So, the weather has been really nice lately, at least in Media, PA.  The other day, I wanted to go out somewhere with the kids, but really didn't want to go to the playground (with a small "p").  Call me selfish, but I just didn't want to lift the kids up to the monkey bars and hold them while they tried to get across.  What I actually wanted was a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I couldn't figure out a way to combine my pumpkin spice fix with any kid-centered destination.  So here's what I came up with... 

I told the kids we were going on a field trip, we picked some unwrapped crayons from the crayon bin, put some plain paper in my bag, and we were off.  I parked about three blocks from the coffee place, and I told them that we were going to walk through town looking for things that were interesting or exciting.  We could draw them or do crayon rubbings (like the leaf rubbings you probably did when you were young--put the paper over a textured surface and rub the long side of a crayon over it to transfer the texture.)

The kids liked the activity.  My daughter was immediately into it.  She saw some flags and drew them on her paper. "I'm excited about those flags," she said.  My son started looking for bricks and other patterns on the ground that he could rub his crayon over.  I suggested ideas like adding a second color rubbing on top, or looking for another surface that might look good on the same page.

Soon we arrived at the coffee shop, I got my Pumpkin Spice, and the kids felt like they had done "something" that afternoon.

Just an idea for injecting art into your day...