I am implementing a new rule for the school year - starting next week - and its no TV or video games. What are some good indoor activities? The boys are 11, 9, 8 and girl (almost) 6 So far, I have picked up a few puzzles, Legos, and art supplies, and I have a list of books to get at the library. Any more ideas?
Dress up clothes! Even boys like to be knights, super heros, etc. My 2 boys have 2 baskets full of dress up items. My boys love marbles, legos, blocks, dry erase boards, etc. You can find books that offer simple science projects for all ages. Ones like this or this can be great for all ages, fun and educational. Board and card games are a huge hit here as well. Uno, hi-ho cherry-o, guess who, Squiggle, squiggle connect, Rory's Story Cubes, crazy 8s and go fish...are favorites for all ages around here.
Oh my, for the whole year! My kids would be frantic! Although, during the school year we do limit it significantly. About 30 min per day. I like the charlotte mason idea that down time during the day shouldn't be idle. She encourages kids to get a hobby. Nature study, learning a new language, learn to bake, photography... If you have an older child that is really having trouble parting with technology you could try to get them into some programming or webdesign to turn it into something productive rather than just game playing. You'll have to let us know how the transition goes, and what kind of things work for your kids. Our school year doesn't start until September but I know my 5 yo is going to struggle with having less video game time too.
My kids would be frantic as well. This week all we've done is watch TV. But my ds has been extremely sick so it really doesn't count. He has been on the couch, breathing treatments, yuck. Today because he is doing better but still not ready to go to camp so we will be sewing. We are making leather smocks for wood working and other projects this year. My kids love to build and make things. Wood working, sewing, paster of paris, planning dinner and making it.
When I was young my mom used to have us make props, costumes, practice, etc. to put on a play together when we had free time. Then we would get all of our friends together and do our play and have dinner. It involved arts & crafts, sewing, drama and a lot of other skills. My favorite was our version of King Bidgood's In The Bathtub and He Won't Get Out! It was great
Thank you, those are some great ideas! My kids LOVE art and building (Legos), so I am really interested in wood working. I am not really experienced in that area, does anyone know of any kits out there? Can you get them at Home Depot or Walmart? I think we'd like marbles too, oddly enough we've never played! I need to get our board games out and see about peices, they have been playing Life, cards and Guess Who a lot; I may pick up another board game. Also, we are starting Spanish and Latin this year - at the request of my oldest son. He is very excited & when he saw our weekly "goals" he asked if he could do more than the target of 4 Spanish lessons/wk. So, he'll hopefully spend some of his after-school time doing extra Spanish lessons. And yep, my kids dress up all the time - my oldest hates it when I remind him (he teases the others) but he went everywhere in costume until he was like 8! Now, he thinks of himself more like 11 going on 16 and too cool for school But my younger boys and my daughter love to dress up. Last school year we did no video games Sun - Thurs. It worked out fine, but there was just too much TV, in my opinion. So I let them have a month this summer where they could have as much TV & video as they wanted, and now it'll be no video games or TV, Sun - Thurs (unless its a special program, holiday or family movie, ect.) My husband thinks I should allow it on the weekends, because we're hardly ever home Fri and Sat anyways, and it'll help the kids with the transition. So hopefully it'll be fine, they seem to be bored of it anyway =) thanks again for the input
Book on CD or tape might help ease the transition. My sons like to listen to book on tape while playing with legos. My daughter likes to listen while she's doing crafts.
Mine would go nuts, too. :lol: In my house, the rule is 1 hour of reading (school and church assignments don't count) = 1 hour of xbox. Each time they finish a (level appropriate) chapter book, they get a bonus hour. That's because my older son reads so fast that he was getting discouraged at the quantity of reading vs. the quantity of time.
During the school year we also limit the leisurely screen time (Wii, TV, etc) but I do allow them to watch as many science/educational shows as they want (kids are 11 and 13). Science Channel, National Geographic Channel, etc. with shows that are pre-approved by me as I think they do have shows that are not educational or are boderline. Or videos from The Teaching COmpany that they are finding interesting at the moment (civil war, history, etc). Also, my kiddos are big into reading adventure/fantasy novels and one is also spending her spare time writing her own novel. While one is writing, the other is busy putting on plays/acting out scenes from the same genre. We do allow screen time (non-educational) late in the day as their down time but by then they are usually so involved in something, they forget to turn on anything related to a screen. HTH's. Kim
You know, I used to think my kids would be frantic if we cut out media time but we did it last year and after about 2-3 days adjustment period they were fine. This summer I've gotten lazy and let them have way too much media time and I realized they are a lot grumpier and less social when I allow lots of media time. I have a sick one this week so we have been watching lots of cartoons and cake boss but usually we do a strict media limit Sunday-Friday. That's ALL my oldest one watches so it'd be totally unfair to have the 'only educational tv' rule in my house. LOL :lol: I highly recommend the Rory's Story cubes-it's cheap, small, travels great, good for all ages, really fun and educational-great way to work on language arts skills with all ages. I'll be honest and say I've played it with all adults before it's so fun! My kids are at ages where the oldest thinks he's too big for so many things and the youngest isn't as old as he thinks he is and gets discouraged he can't do everything big brother does and this game is just awesome because it works for all levels. No one gets discouraged, there is no winner/loser so it's just great!
Oh that's a good one! My kids LOVE their little instrument set, just basic ones for elementary school aged kids from Melissa and Doug. I remember as a child I had a set of bongo drums I adored (and I'm sure my parents hated! LOL)
