When it comes to keeping the children occupied it can be so difficult to know the best way to keep your children stimulated. During school time, you have the beauty of knowing that your children are busy. They are learning, getting on with things and generally enjoying life.
However, outside of school, it can be tricky. So I thought I would share with you some of the ways that you can encourage children to be occupied when they are home with you.
Think about enrolling them in after-school activities
Some children really need constant stimulation, and a great way to do that is through after-school activities. This could be anything such as sport or extracurricular activities. Looking here may highlight options like football, or online you may find local classes for things such as tennis or basketball.
It may be that your child is more academic, and the stimulation they need is more to do with science, English or even maths club. Find your child’s niche and what interests them and go with it.
Avoid the games consoles and iPads as much as possible
The next thing to think about would be to try and avoid your child jumping on an iPad or games console the moment school is finished. This can sometimes be a welcomed distraction while perhaps you are cooking tea and getting organized.
But too much of this sort of stimulation can have a negative impact on your child. If the iPad is a tool that children like to play on then maybe you could consider downloading educational apps that make things like reading, maths or literacy more appealing and fun.
Read together as a before bed activity
Reading can also be a great activity for children, and so you may want to think about using it as a good exercise before bed. You might already have a bath, reading and bedtime routine in place, so instead of you reading, perhaps a good idea would be to encourage your child to read instead.
It is a great way to spend some quality time together and the extra stimulation of using their minds for reading can be the perfect way to tire them out finally before sleep.
Encourage children to make local friends
Finally, you might want to think about encouraging your children to make some friends locally. It might be next door neighbors, it could be that they live on the same street or estate.
But encouraging your children to be social means that they may end up spending more time outside and enjoying the company of others instead of having their head in their iPads or games consoles. It also can be a fun way to burn excess energy and teach them valuable social skills as well as being fun for them.
I hope that these ideas help you. Children can be so tired after school and sometimes it can be difficult to keep them stimulated long enough before bed, but if you can, it can feel like a great achievement knowing that they are feeling good.
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