What are some things to do with a 3 year old?

Question

I have a 3 year old and I am tired of us just watching tv or going to the park or reading all day.

We dont have a lot of money.

Answer 1

Do you have friends that have children around that age that you could meet up with and let them all run around together while you have some adult time?

Do you have children's museums or places like Chuck E Cheese where you could gather up all those moms and their children and go together in one or two vans and get a group discount? Or, I am sure, if they are close enough friends and you offered to watch their children for a night for free they would be willing to pay for your entrances.

Does your area have any daycare centers that offer discount care? A lot of places will take less than their usual going rate if there really is financial difficulty. You could at least get your child socialized and give him/her more to do and you some free time to get chores done or to go have a massage!

Go to the library and check out some books on children's crafts and do some fun, hands on stuff. Or bake a batch of cookies or a cake, even macaroni or bean art - I love that stuff - and I am sure you have glue and dry noodles in your house. Who doesn't?!

Children at that age are very hands-on and need to be active (unless they are sick) so you definitely need to find something to get his/her body moving and mind thinking.

Answer 2

Loads of ideas.

You could make your own play dough - coloured with food colouring and create shapes and just have a good old time moulding and squishing - remoulding - re-squishing etc etc.

Here is a recipe:

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

I cup plain flour

1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp oil

I cup water

Mix to form a smooth paste.  Put in a saucepan and cook slowly, until the dough comes away from the side of the pan and forms a ball.  When cool enough take the dough out of the pan and knead for three - four minutes.

You can colour this or leave it natural colour - and let your child play with it, pretended to roll out pastry, pizza cutting it with cutters...If you want to keep the models and shapes just bake in a hot oven until it dries out and then let the child enjoy painting and decorating them.

It is a good idea to have in stock a few colours of water paint.  If u need more it is a good way to teach children about colour mixing, to create new colours.  Pva glue is also good for sticking and can be mixed with paints to give a longer lasting glossy finish in junk modelling.

Junk modelling.

Instead of chucking out cereal boxes and yoghurt pots and stuff like that - reserve some which can then be used to fire your childs imagination and create models and 'homemade' toys that give your child hours of fun.

Another idea is to scour thrift shops, charity shops and pound shops - you can find cheap items that can be used in creative play... dressing up and messy play.  When the weather is nice try outdoor games.  This is a nice age, for introducing different ball games and encouraging motorskills.

ELC (EARLY LEARNING CENTRE) has a great website for play ideas that you will find you just don't have enough time to do them all.

Have fun and enjoy.

Answer 3

make some fun snax and cookies, play cars, *ZOO*, play stuff, like building stuff, blocks!

Answer 4

Got a garden? A small obstacle course. Use pillow cases for sack races, spoons and a small potato for egg and spoon races, a skipping rope to balance along like a pretend balance beam, a hula hoop for stepping into and pulling up over the body, a blanket for crawling under, commando style.

Use your leftover junk, like cardboard boxes and old soda bottles to make rocket ships, or planes, or dolly furniture. You only need to buy some glue or sticky tape.

Large cardboard boxes with a brush handle tied to them make a good pirate ship. You can make the flags together out of paper. Or make smaller flags with paper stuck to pencils. A pirates hat can be made from newspaper.

Large pieces of paper are great for drawing round your child. They can colour themselves in.

Tents. In garden or bedroom, clear a space, if you have a clothers airer use it as a frame and drape a blanket or duvet over it. Mine like to play in it and then have a "picnic" lunch in it. Put cushions in it for a pretend bed.

Wash dollies. Pull up a chair by the kitchen sink and either cover up or undress your child to the nappy/pants. (water rarely stays in the bowl...) Put dolly in soapy water and wash her with a washcloth and an assortment of cups and bowls for pouring and rinsing. Keeps mine amused for ages.

Hope this helps

Answer 5

nap...all 3 yr old love naps...not

reading, get on the fool and play with him...singing...

Answer 6

Go to the zoo, museum, visit a friend, go mall walking, walk around your neighborhood,  

Answer 7

get coloring book let him/her color, play in the backyard.