Hey friends!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer so far!

I am having a great summer, but I have to admit that it takes some time getting used to having all four of my boys home all day, every day, during the summer.

I LOVE spending time with my boys!

But like all boys/brothers/siblings…they have their moments, and I start to feel like I am going a little batty.

We are very fortunate to live on 5 1/2 beautiful acres. So during the summer, the boys spend most of their time outside. They like to build forts in the woods, play ninja warriors with sticks as their weapons, catch snakes and scare their mama, and ride their bikes and scooters.

I LOVE that my boys get to spend tons of time outside.

But they usually don’t want to spend 12 hours of the day out in the sun. And they definitely don’t play outside on a day like today when it is rainy.

So for my sanity, and theirs, I came up with a plan to give me a 2 hour break each day.

I call it “Station Rotation.” {It’s the teacher in me!}

I basically created four different “stations” in separate areas of my house.

Station 1: Computer room (my office)

Station 2: Piano room (den)

Station 3: Reading room (Jonathan and Luke’s room)

Station 4: Movie room (Adam and Eli’s room)

Each station lasts 30 minutes.

Here are some pictures of my boys during Station Rotation…

Jonathan on the computer…(I let them play pre-approved games on the computer. My favorites are Jumpstart, Poptropica, Club Penguin, and Webkinz. NO Youtube, facebook, or web surfing allowed!!!)

Adam on the Piano…

(My three oldest boys play piano, so this is a great way to get their practice in. Eli gets to play on the Wii when he is in the “piano room.” You could come up with a different idea for a station if your children do not play an instrument, like maybe a coloring/drawing room or play dough room. Whatever you know your kids would like.)

Eli in the reading station “reading” a book. (He doesn’t know how to actually read, but I tell him to make up a story in his mind as he looks at the pictures. This is also a great way for my older boys to read their bible and devotional.)

Luke getting ready to watch a movie. (The person who starts in the movie room gets to pick the movie for that day.)

I also use this rotation to help me with putting away the laundry. When I fold their clothes, I sit their “piles” in their rooms. When they get to the station that is in their room, they have to put their clothes away before they can begin that station. (That’s the movie and reading rooms.) Woohoo! This helps me out a lot!

I usually set the timer on my phone. When the timer goes off, I yell “switch”, and they go to the next room.

This little schedule gives me free time for 2 hours to do what I want.

Sometimes I do housework, or sometimes I do what I am doing right now…writing a blog post!

The boys actually love Station Rotation and oftentimes ask me if we can do it. We do not do it everyday, and we do it at different times during the day each time we do it. Sometimes we do stations in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.

And sometimes we do stations when the boys are acting up and need a “break” from each other!

I shared this little idea with some blog friends on our facebook page, and they loved the idea. I thought it would sound really “teacher-y” or “regimented”, but they actually all gave me big HUGE thumbs up!!

They told me I should write a post about it, so I did. Smile

I am fortunate that all my boys are old enough to do their stations by themselves. However, if I had a baby still in the house, I would probably try to do stations with my older children while the youngest one took a nap. (Or I took a nap.) Smile

Anyway, just wanted to share this idea with you in case you needed a couple of hours of sanity in your day like me!

If you have any other great ideas of how to keep your children entertained during the summer, share your ideas with me in the comments. I would love to hear them.

And if you think Station Rotation is a great idea, please feel free to share it on Pinterest! You can pin this picture below.