Free Entertainment For Children

Desperate moms all over the country are trying to find new ways to keep their children entertained. Summer is wonderful and brutal all at the same time! Right now, Nick is in the midst of a camp marathon – VBC last week, back to back weeks of basketball camp now and then he’ll be off for a couple of short overnight camps. Not only does this mean longer hours for him (he works Sunday – Friday these weeks) but it means longer hours for me, by default.

I can always sense when my children are growing tired of me and my brand of entertainment. I’m not into wild play like Nick is, and while I try to keep them entertained with outings, playdates and fun things at home I was apparently boring them yesterday. That’s when I decided to try something new.

This new form of entertainment was completely free and not at all messy. The best part? It kept the boys entertained for a solid hour. AN HOUR!! But wait, it gets better! When Nick finally got home, the boys got back into this fun new thing and played for another 30 minutes or so.

You’re dying to know what it is, aren’t you? Here’s what you need:

That’s it. A tub of water and some paintbrushes. You don’t need anything else! Send the kids outside with that and let them go wild “painting” things! (And for the record, I took the above picture this morning and that tub of water and paint brushes lured the boys back outside and they began painting again!)

(Excuse the quality of this one – Nick borrowed my camera yesterday and left me with our little pocket video camera. Don’t even get me started on the quality of still pictures it takes!)

The boys practiced painting their names, they painted the steps, they painted the chairs and tables… pretty much anything! The beauty of their “paint” was that it dried quickly, giving them more places to paint again!

After Nick got home Chase and Jackson were “painting” again, but this time they were painting each other. They said they were getting ready for a wedding. I think they were pretending to do each others make-up and hair! Ha!

Then they tried painting Lily…

At one point, Chase crawled under the car and was painting Lily’s toes. Aww, baby girl’s first pedicure! Is it wrong she’s had one before I ever have? (Yes, that was a deep, dark confession… or over-sharing, whichever way you want to look at it.)

When Lily gives you the stink eye, you know she’s had enough.