Travis might not care much about his dad’s team yet, but Sunday football is a tradition in this house, and this mini version makes it exciting for even the littlest fans.
To make our footballs, I cut brown construction into strips that were 2 inches x 11 inches.
Starting at one end, fold up in a triangle, and repeat until you reach the end of the strip, tucking in the last bit of paper; glue to seal. Let dry and then decorate like a football with marker.
To prepare the field, we covered an empty snack box with construction paper. Before sealing off the box completely, add a few pebbles inside to weight it down.
Travis had fun scribbling a decoration for the top of the box; older kids can make it look like a real end zone!
To make the goal post, fold a pipe cleaner in half, twist the bottom a few times. Bend the top ends to look like a goal post. Poke a hole in the top of the box and insert the pipe cleaner. I added a drop of glue to keep it more firmly in place.
Now “kick” your footballs into the end zone for a field goal! Little kids can have fun tossing about the paper footballs, even if they can’t reach the goal. The game is also great for talking about shapes.
I should have titled this post “Easiest.Breakfast Ever.” Because that’s exactly what it is! Ready, back-to-school parents everywhere?
We were most curious to see how the bugs would come out – was the sun strong enough? 
Travis loved lifting the toys for each reveal.
Either whittle a shape using a knife, or press out a shape with a cookie cutter. 
Present your child with trays of different colored paiNTs, then dip and priNT away!
…and “hay” and “grass” (uncooked noodles) hidden down low. 
Travis loved cracking open whole-shell peanuts! 
We finished with an informative read of Usborne’s Beginner non-fiction book on 
These are all great books for having your child count along on each page.
We read up on ants in National Geographic’s slim volume for beginner readers, and then we 
Finally – for super-cool mom points – we headed to an ant hill well away from home, sprinkled sugar on the ground, and watched the ants go to town. 
Next we covered a potted plant with a paper bag and observed it four hours later, shaking the bag a little. Water had condensed on the inside of the bag, allowing Travis to see how some water evaporates off a plant!
As a result, our elephant turned out more spangled and feathered than mosaicked. Either way, it was quite beautiful. 
For a final dose of fun, we listened to the 
For older kids, you can also make a basic chart of the different coins and their values, and turn it into a matching game.
Then we set up his play tent for many a game. 
Perfect for storytime throughout the weeks that NT was on our wall. 
Finally, a field trip to a local state park let Travis see real camping tents set up for the first time!
Place a small toy in each spot, along with the map clue for the next prize! 
You can also go on a rainbow hunt in any garden. 
Simply bring along a bucket of paint chips and see if you can match up all the colors of the rainbow on a pretty walk.
Then try 
Of course, you can’t go wrong painting at a regular easel; Travis said this picture was of dragon’s teeth. 
And he had fun exploring the thickness of different brushes.
joyful parenting 