Need help w/ routine or activities

[GymMom]

I have a large age gap btwn my youngest & oldest dck's. in total I have 4, 3 and 2 1/2 year old boys and 16 and 13 month old girls. I have a nap for the babies from 9-10, snack at 10, lunch at 12:15 and nap time/tv time from 1-2:30. The rest of the time is free play/chaos. I'd love to hear from any of you that have a similar group what kind of schedule & activities work for everyone.

[playfelt]

For sure do something with the older ones like playing a game or puzzles or craft while the babies are sleeping to help break up the day. Then when they start playing again it will be like starting over.

Another trick is to limit when things can come out such as only having blocks during the second freeplay time so not every bin of toys is opened. This is where rubbermaid type bins comes in. Another member has cupboards for the toy storage and unlocks a different cupboard at a time to give variety and limit how much is available.

[sunnydays]

Playfelt has a good suggestion...I would also use morning naptime to do something that the babies cannot be a part of....like arts, crafts, letter and shape learning or something with small pieces not suitable for the babies. Also, you can still do some structured activities when the babies are up...for example a game like Red Light Green Light or Sleepign Bunnies is easy to do and the babies either do their own thing, watch, or join in. I actually find that, although you have to keep your eyes on them, the little babies are really good at entertaining themselves with very little input from me...it's the over 2's who need a bit more structure and more stimulation, so I play games aimed at them and the little ones catch on when they are ready. Active song type games like head and shoulders are fun too.

[Momof4]

I have freeplay until I serve breakfast at 8:30 then we go outside shortly after 9 for at least 2 hours. That wears the children out, then lunch shortly after 11, circle time at 12, naps between 12:30 & 1:00 until snack at 3, then crafts or playdo or puzzles or colouring, etc. and freeplay until pickups.

On bad weather mornings I set all the children (mine are different ages too) around the dining room table and give each one something different, scissor practice with some paper, washable markers with a colouring page, playdo, puzzles, etc. and I help them one at a time with a bigger craft and they switch their activities every once in a while. A homemade tent or fort or tunnel is great for a while and my little girls set up their dolls in there. A big piece of cardboard or a box can be made into a million things just encourage them to use their imaginations and give them little ideas as they play.

There are so many things you can do to set up different activities: hard macaroni with odds and ends mixed in for a treasure hunt in a container, an empty ice cube tray with different colours and sizes of pompoms and a spoon or chopsticks for sorting, the special playdo sets are great but also you can give them various things from your kitchen for them to use to experiment, matching games, I could go on and on. Do some googling for crafts for toddlers or songs or games.