Preschoolers and Peace - What Can a Two-Year-Old Do?

What Can a Two-Year-Old Do? • Jan. 5, 2006

Many moms I know are frustrated by the constant activity of the under-three crowd. Normally, their busyness is just exhausting, but in a homeschooling household, their activity can thwart an entire day begun with good intentions.

What can a two-year-old do to keep busy and stay out of trouble but still be learning, thriving, and contributing to a household?

Today I have been tracking what our two-year-old has been doing just so you could see how it might play out in your home. While we never want to push our little ones away from the family activity, we do embrace wholeheartedly the idea of confinement.

Breakfast- in the booster for about an hour

Circle Time- on mom's lap. This is great practice for church and other situations that require her to be still and happy.

Table Activity- blocks at the table, sitting in her booster. Today she was completely busy with the Shape Sorting Cube from Large Family Logistics: http://largefamilylogistics.net/cgi-bin/online/storepro.php

Room Time- gate's up and she has free play in her room for about 30 minutes. When it's time to come out, she picks up the toys with mom so cleaning up becomes a habit.

I was in the hallway today hanging some pictures and I was so delighted to hear her say "Hi!" to every child who walked by. Very cute.

Stroller Ride- one of the older children takes her for a stroller ride around the property. This can last anywhere from 10-45 minutes.

Lunch- back into the booster

Nap- several hours of constructive confinement.

Video- 30 minutes. We are currently loving the Praise Baby DVDs. I often find older children wandering in to watch and sing the praise songs.

Table Time and Snack- we eat dinner late, so a little snack tides her over. It also keeps her busy and near me while I prepare dinner.

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Sharing Thoughts

Hi Kendra! - Jan. 7, 2006

Shared by UndertheSky

I am close to you (relatively). :+) I am not sure if I am going to Modesto. (Email me and we can chat offline.) underthesky@gmail.com

Warmly,
Kate
(Kate CA WTM Boards)

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Untitled Comment - Jan. 10, 2006

Shared by HSBCompanyBlog

The Carnival of Homeschooling is now posted with your entry in it!

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSBCompanyBlog/66240/

Be sure to stop by and check it out. In addition, we’d love for you to blog about it on your blog. Don’t forget to enter to win prizes everyday and a Grand Prize on Saturday!

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I have an 18 mos old son - Jan. 19, 2006

Shared by Anonymous

Who is not really talking yet, but babbles and understands most of what we ask him to do. He does not like to sit still for very long and will only work in his highchair coloring/scribbling with markers for maybe 15 mins before he starts drawing on himself or eating the marker tips. I have tried putting him in his room to play with the gate up but he tends to tear the place apart, empty his clothes out of drawers, take all the toys out and make a huge mess...this works for maybe an hour, but leaves a big mess. I am used to working with older children as a former elem teacher so would like to incorporate a schedule of activities to keep him from going crazy around the house. Please help. azgenie @ hotmail. com

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Your Busy 18-Month-Old - Jan. 19, 2006

Shared by PreschoolersandPeace

Hi-

Thanks for posting on my blog. Sounds like you have a busy one in your house! Is he an only child? If so, you are in one of the hardest seasons. Maybe it doesn't help to be told that now, but keep plugging away and it will get better- I promise!

You wrote:

" He does not like to sit still for very long and will only work in his highchair coloring/scribbling with markers for maybe 15 mins before he starts drawing on himself or eating the marker tips."

That is so typical... very 18-month-old-like. If you can keep him occupied there for 10 minutes, you are doing well. Gradually he'll be able to sit for longer periods of time, but if 15 minutes is all you get right now, be content with 15 minutes, knowing you're working up to a longer stretch of time.

You also wrote:

"I have tried putting him in his room to play with the gate up but he tends to tear the place apart, empty his clothes out of drawers, take all the toys out and make a huge mess...this works for maybe an hour, but leaves a big mess."

This is a perfect opportunity to train him in what you expect. First of all, I would put up as much as you can out of the way so that you remove a lot of the temptation. I do believe he needs to have some temptation so that you can train him, but it's not necessary to have a room full of toys and stuff to tear apart the minute the gate goes up. My 2yo has a wipes fetish and she tore them up so often I finally put them out of her reach. I just didn't see the point. On the other hand, I have trained her not to open her drawers and throw her clothes around because I felt she needed to learn self-control in that area. I just chose the hill I wanted to die on :)

I would determine that the next x amount of days are going to be gate-training days, and then purpose to sit outside the gate each time you put him in his room so that you can train him as he goes to do something you don't want him to do. I know it means loss of free time for you, but at 18 months, you are in the season of training and your hard work and investment now will pay off in spades later. Sometimes it's just getting myself into the mindset that I will be setting aside the time to purposefully train that helps me have a good attitude about it.

And lastly:

"I am used to working with older children as a former elem teacher so would like to incorporate a schedule of activities to keep him from going crazy around the house."

Yes! You do want to keep him from going crazy around the house. Too many people spend far too much time following little ones around in their wake. You can have a little boy who is parent-led and happy!

Blessings,
Kendra

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