What do you do with toddlers?

[mommy123]

What do you do with a toddler who is busy and active while you try to school your older kids? My preschoolers and K'er love doing manipulative activities, but my 18 month old wants to be right in the middle putting things in her mouth, knocking things over, climbing up the table, etc... How do you guys handle this? Also, when they older ones have crayons or markers she seems to find them and we get lovely art work on walls, floor, herself... I feel like I should be able to handle this, but I think I need a different approach! How do you plan your activities so you have time for all your kids?

[Leimarie]

No advice from me... I'm having the same problem. :( I'll be listening to hear what the veteran's say!

[PeterPan]

One, high chair. Start when they're little and work them up to it. Make it super-duper fun time: Hurray, school! Give them lots of fun stuff, food, special things, and SET THE TIMER, so it ends predictably. Start low and work up, adding a few minutes a week. I started around 7-9 months with my ds and quickly had him at 45 minutes, no problem. He's quite active the rest of the time. It's just that I keep it pleasurable and have an end point.

 

Two, spend money keeping up with new, fresh things. I just went to ToysRUs yesterday and plunked out for new cool stuff. (puzzle with latches, lacing shoes, pounding toy, etc.) It can be stuff you make, stuff you buy, prized snacks, anything. Crayola makes marvelous, non-messy things to doodle with. Lauri makes a wonderful shape stacker/sorter my ds really enjoyed at that age (and still does). Stacking cups, alphabet blocks with things inside from Fisher Price, cardboard books I made him. Melissa and Doug has a wonderful train with pegs for shapes.

 

Three, remember that 18 months is easier than 2 years. Start teaching him now, or it will get worse. A toddler with the expectation that he can run around the entire time whacking people and whamming things can be a real terror! It's much harder now than it was at 18 months. Just work at it and find some peace. Besides, a K5er needs only an hour of formal school a day, max. Everything else is read alouds you can do while rocking the baby.

 

Four, use tools. I'm all for good videos for the toddler, books on tape for the K5er, etc.

 

Five, just go with it. We can do more science any day, but I can't get back these days and years with my toddler. Sometimes we get too serious too early about schoolwork. With the 10 year gap between my kids, I find my perspective very different. I worry a lot less, try less hard, and stop to enjoy them a lot more.

[justamouse]

roll them up in bacon and let the dogs lick them?

 

OK, you want real answers?

 

let them string big fat beads at their high chair

give them a dishpan with warm water, bubbles and measuring cups

give them a dishpan full of dried beans with cups, and spoons

fat crayons and pieces of paper.

a cute hamster and some cheerios

a sand landscape thingie

a xylophone

a puzzle box

puzzles

shoe boxes and beanbags

magnet dolls

the hammer and the pegs-you know that toy where they hammer the pegs down?

an old checkbook and a pen

a big box on the floor draped with blankies

a dry erase board and alphabet magnets

 

(I took a high chair as a given, sorry) do schoolwork on the floor when you have to, don't forget to get up and dance

Edited November 3, 2010 by justamouse

[prairie rose]

We used playpens, high chairs and baby gates even once they were fully capable of climbing out on their own. I gave the little one their own activity in the playpen or high chair or room they are confined to. We also utilized nap times while they still napped. And a well timed half hour or even hour long kids show never hurt anyone. We didn't use markers when my kids were all early elementary and under. No one suffered any trauma from not having markers to color with until late elementary or middle school. Crayons we just monitored and kept a large supply of magic erasers and had the offender, not mommy, erase their artwork. I would supervise to make sure the magic erase was not put in their mouth and help apply enough pressure, but they did most of the work, even as toddlers.

[dsmama]

Love these ideas. I need them!

 

We are doing a combination of gating and high chair, plus taking advantage of nap time for intensive things like science projects.

 

I gated off our large family room and have child-proofed it as best I can. Then I often assign a big girl to be in there with him, either playing with him or reading to him, or we do reading/spelling/phonics time on the couch. Then he gets to watch one video (signing time or Love and Learning, which is alphabet and sounds).

 

Good luck, everyone!

[mommy123]

Thanks for all these ideas... I need to master the art of the high chair! We've moved to the booster seat with the smaller tray, and things usually end up on the floor if I give her something besides food. I also need to get out the pack and play sport, I had forgotten about that!

[Amy in KS]

1. Get as much school done while the 18 month is eating or napping as possible. Make a whiteboard with your goals in each subject and review it at breakfast, lunch, snack. Read a story at each meal.

 

2. Anything with soapy water or watercolor paints is very fun! We painted leaves, rocks, pasta, etc with washable watercolors. The next day, I gave them buckets soapy water and special brushes and we washed everything we painted with special brushes. You can paint/wash tons of things!!!!

 

3. Anything that involves using hand or pincer grip can be engaging. Pouring rice or popcorn into various containers, using an eyedropper to fill containers, picking up buttons out of rice with tweezers, etc... Putting toothpicks into the toothpick holders with the tiny holes in the top is very fun, too.

 

4. I love the superyard gate!

 

5. Carschool during nap/should be napping time. Sonic happy hour corresponds well to when toddlers should be napping and might be napping if they just go for a bit of a drive...

[Rivka]

My toddler likes to have his own math worksheet and pencil. He will earnestly scribble away, randomly calling out numbers, while we work.

 

I have popped him into a warm bath and sat on the bathroom floor with his sister, listening to her read while he scooped and poured.

 

He loves, loves, loves to peel crayons. He is only allowed to do this when big sister is doing school.

 

We do as much active learning as possible. Math on the sidewalk with chalk (harder now that it's getting cold; I may need to clear work space on the concrete basement floor), acting out vocabulary words, manipulatives for math (toddler gets his own pile of Cuisenaire rods), etc.

[ondreeuh]

My 9 year old needs a quiet environment to work, and my toddler is anything but quiet. We save the bulk of our work for naptime (which is a glorious 3 hours!). Sometimes I can sneak in the math lesson while the toddler is watching TV and then ds can finish up the review in his bedroom.

 

I don't know what I'll do when he outgrows his long nap. (shudder)

[ZooRho]

Duct tape

[prairie rose]

Duct tape

 

:lol:

 

I have more than once threatened to duct tape a particularly naughty toddler to the ceiling....we always seem to be out of duct tape when I really feel I need it though. :lol:

[AngelBee]

Duct tape

Hmmm...I was going to say duct tape and a ceiling fan! :tongue_smilie: :lol:

[debbielong]

When my youngest gave up that glorious nap, I hired an 11-year-old home schooled girl to be a "mother's helper" two days a week. Her mom even transported her for me most days! She played make-believe with our toddler for hours and hours and hours (in the basement and out of sight). She was (and still is!) such a gift to our family:).

[delaney]

Ugh tough one! My mother thankfully takes the little terror 2 days per week so we really jam in more on those days. We do read alouds and history while he is napping the other days. I have DD's rotate playing with him while I do reading and math with the other. He is in love with Blue's Clues and Wiggles right now so I let him watch some of that on the laptop in the next room so that he can see us.