Activities For Children
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Activities For Children
..Of Work-At-Home Parents.
Welcome to my post on “Activities for Children” for the Work-At-Home Parent.
One of the many reasons given for working at home is to spend more time with the family. But how do you manage the family in order to do the work?
All parents will realise that in order to work at home, things need to be structured to enable them to do so. It’s hard to work at home when the children are around – especially when they are young.
They want your attention constantly, they think the world revolves around them, and their attention spans are extremely short.
You can breathe a sigh of relief when they reach schoolage. So many hours each day can then be devoted to your work so that you can be there for them completely when they arrive home from school each day.
The activities for children in this article are aimed at toddler and pre-school aged children.
Following, are some suggested activities for children for the work-at-home parent. These activities will encourage independence. Initially, you’ll need a lot of patience as your youngster learns to understand that they can actually do these activities on their own. You will need to ensure there is enough space for them to work nearby. Fortunately, laptops and tablets can be taken anywhere, so you may have to take leave of your office and proceed to the kitchen table or playroom. Being outside is always preferable for children, so take your laptop outside so you can supervise while they play in the sandpit or with their outside toys.
Activities for Children – Toddlers.
* Puzzles
* Crayons and coloring books
* Play-Doh
* Follow along books on CD/ tablets
* Construction toys
* igames.
* dress-up box
Have a supply of”special” toys that come out only at ‘work-time’. Make sure you have a variety of these so they don’t get bored with the same old ones.
We always had a ‘Busy Box’ at our place. We would grab a large cardboard box and decorate and label the outside. Then, in would go small boxes, wrapping paper scraps, bits of ribbon, stickers, etc. Any recycled items which could be used for constrution purposes. It kept my daughter, in particular, entertained for hours.
With patience and plenty of practice, your toddler will come to realise that they can ‘work’ too alongside mummy or daddy. They have the security of you being so close, but the independence to be able to ‘work’ on their own.
Activities for Children Who are Older.
Important Tasks
One of my favourite activites for children is for them to be given Important Tasks. Depending on the interests of your child, you can think ahead to come up with some of these tasks for them to do. They love being helpful.
>> write a story for daddy/ mummy.
>> draw a picture of everyone in our family. Then make a frame so it can be hung on the wall.
>>make a phone book with your friend’s and family’s phone numbers
>>make a list of jobs that need to be done
>>build a town with Legos
>>arrange all your playing cards by numbers, type, color, etc
>>organize the Tupperware/ books, teddies/etc
>>cut out any pictures of shoes from these magazines and paste them in a notebook
>>write out ideas of things you’d like to do when daddy or mummy has time.
>>do some worksheets (they think of this as their “work”)
>>make a creature/construction from the BUsy Box to put on the shelf.
It is very tempting to plop the children down in front of the TV/computer for hours at a time. This does not encourage independence and creativity. Whilst it engages most children really well, it should be kept to a minimum.
Here is a good site with suggested activities for children.
Arrange play dates.
Another one of my favourite activites for children is Play Dates. Swapping child minding with a friend is a great idea. Perhaps on Tuesdays all the kids are at your house for a couple of hours and on Fridays they’re at your friend’s house. The kids enjoy playing with each other and get to work on their social skills. It then gives you peace of mind and you can work without interruption and you get some work done.
Hire a Helper
Have a ‘helper’ come and play with your children regularly.
Maybe you have a trustworthy preteen in the neighborhood who is not quite babysitting age. They could come over for an afternoon once a week to play and provide activities for your children. You’re still in the house if something goes wrong, but they get to practice babysitting and start earning an income for themselves.
Nap time.
Before nap time starts, write out a “to do” list. This helps you keep on track and maximize your short window of time.
Don’t fall into the trap of doing household tasks such as vaccuuming, washing, folding, ironing, etc. These tasks should be undertaken with the help of the whole family, so leave them until they are all available to help.
Planning Activities for Children Becomes Easier.
If you have taken the plunge in order to work at home, then you need the support of everyone around you. That includes your children. If you have taken the time to ‘educate your children’ from when they are very young, they will become much more independent much earlier.
There are all sorts of scenarios out there. The activities for children which have been suggested above, are only a starting point.
As your children get older, things become a lot easier as they will then start their kindergarten and preschool years before becoming fully-fledged schoolchildren.
Hopefully you’ve come away with a few helpful ideas here. If you have enjoyed my article on Activities for Children, then please share and feel free to leave a comment.
photo credit: BenSpark via photopin cc