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Why do we talk so much of 'entertaining' children? Wouldn't occupying them do? They might not find all the occupations we give them entertaining. So what? Much of life isn't. I don't think it does children any good to be brought up feeling someone has to make an effort to entertain them all the time. Occasionally, yes.
Maniac
Amanda- I remember reading somewhere that constant entertainment is not good for children -allowing them to be bored can stimulate creativity
Please comment.
Nanadog
When I first started looking after my youngest grandson he was 9 months old. He was used to being played 'with' all the time. I has him three days a week and one night overnight. At first he was very demanding and he was used to having an endless selection of toys to play with.
So I made a conscious decision to 'ignore' him for about 30 minutes and give him a limited selection of age-appropriate toys. He was crawling and cruising by this age so was able to access the toys i had chosen.
I would pick up my newspaper and attempt the sudoku (I was of course watching him overtly). It took a couple of days before he learned to play by himself.
I of course still played 'with' him too. Now he is turned two. His concentration span is amazing. He will play long and complicated games with his toys for ever increasing lengths of time, and with his cousins who now join him one day a week.
We also bake, paint, sing songs, dance, eat, dress up, talk, watch the odd bit of TV, go shopping, garden, walk the dogs, visit places and generally because he's so portable and happy to join in with us we just get on with life and take him with us where we want to go.
Since he turned 2 we give him pocket money which he puts in his piggy bank at our house. He now has £10. Nearer Christmas we'll take it out and let him buy something of his own choice with it.
Also since he turned 2 we use the naughty step. He's been put there once only!
He's a lovely child, we love him dearly and he loves coming to our house and we love having him. We don't have to 'entertain' him we just enjoy him.
Good afternoon everyone. I thought I'd kick of with talking about entertaining kids as the three comments above all raise good issues.
First and foremost, it IS good for children to be 'bored' It's the trigger to imagination, exploration and helps them develop decision making skills.
It's also not good for a child to think he/she is the centre of the world - the sooner children learn that other people have needs and opinions that differ from their own, the earlier they will form lasting friendships and meaningful attachments. It's absolutely beneficial for adults in children's lives to meet their own needs, but there is a lot of things you can do together to engage children and help them develop without them dominating the activity. For example, saying "I need to sort the laundry, why don we play match the socks" shows children that you have other demands on your time but also helps them feel wanted and grown up because they are helping.
Children crave positive reinforcement so encourage them to help with jobs and then comment on how helpful they've been and you'll be surprised s how much they'll want to do more 'helping'.