Your Daily Routine??

I have a huge tablet (like you used to see for presentations) that I put on the floor and the kids color or draw and as they got older would write their name so they could recognize it and try to write it.

Playdoh is always fun...we play on the kitchen floor (then just have to sweep it up and it isn't ground into the carpet.

You can get a small storage tub, fill it with rice and hide little treasures in it (large buttons, play animals) and have her find them.

I put on music and have the kids dance and then freeze (the kids love that since they freeze in different poses).

For "art" projects, I have gone to the dollar store, got tissue paper and had them tear it into pieces. It is good for motor skills to learn how to tear correctly. You can put it on contact paper and have a stained glass artwork (I put one in the window of my front door so people can't just see in and its pretty).

We play a lot with little people (build imagination skills).

We read books and even though they are the same old books, I will change them somehow and see if the kids catch it.

I have my kids strip down to their diaper, spread shaving cream on the kitchen floor and let them finger paint. That one is messy but FUN!

I have a hallway as we come in the front door. We use it as a bowling alley and set up the pins and throw the ball down. Nothing there is breakable, and it helps with hand/eye coordination.

When my oldest was that age, I cut up colored paper, and we made one of those chains the kids made in grade school. Its fun when she picks out the colors, and she can help with the glue stick.

We string beads. In the craft section at Walmart there are large beads and you can get a shoestring and practice. That took awhile to master. You can use Fruit Loops too so she can snack while she does it.

We don't really have a "set" routine. Our mornings are pretty much open, just pick something and do it. I try to look online for activities (it has to be cheap since I am taking 5 kids to it) to just get out of the house some mornings. We have lunch at 12, then nap right afterward. Then about 3 they are all up and we do something else, then have snack about 4. I pretty much let them run the day and do whatever they want.

It's great that you don't want a lot of TV. It does slow them down and they find that even though they sit through the show, afterward they can be more agressive. Among many other things.

She is getting into the fun stage where you can do more with her. Try Playdough time, at the table and teach her how to use the playdough and make things with her. Then there could be color time at the table with mom guiding her. Another fun thing is painting, there are neat little preloaded paint brushes, & there is glitter glue pens, again at the table with mom guiding. Books, games, the list can go on and on!

So have fun and display some of her art work on the fridge. Hope you enjoy her on your days with her. You already know how fast 4 yrs. went!!

Personally, I don't have anything against tv if it's Sesame Street or a learning video and occasionally a disney. BUT.. none of my kids can sit for very long, maybe 15-20 minutes before they are bouncing off the walls. So what I do is pull the furniture back to make as much room as possible and turn on the music and dance with the kids. There are also some Sesame Street Elmo dance/exercise videos for kids and I'm sure many more that could be found. My 7 year old loves to do the Billy Banks Taebo beginning video. The kids all look funny even trying. But it replaces some of the extra run time we had when we were at the park so much this summer.

In the mornings we get breakfast, free play for a bit, do Sesame Street, dance, do some computer time/reading/coloring, and then that usually takes us to lunch. After lunch we do naps and then in my home kids start to go home so we just free play. I never have to worry about my 7 year old. We have taught her to stay constructively busy and we have 3 computers in the house as well as Leapsters, Leappads, and tons of art supplies for her to get on her own.

I clean house during their free play times, partly while they watch Sesame Street and during nap times.

Suzi

Well, I don't have a daily routine yet since I'm only 4 months pregnant. But when I was little on rainy or cold days my mom used to play a game with us called "Button, button, who's got the button?" She would take a large wooden and hide it somewhere in a room and we would look for it. I remember doing this when I was about 5, but since you're daughter's almost 2 she should be able to do the game as well. I think my sister was playing with us when she was 2. That's just an idea for a fun game though, sorry I can't be more help with the rest of the day.

7:15- I get up, showered and dressed.

7:40- I get Josh and Emme up.

7:40-8:20- Make breakfast, pack Josh's lunch, clean up my mess.

8:20- Finish getting ready. (Dry my hair and do make-up)

8:30-9:00- Get laundry going, clean the bathrooms, etc. (I usually do one big thing a day- dust, bathrooms, floors.)

9:00-10:00- Emme watches Sesame Street. I usually balance the checkbook, make a grocery list, or something of that nature.

10:00-12:00- Free play. Color, blow bubbles, read, get dressed, run errands, etc.

12:00-12:30- Make lunch, eat, clean up.

12:30-12:45- Snuggle with Emme and have her drink her cup of milk.

1:00-3:00- Nap time.

3:00-3:30- Snack/wake up time.

3:30-4:00- Dora.

4:00-5:00- Play and wait to Daddy to get home.

Once Josh is home we talk for a few minutes then I get dinner started. We eat, clean up, do bath, etc.

This is usually our day. May seem a little repetitive but Emme does great with 'knowing' what comes next!

The first step is just turn off the TV but I know you already know that then turn on the radio or put in a CD. Or if you have a computer any of the radio stations or there are tons of sites that have stories or sermons or whatever you like to listen to you can listen right through your computer you don't have to sit there and listen but at least you will have some back ground noise. My kids have always enjoyed a good story on tape/CD I used these things when I started turning off the TV because it can be pretty quiet in the house and then slowly I started turning those off also I then set a schedule when the TV could be on. Ours never went on till 3pm for the kids and then off at dinner. Now on to schedule I get up and always shower and get dressed like I am going somewhere, I say this because I have in-laws that figure since they are home they don't have to do this and may not for several days (bad idea). Then breakfast,clean up the kitchen, then a craft or playtime you and your child together,then I have a schedule for everything one day laundry, one day shopping, I have to start our dinner by 2/3 because of my husbands hours we eat by 4. We always had a set story time usually before nap. I made a calendar and wrote in what was happening when. Even free play time the kids learned really fast to go look at the calendar to see what was next to do including small chores like clean up toys, Make sure your child sees you doing things that you like to do like reading or sewing or whatever that will encourage her to do things on her own. start up a cool craft to keep your mind busy and schedule it in that will give you something to look forward too each day or each week.

We make trips to the hobby stores and get different things for projects that can keep them busy. Lunch at Chuck E. Cheese, a morning at the book store, Exploration Place all great options. I've found that if I take my kids to do activities outside of the house in the mornings they are more likely to be O.K. with staying in in the afternoon.

Winter is a great time for coloring, practicing drawing, reading more books, dancing (don't be shy it's all for fun), practicing writing. She can help you bake cookies or a few things to prepare dinner. Winter is a season related to introspection and personal development (as opposed to all of the outdoor and extroverted activity we can engage in during spring and summer months). So fucusing on those kinds of things will be fun and help to foster a feeling of communication, family bonding and skill enrichment.

Hi J.,
Here is our daily routine

7:30am - 8:00am breakfast

8:00am - 9:00am watching dora, diego

9:00am -10:30am nap time for kids still needing a nap under 2, learning time for kids over 2. We either play a computer game, make a craft, do activity sheets, paint, go over alphabet, numbers and colors. We do 1 or more of these everyday of the week.

10:30am - 11:30am free play,I start lunch.

11:30am - 12:00 (noon) lunch time

12:30pm - 2:30 or 3:00pm naptime for all

3:30pm - 4:00pm snack time

4:00pm - 6:00 pm kids are leaving, here we have enough time to finish projects from earlier in the day we did.

Get showered & dressed w/shoes before she wakes. For me: It helps if i am dressed - if i am in my pj's then i never get anything done. I lay around. I HAVE to get up & ready like i am going to be leaving the house - i make all the beds.., get them dressed, eat breakfast, pick up the house & then it's playtime.
I have been staying at home for 6 1/2 yrs & I rarely ever watch TV during the day. It is my reward if i do ever turn it on. I don't let the kids watch much either. We turn it OFF. We listen & dance to music a lot. When they nap i usually do stuff i can't do when they are awake- check my email, empty dishwasher, read, write friends. When they wake- we go to the library (they offer free story times almost weekly!) - come home & read, do some crafts, play dough, i take them to the mall playground & let them play for an hour & then we get a cookie before we leave (only if they leave the playground nicely! :-)) Good luck.