Fuss-Free Fun For Your Young Family
Now more than ever it has become important to encourage our young children to use their imaginations to keep them entertained and happy instead of relying on electronic devices.
Fortunately, there are "play experts" who can share their knowledge and expertise to help parents with this important work.
We share these top tips
Making use of household objects
For example, we all know how very young children will happily sit on the floor in front of a kitchen cupboard full of pots and pans, pulling them all out to stack and to bang them about. Great entertainment! Other suggestions including getting out some props such old bed linen or towels plus cardboard boxes so that they can make a fortress or a den or even a spaceship.
Getting musical
Music is a great way for children (of all ages) to bond and have fun at the same time. Apart from actually playing an instrument - such as a set of drums! - putting together a playlist of favorite songs to sing along to or even for dancing together can be great fun. There can be a playlist of each child or a general one that everyone enjoys.
Clever ways to get children to help without their realizing it!
Younger children are usually more than happy to help their parents. You can bring out a box of all those socks minus a mate and start a sock-sorting challenge to see how many they can match up. Another idea is to to set a timer for a clearing up or tidying up session. Choose an area to concentrate on and give them so many minutes to complete their task. Blow a whistle to get them started and the timer will tell them when their time is up.
Having a quiet time
It does not have to be all about noise, doing something quietly is good too. Some suggestions include activities such as breathing, closing your eyes or getting into a stretchy yoga pose. If you want more ideas, go to these 22 Simple Calming Activities for Pre-School Children.
Embracing free play
When children use their creativity freely, they learn problem solving skills as well as independence. Open ended activities such as construction toys or art and craft products are a great way to start. You should never feel guilty if you don't have activities and suggestions lined up. It is so good for your children to have free play.
Encouraging a toy swap
Toys tend to pile up with more and more added to the collection, taking up lots of space and often ignored. Your children could organize a toy swap with friends and cousins. Suggest they sort out any unused toys and games into different age groups - and then into boxes or bags. Those in good condition could even be sold or donated to charity.
Hammering and nailing pieces of wood
Fostering a future interest in carpentry is another suggestion. Collecting different sizes and shapes of wood offcuts together with child size hammers and a selection of nails will provide plenty of fun and creativity. Another idea is to go for a walk where there are lots of trees - to collect old branches. Your children might need some help with sawing the branches into more manageable sizes for construction.
Playing with sand is another popular idea
And it can benefit children too by developing fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination and muscle strength; learning about the properties of sand and water while exploring math and science concepts; enhancing creativity, imagination and artistic expression; improving focus, attention span and problem-solving skills; and playing co-operatively, sharing, negotiating and socializing with others. Set up a sandbox in your backyard - or even inside if space allows and you can avoid too much mess! Of course, trips to a beach or a park with some sand are ideal. Here are some ideas for playing with sand...
- Building sandcastles by packing wet sand into molds or shaping it with your hands. Add turrets, moats and flags for extra flair.
- Digging and excavating using shovels, buckets or your hands to dig holes, tunnels and trenches.
- Arranging different colors of sand in layers inside glass containers to make beautiful sand art.
- Burying treasures by hiding small toys, seashells or coins in the sand and challenge someone to find them.
- Pressing feet or hands into the sand to leave imprints and experimenting with different angles and depths.
- Writing and drawing by using sticks or your fingers to write messages, draw pictures, or playing games in the sand.
- Sculpting animals, cars or other shapes out of damp sand.
Blowing bubbles
All young children enjoy blowing and chasing those elusive bubbles. You can buy commercial containers of bubble mix complete with a plastic wand for blowing or you can make your own. And this activity comes with benefits as it encourages your child to take turns with you and other children while learning to blow bubbles is good exercise for the developing muscles in the jaw and mouth.
And finally...
If you are still looking for more ideas, then this site will provide you with fifty easy ideas for children, providing fun while being fast and easy to set up and keep them busy and engaged.
SOURCES:
Amanda Gummer Genius Expert | The Genius of Play
How play strengthens your child’s mental health | UNICEF Parenting
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.