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mushpea
18-08-2009, 07:21 PM
what do you all do with our days in the hols
on 2 days i have
10yrold
8yrold
6yrold
5yrold
3yrold
22mnth old
on these days we go out either to the zoo (have yearly tickets) or to a park or the local nature reserve just to get out of the house, i find if we stay in the 6yrold girl gets 'bored' quickly and it drives me up the wall, she dosent get the toys out to play with but wants to do activities all the time, i put drawing out or playdough or we have sand and water or somthing similar in the garden but she constantly wants my attention so going out is easier then staying at home, any ideas of how i can encourage her to play with the toys more? i think some of the problem is lack of adult attention at home.
on the other days i have the
10yrold
8yrold
5yrold
and a 2yrold
on these days we still go out somwhere to the park but i find it easyier when we are at home with these guys as they happily amuse themselves or will play with me and the toys or board games.

how do you all entertain yours and do you find it easier staying at home or going out?

ZoeAlli
18-08-2009, 07:30 PM
I have done both with mine. The younger ones are quite happy playing with the toys and the older ones either entertain the younger ones or involve themselves in craft activities! I enjoy being out too as somehow it seems to be a little more relaxing!
You could try to get the 6 year old involved with caring for the younger ones- a bit of "fetching and carrying" ie getting stuff for nappy changes, helping LO's wash their hands, put their bibs on etc. You could also get them to play with younger ones or read (in their way) books to LO's. Maybe giving her some simple responsibility will help her to settle a little more. :)

Alibali
18-08-2009, 07:33 PM
Out all day for me:thumbsup:

sarah707
18-08-2009, 07:40 PM
I do a combination.

We stayed in today - it was nice to potter in the garden and I had the sand, water, paintbrushes, chalk, ride ons etc out.

Yesterday we went to the park for a couple of hours.

I think it depends on the mix of children as well - some are never satisfied.

Your 6 year old is old enough to know that she has to entertain herself sometimes. I think you need to have a chat with her or you can get into a rut that you then can't climb out of where they demand and you do what they ask for an easy life.

It happened with a mindee many years ago and eventually I stopped pandering and told her to go and amuse herself. It took a while but we got there in the end!

Hth :D

mushpea
18-08-2009, 07:51 PM
You could try to get the 6 year old involved with caring for the younger ones- a bit of "fetching and carrying" ie getting stuff for nappy changes, helping LO's wash their hands, put their bibs on etc. You could also get them to play with younger ones or read (in their way) books to LO's. Maybe giving her some simple responsibility will help her to settle a little more. :)

think she gets to do this at home as she has 2 yonger siblings and as mum is understandably busy with them i think she feels a bit left out but since shes been here(almost a year) i have made an effort to make sure shes listend to and spoken to and given 'grown up decicions' and jobs etc. i think i have made a rod for my own back becasue i always have an activity out after school, just simple stuff that they can do themselves if they chosse to but because of that she now thinks there will be activities all day.
next wednesday i will have 7 children so we cant fit in the car to go out so i am dreading it, do you think taking 7 children for a walk in the woods is ok? could take the dog too and wear them all out:laughing:

FizzysFriends
18-08-2009, 07:57 PM
Most of mine are happy with a mixture of in and out of the house, 2 are terrible in the house and best out, although they are the type that need to be watched every second.

Twinkles
18-08-2009, 08:08 PM
I take mine out mostly. I think a walk in the woods is a great idea. Is there anywhere you can go for a picnic ?
Also on the nature detectives website you can find a list of trees/plants for them to find/identify, you can get them to do a wax crayon rubbing of tree bark or a leaf, listen for birdsong ,find some mini beasts to examine - a walk in the woods ticks lots of boxes.


( Not least wearing them out so you can have a quiet afternoon :thumbsup: )

miffy
18-08-2009, 09:02 PM
I don't mind as long as we can get outside for some part of the day even if it's just in the garden.

I hate being stuck inside with the rain rolling down the windows :(

Miffy xx

youarewhatyoueat
18-08-2009, 09:15 PM
Lots of role play and dressing up clothes, bits of hose pipe cut up and fireman outfits, large pieces of material and clothes pegs, coloured silk scarves. have it all in a box, put on some music and let their imagination grow. This is so good with older children as they help the youger ones. Mine also love den building, I got a load of cutain lining from a charity shop I put pegs, rope large marker pens out and they just get on with it. Mine all tend to get fed up of the play doh and sand I keep that for the little ones. Another thing mine like is trays filled with gloop or gelli baff (which I see tescos are now selling) I get them to find twigs or anything to see what different marks can be made. Last week I bought some double sided sticky tape and put some on a4 card I took the children to a field and asked them to find as many different small things as they could, they spent ages finding tiny flowers, clover etc we then put them in a clear sleeve and they took them home it was a huge success. Hope I've given you a few different ideas.