View Full Version : Help! Need ideas!
Natale
06-13-2006, 03:23 PM
I need some fresh ideas for activities to keep a 4 yo and her mom busy. I'm especially interested in activities we can do together at the kitchen table and also outdoor games and activities for 2 people (like hopscotch). TIA!
Sonny
06-13-2006, 03:28 PM
Can she jump rope? You can use the garden hose as a jump rope--you twirl, she jumps.
At the table...I think she is old enough for board games. You can also teach her tic tac toe....lots of art activities. I have a book that illustrates how to draw different critters using your own thumb print for the base. Make play doh. She can help you bake---make pretzels and let her shape them, either pretzel shape or she can make letters/shapes...
I'll think of more. ;)
Natale
06-13-2006, 03:34 PM
Oh, we have jump ropes (for some reason my dad gave her half a dozen jump ropes he got at a thrift store) - I could teach her how to actually use them.
We have a lot of board games and she kicks my ass at them. I don't even like to play memory games with her.
Kellee
06-13-2006, 03:37 PM
make necklaces out of beads
do puzzles
jacks
I spy
bake cookies
paint and glue jewelry boxes
easy oragami
paper dolls
Natale
06-13-2006, 03:39 PM
Uno. :D
She kicks my ass at that, too. /apparently not very good at games :p
Do you have a Michael's nearby? They have all kinds of craft ideas for the summer and even 'craft camps'. I bet you could find lots of small crafty things you could do with her.
Sonny
06-13-2006, 03:44 PM
Oh, we have jump ropes (for some reason my dad gave her half a dozen jump ropes he got at a thrift store) - I could teach her how to actually use them.
If you use the hose as a jump rope it won't hurt/trip her if she misses.....she's jumping over the water, if you twirl the hose like a jump rope the spray will act like one.
Natale
06-13-2006, 03:48 PM
If you use the hose as a jump rope it won't hurt/trip her if she misses.....she's jumping over the water, if you twirl the hose like a jump rope the spray will act like one.
Ohhhhhh. I see.
If you use the hose as a jump rope it won't hurt/trip her if she misses.....she's jumping over the water, if you twirl the hose like a jump rope the spray will act like one.
:scratch:
I figured you were talking about using the hose part. Not the water.
You know, because it is attached to the house on one end. No one needed to hold the other end.
Natale
06-13-2006, 03:51 PM
:scratch:
I figured you were talking about using the hose part. Not the water.
You know, because it is attached to the house on one end. No one needed to hold the other end.
Doh! That's what I thought too!
I'm not sure we have enough water pressure for this activity unfortunately. I'll have to see if we have a spray nozzle that will work.
Just looking at some of the activities for the kidlets at Alison's school:
- make ice cream day
- movie & popcorn day
- kids cook day (you could make this a weekly thing and have something new to try each week)
- lego day
- build a teepee
- make a flag
- build a birdhouse
Angie
06-13-2006, 04:01 PM
You would think, as a mother of 2 young girls that I'd be able to help you, but I got nuthin right now. :indiff:
Here's one to start with. I'm on a mission...I'll be back with more!
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/fitness/fitness_4_5.html
IDEAS for 4 year olds
Read aloud each day and encourage children to look at books on their own. Provide alternative reading material with a collection of outdated coupons, junk mail, newspaper ads, and old cereal boxes.
Say nursery rhymes and fingerplays together. Encourage 4-year-olds to tell stories to younger children.
Encourage interest in writing and words. Provide children with paper and notebooks for writing. Print letters and numerals on art work, and label toy shelves with pictures and words that describe objects.
Provide a variety of art experiences. Make play dough. Create collages from magazine pictures, fabric, wallpaper, and newsprint. Encourage children to experiment with new media like wire and cork, soda straws, string, or yarn. Teach children to mix different colors with paint.
Teach important number and space concepts. Sort and count everything in sight, like silverware, socks, rocks, leaves, etc. Talk about things being in, on, under, behind, beside, before and after, larger than, too far, etc.
Teach children the correct use of the telephone.
Four-year-olds have a strong need to feel important and worthwhile. Praise accomplishments, and provide opportunities to experience freedom and independence.
Teach the use of landmarks to find their way around your neighborhood.
Encourage physical development. Play follow the leader. Pretend to walk like various animals. Set up an obstacle course indoors with challenges such as crawling, climbing, leaping, balancing, and running across stepping stones. Encourage walking with a beanbag on the head.
Promote respect for life and living things by letting them help you build a bird feeder and hang it up. Record the kinds of birds observed, and teach them to identify birds by significant characteristics like the red male and green female cardinals, the black caps and white cheeks of the chickadee.
Encourage 4-year-olds to help you plan and plant a garden. They will love to water plants daily and will enjoy measuring plant growth.
Encourage multicultural awareness through representative dolls, puppets, pictures, and books. Encourage cultural aspects of all the families, and learn recipes, songs, and information about cultural celebrations.
Expand dramatic play by providing a variety of props for themes like grocery store, pizza parlour, birthday party, and firefighter.
Teach her to play chess. It's actually a very simple game to learn, in terms of the rules. But she won't be able to beat you right away. :)
Or teach her poker. :right:
I was about her age when I learned both.
kidj4
06-13-2006, 06:21 PM
floam!
Alka seltzer rockets-made with the clear film canisters
Homemade airplanes
Build a critter out of junk
Amy-Your guys would love the film canister rockets. I just get the Dollar store alka seltzer and use 1/4 a tablet each time! They design their rockets with paper and stuff and then have contests.
:D Anthony makes rockets with vinegar and baking soda all the time. He was just asking for some film canisters. I wonder if you could get them from a photo processing place.
I just got a whole sack of them at CVS. Most of the photo places recycle or save for teachers.
:D I wouldn't really impersonate a teacher. But I may ask for some...school's out, right?
I'm sure they don't just save them for teachers! LOL You are a teacher! YOU'RE A MOM!!!
net_girl
06-14-2006, 04:01 PM
Put some craft stuff out with idea of making her own game. The 4yo may come up with something fun. It will take some time anyway.
She can design cards, board, things to move around a board.
She seems to have some experience.
It is also amazing what games chalk can create outside. I just wish there was a long stick I could stick that chalk on rather than getting on my knees.
I've been getting science books from the library with lots of cool ideas for young children. One that comes to mind is Mudpies and Magnets, but there are lots of them.
It is really easy to make a big rocket out of those plastic tubes you use in golf bags for the clubs.
They are under 50 cents I think at Wal-Mart.
:dunno:
Cliff and Brandon do it all the time. they use the rocket engines.
Just use the tube as the body. Then you make the little triangle wings and a tip. Shove the rocket engines in and ignite. Make sure you do it in a feild or something.
Michele
06-14-2006, 07:11 PM
Word of warning: Floam is VERY messy. I think some of these microbeads are now a permanent fixture in my house....and I have been vaccuming for 30 min.
If your family likes to keep hard boiled eggs on hand ou can let her dye them. We used to do that with ds all the time, food coloring and vinegar will do the trick. They even have neon food colring that makes some pretty cool eggs.
Play doh is always fun, especially if you have a lot of cookie cutters.
DS loved sidewalk chalk. Also, we used to give he and his little friend buckets of water and paint brushes (the big housepainting brushes) and let them "paint the fence." LOL...we're mean like that.
Natale
06-20-2006, 11:16 PM
I'm surprised no one mentioned duct taping her to the wall. Because that's been one of the most effective things I've tried. :right:
J/K! :laugh: We've been doing some board games and I want to get a regular playground kickball that we can play foursquare or kick back and forth.
Thanks for the ideas everyone! :)
http://www.webkinz.com/index.html
My brother just told me about this site. It's too young for my two, but your little one might like it!
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