SPRING Bucket List!

Spring is officially here!!! Yay!! Although, I live in Iowa so it still may snow clear into April! We really never know what will happen with the weather here! Anyways...when spring rolls around, I get very excited as it may be my favorite season! I just love all of the newness that comes with spring. Everything starts fresh again! And after a hard mid-west winter, I am more than ready for change!

Here are just a few things to put on your Spring Bucket List for this year:

Make Mud Pies!

Forget staying clean for this one! This is such a fun activity that I remember doing with a dear friend when I was little. Her mom had kept old pie tins for her and her brother to use for playing so we would love to make mud pies with them! We would get a small bucket of water, dig up some dirt, mix it up and then put it in the pie tins. Then we would decorate the top with twigs, flowers, leaves, and small toys. Then we would set them in the sun to "bake" or dry out. The next day it was always fun to tip them over and see if they would stay together or not! And then we could start over if we wanted to! Our daughter enjoyed teaching a "cooking class" last spring with some mud and sand and she had an absolute blast (and she used her best Julia Child voice!). Let your kids get dirty! I know that is difficult for some, but they will love it and will be something they remember for years to come!

Feed the Birds!

I love watching our feathered friends out my window. I absolutely love hummingbirds so I am sure to set out my hummingbird feeders each year. They don't arrive in Iowa until later in the spring so I won't be getting my feeders out right now, but I will be watching for their return. I track their migration here. Once I see them getting close to central Iowa I get my feeders cleaned up and filled up. I make my own sugar water solution (4 parts water to 1 part sugar) and I don't add any food coloring to it as I have heard that it can be harmful to the hummingbirds. I just let the color of the actual feeder draw their attention. 

But there are many more birds than just hummingbirds and they are fun to feed too! You can check out this blog that was written in February for ways to make some birdfeeder wreaths at home or you can just purchase bird feeders at your local store or even Amazon. You may even be able to find a kit where you can build a bird feeder with your family. Then research the birds that you have in  your area and purchase some seed that you know they will eat! I try to set my feeders near a window so I can watch them come and go! It's always fun to see how many different kinds of birds stop by!

Plant Some Flowers or a Garden!

This really makes my heart happy! I love to plant flowers and to get my garden in. With it being this early in Spring, I only plant in containers that I can easily bring back inside the house in case we get a Spring frost. I don't want to loose the flowers I just spent time and money on! I aim to plant my garden around Mother's Day weekend. That is usually a time when the threat of frost is gone in Iowa. I am not saying that we won't still possibly have a chilly night, but the chance is much less and I always have old blankets, sheets and towels on hand just in case I need to go cover up my new plants! If you are thinking about starting a garden, you can check out some tips here. 

Go on a Nature Walk/Hike!

Getting out for a nature walk or hike does the body and mind good! Grab your jackets and get moving! Take a walk around your neighborhood or drive to a nearby area and do some walking. We have a beautiful state park just about 8 miles north of us that is so much fun to go to. You can walk along pretty even ground or you can take more of a hike if you'd like. You can also walk along the stream on days when it is warmer (more like summertime!). Fresh air does a ton of good and it will help burn off all of the energy your kids have! 

If you'd like to do more than just walk, feel free to turn it into a scavenger hunt. Just google "nature scavenger hunt" and you will find a ton of ideas you can put on your phone or print out. You can also find some other ideas here from a previous blog we posted. 

Spring is such a fun and exciting time of year for us. We love to get outside more and enjoy the time together (and my husband and teenage boys love the start of Major League Baseball!) Please comment below on some things you like to do with your family!