"Intellectual distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for election to a Rhodes Scholarship. Selection committees are charged to seek excellence in qualities of mind and in qualities of person which, in combination, offer the promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead. The Rhodes Scholarships, in short, are investments in individuals rather than in project proposals..."

Monday, June 21, 2010

On Keeping Toddler's Busy...

I'm helping out this week at VBS and I'm working the nursery.  We are surrounded by 6 lovely teen aged girls, us 5 moms.  We have 18 or so little charges, mostly kids of the Nursery workers, go figure!

So we were brainstorming about how to not lose our sanity keep them busy this week.  Here are some of our ideas.  These are useful when you are homeschooling as well:

New toys that aren't yours.  I resurrected a ball toy that consists of chutes and ramps that balls run down.  It kept many busy...Find a friend with whom you can swap toys.

Playdoh - homemade is best.  Use unsweetened kool-aid type drink mix to color and scent it.  Get out the cookie cutters, rolling pins and have fun.

12' long tube of fabric ribbing.  I kid you not, this is probably the best $12 I have ever spent.  We call it the car wash.  You have two of those adorable teens each hold an end open and send kids through on their hands and knees.  It's hilarious and they have a blast.

Pack-n-play and a large amount of balls = ball pit.  Ball pit balls are very inexpensive and they don't hurt when they hit you.  The pack-n-play helps contain them.  You could also use an inflatable pool.

Dress up clothes.  We're bringing hard hats, shields, knights clothes, princess dresses and cowboy hats.  We're testosterone heavy in the nursery, so I'll be looking for more "manly" dress-up clothes in our bin tonight.

Roads, Rivers and Runways - Get a large sheet of paper and draw a city or just a race track for the boys to run their cars on or make an airport for the planes.  You can draw a lake for the boats, too.

Kindermats.  The make good napping spots, forts, baby beds and tunnels for cars and trucks.

Videos.  I'm a firm believer in judicious use of Veggie Tales.  We use this for that last half hour when we've heard all too many times, "Is it time to go home yet?"

Have a great week!  I'll try to post more as the week goes on...

1 comment:

RealMom4Life said...

Oh I so could have used this last week. I was working at our CVBS and there were 3 of us that had our toddler's with us. Go figure, I brought a few toys from home that didn't occupy my son, but they did occupy someone else. Good point about toys swapping! And the Vegie Tales option. I am right there with you. I don't like using videos, but I am not oppposed, they have their moments. And...I so wish I would have brought my IPOD with a couple kiddie movies for when my little guys decided he was simply done...now!

Thanks for the list. I'm going to print it out and put it in my organizer for some planned toddler time. I'm trying to get in a routine this summer with the little ones that will carry over for next year. Some of these will work great for my little ones while I read history with the middles next year!