I particularly would like some ideas for things the kids can do on their own. Eamonn, in particular, is a tv and computer junkie. He alternates between the two all day. I don't mind the computer so much because he generally is playing something brain-building. And even the tv isn't that big of a deal because he only watches DVDs, most of which are also educational in some way. Still, there's a dent in the couch the size of his bottom, and his gut is starting to hang over his jeans
In the summer this won't be an issue - I'll just let them out the back door. But right now it's still chilly here and the ground is bound to be sopping wet for some time, given the pounding we just took. I need some indoor activities that don't require my involvement. I have no problem coming up with things for us to do together - what I really need is something they can do while I'm working on my computer.
Anybody's kids totally mesmerized and engaged by a particular activity that they want to share with me?
keeps Lanie busy, at least. Isabel's figured that one out already. I give Lanie swiffer dusters, baby wipes, the swiffer flicker thingie and let her go at it. She takes the baby wipes and cleans the tracks of the windows and sliding doors, dusts everything over and over, etc. She also loves a bubbly sink to wash her play dishes, toys, etc. in. She'll color, paint and draw for the longest time-especially the crayola mess-less finger paints and the dot paints. She's starting to read too, so having a stack of new early readers will keep her happily occupied for a long time.
Isabel is so much easier though-when we have to be indoors all she needs are books, sudoko and word puzzles and paint-by-number kits to be happy on her own.
He's always been a good self-entertainer. Eamonn also is good at keeping himself busy, but not necessarily in wholesome ways lately. I had forgotten about cleaning - I do put him to work often, actually. He likes to help me unload the dishwasher, switch the laundry, bring the garbage cans to/from the curb, dust, etc. I'll have to remember to hand him the feather duster next time he asks me to turn on the tv
I like the bubbly sink idea. I always think that letting him play with water is a recipe for a mess, but maybe I should do it on a day when I plan to mop the floor anyway - two birds with one stone!
Katie loves to play with Play-Doh.....................m
April 19 2007, 6:41 PM
It keeps her really busy. She also likes to paint with watercolors. And she loves for me to print off Disney Princesses from the computer so she can color them.
Adam is more challenging because he can't paint without spilling the water and he eats the Play-Doh. I can't leave him alone with crayons or pencils because I never know what I'll find that wasn't supposed to be colored on. He does love his Fisher-Price garage though.
I find the kids don't want to play in the playroom because I'm not there. So I bring up maybe 2 things (stamp set and lincoln logs, or racetrack and puzzles, ect) and put in the living room. Just having them there and drawn to their attention seems to make the toys more special. Then after a day or two, I return those toys to the playroom and pull up a couple of others. But when standing in the middle of the playroom surrounded by toys they say "There's nothing to do".
That's something I need to do after I've straightened up some more.
April 26 2007, 11:25 PM
We actually did a lot of cleaning last weekend and neatened up the playroom enough that it was easier for the kids to see what they had. I'm already noticing them occupying themselves more with games and puzzles than with the TV. I hadn't realized how invisible their things were to them when they were all jumbled up. Put things in neat piles, and suddenly they can see them. Makes perfect sense in retrospect.
I would set the kids up with a giant plastic tablecloth, tons and tons of plain white paper, and many tubes of glitter glue or paints. Making Rorshach prints kept them busy for days (glob on the glue, fold the paper in half and look at what you get!) String up a clothesline outside so the pictures can hang up to dry and they can get to work on more.
Shorter term, they liked to play with food coloring. Fill a shallow bowl (the lids from takeout containers work) with whole milk or cream. You don't need a lot. Let them drop a little food coloring into the milk. It'll just sit there because the milk is oil based, and the colors are water based. Then let them put in drops of dish detergent (Dawn works great for this.) It breaks down the oil, and the colors expand all over the dish as if they're alive. They can keep doing this until it's all one disgusting greyish color, and that can take a while.
Goop, which is just cornstarch and water, is fun for them because it squeezes into a dry ball and then "melts" back into a liquid as soon as they release the pressure. Let them add food coloring, and it makes it even more fun. Plus, they get to walk around with colored hands for days, which reminds them to tell everyone about how they got all those stains.
