What do your children do at ‘recess’?
What do your children do at ‘recess’ if they are homeschooled? I was asked this on Heart of Dakota’s (HOD’s) board many years ago by another HOD mom. At that time, my oldest son was 9 years-old, my middle son was 6 years-old, and my youngest son was 2 years-old. Below you will find my answer!
Little Things Our Sons Do at “Recess”
Our sons all LOVE to be outside and would live there if we let them. My husband is an avid outdoorsman as well, so there are many ‘recess’ things he does with them. Some of these are little things, and some are bigger things. As far as little ‘recess’ things, the boys enjoy the sandbox with toys. They also have bikes, scooters, big-wheel trikes, little mowers and ride-on cars etc. for the toddler. Sidewalk chalk and the Draw Write Now books have been a hit, as well as bubbles and the football toss game (the one with the bars to throw and loop the footballs around for points).
We got a cheap tetherball and have a ton of balls, bats, etc. from garage sales. The garden is totally my children’s baby. I showed them how to plant, weed, and water it, and what grows grows, and what doesn’t doesn’t. (This took me 3 years to let go of, but I’m happier now and so are they.). Jump-ropes and pogo sticks are something we just got to try for ‘recess’ – we’ll see how that goes. I showed my sons jump-roping forward, backward, and even pulled off a double-jump (once).
We also bought orange cones for them to set up and ride their bikes and 3-wheelers around during ‘recess.’ They love to dress up in coon-skin hats, army attire, etc. and use foam swords and nerf guns to have “war”. We bought water balloon launchers and gave that a try with the cousins this weekend. WOW – do those fly far – that may be saved for special occasions. They join in just about every outdoor project my hubby does. They also fish, hunt, and ride 3-wheelers with my hubby.
Big Things Our Sons Do at “Recess”
There are also some big things our sons do at ‘recess.’ We have decided not to invest money in video games, since my hubby and I both enjoy the outdoors, we live in the country, and happen to have all sons. So, instead, we try to save up money and buy 1 big thing a year for the outdoors. For equipment, we did save up money and invest in a big wooden play system. It has been one of the best investments we’ve made. They play on it every day.
We also bought our middle and older sons each a small 3-wheeler, and a “gator” battery car for our other son. We bought an above ground pool from Walmart at the end of the summer last year (a great time to buy it). They swim almost every day in the summer in it. We still have the tiny plastic pool for the toddler. So far, these are the things we’ve spent more money on. Hope that gives you some ideas of little and big things to do at ‘recess’!
Julie
