what do your kids do all day?

[Ericsmomma]

Morning everyone,
I'm just curious...what do your kids do all day when they are not in school? Eric is a TV junkie...PBS, Noggin, etc.
Everything I've read tells me this isn't good...no communication skills necessary. I do interact with him while the shows are on,
like singing and dancing, but I feel guilty if I'm not playing with him 24-7. I know this is unrealistic...I have a household to run, and I babysit my grandaughters, but it still concerns me.
My grandaughters will play together, and sometimes Eric will join in, but not too often. We have a playroom in the basement and the kids will go down to play. Eric does love his playhouse, but he usually ends up sitting quietly by himself, reading books.
He's not into coloring, drawing, writing, trucks or cars, etc. He does love laptop computers (like spiderman), books, and stuffed animals. Do you guys have any suggestions?

[damarasmom]

Hi there! Damara is just starting to play by herself...She does not have another child in the home, so it's us or by herself. I find that alot of time is spent simply taking all her books off the shelves, empty all the bins of tea sets and fake food. By the end of the day, her play room looks like 20 children have played there!
I do spend time reading and working on things from school...colors, cutting, jumping, then we have fun time...we go outside for a walk or run in the side yard...mostly she runs. But...don't forget, I don't have other children here so it's easier...
She does get her 2 ELMO shows that she can watch. Once we hit 2...it's off and no more. She's pretty good about that...
And SNACKS! I feel like I spend the day either making a meal or preparing snacks/drinks!
You can not tell by looking at my house that I stay home! It seems to always need to be cleaned, but I guess that's what full time school is for???

[meghans_mom]

we have days where the tv is on ALOT...but its not every day. Its not easy to keep them busy...especially when you're trying to get things done.

Meghan loves to draw and has ready access to paper and washable markers and her books. She also LOVES music
so she has a tape player she can work & listen to by herself, but if she wants a CD she comes and asks me.

I try and make or buy tapes/CDs of shows she likes to watch -- say Backyardigans...and she'll stay and dance for the hour while its on. Atleast she's getting activity, and not glued to the TV set.

when I'm in the kitchen cooking, either Meghan helps me (she can shred cheese in the grater, set the table, empty the dishwasher, help me measure ingredients, mix things) or draws or I'll pull out things that I need to be near by (but not involved in) like Play-Do, stampers & stickers so I can over see...but get the dishes done, or cooking, whatever.

or she'll work on workbooks that reinforce her math, spelling, etc skills - i've bought several books and different math kits, etc that need minimal involvement from me.

Both kids get their time on the computer...matthew is at the point where he prefers to actually play on NICKjr.com than watch it!

hopefully someone will have better ideas than me....

good luck!

[Kristin]

We try to limit the television and it's not easy. There are days it's on a lot (mainly weekend mornings). Clarice does have a sister to play with, which helps, but she likes to sit and look at books, pretend to read, play dress-up, pretend to cook, play with dolls, color, play outside, shoot hoops, ride her scooter, work on homework that I sometimes have to create, work on puzzles, etc. We've also had her in some type of program at least 2 nights a week. She has horseback riding therapy, and swims with special olympics. Prior to this we did aquatic therapy, & My gym/gymboree. She is actually more of a behavior problem on the days she gets too much TV. She will imitate the behaviors she sees, so I have to be careful what she's watching. Clarice for awhile didn't understand that cartoons were not real. She will still imitate characters on television, which is why I don't let her watch Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh because of the mean spirited things and attitudes the sister does in the show.

[meghans_mom]

also...we have an indoor trampoline (a small one) which I drag out once a week or so (so they don't get bored of it) and the small FP basketball hoop. those are always good for a few hours fun!!
when we lived in the ranch, the kids got to ride their tricycles up & down the hallway - doesn't work in this house, as we have step-downs every where, but they do have a small bowling set and they bowl in the one hallway.

[steffaroni]

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
HI Dolly... ahhh the tv stage I wonder if it will ever end? Olivia could sit on her you know what all day watching tv if I let her. Her favorite shows are I Carly Zoey 101 Suite Life of Zach n Cody, n Drake n Josh BTW Olivia thinx Meghan is very very MEAN so the only time she has ever even remotely said anything like Meghan was when she said It's times for Messin with Mom N Dad while their sleeping. LOL She never did Actually mess with us just was trying to scare us out of going to bed early cause she didn't wanna.

Here's what I have for Liv to do when I need a break and TV isn't an option.

81.) an arts n crafts box filled with multi colored papers, markers, glitter glue, pic I cut out of her old baby books, scissors, glue dots( I love these for her as she can get enm off the paper yet it doesn't create a mess, velcro dots, stamp pad and various stamps I get at the salvation army,, stickers , crayons pencils, stencils rub on kind etc.Also velcro dots to make stuff with.Most things I have gotten at the sal val as sometimes they will have a big bag full of stuff like that for a couple bucks...
2.) Her microphone and boom box always in front of a mirror. All she has to do is power it on and she is a sensation in her own eyes. lol
3.)A box with about 15 different colors of playdough, cookie cutters, rollers and anything that could be used to make stuff with playdoh.
4.) I also have a bag of socks googly eyes, cut strings all sorts of felt stuff to make her own sock puppets.
5.)I have the computer on and she knows how to get to her favorites which I have games she likes, and also disney.com and nick.com etc.
6.) We also have a weight set for her n her bro with ankle weights small barbells jumpropes etc and she likes to play p.e. teacher with me n her bro. Although we r trying to get her to actualyy perfrom the tasks then delegate em to us. lol
7.)I also have set up in her room a pretty big chalkboard with the works a flag and she sets up her bears(yes still loves the bears) n dollies and she has stickers and paper and books but her favorite thing is so funny her favorite piece of the schoolroom we set up is the dang LOL POINTING STICK. Shes on a power trip I tell ya.

Also she loves to make musical instruments with coffee cans like putting rice or beans in em decorate the can then mom can help seal it. Liv loves her s. hers has hideous feathers, glittery things and she loves to shake it and sing in her mic...

Also tech deck skateboards she loves to play with em and make a course for herself.

Can't remember everything but these are a few of the things she can ask for and I have em organized so she can get the box and set up and do it herself. (((HUGS))) Steff

[steffaroni]

One of the best pieces of advice I got regarding Olivias room being a disaster is this. I put up boxes higher (actually she can have access to all of them now but when she was younger she'd have to ask for lets say the arts n crafts box) Well when everything is boxed up in see thru boxes and labeled for somereason Olivia learned to stay on task and start doing one thing at a time. When I had everyuthing in her toybox and toys in all different spots I feel like it also made her feel disorganized and confused and her room was always a didaster . after a few months of me organizing and practicing with her putting one thing away then move on to the next she got real good at it and it has just become a routing. This way it also seems she works on one thing for mUUUUCH longer without all the chaos and distractions in her room.Hope that helped steff

[steffaroni]

i need to go back to elementary school and learn how to spell again.. lol. I never seem to edit my posts so disregard all the sp errors.

[liasmom]

Lia likes to watch TV- Zach and Cody, Hannah or Raven preferably. Also likes DVD's- Hairspray, Muppets Wizard of Oz and Wild Hogs. Yeah, I know, not appropriate. But she does not just watch- she performs. And she does not sit very long. Also finds bags and backpacks and stuffs them with "things" she finds around the house. Usually old toys but if the cell phone is missing- I know where to look. She likes to read books and color. She likes to "play pool" with her hands. She loves going outside and pushing her stroller around with a doll or whatever in the seat. She plays with the dogs in the house a lot, too. Drags her old dollies around the house and outside and climbs a lot. SHE LOVES TO go outside and shoot baskets, also changes clothes and puts on other peoples stuff.
(Dressing up?)

I can say she stays busy and plays by herself most of the time. Really uses her imagination, compared to her non- ds brother. ("Mom, I'm bored") She loves to vacuum, or help with any housework. Must be supervised with spray bottles though.
Nancy

[Chris]

Dolly,

We are guilty about letting Sarah watch way too much tv but In our defense, she has learned so much! She watches noggin, disney and PBS but mainly watches DVDs. She loves Sesame Street, the Wiggles, Signing Time, Kidsongs and Wee Sing. She has almost every DVD from her extensive collection memorized. She learned her alphabet (upper and lower case), shapes, colors, many sight words, ASL and tons of different concepts from her DVDs.

She usually is busy doing other things while watching tv. She loves to look at tons of books, assembles and disassembles (and throws) her links. She loves to spread toys out all over the living room. I limit the toys that she can reach. Her big love right now are puzzles. She will dump three puzzles out on the floor and put the puzzles back together. One of her latest loves is putting on a pair of my pants. She also plays with our dog and cat.

My husband feels the need to entertain Sarah all the time so we make lots of trips to the store, McDonalds, the mall, go for drives. Of course, it is easier in the summer when we can go outside.

We do fine motor stuff confined to the kitchen..........playdough, coloring, etc. She also loves do flashcards with me. It helps reinforce what she already knows.

We keep her busy with extra OT and ST. In the spring we will also do theraputic horseback riding until the fall. We will also do a bike riding program for kids with special needs in the summer. I would also love to get her in dance and swimming but there are only so many hours in the day!

I always tell my dh that we need more kids. I think it would have been great for Sarah to have a sibling closer to her age.

Chris

[mollysmomma]

im missin a sib, too...larry tells me to hold on and wait for the g=baby...(he actually goes weak in the knees when i lament about her being an 'only child'....big strong cop that he is)

Molly stays busy by trashing the house...if it's in it...it needs to be dumped....drawers, toy boxes..litter boxes YOU NAME IT!! she's not happy till its on the floor!

she loves nick (spongebob BLECH!) and being outdoors. She's been locked in the house with the flu for the last three days....and today she went and got in the passenger side of the car....

scared me! but the labradore ratted her out....i was bringing in the laundry and was wondering how my shoes got into the laundry room! (she brings me my shoes when she's ready to bug-out)

she's just BUSY! happiest when all the televisions are on her programs, so she can wander from room to room, destroying everything in her path...but has something to watch on the way through as she makes her rounds.

*sigh*

:-) I am glad we're thru the worst of it, and she's back to her busy self!

[Chris too]

All of my kids had to be taught how to pretend. The first ones were taught by me & dh, the rest by the older ones. But once taught, they all play pretend all day long, no matter what else is going on. While playing with playdoh, they pretend that they are robots making cars, or that their creations come to life. While playing with legos, they pretend that they are space aliens, or that they are soldiers. It never ends.

So my advice is to teach Eric how to pretend, and then watch to see what happens. Maybe his nieces will even play pretend games with him - or you could get them to teach him how - of course you'll have to teach them how to teach him

[Googsmom aka Jennifer]

Brook doesn't go to school outside of home yet but we do have school time for 15 minute intervals throught the day. When she is not doing some sort of learning skill ie: reading w/ mom, all her body parts, using fork & spoon, coloring, getting dressed (mostly socks right now and her new sandles w/ velcro) and our big one lately of walking w/ help from mommy she is a very good player. She will contently play w/ her toys alone. She loves to pretend she is reading and of corse her mirror time She isn't too much into tv. She has to watch the news in the am and cops at night but other than that she really isn't interested, yet. I just can't wait for her to get bigger to do all the fun stuff all your kids do. Sounds like so much fun

[steffaroni]

a gr8 game is Sorry... Liv LOVES that one.

Steff