Wonderful Activities

Last year when I was pregnant, I made this list of activities that we could all do with our 5 year old to keep him busy.

You might enjoy some of them too - because I wrote it out quickly you might not understand some of them - just drop me a comment if anything needs more explanations!

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THINGS TO DO WITH JOEY

Take books under Greenwood tree and read to him

newspaper under feet and scoot along “walking” or “running”

screwed up bits of newspaper in a box – all have to be opened because one has a “prize” in it

teddy/dolly hospital: bandages, handkies, pretend lotion, use stethescope and make “notes”

go outside and quickly gather 6 items: give him a box and he needs to find 6 matching items with you i.e., willow leaf, plantain “flower”, dandelion

electronic typewriter closely supervised

make a bong-line-  use loose parts from children's garden

peg in bottle – 2 pegs opposite ends of bit of string, peg one to bottom of shirt, get other into a glass Heinz pasta sauce bottle

make about five large fish out of cardboard, make lips into an “o” and cut out centre, use fishing line and stick, put opened paperclip on end and try to catch, or hang fishing line over your ear

2 pillowcases with matching items at each end of lounge – Joey pulls one item out and then has to race to other side of lounge and without looking, just feeling, try to find matching item

items on tray – what have I taken away? Also do this outside with natural finds

play money – teach him one or two at a time – i.e., one day teach 10c and 20c pieces

sewing cards – cut shapes out of cardboard and punch holes around outside then tape a piece of wool to card, wrap sellotape around end of wool to make “needle”

chalk on deck anyhow he likes

hopscotch on deck, or a line with numbers he needs to hop on number as you call it

board game on deck with a huge die made from a cardboard box

blindfold and crawl outside, bang the pot/bucket outside

ziplock bag with three blobs of paint – red, blue and yellow. Seal bag Joey to squish

drawing – overlap squares, triangles or circles and then colour

nature weaving, remember to put newspaper behind the cardboard when putting the warp threads over the cardboard. Remove newspaper then there will be space for nature finds to be woven in.

Make butterfly rings for fingertips, then go outside to dance them around the flowers

make a large wet-felted ball for Joseph to play with

bowl of water with a coin in the bottom, try to get another coin to land on the top of the first one

make strip of cardboard with six squares numbered 1-6. Gather six items. Roll die and cover whichever number you roll with the item – use button, stone, small toy etc.

cup of tea set

Lego

Duplo

Tikes Peak

playdough

real cooking

pretend washing up

gather cloths from kitchen and get Joey to wash them in a basin and hang on a line we have put up

bubble play in the outdoor kitchen sink

teach him to take turns with kicking or rolling a ball back and forth

card games – memory, fish,

tutor system

paint with water on the deck with large paintbrush

big paper, big paintbrush, paint in cardboard egg containers, three colours, do this on GRASS!

Watering strawberries

take pop-up tent under a tree with blanket, book and snacks

DON'T HAVE THE EXPECTATION THAT HE WILL STICK TO EVERY GAME