What to do when kids have to wait…..

It is so important to help our young children learn how to entertain themselves and be busy with things while they wait that are not screen based activities. Next month’s blog post will be a research based article on screen time and children, so keep a look out for that.

When you have to go to a place where a child has to wait, a doctor’s appointment, an oil change, church, etc. have a special back pack ready to go. We filled ours with crayons and a notepad, small fidgets (koosh, spinners, squishies, etc), small figures they love, blank pages and lots of stickers, small books to look at, a magnadoodle or boogie board. They all stayed in the backpack so that it was easy to grab (or leave in the car) and were things they didn’t have access too all of the time at home. This helped us avoid screens and give them something to entertain them while we all waited.

As my kids of have gotten older we continue this with just the reminder to bring a book along. I realize not all kids’ favorite thing to do is read, so maybe try a magazine (kids Nat Geo, a car magazine, Hightlites) or puzzle book or even colored pencils and a sketch pad. I realize the phone and games are easy access so yes, it takes a little more time and planning to have the other things available, but is important and pays off in their learning and play time.