image via The Wheat Field on Etsy
Hudson is on Spring Break starting today. I wish it was a super fun thing and we were going on vacation. But, no vacations this time. It’s just preschool Spring Break.
Hudson actually loves school. He cries every day when we leave his teachers. Every morning when we’re getting dressed, I have to say, “Mrs. Julie needs you to obey Mommy and get dressed.” He adores his teachers.
I’m a little bit worried about this next week or so- just because I want to make sure Hudson doesn’t get bored. When I’m at home with Hayes and Hudson is at school, I focus a lot on Hayes because that’s the only one-on-one time he gets all day. So I need some activities to keep Hudson entertained and engaged. I don’t want him to get bored.
One day we will go to the zoo and another day we’ll go to EdVenture, our local children’s museum. We’re going to dye Easter eggs another day. But I need a few fun projects and crafts or outings we can do every day.
I’m actually tempted to set up a daily schedule for him so he’ll have some things he knows he can look forward to.
So, please, readers and friends. Give me your best ideas! Anything fun you’ve seen on Pinterest? Crafts that aren’t super involved?
We’ll also go to the park and maybe even break out the baby pool on a hot day. But I want to be prepared to have a fun week with fun activities. Any early childhood teachers with some fun ideas?
Happy Spring Break week to any of you who are out this next week, too!
PInterest is the best for this! Painting day where he tackles a blank canvas. Maybe a walk around a park or nature garden to learn about flowers/plants? Have him make homemade birthday cards for future friends’ birthdays? Build a fort? Here are more!
http://www.allfortheboys.com/
No kids of my own but when I was a daycare teacher my toddlers loved sensory play the best. Finger painting, any water play activities, shaving cream, etc. I recently saw that Katie from Marriage Confessions had done a pinterest project where she made colored rice and used that for sensory play – I thought that idea was precious! I also think the idea of putting him on a schedule (maybe one that mirrors school?) is a great idea! Even if its a loose one it may help him to keep his rhythm and transition better from school to home to back to school next week. Good luck and have fun enjoying your boys!
Making homemade play-doh is fun and then they get to enjoy it afterward. Also baking cookies and letting them stir, mix, etc.
Maybe take him to the local library and get his first library card and book?
so if you are already out and about, and there is a pet store nearby, go there! you can easily kill an hour in there just looking.
Finger painting. Mine loves it. Just strip him down so he doesn’t ruin anything and you’re good to go!
You can get great free coloring printables online and make a “theme” everyday, like a certain letter. Serve snacks that start with that letter, etc. My kids also love to “paint” in the bathtub with chocolate pudding – it’s fun for them to get messy & easy clean up for me! We have also been doing treasure hunts in the yard – hide a few toys he already has and draw a picture map of them. Then have him hunt around for all the items. Good luck & have fun!!
We’re on break too and are going to attempt potty training next week…fun times! Any friends that you can’t normally have play dates with due to school schedules? We’re having one of those today. Also a friend recently showed me this site http://www.littlefamilyfun.com/ which is full of VERY SIMPLE crafts. I always complain a little that the crafts I see aren’t geared toward hyper little boys like mine 🙂 I’m going to get the supplies to do a few of them while we are home bound next week. Happy Spring Break!
My little boys both love to dig through rice. I give them each a big bowl and some plastic cups and spoons and they’re occupied for awhile, it’s like a sandbox. I’ve also let them “paint” in the bathtub using shaving cream dyed with food coloring. You can put the shaving cream in a muffin tin and give them sponges to use. Mine also like to just cut paper with safety scissors and will put stickers on paper. The 2 yr old is too little for creating a craft but he will use scissors. If you have magnetic toys, like letters or those leapfrog toys that you put on the fridge, putting them on a cookie sheet and setting them at the table gets my 2 yr old interested for awhile. I feel your spring break pain. I have a 4yr old, 2yr old, and a newborn. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Good luck!
How about a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood or an obstacle course in the backyard?
We were on Spring Break last week and did some fun things. Went to see the Lorax in 3D (we went at the 10:45 showing and were the only ones there), glow in the dark Easter egg hunt in the house, we bought a water table for outside, the zoo, McWane Center (children’s museum) and the aquarium.
I don’t know if Hudson is still into drawing and stickers but I bought a huge posterboard and taped it to the floor (with painters tape) so that it made a wide band around it and let her color/use her stickers on that poster, it keeps her entertained.
My boys 2 & 4 love for me to get out all the art supplies and let them have at it. I get out markers, colored pencils, crayons, glue, stickers, scissors, and they have the best time.
Sounds like you have some fun ideas already posted and the zoo and museum sound like lots of fun! The best spring breaks we’ve ever had were when we just hung out at home and weren’t over-scheduled or over-planned. The kids feel the calmness of not having to rush or go somewhere all of the time. With that said, i know they get bored too. You could bake something – cupcakes are always a big hit. Or make dirt cake – boys love that! Nature walk in the backyard, where you search for certain things and then glue them to paper to show a scrapbook of your walk.
Totally agree with the importance of having something to look forward to each day! Many independent toy shops have little areas where the kids can play. It’s free and out of the house and a safe environment. Also book shops! I tend to stay away from the well known play/game areas and sites during breaktime as they’re so chaotic and I don’t manage well.
Even a trip to target can be an outing! I put both kids in the cart, go to the $ bins and let them choose something, and go to the toy aisle to find something to play with IN THE STORE (!) and do my shopping. Then I get the kids lunch there while I have a coffee….
As a former 4th grade teacher, I love activities that go along with a good book. Get If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If you Give a Moose a Muffin, If you Give a Pig a Pancake…. Read the story together and then make the treat to go along with eat – cookies, muffins, pancakes… A perfect way to make sure you’re getting some educational time in and you get to eat something yummy too! Pluse Hayes can enjoy this activity as well!
I buy cheap canvases from hobby lobby and let hudson paint, we then hang them up in the playroom. We also fill buckets or bowls with rice, beans, oats, etc and do sensory play.
As a kindergarten teacher, I had my students make a pumpkin before Halloween by ripping small pieces of orange paper, and gluing them onto a pre-cut tag board pumpkin. You could easily do this with an Easter egg template…..it’s great fine motor practice for him to be ripping the paper, and takes a while so would pass the time ;-). I found this from a teacher resource site in a google image search so you can get an idea: http://www.theteacherscorner.net/images/tearpumpkin2.jpg.
Happy crafting!
Found this on Pinterest and plan to use it this summer with my girls:
Make it Monday: craft or project
Time to read Tuesday: trip to the library
What’s Cooking Wednesday: bake or cook together
Thoughtful Thursday: write a letter, make cookies, visit nursing home, etc
Somewhere Fun Friday: take a trip to the museum, zoo, get out of the house
It’s from the website somewhatsimple.com
Others are mentioning sensory play, so I’ll toss in some fine motor ideas too: http://handsonaswegrow.com/2012/01/30-kids-activities-materials-for-promoting-fine-motor-skills.html
Good luck–hope the week is fun. On thoughtful Thursday he can make something for Mrs. Julie. 🙂
Go to the fire station on Define St or the big one on Barnwell St. I took my son a lot when he was your boys age and the visits were always fun. Head to Cupcake after that for a yummy treat! Also, Sims park is always fun!
Plant some beans in soil and a paper cup and watch them grow! Such a fun science project. My 3 year old did this at school.
what about a picnic at a park with swings?
You can give him “room time” in which he’d have to play by himself for an hour in his room. It helps develop self-control and creativity as well as give all of you a bit of space- every one needs a bit of time alone daily. Perhaps as a fun reward for staying in there, you can have an egg hunt. I used to divide up my kids’ snack (crackers, a few M&Ms, etc) into plastic eggs and hide them to find after their naps during spring weeks. They loved hunting for them and then would sit at their little table and open each egg.
P.S. I have also purchased paint with water books and cheap brushes and taped a page in the tub for them to paint while they bathe.
saving cream paints, you can do it in the tub or even at the dinner table
http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2011/03/rainbow-shaving-cream-bath-paint.html
go to sams or costco & grab like 7 boxes.. cut them into strips, have Hudson make a obstacle course or fort
I have a 3 year old boy and a 1 1/2 year old boy, and because they tend to make messes without my help, I don’t usually do things like finger painting and other headache-inducing crafts. The best thing we did last summer during a stretch of 100 degree days was take an old cardboard box and cut it down to make it flat. I used painters tape and made a whole city with roads. My boys still love to pull it out and drive their hot wheels on it.
I think it’s a great idea to keep a schedule for the week. maybe keep it similar to his preschool schedule? That way it wont be such a hard transition to being at home all week AND it wont be such a hard transition going back. You could do craft time, song time, story time–whatever the preschool does. The theme for the week could even be Easter! You could do lessons from the Bible and read Easter books all week. He might really enjoy it, and you will too! xo
I am going to save this thread for future use! Also, I didn’t see these mentioned: Bubbles are really fun for outdoor play, as is chalk for the sidewalk. I feel like those two could take up an hour or two! Good luck Erin!
The Storybook Exhibit at Edventure is great!! I love Saluda Shoals too, even though my car was broken into there on Sat! I think we’re headed to the zoo on Fri. My girls love funzone too! Have fun!!