Keeping Him Entertained

I could give you a list of "things-to-do" but you'd soon run out of them and would be looking for more.

Instead, look at it this way...

Once you get past the screen time negotiations and the "I'm bored"s - a whole world opens up!

The only thing you need to do is supply the raw materials, an imaginative suggestion (if they even need it), and then get out of the way!

I loved this book as a kid - a boy sick in bed and all the clever, creative things he manages to do with a ball of string.

See what your kids can do with raw materials like:

Boxes and Tape - all kinds of tape!

Markers, Paper, and String

Give them a problem to solve.

What can they make to do one of their chores more efficiently?

Can they make an automatic dog feeder? etc. etc.

Give them an adventure.

Put a blanket on the floor - the island - and let them equip it with everything they'll need from now until bedtime. Then, on they go to the island while gator or sharks swim around... you get the idea.

Foster a connection.

Can you use all of your green legos to make a way to transport teddy bear down the stairs?

Can you act out a scene from the book you're reading? - make the scene, etc.

When all else fails...

Living in Maine when my girls were little - we had a LOT of -30 degree days to contend with. My go-to was the kitchen. Let them bake. Let them make up recipes. Let them play in a sink full of water.

Funny enough… after all that time in the kitchen...fast forward 20 years and my oldest daughter started, ran and then sold a successful snack making business before she turned 30.

You never know where long days of creative, open-ended, imaginative play will lead!

Now, go find some string and get out of the way...!

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