My Flock of Five

Hi, there! It's a busy week and I'm here with a short post on some of the activities we've been doing around the home lately. The weather here has been pretty nice, but it's just hard to get all three kids out on week nights when I'm already tried from working all day. These are great activities for when you can't go out because of weather or when you can't go out just because you don't have the energy to.

1. Painting with Food 

Grab those fruit and veggies that aren’t quite bad but won’t taste too good either and dip them in some paint. Let your kids use them as stamps on paper and having a blast with the different textures and shapes.

2. Blanket Fort

Round up all your throw pillows and cartoon character blankies and make an amazing fort on top of kitchen chairs. Perfect for playing games, eating snacks, or watching a movie.

3. Make a Book 

Get some paper and some crayons. Write and illustrate a story with your kids and then read it together!

4. Dance Party 

Turn on you favorite dance songs and jump around with your kids. The bonus to this one is that it helps get their energy out!

5. Puppet Show 

Grab some stuffed animals and something to get behind. Take turns performing for each other and laughing away. For extra fun, video it so that they can watch it from a different perspective.

 6. How to Draw YouTube Tutorials 

These are so fun! You can find just about any subject your kids want to draw and the videos are even at varying age and skill levels.

 7. YouTube Yoga 

More YouTube! There are a lot of kid yoga videos. It stretches them out and entertains them! 

8. Baking 

Kids love to eat sweets and they love to make them, too. I measure everything out and then let them pour them in and stir. Depending on the ages of your kids, they could do more or less!

 9. Taste Testing - This was a fun one we did a few weeks back. We just bought small snacks from a couple of different stores and compared the tastes. We kept a tally to see which store had the better store-brand snacks.

10. Card Making 

What holiday is coming up? Doesn’t matter how insignificant of a holiday or how far away - your kids will love making cards for it! There are loads of designs and ideas for any holiday card on Pinterest, or you can just let them draw!

When it comes to traveling with kids, it can be really challenging. It’s more expensive and less relaxing. Depending on the age of your kids, it requires many more stops for everything from feeding the baby to diaper changes to potty breaks and “don’t-make-me-turn-this-car-around” lectures. It’s easy to just keep putting it off. It’s easy to say, “when they’re just a little bit older, we’ll go.” But I have found with my own kids that it is worth the power struggles and extra stops. And here’s why.

#3 Traveling Builds Relationships 

Traveling gives you a unique opportunity to just love on your littles. Of course, you always love them, but it’s usually alongside a busy routine. When you occasionally take them out of the ordinary, it’s incredibly special to them. They recognize that this is something different and they get to see you in a different light, too. Now maybe you’re the mom that builds a sandcastle with them on the beach or looks at dinosaur bones with them in a museum instead of just the mom that nags them to eat all their food and put their shoes on in less than 2.5 hours. When traveling, you can be making their best memories without even realizing it. We took a weekend trip to the beach when my daughter was four and she still talks about it as one of her very favorite times.

#2 Traveling Provides Unique Teaching Opportunities

Again, you’re taking them out of their element and out of their routine. This means a couple of different things. It means that it will be trying for your kids. Yes, it’s exciting for them, but it’s also exhausting and full of unknown factors. They have to cope with long days and no usual schedule, but this is good for them. I promise. As humans, we have to be able to adapt. We need to learn to handle different situations and traveling takes your kids out of their comfort zones to do just that. As I mentioned before, it will require some extra patience on your part, but it’s worth it. You can minimize the struggle by preparing your kids ahead of time. Let them know what to expect by sharing your schedule with them each day and explaining anything they might not understand. Let them ask questions and encourage them to be excited about what’s going to happen. It goes such a long way and will make your trip so much better.

#1 Traveling Expands Their Worlds 

I really think this is the number one reason to travel with kids. In our lives, we get so used to seeing just the things and people around us. Especially for children, it’s easy for those worlds to become self-centered. It’s easy to think that our lives in our homes is all there is and all that matters. Traveling reminds us that we’re not the only ones in this world. You see new places, new people, new ways of life, and new cultures, making it impossible to believe that yours is the only one there or the only one that matters. None of us would actually ever say this, but this thinking is prevalent in our society and easy to fall into if we’re not careful. I didn’t realize just how many of my thoughts and opinions and prejudices came from the fact that I’m an American until I was surrounded by people of a completely different culture in a completely different country. I didn’t realize how many of my own personal morals came from my Christian faith until I was in a country of non-Christians. I learned these things after I became an adult and I wonder how much it would’ve changed if I had learned this as a child. I travel with my children so that they will know. They have heard another language and seen another religion. They’ve seen history and customs of other cultures and they know that the U.S. isn’t the only country that matters. Their worlds are bigger because they have traveled, and to me, that’s enough reason to bring them along.


Have you traveled with your kids? How far did you go? What were some positives that came out of bringing them along?

1. Don't say never or always.

2. Share your feelings.

3. Share your dreams.

4. Have a date at least once a month.

5. Put your phones down.