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What do your toddlers do in the afternoon?
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amother
Vermilion


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 5:45 pm
To all the young mothers out there whose oldest is under 5 what do your kids do after school?
Do they occupy themselves? Do you need to constantly play with them?

I have a 4 year old and 2 year old. I feel they are very bored form when they come home from school at 3 until they go to sleep at 6:30? I want to know what other mothers like me do. We have toys, lego, magna-tiles, dolls, cars you name it. For some reason they don't play with any of them for more than 5 minutes.

Any tips and advice would be appreciated.
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Blessing1




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 6:11 pm
Play, read books, "help" me load the washer & make dinner. I have older kids coming home later so it's busy.
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 6:46 pm
I need to play with them. They don’t play nicely on their own. Possibly because they’re too young for that. I take them to the library sometimes, they “help” me make supper and do / fold laundry; and clean up the playroom. I also get cds for children from the library and Uncle Moishy.
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amother
Pumpkin


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 7:21 pm
My kids are 4,3 and 2 and they love to color, cut and paste.
I bring home Chinese auction booklets, circulars, etc so there is always something new.
Colored tissue paper cut into pieces is great too.
They do "homework" in a workbook for preschoolers.

The above can last from after snack time, until we begin to prepare for supper.
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amother
Aqua


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 7:23 pm
I recently got do a dots and my 3 year old seems to be enjoying. She also likes our doll house, having me read her books....
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amother
White


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 7:30 pm
We get home from preschool at 2 and the kids play together nicely sometimes. 4 and 2 years old. Lately though they have been quite needy and don't entertain themselves well. Crying while I'm trying to clean up and cook. Taking food from the cabinets. But probably because they've had colds recently. Usually they play with trains, books, coloring, dry erase boards/markers. Really though they need to get into bath and jammies around 4 and eat supper around 430, because honestly in the winter they are so tired from school. That helps them wind down.
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behappy2




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:28 pm
I would suggest two things. One is to play with them. Read them stories. Color with them. Make a tower with the Legos. Show them how to play. Once they learn how to play for a substantial amount of time than settle them with a toy and than you can go on doing what you need to do, always spending a significant amount of time each day just having fun with them.

I think that some kids are harder than others to entertain but this might help. Let me know.
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amother
Cobalt


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:37 pm
I have one three year old and winter afternoons are really hard for us.. We have a ton of toys but he doesn't like playing with them. From May - September October we are outside every single afternoon playing.
Winter - About once a week we go visit friends with the same age kid, come home ready for supper bath and bed. The rest of the time, he helps me prepare supper, sometimes we bake, very rarely I'll crack out some paint or markers and he can be busy with that for a while but it makes a huge mess.
There is a lot of boredom involved. We don't own any screens he can use. He likes books but not for too long. Stickers are good. I don't trust him with scissors yet. Beads are fun but he needs me to sit there with him.
Are your kids very physically active? My son would not enjoy something like this but a lot of kids do, there is something called a door gym, it comes with multiple interchangeable pieces like a climbing rope, hand swings, regular swing, and I don't remember what else. A lot of kids enjoy that. Look it up on Amazon.
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:41 pm
For those who say play with your kids, do you work? I mean that seriously. How do you clean, cook, or do anything if you are spending time sitting with your kids.
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amother
Dodgerblue


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:42 pm
I have an 2.5 year old and a 1 year old. For the most part I need to play with my 2.5 year old, her favorite toy now is magna tiles and she loves when we build things together but when I need to make supper I try to set her up with something on her own like dolls or coloring, however recently shes been so needy of my attention (probably due to being under the weather and off schedule from chanukah) that she just k'vetches the entire time I make supper.
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behappy2




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:43 pm
justforfun87 wrote:
For those who say play with your kids, do you work? I mean that seriously. How do you clean, cook, or do anything if you are spending time sitting with your kids.


If you can't find ANY TIME to spend with your kids than don't work!! You have to find the time.
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amother
Black


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 8:59 pm
amother wrote:
My kids are 4,3 and 2 and they love to color, cut and paste.
I bring home Chinese auction booklets, circulars, etc so there is always something new.
Colored tissue paper cut into pieces is great too.
They do "homework" in a workbook for preschoolers.

The above can last from after snack time, until we begin to prepare for supper.


Your 3 and 2 year olds can cut and paste by themselves?
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Tzutzie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:02 pm
I have a 4.5 year old and a 2.5 (will be 3 in feb) year old.
Only my 4.5 yo goes to school. 2.5 yo is hime with me.


Activities,
Toys - they don't play very long but I take out a different toy every few days.
Arts and crafts
They cut, paste, color. Sometimes with color pencils, sometimes with markers (washable) or crayons. Also washable paint.
Invest in a collection of pompoms, pipe cleaners, regular stickers puff stickers... colored poster board thickness papers. Glitter glue stick glue runny glue.....
You get the drift.... I put a plastic table cloth over the table, I put on large bibs die the kids, and lay out the stuff.
Some days it's cut and paste, other days coloring and then another day painting.
It can keep them busy for the better r part of an hour. Sometimes omly 15 min though.

Also, strings and beads. They make necklaces for all of their friends and cousins.
My older one makes pretty cool patterns!
So for that you can do regular beads, glitter beads, animal and shape beads, biggy beads (the large iron beads my kids like to string them) amd cut up straws!!! The straws are the latest thing. Buy different colors and different companies. Mix them up.

My 4 yo loves puzzles.

Then there is play dough. The next best thing since sliced bread. Smile

My kids love helping me cook and expecially bake.
Wiping down there he cabinets (w a safe cleaner spray). Folding the grocery boxes and taking them out.
And my 4yo loves helping me fold. She does towels and other simple items and it's so perfect It looks professional!
She can make her own bed some mornings.
Raking the leaves outside. Put then on coats, hats and gloves and go outside for 10 minutes. Melissa and Doug has the cutest no-sharp-edge little kids sized pink rake.

Think about what your kids can do to contribute to the family. Tor the house work.
Children, likeep adults, need to feel useful, a part of, so let them help you with whatever they can even if you have to redu it later.

Another good activity is a bubble bath. My kids LOVE it and I do my phone calls while I sit on the (closed) toilet watching them.

If you have a big room, in the winter kids need to let off energy just link in the summer, so my kids ride the bikes in my mostly empty no purpose large basement room or in the garage with the coats.
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Tzutzie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:04 pm
amother wrote:
Your 3 and 2 year olds can cut and paste by themselves?


Yes. With the child safe scissors it's not problem. Think the plastic ones or the very blunt ones with the rounded tip.
I wouldn't go downstairs other than to grab something quick, but you don't need to be at the table.
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wife2




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:08 pm
justforfun87 wrote:
For those who say play with your kids, do you work? I mean that seriously. How do you clean, cook, or do anything if you are spending time sitting with your kids.


I work full time. I play with them a lot. I prepare simple meals that don't take too long. 20 minutes on prep doesn't take too much time away from them. I clean at night after they're asleep. I would rather have a slight mess and more fun and quality time. We paint often. It's not a big mess to take out paintbrushes and put out a surface to do it on. Toys don't take long to clean up.
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amother
Pumpkin


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:10 pm
amother wrote:
Your 3 and 2 year olds can cut and paste by themselves?

Because they do it every day, even my two year old can cut with a scissors. I did sit with them for the first week or two. I showed interest, and eventually they did too. My 2 year old's Morah mentioned to me that she is so impressed with the way he sits to do a project and has patience for the details. (I think it's because he does it everyday for an hour, just to be big.) My dining room table is always a mess. But it's such easy clean up (unless they glue stuff down to the table), and keeps them so busy.
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wife2




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:12 pm
amother wrote:
For some reason they don't play with any of them for more than 5 minutes.

Any tips and advice would be appreciated.


Kids have different personalities. One of my kids can play on her own for hours. But my 3 year old gets bored easily and can't entertain himself as much. These kids need to switch activities frequently. Or they need someone involved to play with them more often to show them how to be creative and act things out with toys. Model how to use little people and legos to create a whole imaginary world. Sometimes once you start them off, they get into it. You can line up cars for boys or dolls for girls and set the tone. Once they're involved, you can let them play alone.
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gold21




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:35 pm
Where do you live?

When I was at that stage, I found that the best way to keep everyone happy and occupied was to hang out with friendly neighbors in the same stage of life. I didn't have so many neighbors around my age at the time, so it was challenging. Since then, I've moved to a very friendly area and I always see young moms hanging out together. It's really nice to see.
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amother
Black


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 10:34 pm
I’m so impressed at all these messy art activities. But your kids really do it themselves? If I wasn’t sitting with my kids for these activities there would be paint and glue all over the house!
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Wed, Dec 20 2017, 10:48 pm
justforfun87 wrote:
For those who say play with your kids, do you work? I mean that seriously. How do you clean, cook, or do anything if you are spending time sitting with your kids.
yes, 34 hours a week. Cleaning happens at night, cooking happens one day when I have patience - I stock up my freezer and usually just make side dishes while my kids hang on to me, or my husband prepares supper and I just put it in the oven. I don’t feel like I have a choice. If I don’t play with them they fight and are cranky and miserable. They need entertainment and at this age I feel it’s reasonable. I do sometimes sneak onto imamother or we FaceTime family and friends / and their kids, in he summer we play outside and I can talk to my neighbors but in general I can’t count on getting thing done.
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