Book Review: 15 Minutes Outside Rebecca Cohen

I have been reading some really great family living or parenting books (if you would) lately!  One of the things that has been difficult at times in my house is getting Aidan outside everyday.  We love spending time outside, but let's face it, being sick last year and the beginning of the year hasn't helped that much, and Aidan's long commute to NH to school, one hour round-trip for him, and two hours for me sometimes makes it hard to make that extra effort to get outside.  I gotta tell you, it was a lot easier at the old apartment being on the first floor to spend time outside while supper is cooking, in the back yard playing or watering our garden.  Also, now that Aidan is in first grade we don't get home until about 4, which isn't that bad, but I am surprised at the amount of homework first graders get!

So, in an effort to acknowledge the fact that we needed some new ideas to get us moving to Create More Time in our busy days to just get out there, I ordered a book written by Rebecca Cohen, 15 Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids.  Rebecca's book is great!  It organizes activities by season, and by month, so it is easy to pick up and find a good activity for the current season, without having to read through the whole book!  I got the book a few weeks back, and decided to put my plans into action!  Rebecca mentions her kids getting up a bit early to enjoy some play time outside before school.  What a great idea!  A nice way for Aidan to move around and wake up before our long drive to school.  I figured if he got the wiggles out before school started, maybe he would be more focused in school during his morning classes.  We have a great park right on our street that is on our way to school!  It's the perfect spot for morning play time!  I can't wait to try some of her other simple, fun ideas, and I think you should order her book too, if you are looking for new inspiration!  You can find out more about Rebecca on her site, Rebecca Plants.  She has a ton of great resources, including her own tv show called Get Out of the House!  On her site you can download a checklist of 50 Outdoor Activities Guide For Busy Families.  You can find the free download here 50 Outdoor Activities download.  Here are some pictures of our fun outside before school!  Enjoy!

I'm King!

Practicing his reading skills!

We have such a beautiful view overlooking the water.  Aidan was so relaxed.  It was so nice not rushing around last minute out the door, and straight to school.  I made sure he knew the night before that if he got dressed and got his stuff together, I would make the time for him to play outside before school.  I never saw him get ready so quick.  It helped to have his clothes ready the night before, but you know how kids are for an adventure they will be ready in a flash!

There is no playground at this park.  The area above, Aidan enjoys feeding the ducks and fish.  We will be getting him a fishing pole soon!  You can see how little rain we have had lately by looking at the next pictures.  Last time we were here, Aidan couldn't cross the smelly Swamp!  He enjoyed using a stick to push around in the mud, and get his rain boots wet, but on this day he was really excited to be able to cross what a few weeks before was a swamp.  It made for a very educational conversation on our ride to school, and Aidan got started off to a great day!

Make Your Own Foamy Paint!

During February vacation, I was looking for some easy to do craft ideas for Aidan and I to have some fun with.  We planned on tackling making our own dish soap and laundry detergent as part of our experiments, but I figured something easy and artistic for Aidan would be fun too!  We have a book called The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions .  It is a really cool book with a ton of fun paints, doughs, slime and other fun kid approved concoctions to make and enjoy!  We decided to make Foamy Paint on page 36. 

The Great thing about the Kid Concoctions book, is that the recipes are created with things you would usually find at home, so no last minute running around for ingredients (most of the time).  Aidan loves any chance he can to mix or create so he was super-excited to make some new paints! 

All you need to make foamy paint is three things

1. a muffin tin or ice cube tray (we used the ice cube tray but I think a muffin tin would be great!)






2. one can white shaving cream. ( here you get a lot of bang for   your buck so you can borrow some of dad's if that's what he uses, you only use a little.)

3. food coloring

How to Concoct:

Place a small dab of shaving cream into each ice cube tray or muffin tin.

Add 1-2 drops of food coloring to each section and stir with a spoon. 

Aidan and I played around with the amount of food coloring and mixed colors and tried to guess what we would get.  He had a lot of fun with this part.  The book suggests using foamy paint to make 3d sculptures.  A snowman is shown in the book.  We used q-tips, one in each ice cube holder to paint onto our card-stock.  It was a lot of fun!

Our Foamy Paint!

 Aidan enjoyed testing out the different colors and ways to combine them on his pictures!

 Instead of two thumbs up he gave me a peace sign and a big smile.  We will probably make this again, it's a great rainy day activity and clean up was simple.  We have some really cool pictures Aidan made hanging around the house now.

 My boy making a house and grass!  It came out really good when it was done!

Mama's fun painting using foamy paint!  It was fun to use, and the colors vibrant.  It took about 5 minutes to make, and entertained Aidan for an hour or so!  We are going to try it again when my niece is visiting.  She is almost three!

The author suggests using the paint to paint pictures safely on bodies.  I wish I did that with Aidan with the leftovers, before bath time!  Let me know if you try it and how your little ones like it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!