Sit Still!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 12:00AM On the Preschoolers and Peace Facebook page, Katie asked, "I'd love some ideas for things for little ones (like under 5) to sit and do quietly...if that's possible...lol"
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I think some of sitting still and doing things quietly depends upon the personality of the child, so don't be too discouraged if yours can't do it yet. We had one two-year-old (just one out of eight- bummer!) who would sit at the table and color for 45 minutes. It was pretty astounding, and I've never gotten more than 30 seconds or so out of my other two-year-olds.
That said, though, there are some things that have been tried-and-true here:
Pattern Blocks are fun to stack, sort, and make into pretty much anything. Great early math and logic, too. If you like, you can get cards to go with them- kids then follow the shapes with the blocks and make a picture.
He makes stuff, then takes pictures of it with my phone
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Wikki Stix are our perennial favorite here. Every year I purchase new ones and every year they are well-loved and well-used. Quiet, non-messy, creative.
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Muffin tin sorting is a great thing to do. I get more mileage out of it when I put some edible things in- pretzels, mini marshmallows, dried apples, peanuts, cheerios. Obviously you want to make sure it's nothing a little one might choke on.
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Workbooks can be found from a lot of sources, but our current favorites for the littlest people are in the Kumon First Steps series:
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Reader Comments (2)
I just recently blogged about this. I've collected LOTS of ideas for entertaining littles and posted the list at http://histreasureseekers.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/entertaining-elijah-tips-for-toddlers/
We're blessed to have a bathroom almost across the hall from where we do school and some days the almost four year old will happily play in the bathtub for at least half and hour. Not an every day solution, but it's great on the days she's happy there.