What do you do with a 4 year old while hsing older siblings?

[NotDaMama]

While hsing our older ds and dd, our younger ds ends up with a lot of free time and not much to do. We are able to spend an hour to a hour and a half per day with him using OPGTR, Early Bird Math, and Get Set for the Code. However, most of the time must be spent with our older dcs to complete their curriculum. What could we give our youngest ds who is 4 years old to make his free time more productive (and to keep him out of our hair so our time is less disruptive with the others... :willy_nilly:)

 

Thanks

[mom2boys030507]

Puzzles

Math Manipulatives

Coloring Books

 

Rotating Toys - this is our big one - when I get out "new" toys my 3 year old is busy for 2-3 hours especially when he doesn't have to play with big brothers.

[RootAnn]

My four year old is allowed to play with whatever we have on hand. I have coloring sheets, blocks, etc. (Most people suggest things they can only play with during school, but we haven't gotten to that point yet. I don't have the energy to segment play items.) We live in a small town on a cul-de-sac, so she's also allowed to play in our yard outside while I "do school." When the weather is good, that is frequently where you find her.

[rookie]

drawing

playmobil

train set

snacks

sits in on some lessons

kumon cutting pages

[abrightmom]

:D Love the name "NotDaMama"

 

I have a precocious 4 year old who has her "school" with Mama in the morning (kinda like you described) before schooling the big kids. She is often ready to go off and play after we spend our 20 or 30 minutes together.

 

We just started using work boxes for her (6 each day) and they're a hit so far. I try to make the activities in the work box "independent" or "semi-independent" so she can work without me being right there. I also give her 30 minutes of "screen time" each day . . . Starfall (a website) or Wii or a "show" (DVD). She likes Starfall and can be right at the table, with the laptop and headphones, in my line of sight. :D

 

Sometimes giving the pre-Ker a "schedule" helps too . . . like setting the timer for X number of minutes for a certain activity or location in the house (i.e. play in your room until the timer beeps then you can come have snack; play in the garage/playroom/back porch until the timer beeps).

 

My kids also have a mandatory "quiet hour" on their beds -- looking at books, listening to audio books. I highly recommend audio books for a four year old!! You can use an iPod or a cd player. If you have a local library start there. Our library has a wide selection of audio books. I think there are some audio book recommendations in OPGTR and/or the Well Trained Mind. A few that my 4 year old enjoys are Little Bear, Frances, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (or something like that :D).

[JudoMom]

Scissors and a pile of paper

Teddy Bear counters and a balance or sorting bowls

Trains

Imaginext has been a hit around here

Playdoh (uh, if you can handle it. It makes me twitch at times)

Paint (see above)

Leap Frog Learning DVDs

Puzzles

Lacing Cards

Lacing Beads

A sink full of water and some plastic dishes (once again, I'm twitching)

Learning Palette

[Mesa]

I start the "big boys" schooling and then do preschool with the "littles" This takes up 1-2 hours and then I try anything I can think of to keep the kids occupied lol.

 

I buy some fun activities every now and then to keep things interesting. This week it's a paint set, and it's mess free! YAY

"colors" aka coloring

playdoh

starfall with her 5 yr old brother

playing with their toys

watching Dora, or Go Diego Go (you do what you've gotta do!)

snack time

bubbles

read a louds

[Mallory]

I also do lots of rotating through where the big ones play with the little ones.

 

So if I am working with my 11yo, then my 9yo can play with the 4 and 2yos.

[diokos]

Mine plays quietly with his normal toys, or sits and listens in sometimes, but when he starts to become disruptive I make him leave the room. I also allow pretty frequent "recess" breaks for the 6-yr old to play with his little brother-that helps keep them both happier!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

:D Love the name "NotDaMama"

 

 

:iagree: And the pic to go with it~! I will be brave enough to admit I used to love that show LOL

 

 

 

My 4 year old ds will sit for hours playing with MUS blocks and C-rods. Legos-- not so much, but MUS blocks and C rods are school and he knows that :D Works awesome. Also I would recommend you getting pattern blocks and the pattern books! I introduced both of my boys to those today and it was love at first sight! :001_tt1:

[joannqn]

Between schooling two and having a nursing infant (now toddler), my 3 year old has been pretty neglected. So, we have the same problem. Unfortunately, mine spends most of his time on Netflix, Wii, or the computer.

 

One thing that mine likes, though, when I include him with the more fun aspects of the bigs' school.

 

He does the same art projects we do on Tuesdays. Usually, this means I do part of it, and he gets to do the coloring part. For example, we did self-portraits following a particular artist's style. I drew the portrait and he colored it using our Prismacolor Pencils. Last week, I wrote the block number he wanted on an abstract drawing, and he got to color with oil pastels. This week I drew the stick figure part of the drawing, and he got to use the liquid water colors to paint it. He likes getting to use the fancy art supplies too.

 

If we do a science experiment (again once a week), he sits in and watches or helps as appropriate.

 

If we do a history activity/craft, he's involved in it, if possible. He loved making his own sugar cube pyramid when we studied ancients. I put the glue on a spot, and he placed the cube on the glue. When it was done, I handed him some paint and a paintbrush. The big kids had a 10x10 base pyramid, and his was a 4x4 base. He didn't care that it was smaller; he was super proud of his.

 

I've also made up half a dozen file folder games for him, which he likes.

 

It's tough to fill up his day, especially when we live somewhere where he can't go outside to play.

[Momma H]

You should check out Pre-School Activities in a Bag. They are wonderful little schooly things you can make up for your kids in a zippy bag that they can do themselves. We love them. However, it is not used to keep them busy so I can school the olders.

I have my olders do "morning school" which is thier independent work. They do all the subjects they can on thier own. After lunch, when I put my 2 year old down for a nap my 5 year old watches a movie and we do the school that requires mom until 5:00. My kids have figured out that if they get up at 6:30am they can get all thier morning school done by 8:00am and they do whatever they want until lunch. It is a lifestyle changer for me because I like to do afternoon errands. We also live in the country and it takes 45 minutes to get anywhere. But, we are now poor anyway (DH lost half his income this last year -- thanks govt.) so I spend less money!

Oh, during the morning time I do my school with the littles and my big kids have to stay out of THIER way! They love it!

[MissKNG]

My four year old can work on the crafts on this site independently:

 

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

[Holly]

My younger DC spend lots of time drawing/coloring, playing computer games or Wii games, watching Signing Time, building with legos/pattern blocks/geoboards...they also spend quite a bit of time with pretend play. They often pretend to play with their grandparents. DS also likes to be a policeman and write me speeding tickets. :lol:

[NotDaMama]

Thanks everyone for the help, you have a lot of good practical ideas. I especially like the work boxes and related work to keep him buisy in a good way. We will try this and then let you know how it works, and probably ask for more advice. :D

[NotDaMama]

:iagree: And the pic to go with it~! I will be brave enough to admit I used to love that show LOL

 

 

 

My 4 year old ds will sit for hours playing with MUS blocks and C-rods. Legos-- not so much, but MUS blocks and C rods are school and he knows that :D Works awesome. Also I would recommend you getting pattern blocks and the pattern books! I introduced both of my boys to those today and it was love at first sight! :001_tt1:

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

And about the picture, I used to like the show, and then I realized how much it portrays a bad image of parenthood, and especially the father. I still like the picture though, and it is still funy sometimes when my youngest does his "not da mama" routine.

[NotDaMama]

Thanks for the advice.

 

And about the picture, I used to like the show, and then I realized how much it portrays a bad image of parenthood, and especially the father. I still like the picture though, and it is still funy sometimes when my youngest does his "not da mama" routine.

 

Oh, and BTW, my wife is sometimes surprised that people can post anything after they get past laughing at the picture. We both still laugh when we see it. :lol:

[FO4UR]

I am :lol: at NotDaMama! We referenced that show often when mine were infants/toddlers...

 

My 4yo plays with my 5yo. They are allowed to play in the backyard if they are together. If weather is bad, I resort to Starfall.com, playdoh, toys that have been stored away for a while, or just confine them to one room and deal with the messes they create later...very rarely I'll turn on a video for them to watch (esp for that last 30min ds7 needs for school).

 

I work with my 5yo for 30-40min per day, and 4yo plays with my 7yo at that point.

 

He has a folder with things for him to do. It's mainly coloring, connect-the-dots, and other preschool activities. He will work on those for quite a while.

 

I have a huge cookie sheet that I bring out and he does pretty well to keep math manipulatives on it (instead of all over the house). I keep sets of manips in sterilite boxes that latch easily. He loves making things out of Cuisenaire Rods, pattern blocks, tangrams, etc... He can also go through a ream of paper in a given morning if allowed...drawing, coloring, cutting, pasting...

[2squared]

My 4yo either plays independently or sits right with me. He likes to listen in on any reading, play with math manipulatives, write on the white board, etc. I'm hoping that he'll learn to read just from listening to my 6yo's phonics lessons.

 

His independent play is with our regular toys or he goes outside. I must admit that I don't really do anything special to keep him entertained. Well, I school the 3rs one-on-one with my two olders, so there are always extra kids to play with. Outside of the 3rs, it is a group effort, and all the kids are invited to participate for history, science, religion, etc.

[nova mama]

We do what many other PPs have suggested--coloring pages, puzzles, etc. I print out dot-to-dots, color-by-numbers, cut and paste sheets that I find online and put them in her activity folder. When older sibs start math, DD4 can choose whatever she likes from the activity folder. I recently added a small activity bin that contains games and jigsaw puzzles. Some require Mommy and some she can do completely independently. She's also free to go play in her room.

[NotDaMama]

Thanks all for the posts, I am working on activities to put together so my wife can pull them out during the week and get an hour here and there for focusing on the older dcs.

 

The more I think about it though, part of the challenge is that he just loves having time with his mommy (a good thing), but he just does not like to play independently (the challenge). My wife and I would appreciate ideas for helping him learn to play and learn more on his own.

[MerryAtHope]

I used to rotate activities every 20-30 minutes, and kept lots of things in bins. www.paulasarchives.com has some good ideas. With 2 older ones, maybe they could each have a 20-30 minute break mid-day and play with him also? Then you could alternate his alone play-time with his playtime that's with them.

 

During read-alouds, I used to tell my dd that she could stay in the room if she listened and played quietly. At first she couldn't do it, and then I'd have her play in her room, but gradually she stayed longer & longer until she could make it the whole time.

 

Merry :-)

[Joyofsixreboot]

My just 3 yo plays with all the good toys and activities listed above. I also let her watch PBS and after about an hour of that I rotate the kids through taking her outside or playing with her.