We’ve officially hit the middle of Summer. Probably for most of us our big Summer plans of this or that have either been accomplished, half accomplished, or have been abandoned. I totally get it. There are a few things we planned on for this Summer that haven’t worked out but there are also plenty of things that have! Today I’m sharing our July morning basket but along with it I want to encourage you too! Just because we’re not going Pinterest mom crazy on activities or adventures doesn’t mean we aren’t having a wonderful Summer together. There is still plenty of time to accomplish fun things this Summer if that’s really what’s on your heart. But, if plans have changed or you’ve evaluated the why for what you planned and came up with doubt give yourself freedom to walk away guilt-free. These days are for time together whether it’s walking through the grocery store together, dressing up for Cow Day together, or watching Daniel Tiger, again, together.
My July morning basket is sparse. Intentionally sparse. Summer doesn’t look a whole lot different than our everyday play during the year so to make a small impact I didn’t load up our morning basket with as many of it’s usual treasures. I’m encouraging my littles to play beyond the basket. Legos, games, dolls- the house is a glorious mess before 8 am most days and that’s ok. Later in the morning we get to practice teamwork cleaning it up together and it’s tidy again in no time.
Interested in what our basket does hold?! Here’s a look inside
You can clearly see we’re embracing less is more with this month’s basket. In the past I’ve changed out items week to week. Added new, swapped supplies, etc. For this month this is it. This is what we have and we’ll stretch out the fun. One big thing I started this month- don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner- is to leave everything completely open ended. Some days Sadie will trace her numbers on the big number cards and some days she flips them over and doodles on the back. I’m equally pleased with both choices. Same with the play doh, books and dot markers.
As far as academics go this Summer my goals are for daily reading and a letter practice. These play doh mats and letter formation trace cards are perfect for my littles and even my big girl still has fun rolling and forming the letters too! (You can find both of these activities in my ABC by the Sea activity set.)
One way we maintain some consistency throughout the year is with our family Bible story/scripture study and our hymn study with @happyhymnody. This month we are learning the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” We are studying the Lord’s Prayer with @tinytheologians scripture conversation cards and reading through the Jesus Storybook bible. This is around 5-10 minutes at most but it’s a centering point for my heart and hopefully theirs too!
I tossed in a few academic activities for my school loving big girl- traceable sight-words and counting/numeracy activities.
Of course, no morning basket in our house would be complete without some picture books and crafts. I put dot markers in the basket with a fresh supply of paper and a couple July/Summer themed picture books too!
I have enjoyed watching my crew make what they want from the basket and build their own fun. An idea I think I’ll carry forward as we continue morning basket activities as the school year begins next month!
Are you doing a July morning basket? What’s your theme? Or have a question about morning baskets? Don’t hesitate to ask!
Curious about Homeschooling? Be sure to see my newest blog series, How We Did Kindergarten at Home!
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