indoor recess

this blog post title hearkens back to my teaching days.  every year, it seemed we would hit the coldest patch of winter when outside recess was just not an option for days upon days.  i'd find myself getting quite creative figuring out ways to get the enormous amount of wiggles out of my students.  bean bag dances, new toys and games from the back of the storage closet, the "let's jump 100 hundred times" game.  anything that i could come up with to help contain the crazy. 

well, that's kind of what is happening right now.  we may not have experienced the "snowpocolypse" like so many of you out there, but we have had very low temperatures lurking around our parts.  yesterday, the high was zero.  yes, the high was zero.  sooo, i've been pulling all kinds of tricks out of my hat for the kids.  here's a small sampling:

i've been singing a lot of new songs with them and they have been practicing some new dance moves.

 i made carlyle a little ramp for his cars out an old cereal box (sarah and abbie, notice what kind of cereal it was!).  i have also made the kiddos some little toys out of old hot chocolate containers.  

i set up their ikea tent in the living room.  this kept them busy for many days.

luella does so many cute things as she takes care of her baby.  basically, she just impersonates me.  this morning, i heard her saying "what's wrong, buddy?"

after they successfully destroyed their ikea tent (don't worry, i will purchase another one when ikea opens in denver later on this year), i set up their christmas present from my parents.  it's amazing.  no surprise that my mom made it and it just fits over a card table.  so simple, so much fun.  and obviously, so so cute.

they have become mesmerized by ballet.  we watch for a few minutes after their naps.

i've been pulling out "special toys" from the closet.  luella entertained herself with these cards for an hour this morning.   it was a very quiet hour.

i borrowed a train set from my friend this week.  carlyle has been playing with it nonstop.  he wakes up in the morning giggling because he knows he can play with his trains again.  all day, hours upon hours.  i mean, just look at the satisfaction on his face.  

naturally, i will be very excited when we can head outside again, but in the meantime, we are having quite a bit of fun.