Things to keep a toddler entertained at home
Now that most of the schools are closed and parents are homeschooling their kids, It’s frustrating to get ideas everyday on how to keep kids busy or productive while you have your ‘Me Time’. Being a work from home mom has been an advantage for me to share my experience on how to keep a toddler busy when there are no school days.
So here in this blog, I will be sharing few tried and tested tips on how to keep your toddler busy at home.
Early Risers :
If they are early Risers then take them on a walk with you early morning so that their body can get some physical activity. Make sure you stay close to home and walk where there are less/no people and take necessary precautions.
Coloring:
One of the most effective ways to keep your kid busy is by giving them some coloring papers. You will be amazed to learn the positive sides of coloring, some of them are – It improves their Focus, Helps them in being creative with colors and most important, it develops their Hand-strength & pencil grip which leads to a good handwriting.
Word hunt :
For this you will have to do some preparations but trust me, it’s worth as it keeps your kid busy for atleast an hour. It’s basically just like a educational scavenger hunt.
- Place few objects of all the letters in his room for example, “A for Apple – so i place a sliced apple on his desk as a snack” or “B is for book- and there’s already a book shelf in his room”.
- Give them your phone or any phone with working camera and tell them to take pictures of the objects they find in their room starting from letter A-Z.
- They don’t have to be correct always. Remember, The more mistakes they make, the more they learn.
- This is one of the most effective educational games which puts your child’s brain on work.
Tip: Giving away your phone to a pre-schooler can be risky as there’s high chance of them dropping the phone accidentally. To avoid this, i got this Crossbody phone case Necklace from KEEBOS which is very helpful not just for my son but also for me in living a care-free life.
Cooking :
When you stay at home, its obvious that you will be cooking more. During this time, let them help you in cooking or just make watch what you are doing so that they can learn the names of veggies, spices or a recipe. Doing this makes them realize the amount of efforts parents put in taking care of kids. Trust me, I have seen my son thanking me for the amount of work i do for him all day.
Printable Worksheets :
Worksheets are another way to keep your kids busy while your work. I get mine from Education.com as it has so many free worksheets/booklets that can be printed for kids of all ages.
If your kid is more into travel related stuff or if you want to educate him about the cities around the world, then get your travel related FREE printables at Musement .
Read a lot :
Read, read, read! Kids love story books and the easiest way to make a kid happy is by reading their favorite book. Doing this everyday actually Improves language, grammar, punctuation, empathy, and concentration. You can also point out the sight words while you read which helps them improve their reading skills.
Make a Play Dough :
Pre-schoolers love to make shapes or be creative with a play dough. I make a home-made play dough for two reasons.
- Making a play dough with kids will be fun as they will have freedom to choose whichever color they like.During this procedure you can also make them learn the measurements.
- It’s homemade and is completely safe and can last for over a month.
- You don’t have to care about them mixing the colors as it’s inexpensive and can be made easily at home within 10 minutes.
Here’s the recipe to quick & easy homemade play dough
Play with words:
We do this a lot. Write down a two-three letter word(in,and,the,is…etc) in a paper and stick it on their desk. Give them their favorite book and ask to find that word in that book. I also tell him to underline wherever he finds that word in that book. It keeps them busy for 20 – 30 minutes and also helps them to identify that word whenever you read them a story. I do this, when i have something important to do like (finishing my work or attend a on call meeting).
Family Game or Movie Night :
When you can’t go out, then indoor games are the best option. Amongst zillion indoor games out there, one of our favorite games to play with our toddler is hide & seek which involves physical activity for kids, lots of laughter and excitement.
Alternatively, you could grab a bag of popcorn and watch a movie enjoying each other’s company without spending a dime. For un-interrupted movie streaming you will need to ensure a strong and stable internet connection, so check out kinetic internet vs spectrum and other similar providers, to find what works best for you in your location.
Tip: I know most of the parents complain how their kids are not into movies and get easily bored half way. To make your kids watch a movie, You have to keep talking or discussing what’s happening in that movie to make the movie exciting for them.
Arts and Crafts:
Throw some papers, markers, crayons, stickers, pencils, glue sticks, scissors or any other craft related stuff in a box and give it your kid to see how creative they can be. And the best part is, they are hooked for hours. One thing you have to keep in mind that “Crafts=lots of mess” so be prepared and do not be in shock if you see a messy room as its totally fine as long as they keep themselves busy while you work.
Bit of Entertainment (Educational) :
I usually do not encourage screen time for kids of ages under 5. But because of the closure of schools, with no outdoor play, understand that keeping them engaged all day is hard. And if there is any kind of screen time is involved, make sure it’s educational and always have a timer set to a certain time limit during the screen time.
Apart from all the above , The main thing is to remember you’re their parent who is teaching them not a teacher. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or frustrated sometimes but with time, you will have to practice patience. When things get out of control, try thinking from the kid’s point of view and act accordingly. You’d be surprised to see a good change in your relationship with your kid.
What are you doing to keep yourself / your kid busy during this quarantine period?? Let me know in the comment section below.
