Help with planning?!?!

[mrsbish01]

Hi - i am really struggling with indoor activities for the 3 children i have. The two mindees are pretty good at glueing, sticking, using paints and felts etc but my lovely mischievious little darling son is a nightmare :laughing:
He is 21mths (others are 24mth & 28mth) so not much between them but whatever activity i spend ages setting up and deciding on, my little fella tries to destroy or isnt interested in - im sure he will get better as he heads towards 2, but what on earth do i do for now.

Sticking activity - he throws all the sticky bits / cut outs on the floor
Painting - he does one stroke then takes himself off with paint all over his hands to touch the toys
Drawing - crayons (eats them), pencils (bites nibs off), felts (sucks them dry)...
Water play - tips the buckets over and soaks everyone (despite waterproof clothing)
then the other two get fed up cos im chasing him round to get the things back for them.. or cleaning the mess up

Please please please - what can i do to keep him busy or get him interested??

xxx

[donnawalsh123]

large animal cage, handcuffs & leg irons :D

my little one was same untill i made him my special helper and made & laminated his own little helpers badge. i let him help me look on net for activitys and what not and collect the paper from the printer and what not. although hes still prone to his mad spurts of destruction now and again it seems to of helped settle him down alot.

[sandy64]

he will get easier, try dry pasta in big bowls with spoons and small pots if you do a small 1 for your son put things he likes in ie cars books it may keep him busy whilst others play. what about silky scarfs enough for 2 each and music he may like swirling to the music, instruements,sorry cant help more but hope he gets easier for you soon,

[fridaysoff]

Hi :)
I have LO just little older, had him for a year so far and used dry pasta as Sandy said, you could put two dif types in deep pan or tray (I use cat litter trays - clean of course! Come in nice colours and cheap) He has this on a rug that I can lift and tip stuff back afterwards. I give him tongs (but watch out for potential weapons!) and it depends on his skills, I have containers with and without lids, fabric softener bottles are good (transparent and narrow-ish neck means takes time to concentrate on putting them in. can shake and make sound, use small pots too) Sounds like he likes emptying (things on floor and buckets tipped) Give variety sized spoons and scoops, egg box, cake tins and anything with flp top lids (Like dishwash tab box) maybe try this but be prepared to clear up or have a clear surface to lift up the stuff as soon as its time. They'll probably all want to have a go at it - so be ready for that too! I don't know if this will help you - but all of mine love this play - or expand further into heuristic play. Other thing is look at routine, maybe you need to do something energetic/ outside before sit down activity? It's really hard mixing age groups isn't it :) good luck

[mrsbish01]

Thank you everyone for your advice, you've given me some great ideas :clapping:

My ds really loves moving things around, one at a time to a certain place, then move them again somewhere else, eg. body lotion bottles of various shapes and sizes (which he HAS to have standing up, lining his cars up against the wall etc, and was wondering if any one has some ideas on how i can further this (ive worked out its his schema) and wonder if i can sort activities out that include this and take it that bit further for the slightly older mindees, then perhaps he will enjoy doing things with us?


xxx