If you ever find yourself caring for more than one child – whether it’s your own children, your neighbors’ or your nieces and nephews – chances are that they will all have different abilities, interests and skills. So here is the challenge: How do you plan fun and engaging activities that will keep all of the children entertained? The key is to start thinking about simple adaptations that can be done to any activity.
Adaptations or additions can help you involve all of the children in your care and enable them to feel successful with the opportunities you give them. The following are some examples of how to include children of all abilities in some classic and favorite activities that all caregivers will already be familiar with.
1. Painting. For younger children, you can use koolaid, water or Jello to make pictures. It is impossible to prevent little curious fingers from wandering into mouths, so using edible products can ease your mind that it will not hurt them if it happens. Colored construction paper will turn darker even just with water and they will revel in the cause and effect. Older children can be given choices of paintbrushes, sponges, bubble wrap, potato stamps or their fingers. You can start experimenting with mixing colors and depicting specific pictures from references.
2. Water play. Most children love to splash, pour and stir while experimenting in water. If you are worried about younger children pouring water on the ground, try filling the sink with bubbles made from your dish soap and let them ‘build’ with that. Give them some scoops and spoons and watch them delight in the fluffy little malleable bubbles. Older children can experiment with specific measurements, floating objects, like small boats, or themed items for the season.
3. Baking. Putting on music while you are baking can help younger children (and children waiting their turn) to still be engaged and entertained at the same time. Infants will love connecting with other children and their caregivers by hearing them sing along and watching facial expressions. The bonus is that you can do this even when your hands are covered in flour! Older children can be given more creative responsibilities of using (and choosing) cookie cutters and rolling out shapes. You can play guessing games with the older children by getting them to close their eyes and smell ingredients and guess what it is.
4. Music time. If your infant likes lying on their back, put some crinkle fabric at their feet so when they kick, they will get the response of the sound. It will help them feel involved and learn about cause and effect. Older children can become involved in making instruments, following direction by playing softer, louder, faster and slower or in time with a recorded song.
5. Manipulatives (objects or materials that children can touch or move around to increase concept-based learning). One of my favorite, easy (and cheap!) Items to use as manipulatives can actually be found in your pantry. Try using sugar cubes to build castles, fences and faces. Older children can count the cubes, add food coloring and divide into groups. Younger children will have fun knocking stacks down and feeling the texture in their hands. On colder days when the sandbox is just not accessible, get a baking tray and cover it with sugar or salt to begin to make your own ‘snow scene.’ Older children can incorporate other small toys for pretend play such as shovels, dump trucks and scoops. Younger children can be given scoops of different sizes and can have fun pouring and burying their hands.
6. Storytime. Reading to your child of any age is proven to be beneficial, but finding stories to keep all children entertained in one place can be tough. First try setting the stage by getting small, soft couches or chairs with baskets of books available to explore and look at if the story is not keeping the children’s attention. Make sure you situate yourself in a place that children can see the pictures, and feel free to point and ask questions. Older children can be asked more advanced questions about what is being read, what the character may be feeling, while younger ones can create connections to words and pictures through repetition and identification. If you want to read several stories in a row, take song breaks that the little ones can follow along with and allow the older children to choose books that they want to read next. You can give smaller children fidget toys to keep their little hands and mouths busy while adding extra expression and voices to keep them entertained by the words you are reading.
7. Puzzles. As I’m sure you may already know, there are puzzles available to purchase in stores with the suitable ages conveniently posted on the outside of the box. Of course, ‘insert puzzles’ are available for smaller children and ‘progressive’ or more complex puzzles available for the older ones. But taking out too many puzzles at once can cause equal frustration for children And caregivers. Preventing what may seem like a thousand pieces getting mixed up and falling on the floor, and not having children showing annoyance with not being able to find or fit pieces becomes more important. You can try creating an interactive theme for one puzzle at a time. If the puzzle is Sesame Street, bring plush toys of the characters and play with the younger ones while the older ones compose the puzzles. You can also get younger children to help the older children by finding certain colors or shapes on the pieces to hand to the older ones.
8. Gross motor activities. Have you ever tried to direct a game of baseball with a five-, two- and one-yearold? In my opinion, it would go in the ‘impossible’ section of my expertise. So the first thing you should do is pick a game or activity that does not have too many ‘rules’ and can be done in a space that all children can run around in and still be supervised appropriately. A simple game to get children moving is to gather a few baskets (of different sizes and shapes - laundry baskets work great!) And an assortment of balls or rolled up socks. All of the children can race back and forth and practice tossing the balls in at different heights and distances. The older children can practice counting the number of throws and start to pass to others and become a bit more organized in their play. Little ones will probably enjoy just collecting the balls that have landed around the room or hiding in the baskets and playing peek-a-boo.
These are just a few examples of how you can include all the children in your care in the activities that you plan. Keep in mind that attention spans will also vary according to age and temperament, so prepare your activities in advance and enjoy!
Tamara has been working with children of all ages and abilities for over 10 years, and has a Bachelor of Applied Child Studies Degree and a Children’s Mental Health certificate. Tamara is from Calgary and is a mother of two.
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