yes, please!

Golden Rules of Making Stress-Free Christmas Memories

1. Don't make a commitment you can't keep. Advent readings that are one per day for 25 days straight sound lovely on November 30th but can feel like a loadstone on December 21st, especially if you've got a gaggle of little people (or a couple of teens with social lives).

2. Don't let a tradition rob you of your joy. If it's not working for everyone, ditch it. Traditions for the sake of tradition wrap us up in bondage. Seasons come and go and there's great freedom in being flexible so that we can serve and love others in a way that works better this year.

3. Remember that time spent together is the best memory of all. Over the next few days we'll be sharing some simple, stress-free ways to spend time with your kiddos this Christmas. They may not be Pinterest-worthy, but they will fill your kids' cups up high with relationship-building love and goodness.

Coming up tomorrow: Christmas Books for Stress-Free Moments

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Join the bloggers of the iHomeschool Network for 5 Days of Christmas. So much goodness there! And then enter to win over $400 in cash - our Christmas Stocking Stuffer Giveaway just for you. Enter below!

5 For Friday: The Kids Are Driving Me Nuts!

From around the web, here are five articles and blog posts to accompany our latest episode, I Love Homeschooling But My Kids Are With Me All the Time. We think you'll find them very encouraging this weekend!

Homeschool: When the Kids Try to Throw You Overboard - Lara Molettiere

We love Lara's practical advise on what to do when the kids are running over a homeschooling mom. In fact, #2 is going to start happening around here, like, now.

Time For Mom - Angela Hoffman

Angela was our guest on this episode and we value her input greatly. In Time For Mom, Angela shares some very practical ways to get the rest and break you need.

Too Much Togetherness - Marie-Claire Moreau

Is it possible to be together too much? All in one house, all the time . . . the answer is a resounding yes. Personal space, time to think, time to hear yourself think - grab some of each and we think you'll be a better balanced parent for it.

32 Date Night Ideas for Married Couples - Susan Evans

Homeschooling can take its toll on a marriage relationship, can't it? Susan has some great ideas for date nights, and they're not over-the-top. These are doable, even from home! 

Ten Easy Ways to Have a Ball With Your Kids - Andy Fletcher

Fletch is really good at spending time with the kids in ways that minister to them and fill their cups. 10 fun and easy ideas for when you are in need of time to just enjoy your kids. No pressure.

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How Do You Make Your Kids Study the Bible?

Hi Fletch and Kendra!

I love your show, and I'm not even a homeschooler yet. My son is 9 months old and I do plan to homeschool him in the future, but for now I am enjoying this season of preparing my heart and mind for the journey ahead. Your show is great for that, so thanks for all your hard work!

I wanted to share this question with you in hopes that you might address it in a podcast sometime. How do you go about teaching your children to love the Word and study it regularly? I see a lot of homeschool moms list "read your Bible" as a morning chore, some include it as a subject on their schedule just like math or spelling, some families do devotions together, and so on.

It seems like there is a tendency to treat Bible reading as something to be checked off of a to-do list, which is definitely something I want to avoid in my family!

I would rather nurture them toward a love of Jesus than simply expect an observable behavior like staring at a page in the Bible each morning. At the same time, though, they will never be able to grow in their faith if they are not reading the Word. How do I find a balance here? What does this look like in your family?

Thanks again for all work you do for the show! I am looking forward to the next podcast! :-)

Elise

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Thanks for your question, Elise. We love it, and since you've listened to at least some of our HomeschoolingIRL podcasts, you probably know why. We're all just so good at shifting our hope to formulas and choices and checklists rather than back to our loving God. Even Bible reading can become a behavior we hope will save our kids, when we all know only Jesus' loving work on the cross can save any of us.

As with anything we choose for our families, we want to make straight sure that we're not relying on our methods to do the work that only the Holy Spirit can do. Will He use Scripture to solidify the faith of our kids if He so chooses? Well, of course. 

I could feel my kids nodding off and see their eyes glaze over as I read Scripture during our Circle Time each morning. That's not exactly what I was going for, so over the years we've done a lot of different things. What are we going for? Joy. Reminders of Whose we are and what He did for us. To get caught up in the love of God and the majesty of His name all over Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.

I'll list some of the tools we've used to study the Bible with our kids here and you can pick and choose what you think will best fit your own family culture. 

Bible Reading

If you want to stay mainly in Scripture, how about choosing one book to go through a chapter per night? We studied Acts this way one year and everyone from the teenagers down to the preschooler really enjoyed it. Scripture memory could tie in nicely, too.

Each person illustrated the chapter as we read it.  The older ones wrote descriptions of their pictures, and then we all shared what we had gleaned from the chapter.  At the end of the study, we watched a fantastic film version of Acts that is purely Scripture and stars Dean Jones. {affiliate link} It was a hit here.

How about using a Bible reading plan like those recommended by Desiring God? Just open your Bibles to the day's reading and there you go.  Everyone can have a chance to read aloud if you divvy up the chapters, too. 

Or what about a local Bible study that includes a kids' program? We've done both Bible Study Fellowship and Community Bible Study over the years. Both have excellent children's studies that have the kids in the same place in Scripture the adults are studying.

Bible Memory

10 Verses Cards

Scripture Memory With the Little Ones

Devotionals

We've loved so many devotionals over the years, and we have a great list over on the Preschoolers and Peace site. Take a look and maybe you'll find just the right one for this year!

But there's no reason to use anything other than the Bible if you don't want to. Sitting your little guy next to you as you read your own Bible is simply showing him how much you love the Word. If we're finding joy there, it's highly likely our kids will catch that contagious delight!

Fletch and Kendra

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Can We Shelter Our Kids and Still Trust God?

Saturday night I drove away from my brother’s house, leaving behind my oldest daughter (age 10) and part of my heart.

Our daughter had a wonderful opportunity to spend several days with her aunt at a local county fair, helping to take care of the farm animals alongside the agriculture students from a nearby high school. She has been talking about becoming a farmer for the last couple years and this was an opportunity that she didn’t want to pass up. Apparently guinea pigs are just a gateway animal. Fortunately for us the city has regulations about farm animals within city limits!

As I left her behind, I was at once peaceful and anxious. The peace was peace that only comes from God, the kind that passes all understanding. I knew that we were doing the right thing. I knew that she’d be as safe as her aunt and uncle could make her. I knew that we had prepared her for an opportunity just like this. Not the taking care of animals part; I have no idea how to do that. But the growing up part. The making good decisions part. We’ve been teaching and guiding and training her from when she was a wee little girl. 

But there comes a time when the rubber has to meet the road. 

A few weeks ago the podcast focused on homeschool grads and if they felt prepared for life after high school. The nugget of wisdom that I took away, and had already been thinking about for several months, was that we as Christians live in the world, but we don’t have to be like the world. But in order to be salt and light in this world, we need to know how to engage with people. How can we engage with people if we never talk to them? Or listen to them? Or even have any idea how to interact with them?

My husband and I have been talking about this issue for years. It is a delicate balance between protecting our children until they are mature enough to process information themselves and just plain sheltering them. We are constantly evaluating where each of our children are so that we can best decide what information they need. It is a tough call most of the time. 

Our daughter before she boarded her uncle's plane to fly home.

We believe strongly in walking alongside our children through life so that we can help them navigate some really tough decisions. But we are also aware that there comes a time when they have to flex their muscles independent of us. And instead of sheltering our children for 18 years and then throwing them into the deep end that is the world outside our family, we have to give them opportunities here and there to try out those muscles as they are growing. 

This is one of those times. 

It may seem like no big deal. So what? She spends a few days with some other kids, learning how to shear a sheep and milk a cow. 

And this is where the anxiety part came in. These are public school kids! These are older kids! I don’t know their parents! I don’t know what kind of families they come from or if they have ever even heard the name of Jesus. 

That’s kinda the point. 

This is an opportunity for our daughter to stretch those muscles that she’s been developing, while still being cared for by people that love her and want God’s best for her. 

This parenting gig is tough. I am absolutely positive that if one day in the future Fletch and Kendra interview my kids, at least one of them will tell their story of the way my husband and I screwed up. Since it’s inevitable, we’re just going to keep pointing our kids to Jesus. And pray that they in turn will point other people to Jesus. 

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Michele White is the wife of one, mother of five, daughter of the King (God, not Elvis). Living a substantial part of their family’s life overseas has made them a little quirky. She spells things differently. Her husband has an accent. Her kids have multiple passports. She is a lover of cookbooks, passionate about orphans, and has a serious crush on school supplies. Michele blogs about homeschool life with multiple ages at Preschoolers And Peace and can be found on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

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