Social distancing and shelter in place can be tough. At the beginning, it’s not so bad, but here on day 48, many of us may be feeling like we’re about to go a little stir crazy. Our kids are awesome, and our Cottage Parents are THE BEST, but the same holds true for them.
Our Cottage Parents have done an amazing job keeping our children entertained. And this is AFTER homeschooling up to nine children at a time!
From helping with homeschooling, to art activities, to adventures outside, they’ve been working their hardest to care of our children during these difficult times. Here is what we’ve been up to – maybe it will inspire some ideas in your own home.
We’ve been taking lots of walks! Whether it’s on our Avery campus, our Winston campus, or hikes in the woods, getting out in the fresh air and getting some exercise have been super important.
On both campuses, our walks have carried us to the farm to see and feed the animals. On both farms we have horses who may or may not be getting spoiled with yummy treats. On the Winston farm, we also have goats and a crazy llama named Tutti Fruiti.
Sidewalk chalk has been a HUGE hit on both campuses, and we are discovering that some of our students are excellent chalk artists. Some cottages have even turned it into a competition. Check out those cartoon characters!
On our Avery campus, the kids, especially our teen girls, are loving the skate park.
Inside there is much puzzle-putting-together in many of our cottages.
The kids have also enjoyed picnics in the sunshine.
Fishing has also been a huge hit with our kids, especially up on the Avery campus.
Our students (and Cottage Parents) are also very crafty! They’ve painted picture frames, storage crates, and made crazy fridge magnets, keychains, and more!
In this cottage, the Cottage Parents even set up a little “store” so their youngest could “sell” snacks to her cottage mates. It was very official.
And some of the cottages, since they couldn’t hang out with each other, started sending notes by messenger dog back and forth. It was pretty much adorable.
Some of our cottages have gone on scenic drives, and some have hiked to the top of mountains.
After one cottage got a big donation of yummy baked goods, they went on a delivery run to drop off goodies for staff and other children, leaving doorstep surprises.
And on our Winston campus, the boys have been a huge help volunteering up on the farm.
In addition to all this, there has been hair braiding, movie nights, soap making, science experiments, pillow sewing, cooking, painting wooden letters for their bedrooms, and making Mother’s Day cards for their moms. And many of our cottages are making sure they get their daily exercise. Fehring Cottage, on our Winston campus, is walking two miles around campus three times a week!
And of course, what better to work on than the important art of hammock relaxation (while modeling the perfect double french braid)?
We hope you’re all hanging in there. Hopefully modeling the perfect braid in the perfect hammock.
