How do you fill your day?!

[lau86]

I have a nearly 5 yr old, 2.5 yr old and baby. Ds1 gets up around 6.20, goes to bed 7.30 and doesn't nap. It's a loooooong day!
I gave him the I pad so he wouldn't wake the whole house up but now he demands it All the time.
I think I need some ideas really!

 

[alibaba24]

We go to the park a lot if weather permits or just out walking round the local country parks. If money permits then soft plays and local kids days out with trampolines etc. I'm one of those people who struggles to stay home all day so really the kids get dragged out daily and it breaks the day up nicely. In guilty of allowing them there tablet when they wake up but it gives me a chance to wake up sort breakfast etc. Then we don't have tablets when we're out etc .

 

[.Mrs.B.]

If you have a local farm/soft play that offers a yearly membership then I would recommend that.
We often pop to ours for an hour or so and it breaks up the day and tires out the kids. If they start getting restless I have somewhere to take them without having to worry about the cost.
My friend has a trampoline and her 6 year old can spend hours on it. Painting, crafts, baking or the local library are good 'free' activities. Our library has a kids section and regular events. Join your chidrens centres on facebook, mine have weekly indoor and outdoor events for older children, especially in the summer holidays.
We have a lot of play dates and usually the kids just entertain eachother, this is the easiest option, lol.

 

[caz_hills]

I also love to get out every day. It breaks things up. We tend to do morning at home then out after lunch.

We go to the park a lot, loads of play dates, a coffee shop, if it's wet he loves the local pet shop (!), soft play sometimes, library, general pottering x

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Im so lazy that I don't do much lol my toddler is good entertaining herself poor kid ll. We do school run at 8am then home 8.45. Yesterday we went to beach for an hour but I have zero energy atm.

Today we have done school run, I had a shower and she played upstairs. Going to asda soon x

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

MOPS meetings, play dates, grandmas, errands, playing with toys, quiet time, movie time, crafts, music are all things you can do.

 

[zorak]

Like others have said I think it's important to go out everyday. We do a mix. Shopping (mall or groceries), parks, kids sports clubs, soft play, meeting friends...

I tend to prefer going out first thing. Home for lunch then my youngest naps and I do some kind of activity for a while with my eldest before getting on with house work etc. We do things like gardening, baking, arts and crafts, jigsaws etc.

 

[nessaw]

We have dogs so have at least 1 dog walk a day. Also swimming-once is a lesson but I often take her on another day as I have a swimming membership. As others have said soft play, walks, meeting with friends and visiting family. X

 

[Natsku]

Not a lot. Maria spends most of the day on the trampoline at the moment, rain or shine. Or we have the neighbour children round to play. We go out on our bikes to catch pokemon as well.

 

[LeoTheLion]

I would be rocking if couldn't get out, our day starts with me going for run with dog before everyone wakes up, school run with 5 yr old, toddler group with 1 yr old (3 days a week) swimming and coffee the other two all in morn so we are home for son to have a sleep in afternoon then time for school run again. After School if nice weather we go park

 

[AngelUK]

We go to the park every day. Luckily it is very big and right next door. On rainy days we go to softplay but they find this kind of boring now. We have been to an urban farm not too long ago which was a free entry, we went to the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum (both heaving at this time of year though! ) and the next nice day we are planning to go to either the Battersea Children's Zoo or the London Wetland centre.

 

[lau86]

I think my problem is in the house. We have plenty of outdoor activities like park, soft play, walks on their bike or scooter, going to a cafe etc. But when we're at home they're only really happy to watch TV. We have so many toys, train track puzzles books etc which I'm happy to do with them, we do it for 5 minutes then they say I'm finished. We painted yesterday and it lasted about ten minutes! We're out a lot of the day at the moment or in the garden but even so we can rack up a good couple of hours of tv in a day. If I say no to the tv they will wrestle and run round in the house. They're tired but they won't nap or get up later and if I put them to bed at different times it makes no difference

 

[AngelUK]

We have the same thing with the tv and the running around. They do play a fair bit in the morning and absolutely love to play with the huge collection of Playmobil pirates that Sebastian has (he is obsessed with pirates!) but I do get asked for tv A LOT! I try and only let them have it while I make lunch/dinner but I admit that some days I am glad for the break and give in earlier. Not ideal but there you go, you are not alone!

 

[Ro168]

My kids are 2, so I'm lucky that they still nap for a few hours in the afternoon. Gives me a break, lol.

We try to get out of the house almost every day. Getting out of the house even if it's just to the park can fill up a huge part of our day. It's a littler easier now I can walk one of them (instead of having to take a huge pushchair)

At home I try and keep them busy, with crafts, games, swimming pool... they spend a lot of time out in the backyard. They do a lot of free play with the TV on.

The shortest time they will nap is around 30 minutes, longest I'll let them nap is around 2.5-3 hours depending on how tired they are. Gives me time to myself to clean or watch tv before they get up again.

 

[caz_hills]

I think my problem is in the house. We have plenty of outdoor activities like park, soft play, walks on their bike or scooter, going to a cafe etc. But when we're at home they're only really happy to watch TV. We have so many toys, train track puzzles books etc which I'm happy to do with them, we do it for 5 minutes then they say I'm finished. We painted yesterday and it lasted about ten minutes! We're out a lot of the day at the moment or in the garden but even so we can rack up a good couple of hours of tv in a day. If I say no to the tv they will wrestle and run round in the house. They're tired but they won't nap or get up later and if I put them to bed at different times it makes no difference

This is the same here - he asks about a million times a day 'can i watch the iPad'?!?!?! It drives me mad! His concentration span of about ten minutes for anything and so like you I have to vary it up all the time x

 

[lau86]

Is it mostly the boys with this kind of thing? The other day we watched 4 hours of tv, I had a bad nights sleep and couldn't be bothered! That was the amount we watched when I let them every time they asked! I'd say the usual is around 2- I really don't know how people do any less tbh.

 

[sequeena]

This is our first summer holiday and it's tough I'm not sure how I managed it before thomas was in school! We've been out pretty much every day. Yesterday we went on a trip to folly farm as an early birthday present and today we went to the marina then the usual dog/park walk afterwards. Staying home drives us both mental.