My daughter is getting bored out of her mind sitting at home with me. I stay home with my 2 year old daughter and I need ideas of things to do with her to keep her from getting bored during the day. As it is right now we have the TV on all day, on the Noggin preschool channel. She has learned a tremendous amount of stuff from TV but lately she has been bored with it. We only have one car between my husband and myself so I can't take her anywhere during the day. We do try and get to the playground a few times a week so she can get use up the energy she has built up from sitting in the house during the day but from the time she wakes up till 4PM I just am at a loss of what to do. What do you other stay home Moms do with your children during the day? Any advice/help is much appreciated! Also we live in a pretty small 2 bedroom apartment so we don't have much room to work with when it comes to activities. We also don't have a dining room table for activities...my husband decided he wanted a huge computer table and that takes up our whole little dining room.
S.
What about taking her to either Gymboree or My Gym in Plano? I've heard they are really fun--especially My Gym. I've heard gread things about it, and have signed my son up for some of their summer classes.
I let my 3 year old help me clean I give her a squirt bottle full of water and a towel and off she goes.... I also color with her that is a lot of fun. I have an infant son and she helps bathe him and she helps diaper him she hands me the rash cream and etc.
we also play beauty salon and roll our hair, paint finger nails and got to the park. We also cook together too like pp said ...
Thats about it...
A.
A few things my kids love are play doh, watercolors, and lacing beads. Also they havae always loved getting the scissors out and cutting paper. It makes a mess, but the 30 minutes to an hour of free time makes the mess seem bearable. Do you know anyone in the area you could invite over for play dates?? My kids always play with their toys more if someone else is there to play with them! Also, maybe sometime when hubby is around, you could head to the library to get books for the week. She might be able to do some computer games, or even a v-smile or something like that. When I clean, the kids get Clorox wipes, or even a water bottle and paper towels and clean the tables or their toys. A huge favorite is when they get to wash all of their plastic toys in a tub of soapy water, again messy, but so cute! If you could do it, a sand box is loads of fun too! Have some fun, and good luck making it work. ~A.~
We do art projects. My daughter loves to paint, color and stamp. And I'm sure if I let her loose with glue, she'd love that, too! I also enlist her help cooking. Last night, I made a sauce for dinner, and I measured it all out, talked her through what I was doing ("This is a 1/2 cup, but we need 1 cup, so we need two of these.") and had her help me pour everything in together and stir. She loves helping with that, and it makes it easier for me to cook because she's not whining and annoyed - she's part of it!
I try to leave the house every day I'm at home with my daughter, whether it's to the library for story time, the grocery store or the park.
Hi S.,
We take walks and look for colors or things- like mailboxes, who has a red one? What is that on top? We talk about the trees (big, little, smooth bark?
When I go to the store I get paper bags- I cut them open and they are great for coloring on, painting on, gluing things on.... My kids have always loved to cut things out of old magazines.
Anything pretend is fabulous. Pretend to cook, use allo of the stuffed animals and pretend to have a zoo. Let her take the lead in play (yes, it can be a bit crazy making when you are drinking your 4th cup of "tea"...)
Do you have a yard? Just kicking a ball or tossing a ball or blowing bubbles, or having "races".... I even took a flower bed I was digging up and turned it into a mud hole- the kids had a BLAST.
A friend introduced her kids to classical music by playing them things and then asking them to act out how the music made them feel. She just got CD's at the dollar store or big lots.
Plastic containers from yogurt, butter, cool whip etc.. can provide hours of fun- putting things in and out, water play in the tub...
My youngest "helps" fold laundry- she doesn't do too bad on folding washcloths. Matching sox has become quite the game!
This is just a bunch of random thoughts- hope they help!
D.
Since I knew I'd be quitting my job to stay at home, I took note of my daughter's daycare routine before I took her out. Here are some of the things they did with 2 yr olds, which we do now at home: Story time, music/singing/dancing, games (hide and seek, I spy, etc.), play outside, art, science/nature activity, independent play (or quiet time).
I would try to limit TV time to 2 hours or less. For my kids, if they get much more than an hour I notice changes in their behavior. It's very overstimulating for kids. They may look like zombies in front of the tube, but their little brains are on hyperspeed trying to take in what they see.
Your best bet will be to come up with a rough schedule or a list of 4 or 5 activities for the day and post it on the wall or refrigerator. If you're making a schedule, be sure to include snack time (morning and afternoon) and nap time. Also know that any one activity is 10 to 15 minutes tops. For our "schedule" (if you could call it that) I just put the hours od the day and a couple of things to do during that hour (for example, in the 9am hour, we'll do an art project and have a snack).
Art projects can be soooo simple -- 2 to 3 steps max. Just a couple weeks ago we traced hands on construction paper, let the kids put glue on the traced hand, then they got to sprinkle (or dump!) confetti on the glue.
For story time we sit on a special blanket or in a certain chair to read 2 or 3 short books, often acting them out as we read along.
A science or nature activity can be as simple as hunting down flowers or fallen leaves in the yard and talking about them.
I typically use TV/DVD time when I need to prepare a meal. So, they watch just before lunch and just before dinner.
Hope this gives you some ideas!
I have a small apartment like you. Since you don't have a table, you can get a little fold away tv dinner tray and that can be her little personal table.
Having a routine will help. It really is not reccomended to have the tv on that long (2 hours max for her age a day). Perhaps you can try something like this (snacks/food is recommended every 2 hours):
-breakfast
-bath
-2 morning cartoons (her favorite, then turn off the tv)
-dress up time
-play with puppets (or just plain socks for sock puppets)
-reading time
-morning snack
-visit the library or park(some have special events and kid sections like reading times)
-lunch
-nap
-color/finger paint time
-snack
-playdough
-watch one favorite tv show or movie
-singing time
-snack
-education hour
Anyways, just make simple routines that can be adjusted according to the day. Take her out to play at a park every other day or so before lunch. It would probably be good for you to.
Here is a great resource, if you scroll down the page, you will see ideas on routines and how to encourage productive play throughout the day.
http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/Toddler/T...
The other ladies had good ideas painting, play doh, etc. Also, my kids LOVE to make a fort out of blankets and the chairs from the dining room. Just arrange the chairs in a circle or square and hang blankets over the back of them. We try to take a walk whenever the weather allows. My kids also like to "help" in the flowerbed. They like digging with me or "pulling weeds" (just watch what they pull). A game that my 2 1/2 year old can't get enough of right now is Hungry Hippos. As long as she doesn't put things in her mouth, it's a great game. Oh yeah, Elefun with the butterflies is also fun!!
I'm sure it's hard to be home without a car. We sometimes go to Walmart just to get out of the house!! I can't imagine not having one!! Good luck to you!!
