Christmas is just around the corner, and that means... ALL THE ACTIVITIES! Well, for me at least. For the past couple of years, I've done some sort of holiday bucket list or photo challenge by gathering all the Pinterest ideas I've found and making a more manageable list. This year, of course, will be no different. 🤩
​Want to join in the fun of making the most out of the festivities this holiday? Just save the image and do them in order or at your own pace. Let's enjoy this season together! 🎄

We have recently switched to a different library for our weekly story time and this one happens to have a park next door! Absolutely perfect.

Tucked into a ball field and surrounded by a walking path, this two-part park is a very fun stop for all ages. There is a smaller section for younger children with smaller slides and tunnels, as well as two bouncy, pretend-driving vehicles. A short walk around the field is a larger area with two larger play structures as well as multiple climbing apparatuses and swings. Hard to have mom-conversations as everything is spread out, but perfect for a single family playdate!

    🚗 Parking: a large lot on the community center side and the ballfields parking lot
    🌳 Shade: none in the winter mornings
    🪑 Seating: benches surrounding the larger kid area 
    🪨 Flooring: mulch on the smaller kid and rocks on the bigger
    🥳 Popularity: usual a family or two
    👦🏼 Age range: 2+

"Color Wonder" markers by Crayola has to be one of the best inventions for children in this decade. In case you haven't heard of it, they're these actual magic markers that only work on specific paper. Not to be confused with the Melissa and Doug "Water Wow!" coloring booklets, which has just one brush that is filled with water used to reveal an already color-illustrated picture, this set has markers that color (albeit a bit delayed from the onset of each stroke) in all the colors, just like regular markers. Except they don't color on the furniture or walls or anything except the magic paper. 

There are so many wonderful collections of pre-printed coloring pages (not quite in book form, though) you can buy of different characters or themes. However, we found that H found most of them too busy or overwhelming to be able to color them. ENTER: the refill pages! I stumbled across blank pages of the Color Wonder paper and that was the ideal medium for H's creativity to thrive (aka being able to just scribble freely).

Although not 8.5x11 sized (they're 8.5x10 sheets), you can still print images onto the pages for coloring as well. H would want a strangely specific construction vehicle to color, so I'd simply Google: "Front End Loader Coloring Page" and pick one to print (usually reduced in size so it wouldn't miss the paper). I have an inkjet printer, so the page has to dry a bit before coloring - and sometimes the ink does rub off on the markers leaving kinda eerie blank spaces on the picture... but H doesn't seem to mind too much.

We've even drawn with Sharpie on a blank page and let him color it -- that worked perfectly. 

A super fun, CLEAN alternative to coloring books!! We're fans. 

As a first grade teacher, I saw dozens of hand-drawn masterpieces taken home to display, only to remain crinkled in backpacks for weeks. Maybe because the child forgot about it, maybe because the recipient didn't want it, but probably because there isn't enough room in the world for all the drawings from littles. 🙃 When H started to *somewhat* enjoy drawing and coloring, I knew I wanted to be able to display his artwork and store them too, besides the "special grey box" (that most drawings given to adults go into). 🗑️

Pinterest had so many different ways to display artwork, such as cute boards with clothes pins or even mismatched frames along the wall, but that didn't match what I was wanting. Our fridge is currently overflowing with artwork, but I wanted a more intentional display... so that led me to this classic, black frame display case! I don't use Amazon very often (intentionally trying to use my money in places that treat their workers well!) but sometimes, it's the best/only option. And that includes this frame!

It's a really neat frame, with built-in storage for a good amount of art (so long as it's on 8.5 x 11 sheets). The paper on display slides into the front glass and is held in place by two skinny pieces of wood. The interior of the frame is deeper, but also has small pieces on the bottom of each side to keep it from all tumbling out. 

A neat feature of the frame is that it can be hung both horizontally or vertically, depending on the artwork. The hooks didn't line up on my frame though, so the hubby had to do some adjusting for that to be able to work well. Overall, a super cute and very simple way to display some beautiful ​artwork. 🙃

After battling field tripping kids and "scary" jets at the splash pad, we were excited to find this beautiful park!

Surrounded by a beautiful garden, this magnificent, FENCED playground was a delight to play in. It is full of accessible activities for movement-challenged children, as well as those who haven't mastered stairs yet. Full of tunnels, steering wheels, and hidey-holes, the older kid side of this playground is fantastic for imaginative play. There is a small-child area with a slide and tunnel that was tucked away for play safe from rambunctious older kids. The only negative is that the slides and stairs are metal, so they are extremely hot and almost unusable after sitting in the sun due to the lack of shade (would be better in the colder months). Only one swing was to be found, but there were plenty of other things to entertain a large group of kiddos. 

🛝 ​See my full list of playgrounds I've reviewed here!