Encouraging a toddler to sit for circle time

Any suggestions for me? This is for MY son (turned 2 at the end of June). He just can not sit still for the small circle time we hold every day after lunch (calendar, weather, songs then story), he just gets up and goes and plays. I have ignored him, because it wouldn't be fair to the other kids to keep bringing him back after each page.

And once a week we visit an early years play room and they usually hold a tot time circle. All the other kids his age (and younger!), are sitting so nicely and he becomes so disruptive that I always have to leave with him. I know he's young still but when I see others able to sit nicely it makes me a little worried for him. His personality is VERY stereotypically BOY. Very physical, loves to run and jump and climb and be loud. He's very happy!

Anyone deal with this before? Any tips?

I find I have the most successful circles with boys ... well with all toddlers for that matter ... is when they are 'hands on' and have them interacting with the activities cause this is how they learn ~ sensorial and motor orientated ..... aka if you are telling a story via a traditional book find or create 'props' that go with book that they can hold ... so making felt board or laminated puppet accessories of the characters and getting them to 'hold it up' every time their character is mentioned ... keeps them 'engaged' with all levels of learning sensory and so forth. When choosing books for this age group ~ sticking to things with a silly factor and repetition like Robert Munsch with actions and silly voices and so forth and adding in things that have their 'name' in it and so forth helps. Throw in musical instruments or other 'hands on' things.

Another thing that helps with younger children is 'defining' their space for them ... we use carpet mats or do group time at the kitchen table where their space is defined ~ children often loose interest in group time when they are distracted by their space being invaded or other children too close to them so minimizing this for them can help .... you can also play games with the carpet mats like 'we are all in our boats today ~ be careful not to fall off your mat because there are SHARKS in the water and they are hungry or we are in a spaceship or whatever 'interest' they might have ;)

I will be honest ~ I always have a hard time figuring out why people cannot get kids to 'sit' for story time .... every group I have ever had ASKS for circle time even the 1 year old will refuse to go to his mama if she comes during circle time and comes squirming back to sit down until it is done. I honestly have never had an issue with a child not being able to be supported to 'attend' to group time in all my 20 years and I have had 'behaviorally and developmentally delayed' kids in my group ... however I have always offered the option that if you do not want to be there it is ok ~ they can go and play on a carpet with quiet toy instead and while some might try that once or twice eventually they see the other kids having more fun without them and they come around?

I think the key is that you really have to approach group time like a Robert Munsch concert if you want them to 'sit and listen to it' for any length of time ... develop that 'entertainer' type persona that is not worried about looking silly to the children ~ I cannot carry a tune to save my life but my crew is always asking me to sing cause I suck it up and make myself have fun doing it ... plus they just love all the little props and puppets and so forth and when I tell stories all the characters have varied 'voices' and so forth ... I will admit that this is also MY favorite time of the day as well cause they are all sitting and contained and engaged so it is 'easier' for me ... my group time can last up to an hour some days specially if it is rainy and I am looking to kill time normally spent outside :o

Lou, when you find the secret I want to hear it! Actually, I read stories to the children while they eat their lunch or afternoon snack and sometimes both. I also sing to them at that time and we practice days of the week, numbers and lots of other things as they are finishing up their fruit. I've had lots of trouble keeping little people in one spot for a circle time in the toyroom. Once in a while they really get into the finger puppets and felt board stories, but I usually have at least one wanderer and it can disrupt the whole thing.

Reggio- I do every single thing you brought up, but he's just not interested. And I don't know if it's a 'because you're my mom so I'm going to give you a harder time' issue, because the other kids sit perfectly! Circle time is the other kids fave part of the day and it's very interactive :(

Mom- I will...in the meantime, I'll tear my hair out!

I will add that he ALWAYS comes running when it's "See the Sleeping Bunnies" song time, LOL

Some kids sit well because they get a lot of practice at home sitting in front of the tv.

You might want to take a look at what you are doing and change some things. Things like calendar mean very little to a toddler who hasn't mastered the concept of the days of the weeks, etc. Like anything else, if you don't grab their attention in the first few minutes their interest is lost for the whole time.

Since he is your own you might have some success making him your helper for the circletime letting him sit beside you or even in front of you being snuggled. He won't see the pictures of the book but he will hear and feel your voice.

I mostly do circletime at the table with everyone sitting and those that don't stay are put into high chairs. I don't allow wandering off because the point of circletime is to learn to participate in a group and that sometimes we don't get to do what we want to do. We usually finish our circletime with colouring at the table.

Other "circletimes" I do are 5 minute lessons in various parts of the room so we gather at the feltboard for a session and later gather in the book area for a session, etc.

Like Reggio said, if I sit down on the floor they all come running to sit with me and then we do things till they start to lose interest and then we end it. I don't have a ritual type of circletime where we always do the same things in the same order such as calendar, weather, alphabet song, story,.... I just sit with my bin (plastic dishpan) of things to do and we pick things out and do them. If they seem into singing I pull more song things out, etc.

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Originally Posted by playfelt

.... I don't have a ritual type of circletime where we always do the same things in the same order such as calendar, weather, alphabet song, story,.... I just sit with my bin (plastic dishpan) of things to do and we pick things out and do them. If they seem into singing I pull more song things out, etc.

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This is me as well ~ although I always start with a This morning the banjo was playing on the radio song and end it the same good~bye song but the middle is child directed ~ each child gets to choose to bring things out of my basket either finger puppets, books, file folder activities and so forth ... I do not do the calendar and weather and so forth at 'circle' because we discuss things like this when planning the morning with them cause it is more practical hands on observations ~ lets look outside can we go to a park today if so what do we need to be safe as well as when we menu plan for the next week I can teach the days of the week and so forth.

My own son was like your at 2! I would take him out to playgroup and end up embarrassed because he wouldn't sit like the other kids...only for sleeping bunnies like you said! He is a VERY active child and has a hard time sitting for anything...even now when he waches TV he is twisting and turning and standing on his head. At 2 he wasn't watching TV yet. I dreaded circle time with him...but he was in a preschool program this past year and he did very well with circle time there...I htink it is harder with your own child!

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Originally Posted by Lou

I will add that he ALWAYS comes running when it's "See the Sleeping Bunnies" song time, LOL

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My group asks me to sing that one 3 times before I tell them it's enough LOL

I have the same issue with MY CHILD! Everyone else sits and listens to the story (after songs & dancing) and even diring songs shes doing the actions but runs around the room. I'm constantly telling her to stop and stay in one spot! I know she knows better....isn't is always our own that gives us the harder time? LOL

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Originally Posted by Inspired by Reggio

I will be honest ~ I always have a hard time figuring out why people cannot get kids to 'sit' for story time .... every group I have ever had ASKS for circle time even the 1 year old will refuse to go to his mama if she comes during circle time and comes squirming back to sit down until it is done. I honestly have never had an issue with a child not being able to be supported to 'attend' to group time in all my 20 years and I have had 'behaviorally and developmentally delayed' kids in my group ... however I have always offered the option that if you do not want to be there it is ok ~ they can go and play on a carpet with quiet toy instead and while some might try that once or twice eventually they see the other kids having more fun without them and they come around?

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I just tried to get my kids to sit in a circle. The 23 month old went blank in his face, like I was speaking a different language. My 16 month old also acted like he didn't understand and carried on playing, and once I did get the 23 month old to sit, tried to get him up to play. And my son, the 13 month old, just kept trying to climb on me. There was no way I was getting them to sit. I just don't know if this is something I am cut out to doing because I have NO idea what I am doing. The 2.5 year old was all excited. I am most successful when I just sit on the floor and sing by myself. They'll walk around me, sometimes they'll dance, sometimes they'll stop and smile, but that's about as far as I get. :(

I do a circle time in the play room. I ask the children to sit but they do not necessarily have to because I find that they are still engaged in what is going on, they just need to move around a bit more... especially for the boys! Also, as a few other have mentioned doing lots of movement activities in circle time to keep hands and bodies busy.

It akes time! Don't stress about it! Kids don't get these things the first time...you have to keep repeating over and over and over again. It also helps to have some older kids who understnad and can model what you want them to do. I wouldn't stress about getting them to sit. Also, do you have any playgroups near you that you can take them to? I find the kids sit much better in a large group where there are many other kids sitting and modelling the behaviour.

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Originally Posted by Littledragon

I just tried to get my kids to sit in a circle. The 23 month old went blank in his face, like I was speaking a different language. My 16 month old also acted like he didn't understand and carried on playing, and once I did get the 23 month old to sit, tried to get him up to play. And my son, the 13 month old, just kept trying to climb on me. There was no way I was getting them to sit. I just don't know if this is something I am cut out to doing because I have NO idea what I am doing. The 2.5 year old was all excited. I am most successful when I just sit on the floor and sing by myself. They'll walk around me, sometimes they'll dance, sometimes they'll stop and smile, but that's about as far as I get. :(

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