Keeping a young child busy can be a real challenge. Keeping them busy without electronics can be even harder. Here’s some ideas with items found at home:
- Gather spoons, small cups and empty containers along with a large bowl or plate. Using one container of salt (less than $1), pour the salt into the large bowl. Show your child how to use the spoons and cups to scoop out salt, noticing which has more or less. How many spoonfuls does it take to fill the cup? How many cupfuls of salt are in the big bowl? Scoop some out with your hand—does that fill a spoon or a cup? What happens if you scoop out the salt with your hand and slowly fill the cup? If using a plate, trace patterns in the salt. Depending on the child’s age, use shapes, letters, numbers, patterns. I can trace a square, can you? Here’s the first letter in your name…what comes next?
- Using empty plastic water or two liter bottles, cut the tops off down around the widest part. Fill about 2/3 full of water.Have a scavenger hunt to find small items around the house that would fit in bottle. One at a time, put an item in the water. Guess if it will sink or float. For older children, estimate how long it will take to sink to the bottom. Time it.
- Want your kitchen countertops to shine? If they’re made of a hard, non-porous surface like Formica, use a can of foam shaving cream (less than $2) to squirt on a small area. Roll up the child’s sleeves and show them how to move both hands around in the shaving cream. Make doodles and “erase” by wiping over. Occasionally drip some water on the counter to keep it smooth. Make silly emoji faces, letters and numbers. Allow the child to simply move the shaving cream around, enjoying the calming sensation with their hands.
- Do you have a stash of old coloring books, catalogs, greeting cards? Join your child in cutting out pictures—anything and everything. Using a large cookie sheet (less than $2), sort the cut-outs. People vs. animals. Four-legged vs. two-legged. Run vs. fly. Red things vs. green things. Scary vs. funny. For older children, things spelled with five letters or less vs. more than five letters.Water-dwellers vs. land dwellers. Encourage your child to use the cut-outs to tell a story. Sequence the story on the cookie sheet. Start on the left and move to the right—this is pre-reading!
