“When Josiah finally woke up, Mommy, Josiah, and I played puzzles on the floor. We did our huge ABC floor puzzle. It’s really neat. We left it out for Daddy to see.
The next thing I knew it was time for evening chores. I didn’t even get to play army men yet! Josiah and I had to unload the dishwasher and set the table. Kayla and Cami are making bbq chicken tonight. Yum!”
“Jonathan’s Journal”
There are a few tips we can glean from today’s excerpt. First of all, as I mentioned earlier, if you are not going to allow your preschooler to watch television and play electronics all day, the day will oftentimes go slowly for your little one. That is one reason I liked to break my preschoolers’ day up with a routine. Secondly, we can counteract that potential boredom by doing fun and educational things with our little one, such as the floor puzzle that that little guys and I did in today’s passage. Many of the activities introduced in the room time blog post are good activities to do with the toddler and preschooler. (See earlier posts for activities and book ideas—links are given below.)
All throughout this blog, I have mentioned including the preschooler in your day (and the day of your other children if you homeschool). Our third chore session was about to begin in the excerpt above. Again, if you make chores a daily part of your little one’s day, there will not be a daily fight. Our kids knew when Chore I, Chore II, and Chore III were going to take place. And our little ones, especially, had the exact same daily chores, so they were never surprised by them. (See the blog about age appropriate chores for this age group too—links below.)
Your days with preschoolers and toddlers can be filled with joy, fun, learning, growing, Bible teaching, character training, and love. I pray that this will be the case for all of our Positive Parenting 3*6*5 readers.
Links to older posts referred to in this post:
Devotional read alouds for preschoolers Part I: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-134-devotionals-morning-or-anytime.html
Devotional read alouds for preschoolers Part II: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-135-devotionals-read-aloud-books.html
Age appropriate chores Pre K/K: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-116-age-appropriate-chores-pre-kk.html
Age appropriate chores for toddlers and preschoolers: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-115-age-appropriate-chores-for.html
Links and ideas for activities for preschoolers: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-one-hundred-one-links-and-ideas-for.html
Links and ideas for activities for toddlers: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-one-hundred-links-and-ideas-for.html
Involving preschoolers with older kids: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-ninety-six-involving-preschoolers.html
I love this post...and your blog! Days with toddlers and preschoolers should be filled with joy, fun and engagement. As parents we owe it to them to give them simple moments they'll remember when they are older and look back appreciatively at. My mom was a great example of living in the moment and making each day fun.
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