S/o After school | Imamother

amother

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 9:48 am

Being that so many people on the other thread think it's ok for a 7yo boy to have to entertain himself everyday for 3-4 hours, please enlighten me - what is your child that age doing BY HIMSELF to keep busy?

DS comes home at 4 and usually eats a snack. Supper at some point takes about 15 minutes, bath 15 minutes, reading 15 minutes. We've started making him do kriah every night even though his teacher doesn't assign it - that take about 2 minutes.

He has a friend probably twice a week. The weather has been nasty, so we can't play outside, and even when it's nice I don't have a backyard so I have to sit and watch him if he wants to go out in the front of our house.

All ideas are welcome (except please don't suggest him doing "schoolwork" on his own - that's not going to happen if the teacher isn't assigning it)

amother

Honeysuckle

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 9:52 am

I’d like to know how everything takes 15 minutes.. here supper is minimum an hour, the kids are too busy talking to eat, they hang around the table for a long time. Baths are another hour, first they try to negotiate out of it and then shlep the whole process. We have a lot of assigned homework so that’s another 30-45 minutes. And then they have less than hour just to chill and read. I always wonder how everyone has so much empty time. It feels like the evenings are too packed in my house.

amother

Sienna

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 9:56 am

My younger daughter comes home at 3:45. I do not entertain her. She has a snack while we talk, she plays with her siblings, she reads, listens to music or stories, color, crafts, plays by herself with Playmobil or the like.....
OP maybe have lot's of crafts stocked up.

amother

Chestnut

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 9:56 am

My 7 year old DD comes home at 4 also. By the time she goes to the bathroom and unpacks her backpack and has a snack and tells me whatever news is important to her, it's around 4:30. Then she does her homework at the kitchen table with me either sitting next to her or prepping dinner. Then she has around an hour to an hour and a half to play before we sit down for a family dinner. She plays with toys or does crafts on her own or with her younger sibling. Dinner takes at least 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the night. We eat and shmooze and take turns talking about our days and discussing plans for the next day or week. Then comes shower and bedtime routine and she can read before bed if she has extra time.

amother

Oatmeal

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:01 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Same. In my house things don’t take an hour but they certainly take 1/2 hour! My 7 year old gets off the bus at 5 (seems odd to me
That day is so short that OP kid is home by 4!) putting away coat, backpack. Water bottle, lunch thermos, washing up takes at least 15 minutes. She immediately wants to play (yea, on her own), read, color etc. homework here takes about 20 minutes and happens before dinner which is 6:30. After dinner (7-7:15) she wants more free time but we have to do the bath/bedtime thing (she can easily spend 1/2 hour in the bath) The goal is to be in bed at 8 but always with a book) there is no boredom, ever

amother

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:04 am

He has no homework, that's what I was pointing out in the original thread.

I turn the shower on for him and he goes in himself. No negotiating involved, he loves the shower. Sometimes he'll stay in for 10 minutes, sometimes 15, but that's about it.

We don't have family supper, the timing just doesn't usually work with DH and my older DD coming home later. I guess I can maybe try and do this for the younger kids, but I'm not sure it will pan out.

He likes to draw and color sometimes, but not really into crafts - he's a real boy. If someone would play catch with him outside for an hour, he'd be thrilled - but only has sisters at home

He plays lego by himself. I have lots of sets for him and get lots of books from the library with ideas, but how many hours can he do that, every single day

amother

Pink

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:06 am

Our kids are 9G, 7G, 5B, and 1B. Here are some of the things they do if left to their own devices:
- Legos
- Hot Wheels (building tracks and launching or racing cars)
- drawing
- writing
- reading
- pretend play (either with Playmobil, Barbie, dolls, animal toys, or role playing)
- chase each other around the house (this can get a little too rough-housy for my liking)
- stickers
- baseball or soccer if it's nice out

amother

Ecru

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:10 am

amother OP wrote:

I guess my boys are not real boys because they love arts and crafts?

amother

DarkOrange

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:12 am

I think it’s a personality type. All my kids ages 2 and up can play/entertain themselves for an hr+ except my oldest. He needs ideas of what to play, ideas of what to build... he keeps coming back to me saying “I’m bored...”
My advice is to stock up on a toy/craft that he does enjoy doing. I also had a conversation with my son and wrote up (with his help) a long list of things he can do when he says “I’m bored.” The next time he came to me I pulled out the list and told him to pick an activity.

amother

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 10:24 am

Quote:

I guess my boys are not real boys because they love arts and crafts?

Seriously, this is what your picking on from my post? Can't Believe It

I was trying to explain my son's personality - not insult anyone else's boys

nicole81

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 11:18 am

My kids are with friends after school 4 days a week (although we've cut out Fridays sometimes now that the clock changed). Luckily my dd's friend group of 6 and 7 year olds can all walk to each other. Most families want their kids home at 5:30 or 6... After which is dinner, showering if needed, cleaning up the mess made with friends, organizing backpacks for the next day, and then a quiet activity before bed like drawing or reading.

We have one day a week where everyone stays in and we don't have company. On those days, my 6 year old plays with the 4 year old after she's done with homework. They make a huge mess cutting up papers usually, and by the time I get home from work, it take them enough time to clean up to get us to dinner time.

My kids do a bunch of arts and crafts when they need to entertain themselves. They each have their own set of watercolor paints that they can use without supervision. And give them scissors, paper, and tape and they're over the moon. Popsicle sticks, even better. Lately they've been asking me to laminate drawings (I do it when they're sleeping) and they spend the next day cutting them out and making puppet families.

They also play a bunch of games like spot it, mastermind, uno, connect four.

amother

NeonOrange

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 11:23 am

My kids bh don't come home the same time. First child comes home 3 last kid 5:30. So each kid that comes home gets to talk to me, or sit on me. By 4:30 we start supper. We usually stay sitting by the table till 5:45...we talk/play a board game or story time. Then the kids go play. We start bathtub at 6:30-7 my kids sit in the bath for a long time! My kids can play alone with playmonil for hours. Mitzvah kinder. Older kids puzzles

amother

Tulip

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 11:52 am

amother Oatmeal wrote:

I’m surprised your young kids are able to wait until 6:30 to eat mine are starving by 5.

amother

Daffodil

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 12:08 pm

Comes home at 4ish.

Goes to the bathroom, unpacks bag, tell me about the day, etc. It's now 4:20.

Ten minutes of homework. Yes, that's it. 4:30.

Eats a fruit or two. Maybe calls a story hotline while eating. 4:45/50.

Dinner is at 6, so that's an hour-plus to play and have fun. At this age, my kids have done the following to stay busy: Play with cards, organize some sort of collection, colored, do self-designed "projects," bounce a ball against the wall of the house, try to make baskets in our (very tall) hoop, write stories or books, read, look at magazines (Circle is a big one for that age), help me with dinner, play with siblings, build something, shmooze with me.

Dinner goes until at least 6:30, often 6:45. We sit together and chat about our day and just enjoy the time together. At 6:45 in theory they're supposed to start getting ready for bed, but they usually sneak a bit more playtime in while we're cleaning off the table or dh and I are talking to each other. 7 is bathtime, by the time they're changed and teeth brushed and everything it's 7:30. Then we read books and they're in bed by 7:45ish.

amother

Bluebonnet

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 12:16 pm

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Same.

There's first dinner and then second dinner and then snack

There's HW which is 10 minutes of asking them to bring their folders and then 20-30 of getting them to do their ONE sheet of math or reading or chumash.

There's wash up which is about 30 min of me trying to get them to either wash up or bathe and then one of us relents.
And so on
The evenings are short!

amother

Oatmeal

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 12:29 pm

amother Tulip wrote:

I’m surprised your young kids are able to wait until 6:30 to eat mine are starving by 5.

We've always had family dinner at 6:30. Everyone comes home the same time (from different places) roughly around 5pm. Sometimes I offer a snack (fruit, veggies) but it's not always needed (or asked for) Maybe it's what you get used to?

cupcake123

Thu, Dec 01 2022, 12:34 pm

My 7 year old comes home 4:45. He eats supper and then chills. He loves coloring, lego , Playmobil. In the summer he's outside all day. His homework takes less then 10 minutes which is long enough for me😉
He usually goes to bed between 7:30 -8. I actually sometimes feel bad that he doesn't have more time to spare out and unwind.