Schedule? What schedule?!

I know a few posts ago, I promised a school schedule that was working out for us. 


Ideally...
7:00 - Kids wake up, at the same time
7:30 - Neven works on his preschool workbook with Dad
8:00 - Breakfast, then get dressed for the day
9:30 - Daria takes a morning nap, and Neven and I do some sort of focused activity or art project
11:00 - Free play together, or maybe time for a quick walk
12:00 - Lunchtime
1:00 - Maybe an afternoon outing, like a trip to the library
3:00 - Daria takes an afternoon nap, and Neven and I head outside to play and explore
5:00 - Dinner, complimented by learning a few signs (sign language) 
5:30 - Neven works on a lesson from ABCmouse.com while I clean up from dinner and Daria plays happily by herself
6:30 - Bathtime and books
7:15 - Bedtime


But LIFE HAPPENS. 
Neven and Daria take turns waking up at 5:30, and so one is inevitably woken up by the other (before they are ready to wake up). Daria has been taking 20 minute naps, and waking up tired (fussy!). The past few weeks, we've been on countless playdates, nurturing new relationships, to meetings, on walks, and visiting with family. Oh, and then our 13.5 year old dog escaped last weekend (for the first time ever in the 7+ years we've had him), and was gone for 3 days and 3 nights (with lows in the 20s!). Talk about life grinding to a halt for everything except searching for our lost dog! We ended up finding him, thanks to an amazing community and a tip from a neighbor who saw him. 
And because LIFE is more important than sticking to a schedule (something I need to remind myself sometimes!), we haven't been doing much home-preschooling lately... but we're HAPPY. 

>> Here are some of the activities we have fit in the past few weeks. As always, I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts! <<


WATER BALLOON in the BATHTUB
Do they sink or float? Use cold water to fill up the balloons, and another sensory dimension is added - which is colder, the balloon or the bathwater? If you're feeling brave (I wasn't!), add a few drop of food coloring and let them cut or pop them open into the bathwater. Neven decided there was a baby fish in his balloon, and insisted on rocking it to sleep before he could get out of the tub. Another idea from Play-at-Home-Mom... 


FILLED BALLOONS
Simple idea: Fill balloons with different materials - I filled one with (dry) beans, another with flour, and a third with sugar. I don't have a funnel, so I cut the top of a milk jog off and used that! Neven had fun talking about how the balloons felt (he compared the flour-filled balloon to a cloud) and guessing what exactly was inside. 

PAINTING with MARBLES
What we did: Taped a large sheet of paper onto a wooden serving tray (or cookie sheet). We added a few drops of fingerpaint, then rolled a glass marble around trying to roll it through the paint. Next a plastic monkey walked through the paint and left behind him footprints, and then we used a car to drive through paint and make tire-tracks.