Keeping my 4 yr.old busy

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Feb 10 2016, 11:34 pm

Blind ayin harah, my 4 yr old son is extremely bright. He loves school and soaks up a wealth of information. My problem is that he is always bored at home. When he comes home from school he basically just waits for dinner and after dinner he basically justs wait for bedtime. I have so many toys, activity books, reading books but he never wants to do any of them . He has an older sister so we have more challenging games around. He likes building toys but my baby usually breaks his creations. He likes game that you play with other people but no one is available to play with him in the evening . His older sister is doing homework and I am helping her , preparing dinner, bathing kids etc he hates projects/ art. He ends up driving his sisters crazy with his boredom. Any ideas for a good activities / games for him that he can do on his own?

seeker

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 12:55 am

Put the baby in a playpen, baby gate, or jumperoo and let the 4 year old enjoy his building toys.
How old is older sister and how much homework can she possibly have? Maybe after homework she can be encouraged to play with him a little.
Maybe he can help you prepare dinner. My 3-year-old helps set the table while I do the food. Keeps her busy for some time and she feels so important for helping. It sounds like your DS likes interaction with people, so helping you with dinner can give him some of that which he needs.

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 8:46 am

seeker wrote:

Thanks! He actually loves to help with food. I will try to do that. My baby is 14 months and very active. He can't be contained . His sisters are 6 and 2. Believe it or not, my six yr old has about 45 min hmwk every night. At least she doesn't resent it. They do play together when done.
I asked his teacher this morning about this problem and she suggested I download worksheets for him to do since he loves learning

amother

Navy

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 9:03 am

can he build in a different room then the baby like he'll build in his room while you stay with the baby in a "public" room/s or will he get lonely? can he play with the two year old?

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 11:15 am

amother wrote:

can he build in a different room then the baby like he'll build in his room while you stay with the baby in a "public" room/s or will he get lonely? can he play with the two year old?

He gets very nervous about going into any room without company.
He plays with the 2 yr old but they often hurt each other by accident (like sit on each other) or end up fighting. Also I feel that he will play with her but still feels bored doing that.

I so appreciate your advice!

amother

Bisque

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 12:24 pm

amother wrote:

I was going to suggest the same thing...
maybe get him an age appropriate work book and when your daughter is doing her homework he can sit at the table also and do his 'homework'
Also when you are preparing supper maybe let his set the table or give him a plastic knife and some cucumbers or other veggies to cut up for supper
This way hes ocupied and feels part of things...