(SAHM stands for Stay At Home Mom)
Ryan is 19 (almost 20!) months old and I am starting to feel like a have some control over my job as a house wife. Thanks to some great tips from my sister-in-law Tanya (hugs!), my house has been cleaner, laundry has been done and dinner prepared, and I feel like I am getting that part of my job under my belt. I'm still far from perfect from it, but it's a lot better!
Now I am turning my attention to my other job, being a mommy. Best job in the world, right? For sure! I absolutely love being with my Ryan everyday. My problem is that Ryan eats and plays everyday. That's it. I have no idea what to do with him besides going to the park, and that is becoming less of an option.
I finally realized yesterday that to help me, I need to set up a few times a day dedicated to a category for an activity. So far I have...
Singing Time
Art Time
Reading Time
(we already do this before naps and bed... and whenever Ryan wants, but dedicating a time to it, in addition to the others, will help us spend more quality time together.)
(This is in addition to all the playing time he gets, and he gets plenty! :)
What I need help with is any ideas of other activity categories and art ideas for one-year-olds. Can I really use glue with him yet? :) Also what activities do you do outside of the house during the winter? (Besides library.)
I would love any suggestions you have. I know that you guys are all great moms and I am always amazed at how wonderful you are. Hopefully pretty soon, I can feel better about how I am handling this job. Thank you, Thank you!!
Ryan is 19 (almost 20!) months old and I am starting to feel like a have some control over my job as a house wife. Thanks to some great tips from my sister-in-law Tanya (hugs!), my house has been cleaner, laundry has been done and dinner prepared, and I feel like I am getting that part of my job under my belt. I'm still far from perfect from it, but it's a lot better!
Now I am turning my attention to my other job, being a mommy. Best job in the world, right? For sure! I absolutely love being with my Ryan everyday. My problem is that Ryan eats and plays everyday. That's it. I have no idea what to do with him besides going to the park, and that is becoming less of an option.
I finally realized yesterday that to help me, I need to set up a few times a day dedicated to a category for an activity. So far I have...
Singing Time
Art Time
Reading Time
(we already do this before naps and bed... and whenever Ryan wants, but dedicating a time to it, in addition to the others, will help us spend more quality time together.)
(This is in addition to all the playing time he gets, and he gets plenty! :)
What I need help with is any ideas of other activity categories and art ideas for one-year-olds. Can I really use glue with him yet? :) Also what activities do you do outside of the house during the winter? (Besides library.)
I would love any suggestions you have. I know that you guys are all great moms and I am always amazed at how wonderful you are. Hopefully pretty soon, I can feel better about how I am handling this job. Thank you, Thank you!!
7 comments:
I am now anxiously awaiting peoples' ideas. I obviously have none, since I'm childless, but I want to know what people say for future reference!
Remember that art for kids is about the process and not the product. It doesn't matter what he makes (or doesn't make), but the whole idea is that he has fun doing it and that he is allowed freedom of expression. Here are some ideas:
Homemade bubbles, homemade clay (or peanut butter dough if you think he will want to taste it), face paint, finger paint (or pudding painting or shaving cream), homemade silly putty, puffy paint, ooblik (cornstarch with water). You can paint/draw on anything: long pieces of butcher paper, paper plates, toilet paper rolls, newspaper, etc. You can paint with: Q-tips, marbles, pipe cleaners, balls, toy cars, sponges, feather, etc. You can make your own instruments. Make your own puzzles. Letter magnets on cookie sheets. Sidewalk chalk bodies. Crushed egg shell mosaic. Use stamp pads. Texture rubbings. Drawing to music. Blow painting. Cooking.
I like how you are trying to enrich all areas of his development. There are 5 areas of child development (6 if you count spiritual development): physical (gross and fine motor skills), social/emotional, self-help/adaptive (how he can do things for himself), communication, and cognitive (how he thinks and plays). Usually in an early childhood classroom setting there will be centers that allow for learning in each of those areas: dramatic play, reading, gross motor, manipulatives, art, and sensory (I think that's it).
Okay, maybe that was way more information than you wanted! I have all the recipes to the above mentioned art activities if you need them. But I'm sure you could find it on the internet or I'm sure your library has some good arts and crafts idea books.
Ryan is so lucky to have you as a mom! You sound like so much fun!
i have taken ideas from everything! this is my fav blog for cute little activities, http://wherearemymaryjanes.blogspot.com/ and when corgan watches things on tv of kids making crafts I try to do those too- so he can do what he sees, we do singing dancing and I just bought a little tykes indoor slide since the park isn't happening- i admit he gets more movie time than during the summer, but you do what you can!
Assign each week a theme (cowboy week, dinosaur week, colors week, etc.) Each week, you go to the library and get books about the theme, draw pictures about the theme, listen to music about the theme, watch movies about the theme, play with toys that represent the theme, dress up like the theme, etc.
That's soooooo cute
oh jefra, is awesome! I like the magnets on cookie sheets. I think just whatever you are doing, let him help. Like with the dishes how Ryan helped you, that's adorable and I am sure he loved it.
Maybe you guys could sing or have tickle time or where you tell stories by just signing to each other. Hide and seek, Clay loves that one. Have baby time, where you talk about the baby and he can feel and talk to the baby. Practice how you hold babies and treat them.
I am excited for you. Let us know what Ryan likes best. This has been good for me for ideas for clay. :)
I'm going to read through all the comments after I share my ideas! (sorry I got to this post so late! I want to start doing this same concept with my kiddos too!)
We LOOOVE fingerpaints. tape a piece of paper to the high chair, take off his shirt, and put globs of paint on the piece of paper so he can rub them around. Takes a little help at first for them to figure out what to do - but we love it.
We also bake together - SO much fun. I measure everything and Em "helps" pour and stir things. She loves helping me crack eggs (she holds my hands while I do it!) And she loves putting cupcake liners in the cupcake pans.
We also color/play with stickers. I use it as an "educational" time to teach/talk about new words...we use a book like this (http://www.amazon.com/1000-Stickers-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312504926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291667319&sr=8-1) that has a ton of variety of stickers and Em picks out 3 or 4 to put on each drawing she makes...we talk about the sticker she pics :).
leaf rubbings are fun - but it's late for that (maybe next year).
I like familyfun.com for craft ideas - but most of them require a lot of parent supervision...mostly parents making it and finding ways to get the little ones involved..but it's good inspiration. notimeforflashcards.com is also AWESOME.
You can look for indoor kid gym type places...they usually have open play, but it does cost money. A fun treat every once in a while though.
Glue is fun...we try to stick to glue sticks because it's not as messy. But sometimes Elmers glue is much easier. I also like "torn paper" crafts. Like a torn paper pumpkin. or a torn paper wreath or a torn paper_______. You just pick the colors you want, tear the construction paper into small-ish pieces, and then glue them onto paper.
we also LOOOVE dance parties. Put on music and dance around the house. Sometimes I hold her sometimes she's standing next to me. We "practice" things like leg lifts, jumping, shaking various body parts, spinning...all sorts of gross motor skills.
I also like printing out coloring pages from the internet and letting Emily "color" them.
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