We recently went on vacation. With three children under the age of ten. With a twelve hour drive—both ways.

This seemed like a good idea at the time, but as we closed in on the actual date, thinking about the drive made me think I’d had a major lapse in judgement. In order to ensure we all made it to the beach (and back), I was going to have to put a plan into place.

So we checked out 20 DVDs from the library. And downloaded a slew of free apps to our phones and iPads. But (weirdly) our kids get a bit sick of media after a while, so I needed to hatch a secondary plan.

Part two of my plan was to bring out one new entertaining thing every hour of the drive. Each hour I would unveil some thing they could fiddle with for at least fifteen minutes.

This seemed like a really great plan until I did a quick calculation of everything in my cart at Target, and I had a small heart attack. So part 2B of my plan was a challenge myself to find one thing to entertain three children each hour for a twelve hour drive, both ways, for under $100. (That’s 24 things, if you’re counting.)

I am proud to announce my victory, thanks to Target, Michael’s, and United Arts & Education. We’re back home, safe and sound, sanity intact.

In an informal poll of my teacher friends, they say you can’t miss with a gift card, so I tend to stick with that, but I feel it’s a bit underwhelming to simply hand over an envelope. So this year, I bought some inexpensive flowering plants and potted them in simple plastic containers. I used these envelopes (purchased at my local craft sore) to write a nice note, taped them to a colorful straw, and tucked a gift card in the envelope. For less than a dollar per gift, plus the cost of the card, I had gifts for all the fantastic educators in our lives.

Hooray for simple solutions!

My sister, Susie, and I ran into this problem time after time. Our children greeted us with the same question in the morning, “What are we doing today?” Sometimes we had an answer, but other times we were at a loss. And we began to think, what if the time we spent with our kids was sometimes played by ear, but other times was a bit more intentional.

With this thought in mind, we began to develop a small curriculum around a subject that interested our kids. Things you could fit in a week or stretch out over the course of a month. This would include various sources, such as books, DVDs, activities, cooking, and outings. Snuggle up with a good movie one day, and hit the road the next, but end the day having learned something new in a fun way. When we tried it out on our own kids we discovered that not only were they entertained and happy, but so were we!

Another aspect to a curriculum is that we attempt to keep them as cost-effective as possible. The week prior to a curriculum, we hop on our local library website and reserve all the books and DVDs. Most of the materials needed for activities can be found around the house. We wanted this to be as easy as possible to prep for.

We thought we’d share our ideas every now and then. Feel free to contribute other ideas and resources!

Our first post? Art! Clearly a huge topic, but a fun one to explore both in practice and in theory.

Dig in and enjoy!

ACTIVITIES

Color Mixing with JELL-O
Color mixing with a twist. Create JELL-O cubes in primary colors and then squish to mix. We ultimately gave up on the plastic bags and just took the whole mess into the bath tub.

Painting with kid-friendly tools
Try using marbles, trucks, or spray bottles.

Food painting
Paint cookies or bagels with food coloring and a brush or food-safe markers.

Kitchen table art show
Spend an hour or so creating fine works of art with whatever media you have on hand, and then create a gallery of work on your kitchen table. Fabricating signage and indicating the artist and title of works always makes it feel much more official.

OUTINGS

The Art Museum
Our art museum is currently free to the public, and with a little planning ahead, we had a docent give us a full hour session tailored specifically to a preschool audience.

Find local art
Charley Harper lived in our neck of the woods, so one day we set out on foot to find one of his murals. When we finally found it, the kids were amazed at its size and complexity. What can you find in your neighborhood?

Have a collaborative messy art party
Why wait for a birthday? Hold a messy art party with friends in a back yard or park, with each family bringing an activity to do with the group.

BOOKS

Art, Patrick McDonnell

The Art Lesson, Tomie dePaola

The Dot, Peter H. Reynolds

Make a World, Ed Emberley

Mona Lisa: The Secret Smile, Letizia Galli

More than Meets the Eye: Seeing Art with All Five Senses, Bob Raczka

Mouse Paint, Ellen Stoll Walsh

Oooh! Matisse, Mil Niepold (also available, Oooh! Picasso)

Tell Me a Picture, Quentin Blake

The Year with Grandma Moses, W. Nikola-Lisa

DVDS

Linnea in Monet’s Garden

Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists Series

Dropping in on Grandma Moses

And so I began searching for a bed and linens that integrated into our play area. Something minimalist and simple, but still fun. And after much searching, I couldn’t find a single thing that I liked. Particularly something gender-neutral. I sighed a lot.

Fast-forward a few years, and I had taken a brief summer course about quilting. I quickly learned that I could never be a traditional quilter. I have the utmost respect for those who have the precision and patience to make all the pieces come together just so. It really is an amazing skill.

But after doing a little hunting around, I discovered there were many folks doing a much more free-form version of quilting, starting with the Quilters of Gee’s Bend and moving on forward. I loved this no-rules kind of quilting. Just throw together some fabrics and run with it.

So I made a few doll quilts, and found they are a joy to produce. If you’ve got a little sewing know-how, you can knock one out in no time.

Of course, this process can be applied to all kinds of things—larger quilts, table runners, bags, etc. I’ve included my process below. I’m sure it would make some more experienced sewers cringe, but, hey, this is how I go about it.

Don’t wish to embark on this crafty journey but would still like a modern doll quilt? I’ve got these two for sale: Birds & Cars

Feeling brave? Grab your fabric, and jump in! After all, it’s small. If you screw it up, you can always start over. Please note, I haven’t included all the minutia, making the assumption that you’ve done a bit of sewing before.

My quilts measure 21″ wide by 18″ tall, a perfect size for this affordable doll bed. Remember to measure your bed to see what size would work best, making sure it’s wide enough to accomodate whomever will be sleeping under it.

My mother, who has been a teacher for about a zillion years, created this great activity that takes advantage of this concept—building an ocean under your kitchen table! On these freezing winter days, we can always use an activity to keep us invigorated indoors.

Simply cut out fish in many different colors, create some underwater plants, and hang them from under the table. In our house, some of the kids are too young to cut fish, but they eagerly get involved in drawing eyes, fins, and decorating. Add other marine life if you feel inspired!

Once you’ve created your ocean, hunker down for some play. Sometimes the kids just like to hang out under there, on their backs, taking in the scene. Other times, everyone gets on bathing suits and suddenly we have deep sea exploration on our hands. Turning out the lights and giving everyone flashlights adds a whole new dimension of fun.

Think you’re incapable of cutting out a fish? We’ve included a template for big fish, little fish, and seaweed. For the seaweed, simply cut the spiral, and then pull one end to unfold. Create a bigger spiral for longer pieces of seaweed.

Then crack out your goggles—you’ve got an ocean to explore.

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE: PDF format

Early in the afternoon, our oldest child came wandering into the living room and said she’d noticed two birds on the leafless tree outside her window. “They need a birdhouse,” she decided.

And that seemed like a great way to begin a conversation. We talked a bit about thinking about others, and how to help make sure they get what they need. We can help give the birds shelter and protection, and in turn, they help our eco-system by controlling the insect population and disseminating seeds. When we take care of each other, the world we share is a much better place.

Each child spent the afternoon decorating their house, and as the sun began to set, we hung them one by one. Three little people, making their contribution. A small gesture of kindness, but full of spirit.

As I hunted around, I stumbled upon this template for a three-dimensional model of a volcano, which unfolds to illustrate the inner workings. A few clicks later I discovered I’d stumbled upon Canon’s Creative Park, which offers templates for hundreds of paper models. From dinosaurs to the Taj Mahal, there’s a paper craft for everyone. Some of them are pretty spectacular.

We set to work on building the volcano model. The design is beautiful and the instructions were easy to follow, but this is definitely for those with advanced paper skills and a good chunk of time on their hands.

It took us well over an hour to get it all together. (We’d like to blame our sluggish pace on the fact that in the midst of turning the office upside down, we couldn’t put our hands on a single bottle of glue.) But it was fun diversion, and I think I know far more about volcanos this evening than I did this morning.

Barb is one of the most talented children’s photographers in the world, and will be traveling from her native Australia to conduct 12 retreats in four different locations in the United States. Three of the retreats will be held on our farm in the Wire & Twine studio!

The 2½ day retreat will cover photographing children and their families for both private and commercial commissions. You’ll learn photography techniques, lighting, composition, marketing strategies, pricing, and post-processing in Photoshop. Registration is limited to 12 participants per retreat.

We cannot wait to play host to our friends from down under and to photographers from across the country! We anticipate loads of fun and creativity, and thousands of shutter clicks.

Visit JinkyArt if you’re interested in attending a retreat in the United States or Australia.

All photos in this post were taken by Barb Uil, © JinkyArt Photography

As these cold days become more frequent, it’s time to start pulling from my stash of indoor activities for the kids, who I find jumping off couches and recreating pro wrestling on the living room floor if I don’t keep them occupied.

One of my favorites is the indoor sandbox. Instead of sand, we use cornmeal. (This is my sister Susie’s suggestion, so I give her full credit.) Cornmeal acts just like sand in terms of digging and pouring, but it doesn’t have the grit. Plus, it’s safe for little people who occasionally eat a fistful or two as they play. Just don’t get it wet unless you’re planning on making cornbread. Oh, and bring out a funnel for added enjoyment.

The box that holds our sand is actually an underbed storage container. At around seven inches tall, it contains the “sand” but allows kids to play easily on a tabletop or floor. And when we aren’t using it, we store it under a bed!

When the kids are done playing, a quick vacuum cleans up the mess. Or, if I ignore it long enough, the dogs do an excellent job as well.

While I adore many of the games built around this premise, I was delighted when my sister recommended The Orchard, a game by the German company Haba. (Haba has long been a favorite of mine for their toys.) The premise of the game is that all the players work together to gather all the fruit from the orchard before a puzzle of a raven is complete. When the puzzle of the raven is complete, it eats the fruit in the orchard! Suddenly I found even the two-year-old cheering on her siblings, working together toward a common goal.

And, um, it doesn’t hurt that the game includes these lovely, wooden pieces and real baskets which can easily be repurposed for other imaginary play! Haba has many other fantastic games, many of which include a cooperative slant.