Hi ladies. I have an infant girl, and two boys, aged 2 and almost 4. My mom babysits while I work during the day, and she is really struggling with ways to keep them both entertained. My oldest is into puzzles and games and art, while my younger one is not mature enough for those activities, and kinds of messes everything up, which causes fighting and just a lot of drama. They aren't good at sharing. They'll often get too wild with each. I can tell it's taking a toll on my mother. She also isn't great at discipline, but that's a whole different post lol.
Could anyone give suggestions for good activities for the boys to do together that might keep them entertained? It's blazing hot here in the summer, so we are sort of confined to the house unless there is water involved. And obviously my mom can't take 3 kids to the pool alone.
Thanks!
Kimberly
Thanks everyone! These are great answers :) She is a weenie about it being hot and she hates being in my backyard since there is no shade. I might invest in a nice big shady tent or umbrella that we can put up and she can sit under with the sprinklers on and a baby pool. We have a water table and sand box but she just doesn't like to be out there....
I do have a teenager coming over one full day a week, so that helps, and my older son is going to a gymnastics camp one morning a week.
The problem with anything outside of the house is that my mom also has my 4 month old little girl in tow. She is not comfortable going places with all three. So that really limits her. I'm hoping I can get my daughter on a better schedule and perhaps my mom can take the boys to the pool for a few hours while she sleeps (I work from home).
I LOVE LOVE LOVE some of the at home ideas and I'm going to get some supplies to put them to use. Thanks so much.
K
My 3 and 5 year old LOVE the trio blocks. I got them at Target. They are a lot more fun than legos (IMO). The older one can follow directions to make planes, cars, etc., then the little one can play with what was made. We have bought several sets because my kiddos keep picking them to give at b-day parties.
my 5 and 4 yr old are home with dad. They like to play with cars, trucks, trains, ambulances, fire trucks, anything on wheels. So, they have tons of them. After breakfast they go out back. They have a sandbox that they call the construction zone. They have all thier tonka bulldozers and dump trucks out there. A kiddie pool with a little slide, and a water sprinkler they like to run through. They come in for lunch and a nap and then watch a dvd. They like scooby doo and are into leapfrog phonics right now. That fills the hottest part of the day. Then when theystart getting antsy again they go back out side or sometimes dad splits them up into seperate rooms because they're usually on each others nerves by this point! Sometimes he puts them in for a really long bath so they can play contained while he picks up the house before I get home.
- sprinkler on the hose
- water guns filled with diluted water colors and let them "paint" pillowcases or t-shirts
- play dates (seriously... see if you can get one of them out of the house for a few hours)
- build a house or fort out of old boxes and let them decorate them
- design your own popsicles (activity & snack in one)
- QUIET TIME for everyone for an hour in the afternoon so grandma can regroup
**Hire a teenager to come over and play/help for a few hours each week!** This won't cost you much, but will be well worth the money spent.
Can your mom take them to a sprinkler park. The ones that don't have a pool, but just water squirting up? Not sure if there are any in Denton. I would take my kids to the mall in the summer and we would "walk" and play at the indoor playground.
Forts with blankets, sheets, pillows, card tables, chairs
"Hotlava" kids move around the house without stepping in the hot lava (the floor) - use couch cushions, mats, etc to step on to avoid the floor,
Nerf basketball, nerf "dart"board,
Double sided easel with large paper and giant crayons & markers (I'd avoid paint personally) - if the easel is too expensive buy rolls of butcher paper and roll out on the floor.
blocks - either duplos, wood, plastic. With 2 boys you'll need alot of blocks but it's great for fine motor and spacial skills. Encourage older brother with a timer to see how much time he can devote to younger brother by allowing him to build onto big-brothers blocks creations (since younger brother will want to and big brother won't want him to the timer will give older brother a goal -"yesterday you were so grown up you let Sam build with you for 10 minutes - do you think we can get to 15 today?" TEach him how to use the timer).
(Timers are great to get them to beat their own time at clean-up too)
sock puppets
safety scizzors, glue sticks, construction paper and whatever else is in the discount bin at the craft store (pompoms, yarn, google eyes, pipe cleaners) and sit them at the table (we always had a kid size table with kid size chairs under the dining room window) let them create then write a short description at the bottom of each page.
kiddy pool, sprinkler & water guns with a beach umbrella in the back yard. Grandma can put her feet in the pool & sit under the umbrella while the kids go back & forth between kiddy pool and spinkler (sprinkler will fill the pool gradually)
good luck to you and your mom! Teenager to come over for a few hours is a good idea too! Even a pre-teen who will be cheaper and more willing to play wth the kids.
My boys 16 m. and almost 4 love playing with their water table, tea party with water outside, playing with their play kitchen pots and pans with water outside, pull back car races in the kitchen, playing in the bathtub, homemade playdough (edible), bubbles, dancing to kid music, and playing in their sandbox.
Garden hose:) Jump house pop-in play days. a wading pool in the back. Swing sets are great because they create their own breeze.
this is what I did with my boys. They really need a good hour to 45 minutes to just "run wild" and get their energy out daily.
Even if it is hot and haddes - get em out for a while.
Sorry I didn't have more to offer, just my own strategies for keeping my boys tame - LOL!
Best of luck!
A water table (We have a sand and water table we fill only with water and have lots of toys) is fun! Put out a couple kiddie pools too and it's a whole afternoon of fun water play. You can turn on the sprinkler for them to run in or put up a slip and slide.
She should take them out of the house each day. Library tot music time, library story time and pick out books. We have a local environmental center with a free toddler/preschooler program one morning a week. We have a local family center (The Family Strengths Network) which is free and has free kid craft morning. Free play time with an indoor play structure and toy library. I like taking my kids to the local farmers market and then to the park right next to it. I bring a stroller for that! We go to the pool every Friday. I have lots of friends who bring 2 kids to the pool about that same age. There is a smaller warm pool with a bench for little ones to stand on. You can buy a floaty vests for both of them to wear or those arm floaties. It seems to work out great for the people I know. I don't know what is in your area but a local Children's Museum is fun to get out to. If she can get them out to new and exciting child friendly places they will not be fighting with each other so much! Then after lunch maybe they'll both be so tired they'll take great naps!
