100 Ways to Keep Kids Busy, Psychologia i porady
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
101+ Ways
to Keep Kids Busy
To the Caregiver
As a caregiver, you have
a very important job. For
many hours each day you
take the place of the
child’s parent. You in-
fluence the child in many
ways.
reading and singing. They
became small-sized
couch potatoes.
active and doing things.
These children were
growing and developing
to the fullest.
Another caregiver, just
down the street, planned
every day and had her
two children active and
reading, helping fix lunch
and doing many fun ac-
tivities. These children
were alive. They smiled
and laughed and cried and
giggled!
101+ Ways to Keep Kids
Busy
can help you help
the children you care for
to grow and develop. It’s
full of wonderful ideas of
things you can plan and
do with your children.
The early years of the
child’s life are extremely
important. The child is
growing and developing.
You can help the child
grow and develop to the
fullest.
Young children are sup-
posed to be active, curi-
ous, questioning, busy,
and a host of other things.
Which of these two fam-
ily child care homes do
you think was the happi-
est? Which one had the
most positive influence
on the children’s growth
and development? Of
course the answer is the
family child care home
where the children were
Not long ago, a caregiver
was discovered who al-
lowed the two children
she cared for to watch
TV for hours and hours.
These two children soon
became dull children.
They weren’t interested
in running and jumping,
We hope you’ll use
101+
Ways to Keep Kids Busy
and we hope you’ll make
every effort to help your
children grow and de-
velop to the fullest.
He or she? Him or her?
Please note:
In this and all Better Kid Care publications we take turns referring
to children as “he” or “she.” When we use he or she, we include all children.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
2
101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○
Have a Telephone
Conversation
A homemade telephone
can help younger children
build their vocabulary
skills and also be a lot of
fun. The phone can be
made of styrofoam, card-
board, or plastic cups.
Make a Necklace
Empty thread spools that
are painted different colors
can make a safe necklace
for younger children. They
can even help you make
the necklace.
Make a Musical
Instrument
A musical instrument can
easily be made with two
small paper plates and
beans. Place the beans on
one plate. Cover with the
other plate. Tape, glue, or
staple the plates together.
Encourage the child to play
the instrument to music.
(Due to choking hazards,
this activity is not intended
for children under three
years of age.)
Take the spools and string
them together with a soft
string or shoe lace. The
younger children will
enjoy helping you do this.
The phone line should
have two “receivers.”
Punch a small hole in the
bottom of each cup, and
push the ends of a 15 to 20
foot string through the
holes. Tie a large knot at
each end of the string. The
children can stretch out the
string and begin their
conversation.
Colored Sand Art
Take dry sand from the
sand box and put a handful
into several small contain-
ers. Add some food color-
ing into each container and
mix together until the sand
is colored.
Let’s Jump
Have the children stand
with their toes at a starting
line. When you give a
signal, have the children
jump five times forward.
The distance each child
jumped can be measured
with chalk or string. Let
the children jump again to
see if they can improve
their distance.
Give the children some
paper and glue. Have them
make patterns with the
glue to make a design.
When they are finished, let
them sprinkle the glue with
the colored sand.
Learning Important
Information
Help a child learn his
telephone number and
address while playing.
Tape the house number on
a play house or the bed-
room door. The telephone
number can be taped to a
play telephone. Ask the
child his telephone number
and address frequently.
Obstacle Course
An obstacle course can be
set up either in or out of
doors. Chairs, old tires,
stools, and logs are just a
few things that can be
used. Make and show the
children the pattern of the
course so that they know
what they have to crawl
over, under, or through.
Counting the Dishes
Have the children help set
the table for meals or snack
and ask them to count how
many napkins, forks,
dishes, and spoons will be
needed.
Household Items
Can Be Fun
Egg cartons, milk cartons,
empty thread spools, flour,
salt, water, and food
coloring can be used to
make fun, safe educational
toys and materials for the
children.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
3
101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
Paste Jewelry
What you need:
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup salt
warm water
Egg and Milk Cartons
as Toys
Cut egg cartons into
individual cups and make
them look like flowers.
Use a pipe cleaner as a
stem. The children can also
make puppets out of egg
cartons and pipe cleaners.
Ideas with Paper
Children can make a
collage or book by cutting
pictures out of old maga-
zines and gluing them on a
piece of paper or cut out
colorful magazine strips
and wrap around a tooth
pick. Pull the toothpick
out, glue strip, let dry, and
thread between beads.
What you do:
Mix the ingredients in a
bowl. Add warm water
gradually until the mixture
forms a dough. Before
working with the dough,
dust with flour to reduce
the stickiness. The children
can shape the dough into
different shaped beads. A
hole can be pierced in each
bead with a toothpick. Dry
the beads on a screen.
Milk cartons can be
transformed into great
building blocks or a train.
To make the blocks,
simply cut the top off two
cartons and push them
together. The blocks can be
covered with contact
paper.
Feel Box
Find an old shoe box. Cut a
hole in the lid. You can ask
the children to decorate the
box. Put some things in the
box. Let each child put one
hand in the hole and try to
guess what is in the box by
feeling the objects.
Go Bird Watching
Make a bird feeder out of a
paper milk or juice carton.
Cut out two opposite side
panels and fold down to
make a ledge for the birds
to rest on. Let the children
decorate the carton. Put a
string through the top to
hang. The bird feeder can
be hung from a tree or
clothesline near a window.
Let the children add the
seed when necessary.
To make a train, cut the top
off of the carton and cover
with contact paper. For
wheels, glue four egg
carton cups on the bottom
of each “car” of the train.
The cars can be connected
with string or yarn.
Experiment with Water
Fill three jars with water
and mark the level on each
jar. Place one jar in the
freezer and one in a win-
dow. Put a lid on the third
jar and put it beside the
jar in the
window.
Have the
children check
the jars fre-
quently. Talk
about expan-
sion of
water, evapora-
tion, and air.
Homemade
Puppets
Old socks,
mittens, and
lunch bags
make interesting
hand puppets. Chil-
dren love to talk through
puppets. This gives them
the chance to create their
own characters. Use
markers to make eyes and
noses and yarn for hair.
The children can even add
clothes, a hat, teeth, or
ears.
Fun Play Dough
What you need:
2 parts flour
1 part salt
1 part water
food color
What you do:
Mix and knead until it is
doughy and the color is
mixed in well. Store in a
covered container.
Make a Newspaper
What you need:
several sheets of paper
safety scissors
crayons
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
4
101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
construction paper
glue
What you do:
Have the children decide
the theme of the collage.
Write the theme at the top
of the paper. They can look
through magazines and cut
out pictures that follow the
theme. Some ideas for
themes are dogs, cats, or
plants.
magazine. Each child can
paste the pictures into a
book made of paper and
bound with yarn. Each
child can write or dictate a
short story about each
picture.
What you do:
A child can make her own
newspaper by drawing or
cutting out pictures of
events or writing a simple
story.
Rough and Smooth
Young children enjoy
seeing things change. Let
children see the difference
between rough and smooth
by using a piece of wood.
Let them feel the rough
wood, and then, with
sandpaper, smooth the
wood down.
The child can mail the
newspaper to relatives or
friends.
Press Some Flowers
On a nice day, ask the
children to collect some
flowers and place them
inside a big heavy book or
a stack of books. (To
protect the pages of the
book, place a napkin or
paper towel in the
book first.) After
a few weeks the
flowers will be
dry. The chil-
dren can make a
dried flower
picture by
gluing the
flowers on a piece
of paper.
A Noodle Necklace
Big uncooked macaroni,
painted or plain, can
make a great necklace.
Younger children will
enjoy threading a
string
or shoelace through
the macaroni.
Flavored Milk
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/2 banana, mashed, or
1/2 cup orange juice, or
1/4 cup crushed
strawberries
Start a Collection
Young children like
to collect things like
rocks, shells, or
coins. You can help
children organize
the collection by labeling
the objects as to where
they were found or who
gave them to the child.
Help the child mix the milk
with one of the ingredients,
and then shake until
blended. This is a tasty,
nutritious drink.
Dress-up
Old hats, shirts, shoes,
ribbons, junk jewelry, and
other old clothing will
occupy a child for hours.
Let each child pick out his
own costume.
Follow the Dots
You can make a dot-to-dot
picture for a child to follow
and color. For an older
child, make the dots farther
apart and number them.
Make a Megaphone
A clean, empty plastic
bleach container with the
bottom cut off looks
exactly like a megaphone.
The children can practice
singing or talking to the
“crowd.”
Make Bean Bags
Help your child sew some
scrap material together and
then fill with navy or pinto
beans.
(Due to choking
hazards, this activity is not
intended for children under
three years of age.)
Sounds in the Home
Go on a tour of your home
with the children and look
at everything that makes a
sound. Children can make
a book of the sounds by
drawing the object and
writing the sound.
A Theme Collage
What you need:
old magazines
safety scissors
glue
paper
Make a Book
Have the children cut
pictures from an old
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
5
101+ Ways to Keep Kids Busy
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]