Dominic will be out of school starting next week so we will be together all day every day all summer. I feel like we don't do anything together. We read books together every night but that seems like it. I went on Nick Jr.com and found some activities that I printed out that I thought we could do together but I know they won't take very long, maybe 20 minutes. I am just constantly feeling guilty for not spending time with him! We hang out but don't really "do" anything together. I am just so afraid he will look back when he is older and feel like I did not do anything fun with him. Since he is an only child he doesn't have anyone else to play with except us (my husband and me). I plan on taking him swimming alot but not sure what else I should do!
I ask him what he wants to do. He will tell me, and it is typically he wants to play pretend play of some type (which i don't like doing). So, we play that for as long as I can tolerate it :) He LOVES it when I play pretend with him, so even though I hate it, I love seeing how happy it makes him. He even sometimes will say "I am so happy when you play this with me!" and that makes it all worth it.
As far as other things, I have to come up with some too. He is in school every day, so I feel like I'm starting from scratch and really need to come up with some planned activities. Some things that are our stand-bys...
- go to the park and play. sometimes i play with him, push him on the swing, go down the slide with him, play in the sand together. sometimes i'm too tired, so i just watch him play and he normally will find another kid that wants to play.
- play soccer. he really likes just going to the soccer field and kicking the ball around. this is something that we can easily do together. we also like to play baseball. actually it is just me throwing the ball and him trying to hit it, but you know what i mean.
- we do like to go to the pool, or the splash park if it is warm enough
- the zoo is always fun
- last summer we had a picnic in the yard almost every day. i would bring a blanket out, and bring our lunches outside for eating. mason loved this, and it was something to do together
- we also like to go for walks and feed the ducks
that is all i can think of off hand. hopefully some other people chime in because i could use some new ideas too.
i am alot like crystal. i'm just not the type of parent that will lay on the carpet and push around matchbox cars while making engine sounds with my kids. i am more the type that will put out paint with water books while i sit at the same table and read the newspaper. i don't necessarily think you need to feel like you always need to "play" with dominic...i bet he is pretty happy just playing near you, kwim?
when we go to the playground i will catch them at the bottom of the slide or push them on the swings, but other than that they are on their own to run around and join the other kids. i think this age is great because they haven't quite reached the "i don't know you so i don't want to play with you stage" with other kids, kwim? most kids seem to still be pretty inclusive and willing to let other kids join them.
we do alot of... walking to see the boats (or whatever scenic thing you have in your town), beach (they dig--i people watch:), lunch picnics, ice cream sundae picnics (my personal favorite:), kicking a ball, riding bikes in the driveway while i do yard work out front, kids love getting a watering can and watering the plants in the yard, sandbox--i dump a bunch of change in our sand box and let the kids have a "treasure" hunt (they could occupy themselves for an hour or more doing this), sprinkler, bubbles, my kids love to cook--their favorite is homemade pizza which is super easy for kids to do if you have never tried...you could even get a little apron and let him decorate it with puff paint as a craft activity, another craft that my kids love is getting an unfinished wooden bird house and painting it...they have kids binoculars and a bird identification book and are really into seeing what type of bird family moves into their house, those cement stepping stone kits are messy, but fun!, homemade playdoh and tons of cookie cutters (i like to just drag a little tykes picnic table outside so they can do playdoh and i can watch from whatever i'm doing in the yard, puddle jumping in galoshes after it rains...
my opinion might not be "right" or popular, but i'm honestly not a big proponent of playing with one's kid(s) the majority of the time. don't get me wrong, as you can see, we do a ton of stuff together, but the focus isn't "what do you want to do? play pretend all day? alright then that's what we will do!" i usually set activities up for them and then do what i need to do in the same area and talk to them the whole time. i think learning to self occupy is an important skill in learning to be independent as they get older. do you think, jasmine, that maybe you feel like you need to play one on one so much of the time because he is an only child? i really don't think you need to feel that way. it is good for dominic to see that mommy has things that need to get done and that he can be happy doing an activity on his own nearby without her necessarily participating in the activity.
Build with blocks, color and/or paint, "cooking"--letting him help make brownies or a cake and letting him decorate with sprinkles and stuff, easy board games, play cars, jump on the trampoline, go for a walk.
That's all mostly Mark stuff.
We've been out of school for a week, and for both boys I've had away-from-home activities planned pretty much everyday so far--Lichterman Nature Center (twice), swimming (twice), Chuck E. Cheese, friends' house, "exploring" at church--both my kids love this one plus they helped me decorate my Mothers' Day Out classroom. We also had friends come over two or three times.
This week, we have a playdate across the street, art project at local museum, zoo, and I'd like to get to the library to sign up for the summer reading program.
The nature center (along with another local museum) has a free summer membership, we have an annual pass for the zoo, and the art project is a free summer activity.
Corey reminded me--Mark loves using cookie cutters with play-dough or actual cookie dough. We've also decorated aprons.
I also tend to set a timer for playtime so that we can stop, and I can do other stuff. Mark also really likes to help cleaning. I give him a spray bottle with either watered-down Windex or just water and dish-soap, and he wipes down the counters and kitchen table. He also likes to sweep. And sort laundry. And help me carry it to the washing machine.
another thing, i don't remember which state you live in, but have you tried googling something like free summer activities for kids in ____??
one thing that is nationwide is the kids bowl free program and i know that many many movie theatres participate in free or cheap kids movies all summer long. i know my theatre does 2 kid movies tues/wed at 10am for 10 weeks or so.
have you checked out what the library has planned?
in massachusetts we have a program called free fun fridays and each friday a different museum in the state offers free admission --it might be worth looking into what your state offers for kids.
A lot of times its watch someones favorite tv show. I do Therapy (play therapy) with raymond and his therapist when shes here so he gets a lot of 1 on 1 time compared to the other kids.
Kaylen I will color with or play legos or play pretend as long as I can lie on the couch IE doctor/patient.
scott well I dont do much with him besides yell no scott no!
I try to find all the free(or cheap) activities I can where she is playing with other kids. Raven likes to play near me so if I'm cooking she is helping or playing with her cooking stuff. She loves to help clean, work in the garden, wash the van, etc. I try to do a theme each week and have a craft and books to go along with it but I enjoy that kind of stuff.
My SIL sent me a list. Look online for things to do this summer or something like that and try to go through the list. I don't think I can attach it but here are some things it says: use old magazines to create a collage have a dance party play dress up decorate placemats to use for dinner illustrate your own book make a music video finger paint color make a paper bag puppet put on a puppet show do a photo shoot create a piece of art for your bedroom tie dye t-shirts design a sand castle water color play dough (you can make your own too) finger puppets coloring contest make a card for someone museum aquarium zoo movies go on a hike go bowling go for a drive treasure hunt (design your own) ice skating mini golf arcade go to a farm - pick veggies, fruit park make homemade shakes make cupcakes, cookies, own popsicles, etc. camp in your backyard/living room play hopscotch sidewalk chalk picnic bike ride feed ducks wash car water balloon fight lemonade stand pillow fight
You get the idea, that's about half of the list I have. I think if you have something like that - something you can cross off as you do things it helps.
Also - most places have free kids movies at the theatre (regal entertainment does, our is called Edwards Theatre) where they show two movies twice a week for free. They are older kids movies but really fun and FREE!!! So, check that out.
Honestly, I feel for you guys that only have one kid. The boys pretend play all.the.time. but they have each other to do that with so it leaves me off the hook.
Thank you so much for all your wonderfull ideas! I have never heard of the free movie thing here, they don't have alot of free stuff for kids here, everything cost money which we do not have alot of right now. I feel alot better that you all do not feel like you have to spend "all day" playing with your kids! Thanks again for all the great ideas!
i am alot like crystal. i'm just not the type of parent that will lay on the carpet and push around matchbox cars while making engine sounds with my kids. i am more the type that will put out paint with water books while i sit at the same table and read the newspaper. i don't necessarily think you need to feel like you always need to "play" with dominic...i bet he is pretty happy just playing near you, kwim?
when we go to the playground i will catch them at the bottom of the slide or push them on the swings, but other than that they are on their own to run around and join the other kids. i think this age is great because they haven't quite reached the "i don't know you so i don't want to play with you stage" with other kids, kwim? most kids seem to still be pretty inclusive and willing to let other kids join them.
we do alot of... walking to see the boats (or whatever scenic thing you have in your town), beach (they dig--i people watch:), lunch picnics, ice cream sundae picnics (my personal favorite:), kicking a ball, riding bikes in the driveway while i do yard work out front, kids love getting a watering can and watering the plants in the yard, sandbox--i dump a bunch of change in our sand box and let the kids have a "treasure" hunt (they could occupy themselves for an hour or more doing this), sprinkler, bubbles, my kids love to cook--their favorite is homemade pizza which is super easy for kids to do if you have never tried...you could even get a little apron and let him decorate it with puff paint as a craft activity, another craft that my kids love is getting an unfinished wooden bird house and painting it...they have kids binoculars and a bird identification book and are really into seeing what type of bird family moves into their house, those cement stepping stone kits are messy, but fun!, homemade playdoh and tons of cookie cutters (i like to just drag a little tykes picnic table outside so they can do playdoh and i can watch from whatever i'm doing in the yard, puddle jumping in galoshes after it rains...
my opinion might not be "right" or popular, but i'm honestly not a big proponent of playing with one's kid(s) the majority of the time. don't get me wrong, as you can see, we do a ton of stuff together, but the focus isn't "what do you want to do? play pretend all day? alright then that's what we will do!" i usually set activities up for them and then do what i need to do in the same area and talk to them the whole time. i think learning to self occupy is an important skill in learning to be independent as they get older. do you think, jasmine, that maybe you feel like you need to play one on one so much of the time because he is an only child? i really don't think you need to feel that way. it is good for dominic to see that mommy has things that need to get done and that he can be happy doing an activity on his own nearby without her necessarily participating in the activity.
Corey, I agree with you about this. I don't play with my kids all the time either, and it isn't just because I have other things that I need to do-I feel they need to learn to play with each other, and play on their own. But I also do feel that is easier with more than one child. Not just because they have a built in playmate, but I do think we parent so differently when we have more than one. I know my parenting is vastly different than it was when it was just Anna, and my BFF said the same thing (she has 2 now-but they are 3 years apart).
Anyway, we do things-and we are really fortunate IMO about where we live-we go to the park and there is an awesome beach there too. So we can do both of those things at the same place. My ILs have a pool, so we go there in the summer as well.
We also have playdates in the front courtyard with my neighbors' girls, or we invite them in our backyard since we are the only ones with a swingset. We do things like Corey mentioned as well-they come out and play while I do yard work-they adore watering too! They also get paid to work at the farm-my FIL pays all the grandkids for "working." They kids LOVE LOVE LOVE that-but it isn't quite the season just yet. Once the veggies are in and the produce stand is up and running, there will be sorting and washing to do, and feeding the cows the dud corn and such. Maybe there are some local petting zoos or farms around you?
Inside, we have some workbooks, which sounds so dull, but they LOVE them. They LOVE tracing letters and numbers and matching and all of those things. I have to be nearby though because they obviously can't read all of the instructions. Play doh is very popular, as is coloring-and when they get their hands on glue and/or scissors, they are like kids in a candy store! They also like to help with chores, so I will give them a rag and some cleaner (I only give them the greenworks kind though-and I never stray too far, lol) and they "clean" things. I have to re-clean, usually, but they love it. They also like to help with laundry and such too.
I am going to try really hard this summer to do better with playdates. The girls have friends now, and they want to do playdates all the time-but I am lazy and never call people to ask them if they want to! So i am going to try and be better about that and be more social.
Honestly though-I am fairly lame. We don't go to the zoo a lot, or other day trips. We don't go to "places" often-we tend to stick close to home and so stuff here, or go to the park or whatnot. I am a homebody-and I seem to raising two of the same!!
