DIY Dad; 5 simple dad-friendly kids activities
I will be the first to admit, it can be quite a challenge taking care of three boys when my wife isn’t around, or heaven forbid, I need to take them with you to get my errands done, but with the right attitude you can turn a quick trip to the grocery store into a scavenger hunt or turn your living room into a theater.
Allow these fun times as a chance to listen to your kid, play on their terms, while maintaining fair play and encourage healthy social interactions. Young kids, toddlers and preschoolers alike spend most of their day playing by ‘our rules’, let this be a chance for them to dictate things a bit; it is good for their confidence and promotes self assurance.
1. Masterpiece Theater – turn the living room into a cinema! Put dolls and teddies on a row of chairs. Take money for tickets, then show a DVD. An interval with a chance to buy a snack is popular!
2. Mix it up - Assuming the weather agrees, take your kids favorite toy outside. Right now my boys are all about their Geo-trax train set. We bring all the kits outside and they set them up under the cool shade of our lemon tree, they love it!
3. Scavenger Hunt – If you’re running to the store, turn it into a Scavenger Hunt and have each of your kids ‘find’ the items. It’s funnest with one kid. If you do it with more than one kid you will quickly find yourself trying to find your kids as they all bolt throughout the isles, I have anyway.
4. Off-off-off Broadway. Take brown paper grocery bags and cut out some holes for eyes and have your kids decorate them as their favorite storybook characters. When they’re done, have them act out the story. “Where the Wild Things Are” is a favorite. We end up doing plenty of improv’ that quickly decends to a wacky chase through the house or yard.
5. Teddy Hunters - Play hunt the teddy. Dress up the kids as safari hunters and take it in turns to hide it in the house. Put on some appropriate music (example; Lion King soundtrack) and if they can’t find the teddy by the time the song ends, it’s the other kid’s turn.
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