How do you find time to research "projects and actitives" for your preschooler?

Teresa - posted on 05/14/2012

Thanks Julie, I sometimes wondered myself how I did it! But I think working actualy sometimes was my escape! Like I said enjoy being a mum, its the best job in the world and the pay so much better. I still work and now I look after my grandchildren when my daughter is working, second time round is even better .

Julie - posted on 05/14/2012

@Teresa Thank you for your ideas! I am thoroughly impressed at your ability to manage a household of 4 kids as a working mom! That's inspirational.

Teresa - posted on 05/12/2012

Hi Julie, pre-school age is such a fun time, mainly because they are so happy just spending time with mom playing. I had four young children to occupy so I know sometimes it can feel like 'now what do I do with them' ! Pre-school age is about learning and playing so finding activties that will encourage both is a good idea, messy play such as painting, dough craft and sand play and water play is always good, if you are lucky to have an outdoor garden then I would suggest you spend as much time as you can outdoors for messy play.

Cooking is always fun making cookies and decorating gives a great sense of acheivemnet at any age even toddlers love doing this. Dressing up and role play is also good fun, you can go to any charity shops and find lots of pretty or fun stuff to use.
As to the materials I dont know if you have such things as scrap stores where you are ( I am in the UK) where we have scarp stores where people send bits and peices that can be re-used such as cardboard, paper and craft things, you just make a small donation to the store, we also have toy swope shops, where you bring a toy and swope it for something else and return it after a week, this is fun for the children and saves you buying new toys, if you dont have one maybe you could get to gether with other mums and swope toys with them?

The local library will have lots of good books on idea's, I know the internet will be a first port of call, but a visit to the library will also give your children an opportunity to look at some new books and maybe take some home? Good luck enjoy the preschool years they will fly by!

Julie - posted on 05/10/2012

Ooooh fun! thanks!

Katherine - posted on 05/10/2012

We have a TON of craft materials, but sometimes we don't have the ones we need. Most of the time I've gotten them on freecycle.com, which is a GREAT site!

Julie - posted on 05/10/2012

@Katherine. Thanks. I wonder what other moms do w regards to materials. Perhaps I will post it as a question.

Katherine - posted on 05/10/2012

I buy them. I usually don't have the materials. Well most of the time I don't. But your welcome :)

Julie - posted on 05/10/2012

@Katherine Thanks for sharing the cute post. Just left a comment on Pinterest for you. Do you usually find a kids craft then buy materials or do you usually try to make something out of what you already have?

Kelly - posted on 05/10/2012

lol! I WISH I didn't get Pinterest because I am so addicted to it now I waste HOURS on it...maybe it's the visual learner in me--I love looking at other people's pictures and ideas :P





For Mother's Day, I am helping J make these adorable Birds Nest pendants for his Nana's. You just take a piece of silver or copper wire, make a small loop at the end (to hold the bead on) then string 3 beads onto it. Bend the wire into a circle and loosely wrap it round and round the beads until it looks like a nest. Then loop the end of the wire to make a bail and cut it.



http://pinterest.com/pin/726909814555984...





ETA: The pendants are not a project for a preschooler--J is school aged, but they have cute preschooler ideas too. For the card, we are using his handprint to make a flower. This shows it on a bag, but we're not doing that.



http://pinterest.com/pin/221098662926614...

Katherine - posted on 05/09/2012

I so don't get the concept of Pinterest lol.

Kelly - posted on 05/09/2012

Pinterest!!!

I'm with Katherine--J's in school now, but when he was little, I'd just spend a few minutes online in the evenings after I put him down for the night. It usually didn't take more than 10-20 minutes to find a few good ones for the week......of course, there are thousands, so if I wasn't careful, I could be sitting there researching all night. Try to give yourself a time limit, and be specific in your searches--don't just search "preschooler activities" search "preschooler activities Fall Science" That way you get exactly what you're looking for without spending hours wading through hundreds of reading activities.

Katherine - posted on 05/09/2012

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/

http://www.dltk-kids.com/


Here are some.

Katherine - posted on 05/09/2012

I just get online at night and google.