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Buying time.

Posted by sheryl on December 3rd, 2007

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Recently we’ve cut the amount of TV our kids are watching to one show a day. So far this has been a boon to our family, except for one problem.

On Mondays and Fridays Will, my 5 year old is home with me in the mornings, and trying to get work done while helping him entertain himself has been a bit of a challenge. I still haven’t hired a mother’s helper yet (I know!). I have allowed him to watch an extra show in the morning, which buys me an hour, but the rest of the time, I don’t have the TV to babysit him anymore. Here are a few things I’ve found that keep Will occupied.

• Michaels has some kids crafts that are only a dollar, and they can keep him occupied for about 20 minutes.
• The bath tub. Will loves to play in the tub. Of course this suggestion won’t work for younger kids, but if your child is old enough to spend a few minutes alone in the tub, it can be a life saver, especially during a conference call!
• Pouring some flour on a baking sheet, and letting him draw. Yes, it’s messy, but it does keep him occupied for a long time. Especially if I have him practice printing the alphabet.
• Coloring books, the old standby! He can do his work, while I do mine..
• Playdough, another old standby.
• Kids books on tape. He loves listening to the stories, and to save money, I check them out of the library. You can also pick up used ones at garage sales, or on eBay

Do you have to work with little ones around? How do you keep them entertained?

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kirsty

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.

Tags: crafts, entertaining kids, tv, working from home

3 Responses to “Buying time.”

• Jan says:
  December 3rd, 2007 at 8:01 pm

  My kids (3 1/2 and 2) love to play with bubbles in the kitchen sink. I use a little dish soap and fill it about halfway. I give them some tupperware and a scrubber with a handle, take off their shirts, push a chair up and let them ‘wash dishes’.

  If I’m doing something not on the computer, my 3 1/2 year old likes to type letters. I set Word up with a huge font and landscape page orientation. She knows which is the newline key and which is backspace.

  Books on tape are a great idea. I do this in the car for commute time, too. Our library has a system where you can download books and even burn them to CD (some) so I keep up a rotation.

  My older kid responds very well to being given a job, so sometimes I set her up with an empty laundry basket and ask her to empty everyone’s hampers into it, which takes her some time.

  “Your baby looks hungry; would you make her some lunch?” followed by “Your baby looks tired, maybe you should read her a story and put her to bed” gives me about 20 minutes with the older girl.

  “Dude, where is your truck? Do you want to put it down the slide?” [we have a toddler slide in our family room] gets me about 20 minutes with the younger boy.

  “The kitchen is open for riding bikes!!” We have an island and laminate flooring - the kids love making it into a racetrack.

  Also, I let my older one take pictures with the digital camera.

  If I have both, I can usually send them upstairs to play and they’ll keep each other occupied for awhile. My rule (for now) is that I don’t want to hear any screaming or complaining or they can’t play together and it works pretty darn well.

• Ellen says:
  December 4th, 2007 at 8:48 pm

  The books on tape are GREAT. You can also make your own by buying a stack of used kids books for cheap and then taping you reading then to him (remember to say when to turn the page!). Kids love this because they hear your voice and sometimes theirs, when they comment during that first reading. And you get a chance to make something personalized while spending quality time with him. You can do SO MANY MORE books this way than by just buying the individual ones and they don’t need to change tapes as often.

• kristie says:
  December 10th, 2007 at 5:18 pm

  Our dollar store often has fairy tales and other stories on cd. My almost 5 yo loves those. We also get small crafts. One of her favorite things to do is to paint with watercolors. I give her a huge stack of paper and let her go. In the summer, moon sand has been a big hit. I put her out on our covered patio with the moon sand, and I work at the kitchen table so I can see out the french doors.

  She also loves jobs (as long as it doesn’t involve cleaning her own room). She loves to “make beds” and scrub the kitchen counters with soapy water.

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