Playing - keeping your children amused

Keeping your Kids Amused
You want to spend time with your kids playing and teaching them things. You cannot afford to spend all of your time with them, the house needs cleaning, meals need cooking - you can get them to help a bit with these chores but they do need to learn to do things by themselves.

It can be especially difficult to enage them when they do not live with you. We have collected some of the suggestions that people have made. We are always looking for more!

“It’s also worth looking at the ‘Freecylce’ online network, as parents are often looking for good homes for old toys etc.”
 * “It's amazing the things people give away to charity shops. My local Barnardo's and Sue Ryder shops are particularly good for bedtime books, toys, puzzles etc. School car boot sales are great too. I'm also a big believer in recycling children’s toys, anything to avoid the dreaded ‘ToysRUs’ run!


 * “You could look at ‘Pound Land’ and ‘99p’ stores. They have good pop-up books, princess books, animal books, toys which can be used and thrown… You can spend £10 and have about 15 gift-wrapped items, and promise to give another one to the child the next time they visit… Children under 5 years especially enjoy this. What’s more, you don’t feel bad if the child tears the books or breaks the toys by mistake... but the joy for them to open these gifts is immeasurable!”


 * “I give my 3 year-old child £3 every Saturday when he stays with me, and let him choose what he does with it. I have to explain the choices, showing him what he can buy, and I also make clear that the £3 is the limit as Daddy has to work for the money, use it to buy food, and save for family holidays.  My son sometimes spends the £3 there and then for a CBeebies magazine, but he can now also save 5 weeks for a £15 toy that he really wants.  I also don’t get comeback for not buying him something: He knows he has limited funds and has to choose for himself.

“Note that I started at £5 a week four months ago, to make the saving target easy at first. I am aiming to reduce to £2 a week as he increasingly grasps the concept of saving. One unexpected bonus is he likes toys he chooses more than those given to him. Also, at the start of this I didn’t know what toys he liked and now I do know!”


 * Arrange that each child has his/her drawer in your living room. When they arrive ensure that there is something new there each week - they will rush to it. One thing that is good is to buy each child a magazine/comic, eg: The Beano -- get them reading each week.


 * Visits to the local library, this is free and it a great way of giving them a love of books. Even if they are too young to read they can choose books for you to read to them. While you are there you may be able to rent story cassette tapes or CDs; these are great for car journeys.


 * Time of year appopriate activities: conkers in the Autumn, carving and decorating pumpkins, see also and  at the end of October, making each other and both parents gifts and cards for Christmas and birthdays.


 * Days Out With the Kids