He doesn't want to do anything!

[jo f]

I'd try and engage him in activities to do with what he likes watchng on the telly. maybe cutting pics from magazines to make a place mat etc.
could you do matching games from tv characters? Use c beebies websites etc for ict and using resources.
If you really struggled i'd devise a reward chart so he had to do a realistic ammount of activities then use tv as a reward, i'm sure he'd soon get the hang of it.

[Baildon bears]

I think you are doing as much as you can, and the fact he has only been with you 3 weeks says a lot, t.v is a bit of a comfort thing. I put the t.v on in the afternoon for my 4 year old mindee, we like to sit together and watch it, I need a bit of a chill out too, don't see any thing wrong with it personally. on friday we sat and watched tinkerbell and all three mindees fell asleep.

[bunyip]

Some thoughts (and apologies if it appears I'm patronising you by listing stuff you already tried.)

Cover the TV with a baby blanket. Like dummies, if they don't see it, it often doesn't even occur to the lo's that they might want it.

He may just be unhappy about unfamiliar toys/activities. See if mum could let him bring a toy from home (but not a games console or DVD).

If he has the energy, then outdoor play/discovery or an outing might be the answer. Maybe he associates indoors with TV because, frankly, that what a lot of families do (and what all the advertisers want them to do.)

If he really is just too tired out after nursery, then rest may be the very best thing for him. I've found this with my younger grandchildren. The revised EYFS seems to recognise this, with no requirement to deliver L&D goals if you're not the main setting. Discuss with parents, so they understand you're not just copping out. You have him 3 hours max, with even less time after he's had lunch, so it's not like he's sitting idle all day. I'd still avoid TV.

[winstonian]

I have a similar little boy. He is 4.5, very bright, goes to breakfast club and the nursery and comes here 3 afternoons a week. We hardly ever have tv on whilst the big ones are at school but I have had to change it for this little boy. He is so tired and its all he wants but we have a time limit. Normally half an hour then an activity or vice versa.
I've tried to extend on what he is doing at nursery - They've looked at birds so we made binoculars out of toilet rolls or we will have cbeebies on the computer and look at it together.
It is hard though and if they are tired I dont see the problem in letting them have tv on for half an hour. I want to provide a home from home and when my guys get home from school if they want the tv, computer, garden time I let them

[onceinabluemoon]

Hi,

I have a 4 yr old that I look after for 2 hours on a Thursday after nursery and a Friday afternoon for 3 hours after nursery. When we get back to my house he has his lunch and I have many activities available for him to do but he does not want to do anything.

I know I can not force him to do things and he is probably tired from Nursery but don't want his time with me just watching TV the whole time as this is all he wants to do. I try and bribe him and say we can do this and then you can watch a bit of TV, but he will then rush what he is doing to get back to the TV. His mum said she does not mind that he watches the TV but I do. I want to be able to put his Learning Journal up together and have not much to put in it. He is a very bright boy for his age and he is reading already so I know there is a lot he can do but I just feel I am spending my money on different things for him to do and he just says he does not want to. Any ideas?

Thanks

melco

You could be describing one of my (ex) mindees (same age, same scenario, everything). I simply told him the TV was broken and found lots of things for him to do, took him to the park, walked the dog etc. He would sometimes say he just wanted to sit and wait for mummy and i told him that was fine and gave him a book to look at or offered him a blanket on the sofa. Gradually he joined in and before he left (to go to school) he was joining in with the rest of them.

We have a no TV rule for this very reason now.

[Mouse]

I had a mindee like this years ago. I would collect him from nursery, give him lunch then he just wanted to watch tv. I talked about it with mum. She said it was what he did at home and she was happy for him to do it at my house.

It felt wrong, but I let him watch tv if that was what he wanted. he was shattered after nursery and didn't want to be doing activities. After a while he lost interest in the tv and started joining in with what we were doing. Some days he'd still have a tv afternoon, but it wasn't every day.

He's now a charming, sporty, intelligent 17year old and I can't see that the afternoons spent watching tv at my house have done him any harm