I hope you’re enjoying your summer! If you are like me, these hot summer days are wonderful, but also can be a tad trying on the patience! 🙂 I hope you’ve been enjoying my summer series on Parenting and Traveling With Kids.

Today I’d like to share with you a little phrase that keeps my kids creatively engaged, and not whining! I have already talked about the importance of work for kids, but play is very important, too.

When I say this phrase, my kids are instantly engaged in something productive and fun.

Magical, I tell you!

I discovered this little phrase one day while chatting with my mother-in-law, who recently retired from teaching kindergarten for nearly 25 years. As you can imagine, she is a wealth of knowledge for how to keep kids engaged for long periods of time without losing your mind. Truly – a most valuable skill.

Anyway, we were chatting about LEGOs as the boys were playing with a new set. She mentioned that in her kindergarten class, LEGOs was a “station” they had, along with reading, math, coloring, etc. I’m sure your child’s classroom is similar.

THAT’S WHEN IT DAWNED ON ME. I HAD BEEN DOING IT DRASTICALLY WRONG.

All this time, when it came to an activity, I was saying something like this. Hey, boys, do you want to play with your cars/trampoline/LEGOs/something else you should totally enjoy doing?

In which case, 10% of the time, the reply was, yes. And the other 90%: “No/not now/waaaah/whyyyyy/I don’t want to.”

But what happens in school, dear friends?

THEY DON’T HAVE A CHOICE!

And mostly, these little children of ours, when they are shipped off to school-environments, like obedient little robots are herded to this or that activity. Think about it: all of them out there doing recess. Miracle! All of them opening their workbooks. All of them coloring. Miraculous, I tell you!

The bottom line of what I learned is that sometimes kids don’t need a choice to do fun activities.

So I changed my tactics. Instead of asking anything, I say the magic three words:

“Mandatory ____________ time.”

Of course the kids had no idea what “mandatory” was at first, and they still call it “mandatorial,” which is just too cute to correct. I just explained that it meant they had to do it. If they complain, I say something like, “You don’t have to _______ (do the mandatory thing). If you want, you can just sit at the table while your brother does it.” Usually they realize they actually ARE interested in that thing, after all.

Here are the keys to “Mandatory ____________ time.”

• Pick an activity that fits their mood. High-energy activities when needed, and quiet ones when needed.
• Pick an activity that requires creativity and freedom.
• Put a timeline on it and keep your word. I typically do 15-20 minutes for my four and six year-olds. Most times, my kids STILL want to play after that, by the way. But if they’re done, that’s fine.
• Don’t make it a group activity. That, my friend, is just asking for fights. These are independent activities.

Okay, so the obvious question, what’s in the blank? These are our regulars:

• Coloring
• Jumping on the trampoline (thank you, sweet neighbors, for sharing!)
• Reading library books on separate couches
• Playing in the sandbox

And the thing we do most often? Pretty much daily?

LEGOs.

There are several reasons I am a firm believer of LEGOs:

• Works for all personalities. The type-As can make a uniform design; the Type Bs can design from scratch to their heart’s content.
• Promotes construction play, and open-ended play to help young children build creative thinking skills.
  Fun AND educational.
• Instills self-confidence and pride in their work. They love showing me their little creations!

If you’re a LEGO mom, you know just what I’m talking about. As we are out and about a lot during the summer, I’ve often lamented the fact that our beloved Legos cannot go with us.

But now they CAN go with us!

Can I introduce to you: the LEGO® JUNIORS Suitcases for on-the-go play!

Yes, it’s too good to be true! Portable LEGO® JUNIORS! The red fun suitcase is a “fire and rescue” themed one, and the pink one is a supermarket. Even my boys had a blast using the “pretend money” to buy ice cream at the store. Little Ellie too recognized the fun she would one day have with all those pink pieces.

Don’t worry. All the parts are in bags. LEGOs are not for babies! 🙂

LEGO® JUNIORS is designed to give children age 4-7 a great first building experience with the LEGO brick through iconic, fun and easy to build models.

The boys had a blast putting together the rescue helicopter, motorcycle, and fire station. Obviously the suitcases can hold tons more LEGOs! You can stash any kind of LEGO® JUNIORS in these suitcases, pack them up, and move them along.

Can you imagine all the places you’ll go?

• Vacation (I’m a firm believer in taking a few CHOICE toys for down time on vacation!)
• Long car rides!
• Doctor’s offices
• Restaurants
• And on and on. Anywhere you go – “Guys, Mandatory LEGO Time.“

And peace and order descend upon the chaos. Remember those three words, mama! And if you need to, read this again. (You are the mother, remember??!)

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

 

Follow "Smartter" Each Day on Facebook!

Follow Jessica on Instagram!