This isn’t a feature or anything. This is one desperate Mommy sharing for others. Sometimes it’s good to let others do the work for you.
Last year, when I had a baby and a toddler, I joined the Facebook group page for the FREE Weekly Virtual Book Club for Kids. It is ah-mazing. I’m telling you: follow that link, like the page, send them your email and ENJOY all the activities with your kids. There’s a new format this year and it is even better–they send you five activities linked with the book and then you do one each day. There are some genius Mommas on that page posting their activities too. They are simple, they are fun, and they help you out. Did I mention they are TOTALLY FREE?
So I’m giving them a little plug because they are my help this year. But really this post is just to say, maybe try doing something “extra.” You can go nuts on Pinterest. You know this. Find a favorite book and look for a “preschool activity.” Make a sensory bin out of old dried beans and dollar store pumpkins. Let them smear $1 shaving cream all over your shower and then wash it off. Have them stir up those cheap pouch muffins and scoop them into a pan.
Last summer, I posted a few of the “weekly themes” I carefully planned and then did with my kiddos. When things heat up at school time, it is so nice to just check the VBC list, “order” the book from the library online so it’s ready to pick up when we can get there, and then quickly set up the activity.
I can’t speak for you. Why do *I* need activities?
1) My children need a focus or they trash the house.
2) Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the day to day and forget about the larger rhythms of seasons and stories, which are critically important to children’s development. Pre-made and curated activities by early childhood educators will help fulfill this need. My older child is in preschool, yes, and he gets this there, but I also love doing these activities with him, which leads me to…
3) It’s fun! One of the reasons I love Potty Training is that this age is so amazing! They are endlessly interesting and endlessly creative and endlessly full of energy. Watching little brains work is one of my greatest joys in life. Doing activities with your little one will let you see their mind at work–it is a gift to you! As Jamie Glowacki says in THE BOOK about those first few days of potty training: putting down your phone and focusing on your child will blow you away. You will be amazed by what they do. Doing an activity with your child is a special time that you can focus on each other.
4) Give them a time you’re not disciplining. This is hard. Parenting is hard. So much of the day, good lord, we are trying to keep them from hurting themselves, from hurting each other, from destroying the house… …just trying to keep them alive. Pick something simple. Pick something fun. Be joyful together.
5) My children need a focus or they trash the house.
Oh Crap Potty Training Texas 