Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When it's nice outside, we take him to the park, play soccer and ring toss outside, take walks while he rides his bike, and go swimming...
BUT when the weather is bad, wow! We play games inside but he can't stand to lose. He's hypercompetitive and gets frustrated very easily. It's the one thing we thought would abate with time and it simply hasn't. Everything is a race, whether it's eating, walking down the stairs, whatever... Even him being placed last in line in karate somehow means to him he's in "last place." Needless to say we're all working on it with him, his teachers, his sensei, etc.
So... someone suggested that since he loves homework (and he's only in VPK) and is a perfectionist (oy!), to get some workbooks for him and present it to him like it's a treat instead of letting him veg in front of the TV when it's raining out. He likes math and is not quite reading yet, just a few words he can pick out but he loves to trace and write his name independently. He's constantly counting (or asking me to count with him) and putting things just right in his room. Any suggestions for tasks/crafts/projects during rainy days for a boy who literally did not stop talking last Sunday from 8am to 8pm when he was put to bed (early!). DH and I feel awful when we can't take anymore with his commenting on everything in the room and tell him to be quiet, so I want to channel that energy into something constructive (and somewhat more quiet - even if it's for a little while). DH and I work a lot of hours during the week and by Sunday, we just want to chill at home but it's hard to keep up with our son (and an almost-2-year-old) and we're trying to stay patient!
Any other suggestions (for our son and for us!)? The image of Homer strangling Bart came to mind more than once last weekend lol!
My pre-k'ers love Team Umizoomi, a TV show based on math. They do a workbook kit with colouring book, flash cards and so on, I am sure you can find it by googling.
Thank you all so much for the great ideas! Penguin, My son loves Team Oomizoomi too and recently asked to be enrolled in the science enrichment at school, but it's more $$ than we can afford on top of the writing enrichment and tuition, for goodness' sake so these activities will appeal to his love of science. Fort is something we can do as soon as buy our own home which will be in the near future.
Just one word of warning: If you have a chatter-box, don't expect it to stop. You've had some great suggestions but a chatter-box will be inside his fort telling you about dinosaurs and the fact that he found 25 cents and three Fruit-Loops between the cushions.
Earplugs.
(Once they learn how to read it does sort of slow down. Until they want to tell you all about the life cycle of the black widow spider -and how to identify it- at dinner.)
Some gymnastics places have "open times" when you can take the kids and let them go crazy on the bounce-areas, tumble mats, etc. That is pretty non-competitive. A place like Monkey Joes is similar but can get overwhelmingly crowded on a rainy Saturday.
We belong to the YMCA where there is an indoor pool so we can swim even when it is cold and gloomy...anything but thunder. The gym there has open hours for pick-up basketball. Do you have something like that?
Play-Doh is good because it is open ended and uses hand muscles. It is very soothing to squish Play-Doh!
Does your DS have regular (not Duplo-size) Legos yet? The best $20 bucks I ever spent was getting my then 4 year old son a huge tub of Legos from the resale shop.
You could have your DS cook with you.
Also, it sounds as if he might enjoy helping around the house more.
My kids can be chatterboxes too. Sometimes I have to tell them to stop and then I always have "bad-Mommy" syndrome.
I'll probably get some grief for this suggestion...but a good DVD once in a while gives you a break from your chatterbox, while allowing him some downtime.
You can build a rainy-day fort inside the house. Just scoot the chairs out from the dining room table and drape them with sheets or blankets, then give him a flashlight (we have binoculars and a periscope for our fort). Save it for rainy days and it will be a big treat...my daughter is 6 now and she still likes to play under the table.
I'll probably get some grief for this suggestion...but a good DVD once in a while gives you a break from your chatterbox, while allowing him some downtime.
Nothing wrong with a good DVD or TV show every now and then- everything in moderation!
We usually have a few episodes of Team Umizoomi, Word World and NiHai KaiLan (sp?) DVRed for "mummy needs to make a phone call/ have a cup of tea in peace" situations
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
