How to Keep This Boy Busy?

If you can't tell, I adore my five year old son. Even before he was born I knew he was going to be a hand full - from three months of bedrest to a 6 week premature birth, I knew this child wasn't going to be quiet or boring in any way! His zest for life is amazing! I am blessed to spend my days with him, because he is a willing learner and is quite bright. He loves anything having to do with baseball, whether it be playing baseball, watching baseball, organizing baseball cards, or copying the names of every Atlanta Braves player. (I'm not kidding about that last one... he saves the programs from the games and copies the roster.)

He enjoys reading - especially if it's a reader book about baseball or any kind of animal. He also is addicted to numbers... the clock intrigues him and he loves to work in his math book. Sometimes I wonder if he's really mine!

I do, however, have a problem, and I need some help. I struggle with ways to keep him busy while I read aloud with my nine year old daughter. There are some books that really keep his attention, and others that I know just won't - and that's ok with me. He will color while listening, play with playdoh, or create things with Legos or blocks.

(isn't our dog the cutest thing you've ever seen?)

Sometimes I let him play at the computer, but I try to limit that at his young age. Other times he will go into our garage and record how many times he bounces the playground ball (many days he gets to 1,000!) or practices his tball swing. That being said - there are times when he runs out of things to do and I'm at a loss.

How do you handle this in your house? Leave me a comment and let me know if you have ideas for a physical, smart, energetic five and half year old boy!
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Our Own Lewis & Clark Expedition

What fun we've had learning about The Lewis and Clark Expedition!

  One of my daughter's books for this study is from Sonlight's Core 3: The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard Neuberger. I love the straight-forward style of the book, and the way it just speaks to both of my children. After the first couple of chapters my daughter remarked how it would be fun to have been on an expedition like Lewis & Clarke's.... which is when a light bulb went off for me.

I had ordered a book over the summer which which was highly recommended - Little Hands Celebrate America. I can see now why it got such rave reviews! It is full of fun, easy crafts which help teach about American history. One of them is a field journal made out of a brown paper grocery bag and yarn. How easy is that? The book also gives a short and sweet explanation of that time period in history - in this case, The Lewis & Clark Expedition. So, after a couple days of reading about Lewis & Clark we decided to put ourselves in their shoes and set off on our own expedition at a local lake.

Both my nine and five year olds made field logs, and I told them we were to name things like we were seeing them for the first time EVER..... just like Lewis & Clark had named the Rocky Mountains, numerous rivers, the grizzly bear, etc, etc.... I had no idea how much this little project would speak to my children. When we first arrived at the lake and sat down to eat lunch, this glorious bug was sitting on the picnic table.... my daughter dubbed it the "green leaf bug" and drew it in her journal.

Over the next couple of hours the children stopped at many different places and sketched or wrote about what they saw. I loved how this served as a creative writing activity!

We saw many "brown devils" hopping from tree to tree and running on the path in front of us.

Here's my Kindergartner hard at work on his field journal:

As we walked we talked about what it must have been like to lug our supplies over so many miles, through hostile and unknown terrain. We thought how utterly amazing it must have been to discover the Rocky Mountains.

My son shared what he knew about Sacajawea (we've been reading a little book at his level to go along with our study). We also just enjoyed a gorgeous day, as fall is finally starting to make itself known in our neck of the woods.

All in all -- a great day, and hopefully a memorable activity for all of us!

*You might enjoy reading A Prairie Dog For The President to supplement this expedition!