The Preschooler's Busy Book

Okay, so...this has been MC's and AB's fall break...this week.  Needless to say, this has interrupted my routine and schedule, just a little bit.  Interrupted in a good way, but changed it all the same.  We have made great use of their time at home.  We have been to Monkey Joe's.

 

We also went to the Pumpkin Patch.

I know, I have a super cute family :)

And...we have done a lot of hanging out at home.  Thursday, I made a Goodwill run and found a super book, that I absolutely had to have (for $.50).  When I saw it, I knew that it was going to offer me lots of wisdom and sage advice that I would have to put into practice.  Enter Exhibit A:

So, I got home, began to leaf through the book and saw some really great suggestions of how to fill my their time.  I thought that we would start with a somewhat simple activity...so easy that you are going to laugh when I tell you about it.  

Our first "fun" activity was money cleaning.  Seriously.  Money Cleaning.  All they needed was an old toothbrush, a bowl of warm soapy water, and some change.  And they were busy for 30 minutes.  Now, that might not sound like a lot of time, but trust me, when you have a 2 year old and a 5 year old, 30 minutes is a long time.  Enough time to unload the dishwasher, fold a load of laundry, and sweep the kitchen floor...maybe even use the bathroom if you are quick.  Basically, this activity bought me some time, and they had a blast!  They could not believe that I was letting them clean their money.  I couldn't believe that this actually worked.  If you try this, let me know how it works for you kids.  By the way, isn't that the cleanest money you have ever seen!!!

Saturday, I got out the construction paper, glue, and child-friendly scissors, and we made decorative halloween chains for our kitchen. MC wrote on hers and AB just cut fringe on her construction paper, but all in all it was a very fun, relaxing, time-consuming activity.  It kept them very engaged and busy for at least 2 hours.  Lots of fun and great memories made.

MC's chain

My chain

Also last night, after the gluing and crafting, my table was pretty disgusting...so I busted out the shaving cream and let them do some painting before bath time.  They had a huge time, and I have to tell you that my table has never been cleaner!  I am ahhhmazed at how sparkling clean and soft (weird?) my table is!!  Love. It.  We will do this once a week from here on out!

So, the smiles tell me that I did something right over the past few days, and that to me is priceless.  We will be trying out a lot more suggestions from my book, and I will share those as we go.  Let me know of  your great ideas for spending time with your preschoolers, and let me know if you try any of these!