Making Activities for a Spirited Child Last Longer

Mom-E — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:47:47 +0000

Spirited children are either easily distracted or intensely focused. Mine is of the first variety 80% of the time, which can make activities pretty short-lived. That can be frustrating for us as parents because it means we have to come up with more educational activities to occupy them. Plus, setting up and cleaning up after activities is annoying.

Luckily, one very obvious thing has helped us make activities for our spirited child last longer. We just pay attention…

If you watch your spirited child’s body language and facial expressions, they will let you know when they are getting bored. Then, you can switch it up a little before they lose interest entirely.

For example, when we play with our Match It Spelling activity, I can tell when my son is just “done” with finding letters. That’s when we start focusing on the pictures on the puzzle pieces. I ask him questions, talk about the object, etc. When he starts getting bored with that, we arrange the completed puzzles on the table or sort pictures into categories, or count…Whatever keeps him interested. We can get an extra 15 minutes out of an activity, just by paying attention to what will keep our spirited child engaged.

Plus, all these little extras help him get more out of the activity. Anything that helps him learn more is a plus in my book!

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Toddler Toys We Love: Alphabet Puzzle Mat

Mom-E — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:54:26 +0000

As you know from my post, Toddler Alphabet Puzzle Mat Activities, I absolutely love this this versatile educational toy. And yes, I consider it a toy, not just a floor covering. Ours is taken apart far more than it is put together. My spirited toddler has so much fun with it and the activities, he doesn’t even know that he is learning his ABC’s.

A number of companies make them, but they are all a little different. Some have numbers, some have uppercase letters, some have lowercase letters, some have a combination. I chose one that had uppercase letters, but I wish I had thought to get one that had numbers.

Don’t let the prices in fancy toy catalogs scare you. You can pick up an alphabet puzzle mat for a fraction of the price of retail stores by going to Amazon.com. And, be sure to check out some of the puzzle mat activities to help you decide which mat to get.

The post Toddler Toys We Love: Alphabet Puzzle Mat appeared first on Wild Edisons.

spirited toddlers Archives - Wild Edisons

Making Activities for a Spirited Child Last Longer

Toddler Toys We Love: Alphabet Puzzle Mat