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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Preschoolers
How to entertain a kid home alone
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:31 am
My 4 yr old son is my youngest (so far) comes home from school around 3:15 how can I keep him entertained till my 2nd grade daughter comes home around 5:00 ??? I always try to sit with him .. play .. books.. cars ... its murder since hes becoming older and has no company ... neighbors is x option. Dont know what to do he drives me insane sometimes .. any ideas?
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INSPIREME




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:33 am
Art projects
Baking
Cooking
Preparing supper
Set the table
Fold laundry
DVD
Leap frog

Keeping him busy doing things which accomplish something...may work
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:38 am
My 4 year old is his happiest self outside. We spend out a lot of time in the back yard in this weather.
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aricelli




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:41 am
I love both ideas above! Its great when they feel theyre doing something! My sons favorite activity was making potato kugel thursday afternoon. Also the outdoors is great. We have a tiny patch of garden that my son calls his own. He can be busy there a long time.
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aricelli




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:43 am
Another thing that we sometimes do- he has a “job” at my husbands place of work. After he’s done he gets a few dollars and he feels great about himself. I didnt mention this before because I understand it wouldnt work for all moms
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:50 am
INSPIREME wrote:
Art projects
Baking
Cooking
Preparing supper
Set the table
Fold laundry
DVD
Leap frog

Keeping him busy doing things which accomplish something...may work


I always try these options but he doesnt enjoy these stuff besides watching .. but I aint gona let that becasue he became addicted so we need to stop that for now..
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:54 am
mha3484 wrote:
My 4 year old is his happiest self outside. We spend out a lot of time in the back yard in this weather.


I wish would have a backyard .. he loves going on his bike up n down the block! When it's time to get in he would throw a fuss and cant deal with it. He refuses to come in, he runs away from me I run after..it drives me nuts! I found him once at end of block hiding.. hes too cute but HATE the part of getting him in Sad
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dankbar




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:57 am
Outdoor activities. Bike. Water guns. Water balloons. Trampoline. Bubbles.
Indoor activities:
Arts & crafts. Coloring. Electronic games that he can play on own that's educational. Puzzles that he can do on own. Read books to him. Play simple games with him. Dress ups. Legos. Any building toy that he can play himself with. Magnetic dress up boy dolls or male figures like firefighter/police or any scene with magnetic pieces.
Play dough. There are play sand activities.


Last edited by dankbar on Tue, May 07 2019, 11:59 am; edited 1 time in total
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aricelli




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 11:58 am
Do you have a park nearby? I guess he would give you the same trouble coming back in though
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aricelli




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 12:02 pm
What about different projects? I’ve done homemade slime and assorted squish balloons and volcanoes etc. also I’ve put up a doorway swing that can convert to a trapeze both of which he loves. If you have space you can get a little trampoline or blow up bouncy thing with or without balls
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amother
Olive


 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 12:12 pm
Same situation here. Inviting friends over keeps mine happy & busy, but he refuses to go anywhere so burden is all on me.

As for the other activities, wish I’d have the time to do it with him, but I work until he gets home, and then there’s supper, cleaning the house, trying to breathe before my others troop in!!

Play dough is good, especially at kitchen table while I cook. Building toys if I can be in playroom, he hates when no ones around. Unfortunately we have too much snack time, and video time too...
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flowerpower




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 12:16 pm
My son that age loves:
Playmobile
Coloring activity books
Play doh
Bubbles
Train set
Magna tiles combined with mitzvah kinder
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SmileNow




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 12:26 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I wish would have a backyard .. he loves going on his bike up n down the block! When it's time to get in he would throw a fuss and cant deal with it. He refuses to come in, he runs away from me I run after..it drives me nuts! I found him once at end of block hiding.. hes too cute but HATE the part of getting him in Sad

Maybe do a very regimented time to come inside routine. 20 min warning, 15min, 10 min, 8,6,4,2,1 min
Each time he needs to acknowledge verbally that "it will be time to come inside in x minutes, and then we will .... (Next activity)"
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dankbar




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 12:52 pm
Last year when one boy came home earlier than other son & was miserable without him, I used to take him along on errands until next one came home
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behappy2




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 4:18 pm
My advice to you would be dedicating a few weeks to teaching him that we need to come inside when time is up. Give warnings, consequences etc.,, it may really be worth it for both of you. Also its ok if he os not entertained by you the whole time. Maybe try to play with him and then break, then play and then break. I hope this helps. You can pm me. I have a child who was an only child for 5 years and this was a big struggle for me. He was also very clingy.
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mom!




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 5:18 pm
Try some basic experiments-you can buy the book called boredom busters or the like. Let him choose one every day that you will do with him, then he needs to play himself for x amount of time.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 5:27 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I wish would have a backyard .. he loves going on his bike up n down the block! When it's time to get in he would throw a fuss and cant deal with it. He refuses to come in, he runs away from me I run after..it drives me nuts! I found him once at end of block hiding.. hes too cute but HATE the part of getting him in Sad


At that age my daughter used to amuse herself by running the other way when it was time to go. A behavior modification chart worked for us, but that method requires very consistent monitoring and follow-up.
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pizza4




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, May 07 2019, 6:03 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I wish would have a backyard .. he loves going on his bike up n down the block! When it's time to get in he would throw a fuss and cant deal with it. He refuses to come in, he runs away from me I run after..it drives me nuts! I found him once at end of block hiding.. hes too cute but HATE the part of getting him in Sad

My kids are also thrilled to be outdoors.
Try this: remind him before going out, and give a few minute reminder before going in, also have an idea of what you'll do inside something fun so it's not going inside to bath and bed.
I'm starting to have a hard time with this now that all the neighbors are still out until 730-8!
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amother
Lawngreen


 

Post Mon, Jun 17 2019, 12:04 pm
we got an indoor small trampoline that dd loves-she will happily jump on it for ages and it uses up loads of her energy (she has much too much energy-jumping is usually followed by climbing up on the coach, jumping off that onto trampoline etc)
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jun 18 2019, 1:46 am
I cannot put my day on hold. I give suggestions, take out games he can't take out, and I suggest chores if he can't or won't choose anything
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