What do your kids do during their down time?

Question

I have a 3 and 5 year old and they always ask for TV, candy or the leap frog thing (like game boy). From the minute they wake-up till they go to bed. Of course I allow TV and candy but it's limited and the leap frog comes out every now and then. They have play-doh, markers, scissors, glue, power rangers, cars, trucks, legos, games, cards, dominos, skatebourds in the basement, they build forts with blankets and pillows and the list goes on. Why do these kids nag me every 5 minutes about TV. I get real tired of saying "no" to the TV. We also do homework at the table-preschool sheets and handwriting and math. They do go to school thank goodness but what am I going to do this summer. I have a hard time keeping them occupied now. Are all kids like this or is it just mine. They have eachother so why do they need that TV. Then if I leave to do an errand at night they never want me to go which I think is selfish on their part.

Answer 1

My Daughter who will be 6 in April was whining over the tv and wanted nothing, but it. I finally put my foot down. turned off the television. She kept fussing around and I threatened to take her toys away and give them away since she couldn't find something to play with. I actually would have done it too hadn't she cried and went in immediately and started to play. Now she does play. She mostly does art in her sparetime. She loves to draw.

Answer 2

Mine did the same thing. They have bikes, legos, books, everything you can imagine, but they asked and begged for TV and video games. I finally made a chart so they have to earn computer and video game time, and I limit it to a certain amount. They now know every day exactly how much time they have, and I don't get asked repeatedly.

Answer 3

well...are you completely not giving them the tv? or do they get to watch it sometimes? and when they are playing..are you playing with them? or are they left to themselves? as for the leapfrog..I let my daughter play hers when she wants..its educational.  kids always want what they "can't" have. my suggestion is that some tv is not bad...alot of tv is. my daughter is aloud to watch 3 shows a day. which equals to an hour and a half tops. but most days she ends up with no time for it. there is no tv in the morning before school, unless she finishes getting ready early..which almost never happens, and if it does its like 15minutes. she gets home at 3pm from school. and she always wants to go right outside to play..and she stays out there till about 5 or 6..we live in a cauldesac and all the kids come there to play, I'm able to watch her from the window, and check on her, and she knows not to leave the circle. then she comes in and does her homework while I get dinner ready. by the time dinner is done its 7pm..and time for a bath, bedtime snack, bedtime story....and then Bed at 8pm, if there is anytime left over...she can watch tv. and if there are any days where she has an extra curricular activity...then there is no time for tv. on the weekends however...saturday mornings..I let her watch tv til 10am, only because I sleep in on saturday and she sits in our room and watches it till we wake up. then she watches it while I get breakfast ready, which is around 8. and then her and daddy watch it together while I clean up and get ready for the day. but after 10am...its off, but not because I make it so, we usually go and do something, a trip to the park or the museum, or shopping, trip to grandmas...etc. but I make Saturdays a free day...she can choose what she wants to do if we remain at home, she can watch tv, or go outside or color, playdoh..etc. I find that when we make things completely off limits she wants them all the more, but when we don't make a big deal out of it, then she doesn't either. they might be making a big deal since you are.

as for the errands at night...they are 3 and 5..they want mommy, especially if its close to bedtime, when babies are sleepy they want mommy even more. they are not being selfish...they are children...and very young children at that.

Answer 4

T.v is just a convenience for them, and it is an easy way to entertain, that way they don't have to entertain themselves.... My children love the T.v but I don't allow it all the time, they do get upset and ask me about it.... I just ignore it, because they know that if they keep nagging at me about it, then they aren't going to get the T.v again until the next day..... We live in a rainy state so it is hard for them to go outside all the time, because the rain......

Answer 5

I'm not sure where you are located at but where I am at this is a difficult time of year for entertaining the children. It will snow, get nice enough to begin melting the snow, rain shortly after, then the temp drops to freezing levels making everywhere a skating rink. With all of this lovely weather it makes outdoor activities nearly impossible (the laundry alone is a killer, then add all of the pleasant colds/flu viruses they get from the alternating temps, too much fun). Come summer vacation, though, the weather is usually excellent, the ground is dry most of the time, summer showers are pleasant because they are occur on really hot days to cool the kids off, and there are plenty of activities to enjoy outside from morning til night in which not only keep the kiddies entertained but tucker them out as well.

Some of my favorite summer activities:

Swimming

Biking

Hiking

Nature walks

The Park (this one is particularly nice if you find an enclosed one in which you can take your eyes of the little guys for a moment here and there to either read or converse with other adults)

Camping

Just letting the kids run around the back yard

Baseball

Football

Basketball

Tag

Hide and seek

And the list goes on pending your imagination and creativity

Trust me, it will get easier and you will be missing those days when the little ones would be nagging you night and day for your attention. Enjoy it while you can because it all ends too fast.

Answer 6

you should spend more family time with them. gtake them ice skating to the beach swimming rollerbladig to the park what ever

Answer 7

I had a similar problem with my 2 kids.  Now, each night, I give them 30-minutes each of "one on one" time with me.  I play whatever game/toy, etc. that they want to do.  It's really helped a lot for me.

Answer 8

My kids play during their down time.  They have bikes, a trampoline, and a dog to play with.  They also enjoy watching TV and playing on the computer, but they both hands down prefer being outside if the weather is nice.  If it's yucky, I don't mind letting them watch a video because I know the minute the weather cooperates, they're gonna be right back at it outside.

Answer 9

my kids are just finishing an "unplugged" month with no tv or computer.  they haven't missed it at all; one has asked if they can keep being unplugged for the rest of the year.  :-)  they have done art projects, played board games, played outside, designed and performed a "circus", made puppets and a puppet show, made marble tracks that took up a whole room, made forts, had playdates, and generally had a blast.  

i highly recommend trying it.  tv is pretty addictive.  but if you don't want to cut the tv out entirely, make a firm rule about exactly when they're allowed to watch.  they will eventually stop asking for it at other times if they know it's hopeless.

Answer 10

My  kids went through a phase like that, and some others too (IPOD, Computer games, playstation, etc.)  What we finally did was set up specific times for this that were basicly the same time everyday.  Its hard for little ones to understand when we say "later".  This is what I do:    My children get to watch cartoons in the morning while we are all getting dressed, making beds, eating, etc. when its time for the bus cartoon time is done for the morning.  My three year old knows that when I am making lunch he gets to watch a short cartoon, the only other time they watch TV is a half an hour before bed(I think it helps us all wind down before their story).  However we do do a Family Movie most Friday nights.  My older ones also get a half an hour of video game time each day, they can use it when ever they want as long as they have done their chores and homework.  When they know the routine then they don't seem to nag me about it.