I spent last week making final plans for our homeschool year, our most “plugged in” year yet. I think that most of us with school-aged children must be facing something similar, and I am very grateful for our online schooling options. My middle school and high school kids will all be taking online classes (I can tell you more about that in my next post if you’d like.) However, it has always been my goal to minimize screen time, and I can’t pretend that screen time in recent months at our house has been minimal. So much has gotten in the way of my ideals this year. This pandemic and the financial consequences of it that are requiring us to work more, extreme weather making outdoor play unpleasant-too brutally hot and dry for weeks followed by weeks of too much rain and nasty humidity, and being just plain stressed, overwhelmed, and discouraged at the state of everything. My goal heading into this fall is to be more intentional when I can, to spend more time planning ahead for unplugged activities for my younger kids (while structuring screen time with my older kids so that they don’t sit looking at one all the time!) but also to give myself grace when things don’t go as planned. Mom’s mental health has to be a priority as well. Please don’t forget to take care of yourself, even if that means letting your little guys watch shows in the afternoon while you read a book or catch up on work.
Over the years, whenever I have fallen into allowing more screen time than I’d like, which in my experience leads to kids not knowing what to do with themselves other than more of the same, I have sat down to make a list of activities. Some of them only require me to set out the materials, and some require me to be a part of them. Maybe two lists would be good? Activities with mom, and activities without. I have collected many books full of ideas over the nearly twenty years I’ve been parenting. I first started making these lists when my oldest son was a baby who didn’t sleep and I didn’t know what to do with him. I was twenty-two when he was born and the days were long.
When my friend, Rachel Wolf, started working on The Unplugged Family Activity Book, she had no idea how timely it would be. So many of us are looking for fresh ideas right now, or even new takes on familiar ones to help us get through these months. Rachel sent me a copy a few weeks ago and it’s a beautiful, inspiring book. The activities are divided seasonally and I always love it when a book is organized that way. When I pull out my stack of activity books to work on my lists in the coming weeks, hers will be at the top. Right now, we have loads of marigolds blooming and Rachel’s summer flower bunting project was a perfect afternoon activity for Mabel. She loved carefully threading the flowers, and I love that I will be able to use the dried marigolds in my dyepots this winter.
Rachel would like to give one of you a copy of her book as well! For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post. I will close comments and randomly select a winner on Friday.
The winner is Bethany, who commented, “I would love a copy of this book! I would also love to know what your own activity list includes if you ever were up for writing a post about that. :)”
I’ve emailed you, Bethany, and will hopefully write that post sometime soon!
The book sounds great! I am sure my boys would find some fun things in it!
Such a different summer here too. We’ve had a wicked fire season, a current one making national headlines for “firenados”! My goodness this year has been crazy!!
We’d love a chance at the book, we love Rachel’s herbal adventures book!
First year homeschooling with a kindergartener and preschooler! I would love a chance to win this book.
It’s always nice to hear that others struggle with needing free screen time, too. I’d love a chance at the book.
would love to have this book to enjoy with my grandson
Would love some great new,ideas to use with my be a dkids. A wonderful giveaway.
Suddenly homeschooling 3 kids – unplugged activities sounds great!
I’ve been looking at this book, thinking how much we might like it.
Thank you for the book recommendation and the opportunity to win a copy!
Fantastic timing indeed! What a generous giveaway!
Love this and I could definitely use some idea!
Thanks
sounds like a beautiful book! I would love a copy.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this lovely book. I was just talking to my husband last night about our family doing a 40 day unplug from devices. This book would be such a welcomed tool in our lives.
This will be our first year homeschooling!
I would love to add this to my library.
Thank you for such an awesome resource ♥️
This book looks like a real treasure! I will have our grandchildren much of the time soon. This book will be just what i need to make the very most of our precious time together! Thank you for introducing it to us here!
I would love to have this book for my first year of homeschooling.
Yes, please share what you are doing for school. We limit screen time too, and I love a handy resource for new ideas!
Thank you for this giveaway! This looks like a wonderful book.
Beautiful. I would love this book for my four kiddos. Thanks for the opportunity.
While I am nearing the end of our homeschool journey (four more years is near the end, right? ;-), I would love to win this book for my daughter and grandson. Thank you for the chance, Ginny. God bless you!
This sounds like an amazing book. One our family would love! Thank you for the opportunity to win.
My grand daughters and I would this year round activity book. Thank you Ginny for the chance…
Yes please share what school will look like for your older kids. It’s always nice to see a fresh perspective. I can’t wait for cooler weather and much less screen time!
This book is exactly what our family needs!
I would also love it if you would share your lists, Ginny!! You always inspire me.
This sounds lovely….
My friends and I were JUST having a discussion about how we are running out of ideas after a long summer with lots of activities and places having been closed or canceled.
This book looks wonderful and we would all love it! Thanks for giving one away!
I always love your recommendations!
Ooh, I’d love some inspiration from Rachel’s book for my family! Thanks for the chance.
This would be great for our kids and even for me! Looking for some inspiration of late. Thanks 🙂
Ginny, I feel exactly as you do trying to balance the screen time and older kids not knowing what to do with themselves.
Im burned out and we could use some inspiration!
I love this idea. We are a big family, too, 8 kids, and I am very intentional about limiting screen time. In fact, the kids are on a break from screens right now. After a few days, they rediscovered all our board games. My girls have elaborate make believe storylines going on every afternoon, and my boys have been “tinkering around” with all the little bits and bobs that boys seem to collect. It has been very hot here, an historic 112 degrees yesterday (I’m not kidding) so we walk outside a little each morning while it’s still in the 80’s, then we come inside and “do school” at the table. Just notebooks, a Bible, a math textbook, and crayons and pencils. The kids freely read novels that interest them (they’re on a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys kick right now) and books from the library on a variety of topics that we are all curious about (ballet, police officers, macrame, the keto diet, Berenstain Bears, electricity, Fancy Nancy!) We would love to win a copy of “The Unplugged Family Activity Book,” thanks for considering us!
This tired mamma could you some
inspiration for this upcoming school year. We will have 4 online schooling and 2 homeschooling.
The book is indeed timely. I would like to share it with our school as we are very intentional about minimal screen time. The marigold project is lovely.
I spent 29 years homeschooling my kids and now they are homeschooling my grand babies! I feel so blessed to be involved in a second generation of grassroots education.
Thanks to Rachel for gifting a copy of her book. I’m sure that whoever wins it will be blessed.
Ooh, I have marigolds. I need to make bunting!! I love the idea of that book. I’m terrible at thinking of projects. What a help it would be!
That book looks like a treasure. And the marigold garland is beautiful!
Could you please post a list of your favorite unplugged activities or a list of your favorite activity books, especially any Catholic themed ones?!! Much appreciated, thanks
What a wonderful and timely book. I’d love to share these activities with my grandchildren!
I feel like I have found my community that I so long for as a mother here. Rachel inspires me and I look forward to reading your posts as well. We need community now more than ever. Thank you for being a place that I can find comfort and inspiration?
I’d love to win a copy of this book!
I am about to head cross country to help with school-at-home for three of my grandchildren while the parents work outside their home this fall. The kids are 5 to 15. This book would surely be helpful to this grandma, who also worries about too much screen time. Thanks for sharing the titile.
I would love to have a copy to use with my kiddos!
This would be wonderful as I am starting my homeschool journey all over again with six of my grandchildren. The pandemic is making this an easy choice for me. I would love to have activities planned out for me to do with them.
We would love this book!
This looks like a very timely book! I’d love to have a copy to use with my kiddos!
How exciting to have the opportunity to share the wonder of the outdoors and seasons with friends and family. I would love to have this in my Grandma’s library to plan for adventures with our grandchildren.
Count me in please.
I’d love to add this to our homeschool library! We have marigolds, so I’m excited about the flower garden project, too!
What a delightful resource!