Having children can be the most joyful experience. But there can also be poignant moments that test all your patience. Perhaps one of the hardest-fought battles is keeping your kids happy when you have to stay inside. The good news is that there are ways for kids of all ages to get their creative juices flowing And your sanity intact without just resorting to screen time (although if you use the right screens, there are benefits here for a limited time).
As a mother of three children, ages four and a half to five months, I’ve had to get creative to keep the older kids happy at home while meeting the baby’s needs by getting my own work done. , or otherwise save the house from the constant flurry of clutter and chaos. These are the best ways I’ve found to keep kids busy while also secretly teaching them or enriching their imaginations and pushing them to continue their creative development.
Books and reading
Before you skip this category because your child isn’t a reader, don’t give up so quickly. There are so many ways to incorporate reading and books into your child’s free time or school time that can appeal to even the most book-hating child or those who struggle to simply sit still long enough to turn the pages. Audiobooks count as reading, just like the read-along apps that read books to your children. If you need to get work done, there’s nothing wrong with giving your child some alternative book time. You can get children’s books at Audible, Apple booksand any other subscription-based audiobook site. If your child is at the age where they can’t read yet, there are apps (such as MeeGenius or Farfaria) that allows you to read books to your children in an interactive way. Not only will they hear a story, but these apps will also help your kids recognize sight words and learn to incorporate long-term storytelling patience into their routine. It’s like going to a story time in your library, but from the couch. While in-person story time may be ideal, this will work in a pinch. If your child enjoys reading old-fashioned paper books, add some excitement to your home library by subscribing Literaturea children’s book club divided into age-specific categories. I’ve had a subscription to this for my two older children for a few years now, and the books we’ve received from Literati are some of our all-time favorites.
Household treasure hunt
When it’s raining outside or you don’t have a backyard, you can repurpose any space in your home for a treasure hunt. This works well for children aged four and up, and you can even integrate house cleaning into the search. Let’s say your four-year-old wants to go hunting for buried treasure. Your map guides him or her through different rooms of the house, looking for clues that will ultimately lead to finding the treasure. Your clues can include things like going to the unmatched sock bin and matching them until you come across the next clue. They are then directed to the playroom where all the books must be put on the shelf to reveal the next clue and so on. While kids who aren’t particularly bored might see through the scavenger hunt program of cleaning your house, others might really enjoy it, like my four-year-old who thinks matching socks and dusting are fun rainy day activities.
Colors and art
Coloring books are getting a makeover in the form of apps, downloadable pages from numerous educational sites and more. If you can’t get to Target to get new coloring books, fear not: these resources will give your kids endless items to color:
- Free coloring pages from Crayola
- Free coloring book from Lessonly
You can also reuse any number of home items for craft projects. Think about how desperate you are – and how much your children need new activities:
- Making hats from foil
- Make hard-boiled eggs and dye them with homemade ingredients, even if it’s not Easter!
- Dry erase marks on large windows or glass doors (erasable with a clean cotton cloth)
- Chalkboard paint on a shelf or wall to make sidewalk chalk indoor-friendly
Times of limitation and being “stuck” inside can become your child’s greatest creative time if he/she is given the tools – and the push – to create something new.
Education
School is not just for weekdays or office hours. If you’re new to homeschooling or want to keep a child’s brain busy, there are many ways to incorporate education that don’t require you to stand over them 24/7 or do boring exercises. lesson plans should be read aloud. can be done at any time of the day. Children are primed to constantly learn new things in their brains and the great thing is that this can be done in creative ways so that they don’t even feel like they are being sent to school. Get a free trial of Other Goose activities, offering non-traditional homeschool ideas for even the busiest parents. Use educational apps like Endless reader, Endless alphabetAnd Endless numbers for children aged two years and older. They learn the alphabet, see words, and count in fun ways that don’t seem educational at all. And of course, there’s nothing wrong with some TV time when you need it, and it’s even better when you can choose shows that will help your child learn something new while also being entertained. Shows as Sesame Street And Daniel Tiger are of course educational, but they can also learn from lesser-known shows such as Little baby bomb, Word festivalAnd CocoMelonall available on Netflix (which now has more robust parental controls).
Play pretend
Perhaps best of all, children can pretend and pretend with very little – and often need little or no prompting from us. In some cases, all they need to hear is that screen time is over for now and it’s time to change activities. This usually happens when they start fighting over the same toys or when they are generally restless and demand that I entertain them. They made dinner out of some cardboard boxes and some spatulas I gave them from the kitchen. They have driven cars by using round paper plates and sitting on the bench. They went into space by climbing into laundry baskets. Most of these pretend play moments took place while they were putting away the stuff themselves, and all I had to do was say, “Sure, you can have the empty laundry basket, or yes, I’ll give you some plates.” During times of stress or disruption to routine, children may have more difficulty with creativity because they lack a sense of control that makes them feel safe. Having a routine at home – including one where they’re allowed to be bored for a while – gets their creative juices flowing and inspires them to make the best of the situation. After all, children’s brains are programmed to do this better than adults – we just have to let them.
Writer Aimee McNew has a master’s degree in Holistic Nutrition Therapy (MNT) and is also a Certified Practitioner of Nutrition Therapy (CNTP).
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, or to sell any product.
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