M&M has always been a momma's girl. She wants to be anywhere I am, doing anything I am doing. Having a shadow all day can get a little bit old at times even though I love my daughter immensely! I just need some breathing room and space every once in a while. I saw a great idea on the Let's Explore blog. She got a little bucket and small pieces of paper where she wrote down all of the toys and craft supplies that they had. Then when the kids get bored they pick out a piece of paper and play with whatever they pick out! She calls them Idea Cards. I gave this a try this past week and it worked out so well. I actually have two buckets. One bucket is for things that M&M has to do alone and the other one is "mommy and me" activities. M&M asks to pick things out now. Examples of some of the things that I put on the cards are:
Color in coloring books, playdough, doll house, blocks, stuffed animals, foam stickers, puzzles, etc. These are all things that are not messy and she can do on her own. It's so funny because if I just suggest these things when she gets bored she says, no! But when she picks it out of the bucket she gets excited and plays by herself for a good amount of time. This has worked really well for us!
(This is another blog carnival that I really like, but I probably won't do it every week.)
Love this! Great idea.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!!
ReplyDeleteWe tried the same approach, but, alas, it didn't work as well for us, at least not yet. I am afraid Anna was quite anxious lately - with school changes, vacations, etc., and she was clinging to me for dear life. I will try it again once life settles back into routine.
ReplyDeletedarling idea- seems so easy, yet the suspense makes it so appealing! thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDelete