It's not uncommon for us to find ourselves waiting around. Sitting in the car for five hours driving up the coast, waiting for one sister to get her haircut, waiting for the bread to be brought to the table at a restaurant, waiting for whatever the next thing is.
And when you're a kid, waiting 5 minutes can feel like an hour.
We all have strategies for making these waiting periods a little less painful. Here are a few of mine:
- Keep coloring books and crayons in the car to bring into restaurants.
- Have books on tape or CD for long car rides.
- Sing along {loudly} to music in the car.
- Pass around the cell phone to play "Bubble Breaker."
- Let the girls run around on a patch of grass, jump on rocks, or climb on benches and stairs.
- Review things we've been learning - our phone number, address, the continents...
- Talk. Have a conversation. Ask them their thoughts on different things.
- Pull one girl at a time onto my lap to hug, kiss, an whisper how much I love her into her ear.
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14 comments:
we love to color, and running around on a small grassy patch it fun too! sometimes we'll go buy a little snack. often waiting time seems to turn into special time!
Oh gosh. We'll sing songs, practice "whispering" (I have 3 year old twins, so that's sort of tough!), count anything and everything, do "copy mom" as I put my hands on my head, my nose, etc. I hope more people comment because I need more ideas!!
I-Touch! I download music and cartoons for Max to "watch & listen" during those long waits. Also, the I-Touch is small enough to fit in a pocket/purse. I love technology!
We pretty much do most of the same things - will also add:
- play "I-spy" in our new surroundings
- see who can point to the correct body part/clothing fastest (IE: where is your collar bone, where is your ankle ...)
- coloring ... but specifically ask him to color a picture for a family or friend that has an upcoming birthday, etc.
James is learning nursery rhymes--he said Hey Diddle Diddle last night and my husband said he didn't even know it! I love unscheduled learning opportunities (that are FUN)!
My girls found the coolest books at Borders the other day. They made me think of you. I can envision you MAKING them. One was called 'Beautiful Doodles-over 100 pictures to complete and create' by Nellie Ryan. Another one was called, 'Do you Doodle?' and also 'Super Doodle' by Nikalas Catlow. They are big books with pages that say things like...Decorate the tea set and What can you see through the magic keyhole? Or What can the dentist see? And it has a simple pic of a child face with their mouth open and you get to fill it in. So many different doodle beginnings. They are SO fun. Check them out when you can! If by any chance you make some I'd love to see them! :)
I LOVE those Doodle coloring books. They are so much fun. I want to get one for myself.
Great list! We love playing eye spy.
We like to use the silverware in a restaurant to make a tic-tac-toe grid and then use colored sugar packets for the Xs and Os! Works like a charm!! :)
We do a lot of those same things. That bubble popper game on the iPhone is a lifesaver sometimes... :)
For a bit older kids there are coloring books called "un-coloring books" they are similar to the doodle books mentioned. They are great and push that imagination! Just started following, love reading your past post and looking forward to your future posts as well.
I like to pack books to read while we wait for food in a restaurant. We also use this opportunity to just talk or to create our own verbal games. We have a lot of fun as a family as we wait for our meals to come!
Jen
Creative and Curious Kids!
We too, listen to audio books. A lot. We are listening to one in the car, one in the house, and the kids each have their own for bedtime. We pick new ones every week when we go to the library.
Another thing we do is play license plate games (sorry, I am tired... I may not have spelled that right) We copied the map from "Scrambled States Of America" and use it to mark off when we find plates from different states. Alex and I play a different version (the one that is for older kids) where we have to find numbers... you start with 001 or 000 at the begining of the plate number, and then go up from there... but you can't go on until you have found each number in the sequence.
The Eye Spy jar I just made has been a great 'waiting' toy too. I posted about that one.
I must know... what is 'bubble breaker'?
Val
Besides "I Spy" we play "What letter does it start with/end with?" and "What animal am I?" I throw in things I want them to learn--words like hibernate and nocturnal and concepts of the food chain, the characteristics of mammals, birds, etc. I start with hard clues and gradually get easier. That is their favorite game.
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