I've found the season change and time change have led to more late afternoons at home. Whereas we used to use this time a lot for outdoor walks and visits to the park, it is now dark so early and we're spending more of these hours indoors. While I am all for "un-planning and unwinding" a bit in the later parts of the evening or on the occasional weathered-in day, I found on a regular basis that our afternoons needed a balance of a bit more "structure" but a bit less "schedule." In other words, I felt we did need some element of planned activity but not quite the same pace and rigor as our morning homeschool routine.
The afternoon/evening hours here are often a time when household chores and cooking also need to be tended to. I, thank G-d, have a son who takes an amazing afternoon nap most of the time and that allows me the opportunity to get work, planning and household tasks done. That said, I often dreaded wake-up time and felt unsure of how to fill and balance the hours that followed until dinner and bedtime. Adults' energy levels (OK, at least my own) tend to be on the decline at this point and family needs are still prevalent! My goal with this chunk of time was to balance my son's needs for interaction with me as well as his need for more independent/free play along with my own need to accomplish getting dinner on the table and other chores. It often felt like a juggling act where I either managed to have all the balls stay in the air or they all fell and I flipped on a trusty video instead. And it needn't be so black and white, all or nothing. Videos are great for some days and we still use them. Tweaking my overall approach to these hours has also made a great difference. Not only do I feel less anxious about how I will fill or get through these hours with my head still screwed on, but I've felt able to be more present with my son and family as a whole when we are all engaged in an activity and less guilty and frustrated when I must disengage or step out to finish dinner or wash the dishes. Here's a peek a few of our first favorite activities and overall approaches that have worked:
- The "Center Time" Approach: Center Times in preschools often refers to open/free play and learning times when children have the independence to choose their own activities and rotate through them, can often designate how much time to spend on each one and thereby take the lead in their own play and learning. Certain areas or "centers" may be open all of the time (like dramatic play spaces, reading areas, sensory tables, block building centers and art areas). A few additional centers or activities may be set out as well to relate to a theme, skill set or developmental goal. This may include art projects and activities, a game, a learning challenge, etc. I wanted our afternoons to be more "child-led" than mommy-led and for my son to have more opportunity to engage in and remain with imaginative play or building or sensory play than we often have time for when we are busy going to story times, playgroups, doing learning activities or visiting friends. I also recognized his need for a little more structure in that. While at two he can sometimes engage in play and remain with it for quite a while and all on his own accord, sometimes he (like all of us) needs a little invitation so to speak! Now while he is napping I set out a couple of "centers" he can visit when he wakes up. These are not activities he must do or that he must accomplish in a certain order or time-frame. He can return to one multiple times throughout our afternoon or choose not to do it at all. (In general, I do not require that he participate in or "complete" any of our learning activities either, but I do put more intention into introducing them and encouraging him than I do with our afternoon setup.)
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| I find I save a lot of ideas for process art activities that we never get to. This seemed like a great opportunity to invite my little guy to try painting on tinfoil. He loved it! He wanted to try it right way when he woke up, took a snack break and played in some other areas and returned to it later again. We're saving the results to recycle into a Chanukah themed collage later on, but this would also make fabulous and kid-friendly gift wrap to use this (or any) time of year! |
- Even grown ups need some parallel play opportunities! Sometimes we want to be able to be near our little ones and engage with them while still accomplishing tasks around the house. For this, proximity is EVERYTHING. For afternoons I know I have things to do in the kitchen, I set up a play center in the kitchen that will (hopefully) engage my son and allow me to play with him as I can and parallel to him when I can't! We love our water table for this purpose and moving a sensory bin or small table into and out of the area with an activity also works well for us. I wish we had the space to permanently keep an activity area in our kitchen, but for now this works quite well!
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| Our oil and water exploration was super fun and a real attention-captivator! |
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| Although sometimes the activity is more based on what Mommy is trying to get done. Washing vegetables and washing dishes are two of his (nearly lifelong) favorites! |
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| "Ice Cube Fishing" in water/water beads. |
- And sometimes we all need to play together! I always say that playing WITH your children is an investment plan. For kids who are learning to or struggle with playing on their own, getting on their level and joining the fun can help them build the skills and confidence to carry it out independently in the future. Additionally, you can often begin by engaging with children in their play and gradually expand your proximity--start on the floor, then move to the couch or a chair, then maybe to another area of the room, then maybe to the kitchen... And beyond that important skill development, playing WITH our little ones is sometimes just the break that WE need! For these opportunities, I don't put a lot of planning or preparation in. I use what's already out and maybe we come up with some new and interesting ways to use it or previously untried combinations--like our recent introduction of jingle bells to Magnetiles!
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| He had the idea to build the box and put the bells inside... |
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| I introduced the game of "jingle fishing..." |
- And sometimes you want some intentional family fun! Movie nights and family field trips are great, but we're always looking for some more out-of-the-box ways to spend time together or infuse our family fun nights. One activity we have especially enjoyed lately in cooking or baking together. Here's a super simple and quite delectable 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe to fill your home (and belly) with some extra joy, warmth and playfulness! The bonus (as if you needed one when there are only 3 ingredients) is that they are also dairy, wheat and gluten free. They are definitely NOT peanut free, although I'd imagine you could substitute in another nut butter or soy butter.
Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies* with optional 4th ingredient 😊
Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy are great)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
OPTIONAL chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet by lightly spraying with oil. Combine and mix your ingredients and scoop about 2 TBSP of dough onto your cookie sheet, about an inch apart. We sometimes use our hands to roll little balls (especially fun for smaller hands). You can press down the balls with a fork for a more traditional peanut butter cookie look or leave them as balls for a rounder version. Bake for about 12-15 minutes and let cool as long as you possibly can before tasting just a few....
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