The One Thing Cheat Sheet

It seems that the new acceptable status for parents is to feel guilty about all things we are or are not doing. Some days I feel like we are doing great, with my daughter engaged in learning, play etc. then other days we are aLL slumped in front of our respective screens with deadlines or just plain tiredness. That’s life. I try to do at least one thing a day with her that is just the two of us and so does my partner. Here are some easy things you can do with your kids that will enhance the day for all of you without taking up masses of time or energy. In fact the last three you could send them to go do while you take a work call. They are not specifically Pagany but they do encourage practices that we Pagans value. To be clear, none of these happen everyday for us! We do what we can.

• Read to them at breakfast and/or lunch
  • I have these books near our dinner table so I can access them easily. A story compendium, a book about animals, and an atlas. They are large with gorgeous illustrations and they are all we need. It prevents us cluttering the where we eat with lots of little books. 
• Do yoga together. 
  • Cosmic kids Yoga is surprisingly rigorous! We also have these two books that are great to practice from.
  • ABC Yoga 
  • I am Yoga​

• Go for a walk. 
  • Early on in the pandemic we ran into Cece’s old daycare teacher who told us with a weary face that she takes her two children on A LOT of walks. I was sort of surprised. She wasn’t at home doing elaborate art projects or teaching them math? Honestly though, it’s a great way to spend time together. You can make it educational with a journal entry after the walk or if they are younger doing a tally walk. But just spending time together observing the world has important value.
• Give them chores. 
  • Our daughter is five and she is expected to set the table with silverware and napkins, tidy her toys, put the doggy toys away, fold laundry (easy things like napkins and pillow cases), and mop the floor which she loves.
• Scavenger hunts. 
  • Find something beginning with each letter of the alphabet, find five things that are green. Find three things that are round - you get the idea. 
• Research projects.
  •  For older kids, give them a project and encourage them to write a report or make a poster. Here are some cool people (aka witches) they could look up: Doreen Valiente, Marie Laveau, Sybil Leek, Pamela (Pixie) Colman Smith. Paganism is full of amazing stuff to learn about: they could research crystals, deities, traditions, etc. So many options!
• Build a Fort 
  • Forts are the best. Cece we will spend ages making and playing in one. They can be tailored to space and interests. Reading nooks, magical chambers etc.
• Dance Party
  • Queue up some fave tunes and have a dance party. Perfect for the whole family! Cece loves to dress up on scarves and be very interpretive. The best.

What activities do you do with your kids? Share them in the comments.