With Matt working long hours in the summer (still caricatures...don't get your hopes up) the days at home trying to stay out of the heat seem even longer. Especially since this boy
is pretty much done with the whole napping thing. ACK! NOOOO!!! At least if I want him to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I try to come up with endless activities to keep him occupied, yet even they seem to outlast his attention span. Then, I discovered something wonderful. And behold, there was peace in the land.A pudding pop.
Yes, even made from sugar-free pudding so I didn't feel too bad giving it to him as we were nearing bed-time. (Okay, so I added mini marshmallows & peanuts for a Rocky Road effect; so much for feeling sneaky.)
He doesn't realize he can bite them yet, so I had a good 1/2 hour of peace and quiet. Serious. He didn't even hum "Step in Time" while devouring this chocolate goodness. (Yeah, he's still obsessed with Mary Poppins. I know. Odd.) Absolute quiet while he was still awake. He was happy & so was I.
However, seeing as I cannot feed him popsicles all day long, anyone have any favorite ways to entertain a preschooler indoors? (Or outdoors...Ella's gotta sleep sometime.)
On a similar vein, I'm hoping to try this or something similar to this.
6 comments:
Straightjacket and a muzzle? Hey, you asked! ;)
check out the website www.makinglearningfun.com. They have tons of fun ideas. Especially for The VEry Hungry Caterpillar. Yeah I know I am obsessed. They have some fun "magnet" ideas but I use colored m&ms instead and they wwork just as well. I just posted what Jared did with them on our blog. Good Luck!
Have you tried playdough? My son was such a busy boy at this age but he did love playdough. And for outside have you tried sidewalk chalk, a baby pool, the sprinkler, washing the car, and Hmmm, I know there's more! Oh, and my kids have always loved to play in the sand. Also, there's Moon Sand, too. I will warn you that it is messy and if you do it inside most of it will end up on the floor, but it could earn some quiet time.
oh, another thing,....kid scissors plus lots of scrap paper. Some kids will stay busy for hours with that. School supplies are on sale right now! And sometimes cardstock type paper (find it in the junk mail) is easier for little hands to grip
I SO feel your pain here!
a glue stick plus magazines he can rip to shreds and paste on something....now I'm just having fun!
I saw a cute idea to make a sanbox out of one of those large storage bins. Fill up with sand and voila! Add a few cheap sand toys and hopefully at least a half hour of fun! Also, Boedy loves to paint the patio with WATER! Fill up some buckets and give him a paint brush.
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