3 Great Ways To Spend The Day With Your Child

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3 Great Ways To Spend The Day With Your Child 

As all parents know, one of the greatest challenges of raising a child is finding ways to pass the time, especially when they are young and not in school yet. whether you’re juggling the task of raising a child with your partner, or inhabiting the role of stay at home parent, it’s tough to figure out ways to keep a young child entertained and happy all day long without exhausting yourself physically and mentally.  

 

There are two strategies that will help almost any parent stay active and engaged throughout the week with their child. The first is finding activities that will engage you both – if you think that none of your interests will overlap with those of a two year, you’re not using your imagination. The second strategy is to find free or cheap community resources where your child will be able to learn and grow under the supervision of trustworthy guardians. This will give you some free time to relax and simultaneously encourage your child to learn social skills. Undoubtedly you will still be worn out and exhausted at the end of the day, but that’s all part of the joy of being a parent!   

Below are three great examples of these strategies:  

Play Music with Them  

You may notice that from a very young age, toddlers have a propensity for rhythm and dancing. There’s nothing more fun for a little kid than wiggling around to the beat of a fun song. If you play the guitar or the piano, you have a very useful tool for keeping your child entertained and tiring them out for afternoon nap time. You can sing them kid’s classics like Old MacDonald, or try out some Beatles or Bob Marley and see how it goes! Try giving them a tambourine or a hand drum to jam along so it’s more inclusive, when you play music with your kids it’s fun for everyone and it builds the foundational mindset for budding musicians.  

Read to Them  

These days there are actually a lot of pretty sophisticated kids’ books out there that have an appeal for adults as well. Mo Willems is an example of an author who writes fun picture books with a deeper meaning that you and your kids will both love – his titles include Don’t Let Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. When they’re a little older you can try stuff like The Hobbit and Harry Potter, which is fun for the whole family. 

 Go To The Gym  

Many community gyms such as the YMCA have athletics programs for children, swimming lessons and even daycare services in some instances. If your children are toddlers, they can play in the kid’s zone while you take a yoga class, swim some laps or pump some iron! If they’re a little older you can sign them up for soccer, basketball or swimming lessons. Even some smaller gyms that focus on circuit training and cross training are starting to offer daycare services for moms and dads on the go for a reasonable fee.  

So don’t imagine that there’s nothing productive you can do while you’re looking after your child, you can hone your music chops, read some great books and even get healthy and strong!