Boredom Busters

My kiddos are close in age--almost six yo, four and a half, and almost three.  They don't yet know the word "bored" (don't ask me how I pulled that one off!) but they sure know how to act that way! When the Boredom Monster comes to stay for a while, I see a definite increase in yelling, fighting over toys, and whining.  I don't like any of those things (does anyone?!?) and  I have found that if I give them some structured activity, they tend to play better by themselves after the activity is over.  So, here are some things we are doing in our house this summer. . .

1)  Chores.  I know, they are young, but they can still help do something.  I recently invested in small watering cans, a new and easy-to-use broom and dust pan set, and a swiffer mop.  Although I'm not thrilled with the results of the swiffer, it is easy for them to use, they feel very responsible, and the floor is cleaner than doing nothing (which is what happens to my floor most of the time!).  They also help clean the bathroom, and they do a pretty decent job when they do it with me.  After spending an hour doing chores with mama, they are usually very excited to be left alone in their toy room!

2)  Stations that they pick.  Because of the work of having many small children, we don't have a lot of playtime one-on-one.  We recently played a little game together that went something like this:  For 15 minutes we did what Silly Boy wanted to do.  For the next 15 minutes we did what Crazy Man wanted to do.  For the next 15 minutes we did what Sweet Girl wanted to do.  No one could complain about the activity their sibling chose or they would lose their time to choose the activity.  Everyone had to participate with each activity.  I couldn't answer the phone during our 45 minutes of playing.  Because I was so focused on them and they each had a time to control the activity for their siblings, everyone left the time very happy!

3)  Stations that I pick.  There are a lot of toys in our house that our kids just don't touch unless I bring it to their attention.  Since we home school, I have a small collection of "educational" toys.  I make stations that could include a book station (with a theme like all Dora books or all Thomas books), puzzles, lacing activities, stamps and paper (or stickers and paper), and play dough.  Every 10 minutes they have to change activities. They have to do all of the activities and they can't switch activities until the timer goes off.  The lack of control over what they play, when they play it, and how long they can play it can certainly cause some tension (such a good teachable moment or three!), but the decrease in control over their play also makes them so thankful for "free" playtime that they handle the free time much better after we do our station time.

There you have it--three strategies this mama uses to keep peace in the home and hair on my head (you pull yours out, too, from time to time, right??)