Meet The Troops

Thursday, September 8, 2011

What To Do With Samuel?

I have had SO many friends asking recently what to do with the littlest ones while they homeschool the bigger ones so that THIS doesn't happen while you have your back turned....


The backside of the hutch is a mirror that Samuel can see himself in thru the glass doors but only...when he's on the table. THIS is his new favorite thing to do. And of course once he saw me taking pictures BEFORE telling him to get down, he thought it was really fun and okay that he was up there.

SO HE DID IT SEVERAL MORE TIMES BEFORE THE DAY WAS OVER!



Anyway, if you don't want your little ones doing this during school time, the best trick in our house is to keep them busy doing their own things during school time. I save certain toys that only come out at school time and often fill a few baskets each morning or the night before that I set out for the little ones to do while I'm schooling the big kids that have activities for them to do in them. I've posted about several in the past under my Babies & Toddlers category but I'll add a few more here that we've been doing in the last couple of weeks. 

Several of these Samuel did in one day...

Long colorful straws and an empty bottle:


An ice cube tray and anything to put into the spaces...here he's using felt balls:


Pipe cleaners into anything with holes:



I found the idea for using a colander on pinterest.com. I stuck all the pipe cleaners in and thought he would enjoy pulling them all out...he did...and then he also wanted to stick them all back in when he was done! So it was extra entertaining and for a much longer period of time than I thought it would be! It's always nice when that happens. :)



Then of course Faithy, my preschooler wanted in on this and she did the same thing... pulling them all out and sticking them back in...


Then she wore it like a hat while she ran around like a crazy person!


Lids! I know I've told a lot of people about this one but I don't think I have any pictures up of this one yet. It's just a large container full of plastic lids of every color that we collected off of anything we could find before we threw it away. I was surprised at how many things we buy that have bright plastic lids!
The kids love to dump them, sort them, stack them and do all sorts of things. :)


Easter Eggs! Yes, even in September a carton of Easter Eggs is fun...you don't even have to fill them! Though that is fun to do sometimes too! :)




Well, that's a few ideas. I'll post more as I get pictures of them! It's kind of hard to remember to take pictures when these are the things I plan specifically for him to do while I do something else with the big kids! LOL! But I'll try! :)

42 comments:

  1. I love all the ideas, especially the colander! I bet my Josh would love that too. I haven't checked out Pinterest yet but I cannot wait to!
    PS. They are both so cute! Even when standing on the kitchen table :)

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  2. So stinkin cute!!!!
    Kim

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  3. The colander is a neat idea, we will be doing that soon! I need to get to Daiso and get some of those bins...We have also started collecting lids and our collection is already pretty sizable after a few days! Thanks for the ideas and encouragement!

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  4. Hi, I found your blog through Pinterest. Thanks for these ideas! I think I'll try them all. My two year old is a total busy body, and she's getting a little bored with our current activity routine. Except for stickers. Stickers never get old, apparently.

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  5. You have some fantastic ideas! My little one is still too small for those, but I'm bookmarking/pinning/sharing this now so that I'll be able to find it when I need it! :)

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  6. I love the pipe cleaners and the colander. I posted my daughter's pipe cleaner "creation" on my site with a link back to your page. Thanks for the ideas!

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  7. Hi! I'm your newest follower, Jen. I love this blog so far and I have only read a few posts. Great ideas!

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  9. The strainers and pipe cleaners have been a big hit in my toddler classroom! I just posted some pictures of it on my blog. We are going to be doing some of the other activities you have here, too. Thanks for the ideas!

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  10. Love your ideas Breanna! I have twin boys that just turned two, these ideas are perfect :)

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  11. just wondering, how old is your son? Love the ideas!

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  12. Love the ideas, can't wait to try these with my grandchildren!

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  13. I see a trip to the dollar store in my future to get a plastic colander and pipe cleaners! And a bucket to put on the counter to keep for plastic lids! :)
    Thank you so much. Emily is 2 1/2 and an only child and she gets bored quickly even though she's got a ton of toys and I have things I need to do so... this is fabulous
    Thank you!

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  14. you have a very happy young boy...he is smiling away in all these photos...and thanks for all the tips to keep my toddler busy while I homeschool!

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  15. Found your blog through pinterest! Great ideas - they are perfect for my little girl (3), and baby brother. Thanks!

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  16. oh my gosh what a cute little stinker!!!!! The 1st pic you have of him standing on the table with his back turned reminds me SOOO much of my little guy (21 months now) he would totally be doing that too!!

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  17. I have to say your little boy is sooo cute, he reminds me of my grandson, lol

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  18. THANKYOU! these ideas are exactly what I needed!

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  19. I did 2 of these today with my 19mo old and they kept her busy for AN HOUR!!!!!!!!! i was amazed!

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  20. LOVE the picture on the table. The one where he is facing away. I have twin grandsons that would enjoy these idea's!! Thanks

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  21. I got the link to this post from pinterest. And this is so great. I love that most of these materials I have on hand and are quick to assemble/low mess. Thanks!

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  22. What great tips! I found your blog on Pinterest and love it! Thanks for sharing!

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  23. Your little one reminds me of mine so much. They both have that mischievous twinkle in their eyes! Thanks for the great ideas!

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  24. Oh yes, the box of lids! Lids are like a currency in our house. "If you are quiet while I finish this, you can have a BRAND NEW LID."

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  25. Wow so many ideas that I never would have thought about. Thank you so much for your ideas. I have a 6 year old that goes to school and I am at home with my almost 2 year old son and 3 month old daughter. I am trying to find things for my 2 year old while I am interacting with my 3 month old.

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  26. great ideas!!! You did really making sense. My little baby girl like different things to do and I think this will be enjoyable for me also when I'll see she is making this.

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  27. The colander and pipe cleaners is a great activity for fine motor development and hand/eye cordination! And sorting is one of the first math skills learned, so the lids is great for that!

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  28. is it weird that i dont have kids but i think these would be fun to do? im getting out my pipe cleaners - im 27 :)

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  29. You sound like a wonderful mother. I am going to try these ideas with my toddler grandson. Looks like fun!

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  30. Thank you so much for these activity ideas. I am a nursing student so I do need time to myself sometimes and I definitely plan on using these for my son. He loves to tinker so these will be perfect!!

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  31. All great ideas, but please be careful with the small soda lids.

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  32. I've been doing a lid box for about 20 years..learned it from an O.T. great for sorting and matching color, shape, size. also banging together for music time and pouring water in the tub or baby pool.I also save small empty plastic vitamin bottles and the like. I remove the labels, add stickers or contact paper for color,fill them with rice, sand, dried beans, or pebbles, and glue the lids on tight. great for shakers and dancing. lids larger than a quarter in diameter are safe to save.
    I love the pipe cleaner and colander idea! and the crates or boxes with holes in the side...fantastic!

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  33. I loved some of your ideas but I'm worried about some of the lids being very small. I hope he can't get them in his mouth.

    A concerned Grandmother.

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  34. Still amazes me that the stuff they like to play with the most are never "toys".

    Your little ones are adorable!

    My oldest was a climber. Now that he's 6, the things he likes to climb are bigger. :)

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  35. Thanks for these awesome tips!!

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  36. Saw this on pinterest, but none of the pics are working. :(

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  37. I agree with Megan! Looked interesting but can't see any pictures.

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  38. Oh wow! My little monkey would love the straws and pipe cleaner thing! He goes crazy for anything cheap and non-expensive-toy! Don't know why we buy him toys, seriously! xx

    (great blog, new follower <--!!)

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  39. Hello!
    We LOVED this post and have featured it today at The Inspired Treehouse as one of our fine motor activities for toddlers. Here's the link if you want to check it out! Thanks for the great ideas! :)

    http://theinspiredtreehouse.com/fine-motor-skills-10-activities-toddlers/

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  40. i love this .this proves you dont have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to make children happy just be creative a care. reminds me of back in the day when we took wooden sewing thread spools an strung them together . babies played with an love them. then we would blow a bread bag up tie it together an they played an slapped that bag together for the longest. which naturally we sat with them during play with the bag to make sure they did not bite the bag .lol like i said back in the day

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  41. Great ideas...Very applicable to us..

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