Hey I was wondering if someone could help me. I work with children and I have a situation at the moment where the toddler is behaving really badly. She is screaming around the house, always not listening to what her mother says and just acting out. She has a routine but the mother tries to occupy her with movies and foxtel. Personally I think a child should not be expected to sit and watch tv all day. They have energy to burn. Now they have a small house and not much room to set up activities. I was wondering what ways are there to entertain a toddler and burn that energy in a smaller house and especially during winter.
I am not in a position to tell the mother what I think of her methods I was hoping to just suggest a few ideas to keep her occupied during the day.
PLEASE HELP
You got some really good suggestions and one more thing I could suggest is dancing...put on some kid friendly music and dance with her. 3 year olds love to dance and when you're in a small house it's still easy to do. Taking her to a gymnastics class would also help...not only will she burn off the energy but it's also a structured activity that will teach her discipline. If she was a year older I would suggest Karate classes for her because the discipline they learn from there is great and they still get to "play".
A good game of tag will do wonders for a toddler. I also used to do hide and seek with the kids I watched. Backyard races are good. I'd spin them around in a blanket... Running up the stairs, and having them slide down on their bottoms as a race (who can go up and down 3 times the fastest). You don't want a toddler running DOWN the stairs, that's dangerous. You're right- they do need to burn off energy. Jumping jacks are fun for little ones. Keep 'em moving!
a bouncy house liek a small one...have a little pool outside of the house or set up in the kitchen. have her bring her out to a park maybe. or jsut got for a walk around the neighborhood...does she have stairs have the kid run up and down the stairs to see hwo fast they can do it...thats what my boyfriend use to do with his nephew to wear him out and he thought it was fun.
They want someone to interact with them. No little kid like that wants to be babysat by a television unless they're autistic. Interact and play with them, and when they act up, let them know that if they act that way no one will want to play with them next time.
And encourage the kid when they are playing GOOD. Let them know and praise them.
buy her a bike, set up a playdate, get one of those little toddler playcars, or try getting that childen-can-read thing
