Tag: blogging

Movies, Shows, and Such · Parenting

A New Game That’s Brought Us Together: A PKXD Review

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So Little Maxwell is always asking if she can download this new game or that new app. I’m pretty particular about what kinds of games I won’t let her play. For example, I don’t let her play the “match-three” style of games like Bejeweled or Candy Crush. Is Bejeweled even still a thing?

She got an ad for another game in one of the apps she was playing one day and begged me to download it. I checked it out and agreed but under one stipulation: she only played with me. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the fact that it’s a sort of social game that doesn’t have the option of offline play. The game is called PK XD.

Hopping in to the game, I was blasted with the neon and sheer… Well. Childishness. It definitely is made with it’s target audience in mind. It’s bright and accentuated with catchy music and sound effects. There are regular community events and an arcade of mini games that allows each player the opportunity to collect in-game currencies without having to spend real money. In fact there are quite a few opportunities to do so which I was rather pleased with. The game has admins that regularly run my paces through the two floating islands that the PKXD universe consists of.

As for communicating with other players, there are predetermined, pre-selected scripts and responses, even Emojis with sound effects like laughing or crying, that the player can select but speaking freely with players one-on-one outside of that doesn’t seem like an option that is commonly used if even available. I found myself put at ease a little more by this realization. Little Maxwell isn’t really reading fluently yet but I doubt it will be a long. I like knowing that anyone she might become friendly with in-game is relegated to the many, though very PG, communications.

We took the opportunity to catch a photo op at one of the murals during Pet Week! Both of us are supporting pets from the Halloween update. Little Maxwell has an Alibrije spirit cat and I have a spooky Ghost Horse! 👻

The more I played with her, the more I’ve come to really enjoy the game itself. What I love the most though is the fun and engaging quality time that I get to spend with my daughter now, doing something that we both really enjoy together! As a gaming family, we are all often enjoying the latest video game, table top or board game. But, though they may enter set with other family members like when I play Diablo with my sisters and Dad and Minecraft with my brother and bestie hetero life partner, those don’t always necessarily include little Maxwell or her dad. So it’s always nice when we have a game that we can play together especially when it’s one that she so adamantly enjoys.

It’s very easy to add each other 2 your friends list and once you are linked as friends, the game gives you the opportunity to jump in to the servers that your online friend is playing from so you can literally play together. We have had a very big time helping each other decorate our houses and bouncing around the parkour Pet Week course. Visiting other people’s homes to see how they’ve decorated as well. The game boasts a sort of trophy/achievement system by way of stickers that can be collected from literally anywhere and anything. Today, I unlocked a hidden sticker no I received by drinking milk 10 separate days. Another I got from adding items to my house or even finding hidden pets throughout the world.

While it isn’t the most graphically complex game I’ve ever played, I can definitely recommend PK XD or anyone looking for something to do with their kids that don’t be mind-numbingly dull. There is no end to different events, achievements, and fun things to do when you’re spending time with the people you love.

What do you think? Are you going to give PK XD a try with your little ones anytime soon? Let me know what you think in the comments!

With Peace and Passion,

Ta!

Adventures In Unschooling · Primary

Our Learning Lessons: Airplanes!

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Hello all! I hope this Thursday find you well. 🙂

So last night, Little Maxwell decided that instead of going to bed like I wanted her to, she wanted to know how airplanes could fly. The question came after she made a request, with all the seriousness that her 4-going-on-40 toddler self could muster, for me to food her a paper airplane. The discussion spiraled into how different ways of folding the paper could make the airplanes fly further or (in my case) not at all.

There were loop-de-loops and markers. There were frustrations and poorly read Google instructions! There was even a video of a paper airplane competition by the illustrious and off-the-cuff Dude Perfect!

But where is the educational value, you may ask? In math and science. That’s right. Paper airplanes equal math and science. Today I’m going to tell you how.

This was our learning agenda for the day. As many of you may know, I suffer from an acute case of Goldfish Memory. Yep. Totally scientific diagnosis. Either way, if I don’t write it down, it is not going in the memory bank.
This was the little basket that we put all of our paper airplanes in. We looked up and tried several different types of airplane folds to see which one ultimately flew better. I did the folding and a Little Maxwell did the coloring. 🙂 We decided that on the road in front of our house was going to be the best place for measuring how far each plane went without running out of room.
Little Maxwell throwing the last of our planes. She was pretty disappointed when the red one that she took such pride in didn’t win first place. But we looked at the planes that did do well and compared them to the ones that didn’t to see what was different about them that could cause their success or failure. We came to the conclusion that the planes that did the best were more compact and had more folds. They were denser so we refolded the red one until it was just like the first place plane.

So where is the math and science? As for math, This was a great opportunity to discuss place values or rankings like first, second, third, etc. Strangely, I hadn’t yet found the opportunity to teach that. Also if you’re a child is a little older than mine, pull out a tape measure and measure the distances that each plane flies. You could even discuss the metric versus standard system measurements for each distance.

The Magic School Bus show was a classic childhood staple. Who could forget the ginger-haired Ms. Frizzle and her cold-blooded bestie? Coolest teachers assistant ever, am I right?

Well our kids can laugh along with the class as they navigate everything from old iron mines to human immunology with the OG Frizz as well as the series follow up, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, on Netflix! Both are equally fantastic and humorously educational. The best part? There’s an episode that features airplanes and what makes them fly!

And there’s the science, bitches! Yes! You may now have a celebratory glass of wine while they fall down the cartoon rabbit hole, satisfied with the knowledge that you did that school thing today.

Hell, add some vocabulary from the show on there for English, an airplane craft for Art, and then set them loose outside to throw airplanes at each other for an hour. Boom. P.E. Nailed it.

We also love the kids science shows SciShowKids on YouTube and Emily’s Wonder Lab, a recent addition to the Netflix queue. Both give quality educational and entertaining content for those times when it’s the middle of a three o’clock slump, your coffee maker just took a flying leap and you have a Zoom meeting in five.

All of this came from a simple question about airplanes that would have been so easy to brush off with some simple platitude. Instead, it turned into a full day of fun and learning.

What will your next day bring, I wonder?

With Peace and a Passion for Learning,

Ta!

Bliggety Blogs · Poems, Songs, and Shorts

There Will My Heart Be

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Photo by Jasmine Carter on Pexels.com

I love you for your strength and for your heart.

For your pain and for your joy.

I love those who stand together

For their courage and perseverance.

I love us for making the choice to be one we, instead of an us and a them.

Wherever people will stand together against the wrongs of the world,

There will my heart be.

დ۵♥❦…… ꒒ ০ ⌵ ୧ ……დ۵♥❦

BE AN ALLY

Photo by Anna Shvets
Adventures In Unschooling · Eco-Loving Living! · Primary

A State Park & Our Latest Snapshots!

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These are some snaps from our last month of our unschooling and homesteading journey! We took a field trip to one of our local state parks this month so join us on our adventure! Maybe you’ll get some ideas for things to do with your own children or even for yourself. Ta!

This was an activity about dental hygiene. Learning about how to care for our teeth! We started with some yellow and orange squares for teeth, an old toothbrush and some white “toothpaste”paint! Lots of fun!
Our blueberries! Little Maxwell’s new favorite outside snack. 🙂
This is a really cool dry erase kindergarten learning book. 🙂 Today, we practiced letters and numbers!
Our first tomato flowers! Our whole homestead is in bloom and every day things are different. Bigger, brighter, and more magnificent than the day before. Every day is a new treasure to feast the spirit upon!

These are our snapshots from our morning spent at Radnor Lake State Park! The area truly was a vision of beauty, a wildlife reserve for so many species! We saw so many wonderful things and I would love to go back! Maybe on a day when the temperature wasn’t set to Broil though!

Nothing says ‘FUN’ like adventures with friends!
A bracket fungus! I…think. Honestly, I’d never seen one like this so if anyone can chime in, please do!
A particularly droopy mushroom on a fallen tree!
This was an enormous uprooted tree! This black snake found it to be a particularly nice resting place.
While watching these turtles, we ended up counting ten of them! There were so many hanging out on these looks in the water that I couldn’t even get them all in frame.
“Exxxcusssse me. Do you have time to hear about our lord and ssssssavior, Lord Voldemort?”
The Littles were so concerned because they thought this little worm-friend was hurt. ❤️

We had such a wonderful adventure together! I would definitely recommend seeing if you have any state or national park nearby. It really makes for an amazing and educational day!

With Peace and Passion!

Ta!

Bliggety Blogs · Parenting · Poems, Songs, and Shorts · Primary

Finding Discovery! Reclaiming Play!

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Little Maxwell was having a blast.

We were walking to my mother’s home just the net street over after two weeks of zero contact. Both of us were practically frothing to see our family.

We were all so close. ‘The Maxwell Clan’, as a college history professor had joked during roll call when my mum, sister, and I all shared his class together. My family was so accustomed to seeing one another regularly. It was completely normal to get surprise visits and drop ins just to hang out or say hello or even to just bring some treat or another by. Simply because we had been thinking about them.

We loved one another completely and the quarantines had been wearing on us all. Little Maxwell was over the moon to see her Nana but that fact certainly didn’t stop her from taking her sweet. freaking. time getting there. She stopped for every little flower or ditch. Every blade of grass.

My patience had worn rapidly thin.

‘But why?’ I thought suddenly, ‘Why am I in such a hurry? Why am I getting aggravated right now?’

It wasn’t as if we were on a time crunch or had anywhere in particular to be. There were no appointments this afternoon and no particular rush to get back home. The day was our oyster, so why? It took me only a moment or two of quiet contemplation, watching my daughter slide down the side of a driveway embankment as if she were on the jungle gym, before the answer started to reveal itself to me.

Our motivations as children and adults are inherently different.

As a child, we are simply along for the journey, taking the world as it comes. They are in the passenger seat of the car, watching and enjoying the beautiful scenery as it goes by rather than the driver, having to navigate the twisting and often treacherous road ahead.

As grown-ups were so focused on the end goal. Getting from one place to the next, doing what we needs to be done and completely the task so we can move on to the next, then the next, in perpetuity.

But she embraces the adventure of the journey. Step-stepping back and forth across the ditch and stopping to pick wildflowers and interesting rocks, little finds that may or may not make it back into the house with us. To stop as I pointed out the sneaky poison ivy and observing it’s almost hand-shaped leaves. Little light up tennis shoes sparked with every jump and determined step as she danced and explored the road ahead.

Her little face lights up with every new discovery and challenge undertaken. When had we as adults lost that? At what point in life did we stop jumping into challenges or reaching out towards discovery with all of the curiosity of a puppy in a pet store? When had we compressed our spirits? Tucked in the edges of ourselves and made ourselves smaller, more dense as a result?

And who had we done it for?

Sometimes we get low,
Sometimes we get down,
There are nights when I just
Want to lay on the ground.

And not get back up,
The thought makes me sick
When I think of all the things
I’d miss out on if I did.

We all reach a point
Where the fight gets old
And it’s hard to hang onto
Those things you have and hold

Like where’s my point North
The direction that I head?
Don’t get me wrong,
I’m not wishing I was-

Well, you get the idea
But as the battles wear on,
At times, I look down
At the ground that I’m upon,

And wish that I could sleep
For just a thousand years or so
To rest and to dream
To sleep and to slow

All of the stresses
That impresses
Upon my mind,
They need addressing

It’s relentless,
All this pressure,
Quarantined
With too much leisure.

With all the doubts news spitting out
People screwing up their thoughts
Breathing in the “truths”,
Smog from clickbait bots

Until there are so many fears
To clammer in your brain
Media voices in your head
Pouring down like acid rain.

Eroding holes
Into the hearts of Man,
Wearing away our foundations
Breaking them down to just sand.

Seeing my own eroding curiosity mirrored back in opposite brought a sort of sickened realization and, in response, a determination. I never wanted to lose my love of learning, of discovery, exploration, of play.

Giving her a grin, I whistled over to her. Those beloved ocean eyes turned on me with an ansering smile.

“Race you!”

With Peace and Passion (and every growing curiosity!)

Ta!

Bliggety Blogs · Primary

My Ugly Little Garden

Little Journeys Everywhere2 Comments

“-and she just picks it up and uses it.”

The whisper came to me in the heat of our mid-May mid-afternoon. The words settled in against my skin, against the sweat and the dirt that had become as familiar to me as the worn trainers on my feet.

The hammer in my hand stilled in it’s work on the piece of old wood I was repurposing into a makeshift fence.

Suddenly, I felt something that I’d never felt before when it came to my little homestead.

Embarrassment.

Around several of the beds were makeshift fences made from scrap wood, quarter round molding, even sticks jutting up from the ground. Anything to keep my large shepherd mix dog from trampling my vegetables underpaw. It was practical. It was made for function.

It was ugly. But it was what I had.

A little spot for my Swiss chard made from old portrait frames. Strawberries in an old bottomed-out plastic bin turned raised bed. Five gallon buckets hosting broccoli sprouts. An old trash can had even become a planter for a very lovely potato plant.

Where before now, I had felt pride in all I had accomplished with so little, now I felt a sick sort of shame. Embarrassment that my sprawling garden didn’t look picture perfect with neat and tidy rows, like theirs did. Theirs looked like a magazine. Mine…looked like a garage sale threw up in it.

A melancholy fell over my spirit, squishing down the thanks I had felt for another day of sunshine and a job well done.

Unkindly, I had a moment when I berated myself. I thought I had been done with this whole ‘caring about the opinions of others’ thing years ago. Apparently I had built up a resistance but had yet to become truly immune.

But… Then something came to me. A declaration from the Roots and Refuge video I had watched just recently. A commandment to use what was available and that a garden made for production wasn’t going to look like a garden made for simple enjoyment.

That simple bit of wisdom brought to me a slowly dawning clarity. A clarity that lightened my heart in ways that my own efforts had simply failed to do.

Their’s was picture perfect, it was true. Mine was ugly, threadbare, and misbegotten but it was mine. My garden wasn’t planted to give me a fun hobby, it was planted to feed my family. For production and functionality, not for looks and a quarantine time sink.

Our garden wasn’t beautiful but the feeling I got from tilling this earth, from planting each seed with care and love, expectation and experiment excitement, was beautiful. Months of composting kitchen scrap, coffee grounds, and paper. Watching every seed grow every single day, rain or heat or cold.

Our garden was a love letter. An affectionate labor that grew every day with budding potential and with a green, growing promise for the future. The songs we sing within its beds and borders gather like dew drops amongst petals and reaching roots.

The coolness of the mornings, bright with the rising sun and the smells of the growing world around me, have felt more holy than any mass or communion. I have shed blood and sweat in the building of this sacred temple to the earth and they have been transformed. My sorrows became songs and my fears became laughter. Here amongst the green things I have found peace.

So yes. My garden is ugly. My garden is a patchwork rag doll. But in this place, I have found hope, purpose. In this mismatched place, my daughter plays and runs and grows just as surely as that lovely potato in the old trash can. It is with irreverent reverence that I vow never to be embarrassed of my ugly garden again. For it has given me back every bit as much as I have given it. For in my ugly garden we are home.

With Peace and Passion (and Potatoes!)

Ta!

Also, stay tuned for a tour of our ugly little garden coming up soon! ❤

Bliggety Blogs · My Medical Journey

The COVID Diaries: Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

Isolation

It isn’t too bad in here. It’s quiet. Relaxing almost compared to the hecticness of my typical days. I stayed up binging a new Netflix show until almost 4:00 a.m. because what else did I have to do?

It’s funny to think that during the everyday shuffling go we would typically be dying for moments of quiet like this. But right now all I want to do is hold my little girl. Just to touch her and kiss her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. That Mommy is going to be okay. That I’m still here, right here, on the other side of this door.

Some people have said, ‘Well you all live in close contact and you’ve given her kisses. If you have it, she definitely has it by now.’

But if it were your baby girl or baby boy and you had the chance, even the smallest chance, of protecting them from something like COVID, wouldn’t you do it? Isn’t a few days in a room to yourself worth even the smallest chance that you could protect your baby from that?

There’s a little blue bunny that Little Maxwell was given by a nurse when she was about 3 months old. We were at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. We’d had to take her in to have scans done on her brain because they were concerned that she was having seizures. It killed me to see all of those little electrodes waxed on to the entirety of her head. They’d wrapped her whole head with gauze to keep them all on, even underneath her little chin. The nurse had given her the bunny after it was all over to cheer her up after they’d removed all of the electrodes.

It’s a cheap little thing. They probably get them in by the dozens in the children’s hospital But all this time I kept it. Something about it just made me think back to that time and her wrapped up in that gauze and how I would do anything, anything in the world, for my baby girl.

Tonight, just after dinner, she brought the bunny to me just like the nurse had brought it to her. She said it would keep me company and that I could sleep with it.

It was one of those significant moments. So small and so tender, yet it strikes you down to the very quick of your spirit. It has the power to move whole mountains. The love between a child and a mother. When I get out of here, I’m going to think of this bunny a lot differently from here on out. It’s odd to think that such simple things can come to be cherished so much, a symbol of love and hope and looking ahead to a better future.

When I get out of here, I’m going to be able to give it back to her myself.

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From quarantine solitary confinement,

With Peace and Passion.

Ta.

Adventures In Unschooling · Bliggety Blogs · Parenting · Primary

An Update! What I’ve Been Up To Lately!

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Snuggs with my kittay on a bad health day. Push through and keep moving. Rest when you need it. There is nothing shameful in knowing when you can’t go any further.

Hello, hello, everyone! Wow, this has been one calamity after crisis after insanity lately, hasn’t it? I won’t lie, it has been a struggle. For a lot of people all over the world. I’m hearing now of the spread of COVID to places like Sweden and Russia, of the hunger and despair that are running rampant. There have been some really beautiful shows of humanity lately too though and it’s those that I try to really hold to as much as possible.

I haven’t been writing as much lately. Some of you may know that I recently took my small potted planting style and expanded it into a full scale ‘tiny farm’ in my backyard. We’re lucky enough to have a spacious, fenced yard that has plenty of room for growing (though terribly clay soil). It’s taken up a great bulk of my time getting the beds established and seeds started while also giving Little Maxwell the attention and educations she deserves.

But it’s been so rewarding.

Playing with the VR animals on Google. Little Maxwell had a blast!

I feel good, even when I’m tired out from digging up beds and I even managed to DIY an old, unused dog run into a swing for Little Maxwell that she has been entirely in love with. I’ve been delivering books to houses with kids along my street, leaving them in their mailboxes to give them something to do (all sanitized, of course!). They can leave the old book when they’re done to trade it in for a new one or leave a different book of their own if they like it! Again, all sanitized before they come in the house!

Little Maxwell and I have spent our days in the yard, reading more both together and separately. I’ve picked up a really interesting book recently called Shamanism As A Spiritual Practice For Daily Life by Tom Cowan (a pretty ironic name if you ask me). I keep busy. I do what I can for my family when I can. I help my neighbors as much as I can where possible. That’s how we’re getting by in this time.

This flatbread turned out so moist and soft! Yuuuummmm!

A few of my nighbors and I have begun to trade one another for things we may need. Eggs for a blackberry bushling. Spare wire fencing for a dozen farm-laid eggs. Homemade bread for a pumpkin plant. All while keeping our distance, naturally, but it’s really amazed me how things like this just naturally developed.

I don’t really know what I have coming down the pipeline right now. My head is in a bit of a weird place and my heart is somewhere unknown. I’ve been having trouble finding that same passion for things that I usually have and it’s been kind of devastating, if I’m honest. So I’ve been reading a lot. I’ve taken up Minecraft a bit more lately too and that’s something i want to write a little more on soon. Talk about extra cool stuff.

But my heart has just been in a strange place and I don’t know how to find my passion again. Perhaps some meditation. Perhaps some prayer or even more exercise. Either way, I’ll bring you along for the ride!

Where are you emotionally right now? How are you feeling? How is this nightmare affecting you and how do you get through your toughest days? Give me some tips!

With Peace and Passion!

Ta. ❤

Adventures In Unschooling · Bliggety Blogs · Parenting · Primary

My COVID Daily Quarantine Challenge Part 2!

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Here we are at Part 2!

Feeling a little less stir-crazy? No? Well, at least you’ve entertained those restless natives for a bit! Read on, Journeyer!

Day 16:

Create a plan for your dream vacation and draw, collage, build, write, paint or whatever a piece about it! Show them off to friends online and tell everyone about them.

Day 17:

Skip out on sugar for a day! Is it difficult? Why or why not? Try it out longer if you feel you can and see how long you can go! Tell us here in the comments!

Day 18:

Make a list of the things you’re grateful for today and share it with someone. Reflect on ways that you can let those around you know that they are appreciated.

Day 19:

Make cards for those at your nearest assisted living facility or retirement community and send them in the mail. Use a single large manila envelope or a few envelopes with several cards inside each to save on postage! Many of those in elderly facilities don’t have family to visit and/or get visits very often. These facilities are also one of the places where the COVID virus is hitting the hardest. Receiving a letter could really make the difference in someone’s life today.

Day 20:

Make a meal together and then eat it around lit candles for a cozy time!

Day 21:

Have an electricity free hour each day! That’s right. Think of it like Earth Hour but once a day! It can even be during the day instead of at night, if you want. Not only will it save you money on your electric bill but it can have a positive effect on the environment! Was it difficult for you to do? Is it something you would do more often? Write it down in your journal!


Day 22:

Organize your most cluttered space! Follow the Kondo method! What were you able to say goodbye to?

Day 23:

Family video game tournament! What did you play? Who won? Which game was your favorite and why? What would you play if you had another game tournament together?

Day 24:

Make a giant floor game board with tape or other things! Play tic tac toe, hangman, etc

Day 25:

Family photos! Try different outfits, photo styles, maybe even a fashion show!

Day 26:

Paper ball basketball tournament!

Day 27:

Look through old family photos! Talk about where you were, how you were feeling then. It’s it different from now?

Day 28:

Write a Family Constitution including a mission statement and each person helps contribute a “law” as well. This helps even the littlest find a way to communicate what is important to them and what issues have been weighing on them. Lately, choose a motto! Everyone should help contribute in it’s creation!

Day 29:

Have a chore race or Olympic Chores! Turn each core into a race or game like the Olympics and at the end, vote on gold, silver, and bronze awards!

Day 30:

Unsubscribe from stores and unwanted emails! This will save you so much time, thought energy, and aggravation in the long term.

Day 31:

Clean out a junk drawer or bathroom cabinet!

Day 32:

Focus on Love today! Being stuck inside with stir crazy people for extended periods can be trying on the nerves and patience. Give each other three hugs throughout the day to let each other now that even in the trying times, love is still there.

Day 33:

On a not too cool day, if it’s an option geographically, open the windows, turn on fans, and air out the house! It’s been just as quarantined as you after all!

Day 34:

Try something you’ve never done before! Never done a headstand? Gone backyard foraging? Identified birds in your yard or flowers? Never jogged a mile? Try running around your yard with a step counter! If you don’t have one, there are apps that will act as a (dubiously correct) counter for you.

All of these are things that are not only good for beating that isolation blues but many are also great for you, your household, your pocketbook, or your mental health. Did you finish the challenge? Let us know what you were and weren’t able to do! Did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments and stay positive, Journeyers!

With Peace and Passionate Hope.

Ta!

Bliggety Blogs · Primary

My COVID Quarantine Daily Challenge!

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Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

Stuck inside because of quarantine and isolation? Thanks, Corona, I hate it. However, Journeyers, there are plenty of ways that you can make your time trapped within the ever shrinking walls of your home just a little more bearable! How?

Make it a challenge!

We all love a good challenge on the internet. Let’s face it. We’re kind of suckers for it. This one is geared for not only your own self care but for the good and sanity of your whole household. Here is the LJE COVID Quarantine Daily Challenge!

Day 0

Before you begin this challenge, create or choose a journal! Many of these challenges can involve things like drawing, writing, even Mad Libs for one! Do these in your journal so you can look back on all that you’ve done over the month!

Day 1: Find a Quiet Time Spot!

Somewhere in your home, whether it’s a corner, closet, office, or garage. Even an attic will do! Somewhere that says to you and to your housemates: this is my alone spot and I need space to process and decompress.

Even grown ups need this and when your kids or siblings start to frazzle you, simply remind them kindly that the Quiet Time spot is there. Maybe they could use a cool down? DO NOT use this as a time out corner! Quiet Time is not a punishment! If your family sees it as a negative then they will never use it of their own volition!

A few things that would be good to keep in the Quiet Time spot would be headphones, books or magazines, having a window to look out of or open up for some fresh air, or art or crafting supplies.


Day 2: Learn A New Skill!

Housework, drawing, baking, or a craft are all some simple and great ideas for kids! One resource for drawing is actually YouTube. We watch the channel Draw So Cute when we do drawing and each video walks you through a different character, celebrity, or item with a sort of chibi style to it.


Day 3: Find A New Book (Or One You Just Haven’t Gotten To Yet) To Try Out!

The Overdrive App is amazing for this because they have a lot of great audiobooks too, as well as read-along books for kids who aren’t reading yet, like my own little! She loves the Pete the Cat read-alongs that read it to her while also highlighting each letter as it does!

Day 4: See A Museum or Famous World Landmark digitally!

There are a metric ton of these available, especially right now! One example is Expeditions, an app by Google, but the amazing team over at eschoolnews.com have compiled a list of their ten best virtual field trips! Also the vr field trips over at Discovery Education are a pretty fantastic selection themselves! Check them out here!


Day 5: Pin On The World!

Play pin the pin on the world map! Whatever or wherever you pin, discover something interesting about it from that place! This even works for oceans and can even utilize that Day 4 tech!


Day 6: Have An Indoor Picnic!


Day 7: Do Mad Libs Together!


Day 8:Mad Libs Theater!

Use your favorite Mad Lib stories from yesterday and enact them in a creative performance or puppet show!


Day 9: In-Home Karaoke!

There are karaoke versions of your favorite songs aplenty on YouTube!


Day 10: Rocking the Recycles!

See what you can create from throw away items! Is it creative? Practical? Useful? Decorative? You decide!


Day 11: Screen-free Day!

What kind of fun can you make without your attention taken up by the screen? What sort of things will you discover or create?


Day 12: Try Yoga!

I recommend Yoga With Adrienne. Did you feel any differently after? Wow about it in your journal!


Day 13: Try out Tai-Chi!

Day 14: Gettin’ Down Dance Party!


Day 15: Do A Meditation!

So you may be noticing that several of these are catered towards physical movement and exercise. For a good reason! Getting a lot of that cooped up energy out of you and your tiny overlords will help curb irritability, behavior issues, and contributes to better physical and mental health. When you’re able, open all of the windows! Air out the home to let some of that stale, anxious air out and give your entire household a literal breath of fresh air. It can be overall pretty rejuvenating!

This is just the first half of our Daily Challenge so stay tuned for Part Two!

With Peace and Passion,

Ta!