Joy at Home Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 What's your favorite activity/trick for keeping 4 year olds occupied during schoolwork? Mine is getting bored of the same old stuff . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Mostly my younger kids simply play. My 4 yod plays with playmobil, pet shops, her kitchen, dolls, barbies, etc on the floor around me when I am reading with the older kids (just b/c she likes to be where I am more than any other reason.) At other times she will be at the kitchen table doing arts and crafts, playdough, etc. Do your 4 and 5 yods play well together? If so, I would concentrated on finishing with the 5 yo first thing so that those 2 can play and entertain each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Some of the things that sometimes work around here: mini trampoline pretend kitchen (I ask her to bake me something special) let her sit on my lap while I'm teaching, if she's not distracting magnetic alphabet letters on the fridge dry erase board with multi-colored markers I keep bins of toys nearby too, so she'll often go grab a bin of ponies or pet shop and keep herself occupied. Of course, with only the 2 kids, I can keep school short most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 My 4yo likes to have her own "homework." I have a shelf of "school books" just for her. Generally she will ask what subject her brother is doing and ask for something similar but she is free to choose whatever she wants. Choices included coloring books, dot-to-dots (letter and number), cut and paste books, matching/opposites books, find-it-in-the-picture books, letters, numbers, and mazes to name a few. I try to put something "new" into the rotation every few weeks, even if it's just a Dollar Store coloring book or a new arts and craft supply. We have some great dry-erase workbooks as well as a board of her own. She also has the "bear family" manipulatives with 2 sets of activity cards, various flashcards (nature, animals, sight words, counting, numbers, letters, etc.), and access to Math Links and Cuisenaire Rods. She is also free to do arts and crafts at the table are play whatever she wants in her own room. She likes to listen to SOTW and color the pages and the maps along with DS. She will usually stick around for the activity too. She likes to listen in on readalouds and "help" with science experiments. She loves to watch the educational videos we get for science and history; we usually watch a video during lunch (if I have an appropriate one available) as it seems to keep DS from disengaging from school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubermomto5 Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 :iagree: with momma buck it was always easier for me to let the younger ride along with the school work then try to distract them into another area. we always have those little workbooks 'do it carefully' (can't think of the publisher) and lots of manipulatives. also a white board and dry erase pen. we also have preschool 'bags' with activities only for school time (like felt shapes and animal matching) that i'm sure you've heard about. sometimes the novelty of that is the only thing that saves the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 When my 5yo was 4 (and even now that he is 5 but only does a little bit of kindergarten) puzzles, legos, coloring pages, tracing pages - he does science and history with us - he really likes doing the maps for SOTW and listening and helping with science experiments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann@thebeach Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 I have these in a "workboxes" type drawer tower with 5 drawers. I change them out weekly. books-when you change them weekly they seem new floor puzzles sequence cards with little figures (scholastic has these) paint with water tweezers and small items to pick up/put in various containers play dough read along books on tape/CD sticker books dot to dot books old magazines and scissors-favorite here! peg board paper/stamps Mr Potato head-another favorite because we have tons of different themed heads Sometimes my 5 yr old will be really interested and the items in the drawers can last for hours-other days maybe 30 min.... I think the key is keeping things fresh and changing their choices regularly so the activities seem new each week to hold their interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 My 4 and 5yo's each have a sterilite box for their "school" stuff. They have Kumon workbooks, coloring books, crayons, puzzles, sandpaper letters/numbers, handwriting paper, etc, etc... I take 15min to "work" with them too so they don't feel left out. They play Starfall together, and sometimes watch a dvd (Leapfrog). Most of the time, they are deep in imaginative play. I position myself in the kitchen so they can't run wild (LOL) around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jclinton Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 My then four year odl made pictures out of colored macaroni, strung beads, played with play-doh, went in the backyard and played in the sand, played with legos, sorted money - pennies, nickles, dimes etc into different piles, there are also several computer games - www.starfall.com has lots of ideas, we also did www.studydog.com - I'm sure there are others - the computer games were a big hit. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 My daughter loved the Judy Press arts and crafts books. I would let her go through the books and she would put a little sticky tab on all the projects she wanted to do and then I would collect the supplies and she would spend hours putting them together. One time, we made dough with flour and she really went to town for hours making things and then she spent another few days painting them all. She gave her projects as gifts to the grandparents and they loved it. She was a little older when she used those books, so she could pretty much do everything independently, but you could probably have your child pick projects and spend a little time showing them what they need to do to complete them. Most of them are very simple and aimed at children 6 and under. Lisa ETA I saw someone mentioned the Kumon books. Those are wonderful for that age too. My daughter particularly liked the cutting and pasting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 A 1 hole punch and a pile of construction paper. Add in a pair of safety scissors if s/he's okay with those. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 His own math workbook Pattern blocks Mighty Mind Whiteboard Duplos Art supplies That stuff keeps him more than occupied. I also rely on him to entertain our toddler often, so that keeps him busy. They both love duplos and pattern blocks so that can last awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joy at Home Posted June 6, 2010 Author Share Posted June 6, 2010 I have these in a "workboxes" type drawer tower with 5 drawers. I change them out weekly.books-when you change them weekly they seem new floor puzzles sequence cards with little figures (scholastic has these) paint with water tweezers and small items to pick up/put in various containers play dough read along books on tape/CD sticker books dot to dot books old magazines and scissors-favorite here! peg board paper/stamps Mr Potato head-another favorite because we have tons of different themed heads Sometimes my 5 yr old will be really interested and the items in the drawers can last for hours-other days maybe 30 min.... I think the key is keeping things fresh and changing their choices regularly so the activities seem new each week to hold their interest. I like this idea. I think it's a great idea switching things up. Thanks! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Our latest favorite is sticker mosaics. They can be ordered at rainbow resource. Great for fine motor skills and fun. They last longer than you might expect. Brownie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Our latest favorite is sticker mosaics. They can be ordered at rainbow resource. Great for fine motor skills and fun. They last longer than you might expect. Brownie What are these? I think my little ones would love this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonia Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 I'll toss out a few more ideas: Activity bags My dd's favorite workbooks at that age (when she felt like doing workbooks) - Kumon, Explode the code, Rod & Staff preschool books, Never Bored Kid book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Our latest favorite is sticker mosaics. They can be ordered at rainbow resource. Great for fine motor skills and fun. They last longer than you might expect. Brownie I forgot about those! We also have Magnetic Mosaics which are great too! Hmmm, might have to pull those down for my 4yo on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 A cookie sheet filled with salt or cornmeal to write in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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