Kids seem to go crazy last 1hr and a half of day - any ideas?

Hey guys!
Just looking for any suggestions that you guys might have.

I have a 2, 4, 5 year old, and my 15 month old son. The last couple days it seems that the kids go stir crazy when we hit the 4pm mark (It's actually more so the 4 & 5 year olds and the younger ones are happy doing their own thing). By this time we have already done crafts, circle time, stories, coloring, play doh, about an hour of tv time (while the others nap) and outside time at least twice. Do you guys have any suggestions to get us all through the last hour and half of our day?

Honestly, up until that time I'm like 'hey, I can handle this. I love this day home thing' (I've only been up and running for 3 weeks now - this week was the first week with all 3 kids) and then the bickering, whining, and mayhem sets in and all I can think of is 'is it home time yet?'

The most frustrating thing is the 4 year old as he cries ALL the time because he wants EVERY toy that any of the kids have and I always step in and remind him about sharing. Especially at this time. This is also when he starts to rough house and bounce from one couch to the other, throw toys and also drive the dog nuts. I feel that if I could just get a handle on him for this last little bit of the day then the others wouldn't feed off of him. - I should ad that during the day he is pretty good because he is occupied (minus the sharing/whining thing but I think with consistency it should hopefully get better) but at the end of the day he spends a lot of his time in timeout.

Thanks so much!

Can you shift your routine around so you go outside at that time of the day?

A 4 year old who cries over toys? That seems very wrong to me. My little ones are cured of crying over toys before they are 2, but this boy hasn't been in your care so the caregiver before you and the parents are the ones who dropped the ball. But I'd be talking to the parents now and getting them to help you put a stop to that. Does he have a nap? He should be refreshed at the end of the day from quiet or naptime, but it sounds like he is overtired maybe?

I would be making all the children have naptime and if they choose not to sleep then that's fine but they must stay on their cot or nap mat for the required time. At the end of the day I don't allow toys out. They are permitted books, puzzles, coloring, or playdoh. No rowdy or rambunctious toys. I do my outdoor time in the morning because it's cooler.

I do my outside times from 9:00-11:00 unless we're at a park and we eat lunch there and straight to bed when they get home. And we go outside again at 4:45ish until parents arrive, both times for me work where the sun doesn't hit my backyard so it's not so bad. Plus after being in our playroom (basement) we like to warm up! It's so cold down there.....and I've taped off the air vents! They now wear sock when we're down there! lol

I agree with Crayola, I would make them ALL go down at naptime. If they don't sleep then that's ok but with consitancy after a while, I'm sure even the older ones will sleep for 30 minutes. Sometimes we think that just because a child is very active he does not need to rest when actually he is actually actind up du to a lack of sleep.

As for the other problemes, was the 4 year old use to a daycare setting ? Maybe he also needs to get use to a daycare setting ?

yeah, the 4 year old was with another day home previously but they switched because my location is more convenient for the parents. We normally go outside in the morning, as well, as it gets just so hot in the afternoons and my yard is directly in the sun with no shade. Quite often we go on the deck as it's covered but the humidity can be quite the killer so we normally only last half an hour at a time. Normally I get the older ones to lay down on separate couches with blankets and quietly watch TV while the two younger ones nap in separate rooms, but they never fall asleep. His mom says that he doesn't nap during the day and if he does it's normally in the car when they are out and about. I think he's tired too. How do you guys get older kids to rest when they don't nap? My house is pretty small so the only place available is the living room.

All of my children sleep/rest in the same dark room no matter what their ages. I have two 1 year olds, a 2 year old and two 4 year olds. The 4 year old children fall asleep last and sleep the least amount of time but they need the rest after our busy days, no tv or books, it's too dark in the room. But they do fall asleep every single day.

The last hour and a half, we go outside. The pick up times range between 4:30 and 5:30 so we play outside after afternoon snack. It seems to do the trick

For me they all sleep in the same room but the older ones can get a book to read but they all fall asleep everyday too. If I need ... They should need it too ! :p

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Originally Posted by crafty

I agree with Crayola, I would make them ALL go down at naptime. If they don't sleep then that's ok but with consitancy after a while, I'm sure even the older ones will sleep for 30 minutes. Sometimes we think that just because a child is very active he does not need to rest when actually he is actually actind up du to a lack of sleep.

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So happy you posted this Godsgirl and great advice crafty/crayola...I too struggle with my older ones. I'm exhausted with the fact that my attempts at quiet time with them have been so unsuccessful. Today, I took this advice and assigned them all separate rooms to lay down and have quiet time in (as opposed to throwing a movie on and reminding the 3 of them to "please settle down and be quiet" about 30 times!). There has not been a peep for an hour. Oh Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou!!!!!!!!