Keeping pre-school children busy can be tough; especially during the weekends and school holidays. With February half term approaching sooner than it should be, here’s my top 5 tips for keeping your children occupied with minimal screen time!
- Discover a hobby
One of the best ways to keep children occupied and happy is to encourage the developing hobbies in areas they enjoy. From cooking to drawing, dancing to sports, there are lots of local clubs, centres and activities available across the UK to develop and encourage all interests. This is a great way for your children to past time, develop skills and, most importantly, have fun doing something they naturally enjoy.
- Explore the outdoors
Keeping your children occupied doesn’t have to be expensive. Exploring your outdoor area is a great way of occupying children at little or no expense. From having fun in public parks, to bug investigations (you can pick up kits from as little as £2 which come with magnifying glass, and whiteboard checklist).
How about trying chalk patterns? Take some paper and chalks and make rub markings against different surfaces- from tree bark, to brick walls; grass to paving stones. You can even go home and make a fab collage from your rubbings.
- Learn something new
Learning something new is a great way to occupy young and enthusiastic minds. This can be as extensive of simple as you have the time or budget for. Visiting museums to learn more about cultures and history are a great free way of learning new things; and occupying developing minds. If the budget is bigger, try taking a class or activity that has never been tried before.
This also doesn’t have to involve leaving the house. Why not try some home science experiments to learn something new. There are lots of pre-school and primary school science experiment ideas at:
https://funlearningforkids.com/science-activities-preschoolers/
- Have a go-to play box
Find a cardboard box and keep a range of items in it which are age appropriate and can be played with alone/ with siblings (so that you can have some down time whilst your children are busy). Things like colouring books and pencils, activity cards with different tasks they can do on, puzzles, brain-teasers or toys which encourage imaginative play (small figurines, puppets, etc). It’s the perfect go-to for rainy days or days when you need to fit in chores that the kids don’t want to help with, or work responsibilities. Keep an eye out for bargains or bits around the house which make great additions to the play box- keeping it different and engaging.
- Music!
From home-discos to simply popping on a music channel and having a boogie around the living room. Music is a great way of keeping children occupied. Learning how to play instruments, dancing, composing the next best pop-song, or making your own band; there are lots of ways to keep your kids busy using music. You could even pop on some old tunes from your own childhood and see what your kids think!
No matter what your budget, time availability or weather, there are always ways to keep your children occupied. We’d love to hear your best tips and what you think of ours?
www.totbop.co.uk
