Share your daily schedule?

[DaycareLady]

Anyone care to share their daily schedule?! I don't know if it is because we have literally not been outside in over a month due to weather, or if my schedule needs some tweaking because we are all seeming bored!! Would to look at yours!

[Dreamalittledream]

It's probably not your schedule, my group is the same. I've been trying to chase the boredom away by: Changing around the playroom & rotating toys on the weekends (normally I only rotate once a month), by bringing them upstairs just for a change of scenery (blanket forts, crafts@ the kitchen table, I even had hubby bring in a bunch of snow to fill the tub and the kids had a great time with scoops & food coloring etc.), by doing lots of action songs & books, making an obstacle course out of pillows and chairs...I even dug out the old huge doll house this weekend (it's monstrous!), they're having a blast with that.

[Skysue]

Hi,

My kids are the same as we are all getting cabin fever. Plan a few theme days, camping party set up tents, or drape blankets and read stories geared to camping, http://www.dltk-kids.com/scouts/mcampfiretp.htm, make snores etc...

For playdough add some birthday candles, mine yesterday made playdough birthday cakes for an hour.

Set up an indoor obsticle course with Holla hoops, mine love throwing balls into a big bin. We also love sitting in a circle and throw a plush soccer ball back and forth.
http://spoonful.com/family-fun/25-wa...ht-cabin-fever

I have even moved the couch away from the wall and added blankets to make the coolest fort!

Go to the dollar store and buy a few rolls of cheap wrapping paper cover the walls with the blank/ back side of the paper and let them draw whatever!

For the older kids get painters tape and stick hop scotch to the floor!

Get a ton of blankets and set up a water table with tons of bubbles. Oh and bubble fun!

[sunnydays]

Yeah, cabin fever is common at this time of year! Thankfully for us in Ottawa, the weather has warmed up and yesterday and today we were outside all morning playing in the snow However, last week I set up a tent for the kids to play in inside. We have done tons of art, felt stories, ball games, sleeping bunnies, puzzles, books, etc. We've also done some science such as the magic milk experiment posted last week. I love Skysue's idea of covering a section of wall with paper for drawing...as long as they understand they have to stop where the paper ends! I have also rearranged my playroom a bit and it seemed to help as the kids are now playing with things they did not play with before...just because of the new location

[DaycareLady]

All great ideas! Thanks so much!

[crafty]

Yeah I think you guys have cabin fever as well. My weeks were tuff to but this week we have been able to go outside every single day for at least an hour and it's soooooooo much better... even nap time is way better.

I was getting bored myself. I was getting kids to 'prented' play outside and we would learn how to dress in our winter gear and as dream we played with snow in a bucket. However I am kinda glad we got to practiced dressing cause now they can all pretty much do most of the work themselfs so I can focus on my 12 month olds.

[Momof4]

We are having All Red Day tomorros on Feb. 14th, we're dressing all in red and eating all red food. We're doing the same for St. Patrick's day except all in green. A pj party is always great. Makea big tent and pretend to have a campfire with some pieces of wood and red tissue paper for the fire.

We play musical mats, when the music goes off the children all sit on a mat (no losers or winners) red light green light, randomly running around the room while I say green light and freezing when I say red light.

My favourite no mess creating is to put 4-5 blobs of acrylic paint in a big freezer size ziplog bag and a bit of salad oil and let the children paint through the bag. You can add round beads and glitter but nothing that will puncture the bag. This will keep them going for hours!

Have you ever made homemade finger paints with flour, little bit of water and food colouring? Or corn starch with water is really fun for the children because it has the solid consistency and liquid consistenty at the same time.

There's a start! I could go on for hours!

[sunnydays]

Momof 4...all great ideas! We do musical pillows too...it's an all-time favourite and I do just what you described...everyone gets a pillow...no competition. At ages 1-4, the last thing you need is a fight over the last remaining mat and somebody getting hurt or throwing a tantrum

[cfred]

I bought some of those IKEA 'air elements'. Basically, they're just big air bags made of thick plastic with covers on them. We have a lady bug, elephant, turtle and some brown animal (groundhog maybe?). They're akin to bean bag chairs, but with air in them instead of beans or styrofoam and are super durable. I've had 2 of mine for about 6 yrs with only one air element biting the dust. They're great as the kids can bounce on their bums on them. I've found them pretty good for burning energy in the winter months. I can't remember the prices off the top of my head, but around $40 each for air element and cover together maybe. Plus, they stack nicely in the corner and can be used as chairs at reading time, etc. Thick foam pads or old couch cushions are great too. I would get kids to take a couple running steps and jump onto them, one at a time. This time of year is soooo tough for keeping kids active! They have to burn off a little steam or they'll drive you out of your mind!