Kids are busy. There is no doubt about it! I know sometimes when my daughter is tired of her toys, she just seems to wander around the house, waiting for me to give her something to do. She wants to be busy doing something, and I need to be prepared with fresh ideas to engage her in learning and play. With kids three and under, playing is learning! I have to remind myself that my toddler can really have a good time doing very simple tasks. Just pulling your child up to a sink full of cool water and giving her spoons and cups to measure and pour with is learning! Put and apron on her and have a large towel nearby and she’ll have a great time! While I love simple activities like this, I do try to have some “educational” toys in a closet that I can rotate when she tires of the ones she usually has out. I find that puzzles are wonderful for teaching concentration and problem solving, and you can pick up cheap ones anywhere. My daughter and son really like lacing spools and cards too (you can make them yourself!). I also always have art supplies around. Kids love to do art projects and they can learn so much! They can learn about how colors mix by playing with water color paint. 
Don’t throw away scraps of paper or string! I keep them in a small box in my art cupboard and my daughter loves to glue them down to a piece of construction paper (Hollie also had this great idea on her blog for doing glue-less art projects!). Finger paints are also nice. I draw basic shapes on paper and have her try to color in the shapes with her fingers. You can get more specific with your directions as your kids grow. Have them color in all the squares blue, the hearts red, etc. I’m generally not a spontaneously creative person and have to see an idea somewhere before I think of trying it. So, don’t underestimate the importance of checking out books about engaging children in learning and play at your library. This one by Trish Kauffner is one of my favorites. She has TONS of ideas to keep your kids busy and most of them use things you already have around the house. Use other people as resources, even blogs can be valuable sources of information. Kids can be a great source of inspiration too because everything is so new to them! When you find bugs outside, try to engage your kids by having them watch it carefully to learn how it moves. If you see a racoon in your yard, spend some time looking up other pictures of them online and try to make a racoon face out of a paper plate. Your kids will remember many of these things and will learn so much while they are having fun.
Don’t throw away scraps of paper or string! I keep them in a small box in my art cupboard and my daughter loves to glue them down to a piece of construction paper (Hollie also had this great idea on her blog for doing glue-less art projects!). Finger paints are also nice. I draw basic shapes on paper and have her try to color in the shapes with her fingers. You can get more specific with your directions as your kids grow. Have them color in all the squares blue, the hearts red, etc. I’m generally not a spontaneously creative person and have to see an idea somewhere before I think of trying it. So, don’t underestimate the importance of checking out books about engaging children in learning and play at your library. This one by Trish Kauffner is one of my favorites. She has TONS of ideas to keep your kids busy and most of them use things you already have around the house. Use other people as resources, even blogs can be valuable sources of information. Kids can be a great source of inspiration too because everything is so new to them! When you find bugs outside, try to engage your kids by having them watch it carefully to learn how it moves. If you see a racoon in your yard, spend some time looking up other pictures of them online and try to make a racoon face out of a paper plate. Your kids will remember many of these things and will learn so much while they are having fun.
1 comment:
Wonderful post. Just started reading today and looking forward to more.. :)
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