"You're Bored?
Well, enjoy it while it lasts...'cause as a Mom, you'll never have the luxury!" JB (Moi)
Keeping children active and entertained, without the use of media, can be a challenge. You have to LOOK for positive activities that challenge the mind, keep the fingers moving, develop coordination, encourage role-playing and teach life skills. Here are some of our favorites this month:
Fort Making
This is one activity that I have a love/hate relationship with. Whenever my children want to make a fort, we go through "the questions". How long is the fort going to be up? Are you going to include everyone in building and playing in the fort? What happens when you're finished playing with the fort? Who is going to clean up? Am I going to have any complaining when it's time to bulldoze the fortress? Will I have to nag you to put everything away EXACTLY as it was? I've gone through the scenarios so many times that now, for the most part anyway, the fort does get cleaned up and NOT by me. However, we still have issues with, "He won't let me play in it" or "She won't help clean up" or "He says I have to stay in this part of the fort". If you want to build a fort, you need to work on proper fork etiquette which equates to "The Golden Rules of Fortress Construction".
But even with the difficulties, Fort Making creates hours of entertainment without any cords, plugs, or digitized noise. I love seeing blankets held up by cans of pinto beans or a tub of shortening. I think it's brilliant when they whip out the duck tape to secure blankets and the stick horse to prop up a make-shift tent. As long as they agree to "The Golden Rules of Fortress Construction", I almost always say, "YES!" Break them and the fort-making fun may come to a halt for a very long time.
Some of the Latest Creations... (LOVE the Duck Tape and the signs)
Wrap-it-up
If you don't mind a mess of tape and bits of wrapping paper, then this project will brighten your day! Give your child a roll of cheap wrapping paper, scissors, and a roll of tape, and let his imagination run wild! My little people LOVE to wrap up ANYTHING and then give it to Mom, Dad, or a sibling to unwrap. They find delight in surprising someone with a string cheese, a box of crayons, a bouncy ball, a hand-drawn picture, or some marbles. Cutting, Wrapping, and Taping skills are learned and enhanced while a sense of service is created. This is another long-lasting activity that keeps 'em busy and "wraps" up time. Stock up on some wrapping paper rolls from the dollar store. Trust me, you won't be sorry. If you're worried about the scissors, pre-cut the paper for your child. Yes, you'll have a mess to clean up, but to me it's worth it!
Settlers
For older children, invest in the game, The Settlers of Catan. My boys especially LOVE playing this together; in fact, I've enjoyed a few games myself. It's a game that never gets old and has expansion sets to add more fun and excitement. It's a game of strategy and skill - not just luck. I really enjoy watching my children play games together because it creates memories, and communication, and good old fashioned fun. The Settlers of Catan is competitive yet it doesn't cause heated feelings, anger, or crying children. Best of all...it doesn't take forever to figure out, especially if you play with someone who already knows the rules, AND you can wrap it up in an hour or so. The only drawback is you need to have three to four players.
Office
Save your old keyboards, mice and phones, and provide an interactive office environment for the budding executive. Throw in some paper and pens, calculators, old forms or documents, and other miscellaneous office supplies to create another time-ticker. My children LOVE to play office with all of our old equipment. They also like getting out the cash register to add a level of retail play, AKA Store. My little girl HAS to have a book behind her keyboard which acts as the computer screen. The cool dude like wearing the cub scout uniform, even though he's still two years away. How do I bottle the enthusiasm of little children?
Today's Stick-to-it Tip: In an ever-increasing digital environment, encourage and provide no-media activities that build character, interaction, and creativity.
More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!
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