The holidays can be filled with indoor activities revolving around video games, board games, cooking/baking and eating. My family participated and all of those activities as we enjoyed time together for the Christmas break. I played the Trouble game with three of my grandchildren who began to catch on to the rules and strategies of the game. On Christmas Day they received the “Hungry, Hungry Hippo” and “Crocodile Dentist” games and had such fun playing.
Christmas Eve all eight adults had a fabulous, fun-filled evening playing “Taboo” before watching a movie together. Each day the grandkids played “MarioKart” on their new “Switch” system and were shocked to discover that their youngest aunt had a Switch and a number of games. There were several video game matches, most with at least two players and up to six with multiple controllers.
On the second day of Christmas we put up our tent for the grandchildren. The kids joined us outside to explore the property and gathered firewood for our campfire for all of us to roast marshmallows that evening. Before going inside for hot chocolate we took a walk around the property to identify plants. They collected dried okra pods to take back home and plant for the next spring and summer. They also got dinosaur kale , radish greens, romaine lettuce, and a mustard green leaf. We usually go on family camping trips and the kids wanted to pretend we were camping on the Christmas break. They learned the kind of wood needed to start a fire from tender, kindling, and larger pieces of wood. Observing nature when it’s cold outside is great fun. After the walk we looked forward to the family campfire near the tent which for a while was like a playhouse.
On the third day of Christmas the grandchildren helped feed the farm animals and collect eggs followed by a walk along the trail. We collected acorns, pinecones moss, magnolia leaves , and firewood . We observed mushrooms, leaf shapes, leaf colors, along with acorn shapes and colors. The kids asked if there is a children’s museum here and I replied, this is your personal outdoor children’s museum. I offered to take them to the York W. Bailey museum on the Penn Center Campus where I have volunteered as soon as their family makes a return visit when the museum reopens.
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