A farm and a bucket

The kids have had a box of rocks that they've been playing with for a few months (it was a desperate, end of winter attempt to entertain them). Like any thing else, they've become bored with it, so I thought I'd change it up a bit. And like anything else I seem to do, I thought it would take a few minutes but it took all morning.

I don't think I need to warn anyone of this anymore, but just in case, there's a fair amount of dorkiness coming up...

They played with shovels and trucks with the rocks at first, but now it's a farm! We used popsicle sticks for a barn and fences and burlap for little bales of hay. The farm animals were part of the Advent Calendar.

We have a garden on the other side with corn, carrots, and a nod to Papa :)

Reece went crazy over this.

He came up with the idea of the garden and a patch of grass for the cows. This is why I love doing stuff like this- gets his creative juices flowing.

Caroline likes it, too...

...even though she doesn't quite get it and just mixes everything up...

And it turns out, they're just as (if not more) excited about a bucket of water.