Getting them to engage in activities

I was looking over some of the other provider's schedules posted and see that commonly about an hour is allotted in time blocks for crafts/songs/activities. How do you get them to engage for such a long period of time? I care for 5 children + my own son; ages 1,18 months, 3 @ 2 years and a 4 year old. I am finding it really hard to get anyone other than the 4 year old to voluntarily engage in my activities for any length of time. For me currently, songs, games, activities are quick 2-5 min. ones thrown in between play times. I honestly wonder why somedays that I plan the crafts and activities when in a matter of seconds they are off playing anyway. My concern really are the 2 year olds (1 year olds wander, I'm fine with that)...should I be insisting that they stay for the activity? If so, isn't that taking all the fun away? Or, by insisting eventually they will engage? Tell me your secret!!

I don't force any kids to do a certain thing except to eat! I want them to be at ease here at my home, and that's what it is, we learn through playing!

We do have a circle time each day (when I have a voice!). Circle times vary between 20 minutes to 40 minutes - just depends on the moods of the kids!

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Originally Posted by Play and Learn

I want them to be at ease here at my home

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Yes, I so agree with you!

When doing crafts or what not think about it this way. first kids have to clean up the toys they had out (10min) it takes 5min to get them all together, everyone helps set up(10 MIN), doing the craft (10 min), clean up (10 min) . . . . . there you have it 45 minutes for a craft . . . . LOL . . . . and believe me . . they aren't engaged the whole time

Was just going to say that. Even though on the schedule it might say one hour for circletime what it really means is from 10-11 we clean up from play, go potty/change diapers - I mean who wants to sit in a wet one or have a kid scream I have to pee in the middle of story. Then we get settled and start. But it also doesn't mean we sit for the whole time either. The planned hour could include sitting for a story, playing a game, doing a science experiment, going over to the window to discuss the weather and the world outside. Circletime for me simply means teacher planned time - the list of things I want to do with the children in between what they want to do.

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Originally Posted by FlexFunCare

When doing crafts or what not think about it this way. first kids have to clean up the toys they had out (10min) it takes 5min to get them all together, everyone helps set up(10 MIN), doing the craft (10 min), clean up (10 min) . . . . . there you have it 45 minutes for a craft . . . . LOL . . . . and believe me . . they aren't engaged the whole time

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Phew! Now that makes sense. Thanks:)

I don't do crafts every day. maybe 1 or 2 a week and they last about 30 minutes by the time we get smocks on and do it and then wash hands after and clean up

Circle time is a few songs/nursery rhymes and then 2-3 books. Most of the kids sit through it. Even the 1 year old shows interest and tries to grab the book from me every 10 seconds. lol In total circle time is probably 15 minutes and taht is with me talking to them about what happened in the book.

I think it is great to not just read the text but also point out things in the pictures or ask them a question or ask them to find something in the picture etc. I will say to them - does the mommy look happy in this picture?" then the kids will answer me with what mood they think she is and then I will say "Why is she feeling sad?" etc. It engages them a bit more in the books and also works as a great teaching tool to learn feelings or to find things and notice details, etc. Or I will say...do you see the mouse on this page? and let them all take a look. It makes the book take longer but they are engrossed in it the whole way through.

Some days I will do 2 circle times (one morning, one afternoon) if I am bored and they seem bored (like rainy weather outside and we were trapped in all day) but other than that an hour is a long time.

I also get out the ABC letters and quiz them on letters a bit or ask them to find me a letter but even that just takes a few minutes

I also forgot to say that I don't expect/force anyone to stay in the circle or listen but I will be cross if they leave the circle and be noisy/disruptive or do things that prevent others from enjoying the circle. I will talk to them about being respectful. Sometimes even I get too many questions/comments during a story and have to remind them that we have to be respectful to me reading the story and hold our thoughts until the end.

IME when 'creative art' is about the PROCESS of exploration for children and not focused on an 'END PRODUCT' of a cute little 'animal' or other theme related thing they will sit for quiet a long time exploring with various mediums ... offering children time to explore creative mediums and just 'create and discover' with them can keep them engaged for a long time ... cause they are learning and discovering and trial and error with it - some kids get frustrated and walk away others are determined to get it to 'do something'.

I have kids who will explore in finger paint on a laminated sheet of paper or a cookie sheet for over 30 minutes or more ... because it is not just paper the long exploration does not cause deterioration' and the paint does not dry up on them and make them frustrated both things that shorten kids desire to play ... than if I add stuff TOO the finger paint like a car or blocks or something else they 'like to explore with' to make different 'marks' with it will extend the exploration ... or let them start off with paint and than add 'sugar' or 'coffee' or some other texture and explore again.

I am a creative soul at heart - my crew can easily spend an hour at the creative table exploring ... I offer a creative medium AT LEAST twice a day - once in the playroom where I set the table up for TWO friends to explore and you can come if you want to or not and again as a 'group activity' before lunch but again if t hey do not want to engage in it they do not have to they can watch TV instead while I get lunch together.

That said while we do ART daily I only ever send home one 'product' a week to parents .... the rest of the time we work on reusable surfaces to explore and when we are done I wash them off for the next day .... because it is about the process for them they do not care about it five minutes after they are done they have moved on - and if someone creates something they are specially proud of and want to show mom and dad we take a picture of it for them to 'see' and than clean it up ... works great and saves some trees too boot!

I am back ... I follow an 'emergent' curriculum and well 'circle time' is more of a theme based practice and not something you would necessarily see in a Reggio classroom however it is something I LOVED as a theme based teacher for so many years and well it was hard to give that up so this is my compromise to being able to still do it .... I make it as emergent as possible by allowing the children to 'lead' the activities that come out on any given day!

So yes we do a group time / circle daily as well and that too can last 45 plus minutes ... I think the key to my success at this is two fold .... first I have a 'circle box' that has an array of finger puppets, flannel board stories, co-opertative games with props and books in it and that I change up based on seasons, interests of the kids and well to add a 'surprise or two' to explore as a group... at circle time we have our standard 'greeting' and whatever I want to 'share' developmentally wise to work on I get to take my turn first and than each child gets a turn picking something out of the box and therefore are 'invested' in paying attention and staying with the group until their 'turn' and the ones who get a turn first stay attuned because they want to see what their peers will 'pick' and secondly I have no SHAME ... I sing loud and often off key but put my heart into it, I read a story very similar to Robert Munsch with silly voices for characters, I will substitute their names in their favorite books to make it more personal to them and most of all I have FUN and at group time and as a result the kids want to be there with me 'engaged' in this special time together.

IME the key to success with getting children to 'engage' in anything is to truly be engaged ourselves ... they feed off our enjoyment and energy and will mimic that and on the flip-side well they are empathetic ... they can tell if we are uncomfortable with 'mess' and will not get messy to avoid making us uncomfortable or they can tell if we are not comfortable singing and will not sing and so forth ... and by 'we' not necessarily talking about the provider but the 'primary adults' in their life ... if mess is frowned on at home a child will be reluctant to get messy in daycare even if it is 'allowed' there and so forth.

I only have one major craft a week for my theme now and I have a system where I set up the children at the table with different activities like craft scissors just to cut paper for practice, colouring or playing with little toys while I prepare lunch in the next room. That way I can see the children better than if they were 2 rooms away in the toyroom and I'm closer to them and they are stationary. Then I clean up whatever they are working on and set their prepared plates in front of them for lunch. I think it's good that they learn that there are 2 purposes for sitting at the table but in this way the babies are not confused and putting craft items into their mouths.

I've posted in other threads that I've given up trying to conduct a circle time in the toyroom because they are too distracted by the toys and won't sit still for me, not even the older ones. So I read them stories while they eat and when they finish eating we sing a couple of songs with hand movements then I serve their fruit. I either have some little puppets or another story while they finish. It's working for me.

That makes perfect sense.... keeping them entertained yet "corralled" in one place. A captive audience is more likely to learn. And perhaps the two-bites-and-I'm-done kids will eat a little more!!!

Yes! It's working great for me and I encourage all of you who are having trouble to try it out!

Then of course I can't eat with the children because I'm entertaining them until after I've tucked them into their beds but that has turned into a plus for me as well. Here in London, Ont. we have a forum that we've developed and after I finish the children's lunch I eat my lunch and catch up on my emails and our morning forum chatting.

This is just another example of experimenting and making things work to your advantage daily.