Searching (for alphabet letters and GRACE)

I’m always looking for things to do with the kids that are fun AND educational.  This activity was so much fun for all 3 of them!

We had an alphabet puzzle that worked great.  You could also just use refrigerator letters too if you have those.  Anything will do.

I had colored rice that we made a few months ago so I just threw it in a bucket, along with the letters, and the kids took turns finding them.  They named the letters & then put them in the puzzle.

I’m tellin’ ya, this kept them occupied for an hour.  Hailey can absolutely do this herself.  We’re still working on letter recognition with the boys so I played with them. 

They loved just digging in the rice too. 

I would love to take credit for coming up with this idea but I actually found it online.  Can’t remember where though or I would tell you. 

You could use plain rice too if you didn’t feel like taking the time to color your rice.  Or beans would work too.  Anything really.  Just go have fun with your kids. 

Now they are off in different directions playing.  I love incorporating little things into our day like this.  I always find it funny how ‘bored’ they seem to get even though we have hundreds of toys & games & books & other things to do around our house. 

I was thinking , the other day, how it’s so easy for us to compare our parenting to others.  To compare the educational abilities of our own children to others.  To look at other kids that are doing better, achieving more, learning faster, potty training sooner and the…list…goes…on.

And as I was feeling stressed out because Ethan doesn’t know his letters as well as Noah, I felt grace.  He WILL learn them.  He is SO smart.  And he knows other things that Noah doesn’t know. 

We all need to remember that it will all happen in it’s own time.  Value the time that you spend with your kids.  Teach them.  Appreciate their specific gifts.  They will go potty when they are ready.  They will learn their letters.  They will count to 100.  They will learn to ride their bike, tie their shoes, cut with scissors, feed themselves & eventually not rely on us much for a whole lot of anything.

GRACE!  I have to give myself a little bit more of it.  We all probably do.  One letter of the alphabet at a time!!