What does your five year old like doing?

[booksandwool]

We're struggling now it's getting darker and wetter and chucking the children into the garden isn't an option. The 8 year old has lots of busy little projects but 5 year old can't read particularly well (he's only start of year 1) and doesn't have an amazing concentration span. He spends a lot of time aimlessly wandering around, making funny noises and breaking stuff, also trying to stop other people doing things. I'm just really struggling for what I can engage him with, not even trying to get him to do things independently, though that would be lovely.
Please tell me what your similar aged/temperamented children spend their time doing, so I can borrow ideas!

And I do let him have a bit of time on the kindle but it tends to leave him a bit wired and I worry about the slippery slope of him being on the screen more and more each day.

Colouring in
Make believe play with either dress up or small world
Lego
Crafts
Having stories read to them

My 5 year old dd (reception) likes to: colour, lots of arts and crafty type things, play dress up, play on her keyboard. Play with her little brother (he's 7 months so it's mostly her singing to him 😂), we read stories together, she helps me chop the veg/salad/fruit for dinner, we do a fair bit of baking

We go to the park in her wellies and she kicks the leaves.

Currently spending the next month with her tidying the playroom so we can give toys away to those less fortunate children and make way for new ones at Christmas!!

Oh and let's not forget watching the tv and her iPad! 🙈🙈

Trashing the house. It's ALL she does.

Taking all the cushions off the sofa to make mountains and dens, cutting up pieces of paper into tinier pieces and leaving the mess everywhere, making ropes out of sellotape across a room etc.

She's just a tiny trail of destruction and mess. Hasn't ever watched a film in her life. All her 5yr old friends have watched some sort of film - Frozen, trolls, Moana etc. She'll sit still for 5 minutes tops then if off again like a hurricane. Drives me nuts.

Oh TheBrilloPad you understand my pain!

I have a six year old, we still put them (all my DC) our in the garden to play even when it’s dark, mostly on the trampoline, we have a garden light and they wrap up.

He likes to play with his siblings, jigsaws, colouring in, riding the couch like a horse with a scarf for reins, play doh, playing piano, educational games on abcya.com, likes watching documentaries like blue planet type ones, we have a big craft box, painting, Hama beads, etc.

We home educate so have long days to fill. We spend time outside most days too.

My eldest is 4 in 1 month. She likes colouring, playing with her babies(she has an actual baby but prefers using teddies!) and loves building houses out of blocks! (She's getting a dolls house for Xmas which I know she'll love!) being read too, crafts, puzzles, animal figures and loves anything dinosaur related!

@TheBrilloPad

Yessss to the flipping cutting! It is EVERYWHERE.

I'm so fed up with tidying up that am currently considering taking a flamethrower to it all!!!

😂😂

Sympathy on the pieces of paper everywhere! I highly recommend the kumon cutting books...! Lots of cutting projects which involves cutting out various things and not lots of tiny bits of paper on the floor

My 5 yr old (yr 1) boy loves his trains. We have lots of wooden track and he'll spend ages creating different designs. Then he'll play with it for a few days before it gets put away and he starts again.

Also likes duplo- much more than Lego at the moment. And playmobil although I can't stand all the little pieces.

He likes jigsaw puzzles and marble run. Also gravitrax which is actually his older brothers. He needs some help with this though.

Will still play with play doh too.

I have to say though, he is great at entertaining himself. My eldest (who is 9 and in yr 5) is, and always has been hopeless at it.
I don't know if it's because he's the 2nd child, or if it's just his personality.
In fact, the majority of the toys were bought for the eldest- but he's never been interested in the majority of them. 🙄

Oh yes another vote for marble run! Provides lots of entertainment.

He likes to play games WITH ME! 😬 so guess who, connect four type stuff. Also Lego - together. Or games with me and his little sister, like hide and seek, build a den/trash the house, baking. Sadly colouring will occupy him for about 5 minutes.

We do like the marble run and it gives us a good 10 minutes whenever we get it out. Interested in cutting books - there's a cut/paste/make one that might satisfy him.

Watching tv
Lego
Writing letters
Playing with his younger siblings
Playing with dolls
Jigsaws
Drawing
Board games (cranium, guess who, snakes and ladders)
Making stuff out of recycling
Colouring in

She has just turned 5 and is in reception. She likes:
playing on the ipad
watching tv
irritating her older sister
drawing
making up imaginary scenarios with sylvanian families/ paw patrols/ any little plastic toys/ an unrelated mix of any characters she can find
making as much mess as possible
playing board games (junior monopoloy, lotto type games, orchard toys type games)
sellotaping the recycling together
shouting at me or her sister for not playing exactly as she wishes

Trains mainly. Loves building a track and spends hours pushing various trains around it. Also likes cars and colouring.

Let them get bored. Boredom leads to creativity.

I gave mine things like a box of box of lollipop sticks and matchsticks, and playdough. Or moonsand (8parts flour, one part veg oil). Or coloured rice and a funnel, jug and bowl.

And clean up together at the end.

If its not setting up my mirror with her makeup laid out to play "youtubing" 🤣 its colouring, dressing up with her dolls, tablet time, lego, slime pots, films, homework online or reading.

My 5 year old likes yelling, bouncing on beds/couches, making a den with all the couch cushions, covering himself in stickers, more yelling. He loves both Lego and duplo so when he does get into that keeps him busy for a while but invariably he'll make a laser gun or something and then charge around the house blasting things with yet more yelling. I do my very best to get out regardless of rain because he's so wild he needs to run. He also likes jigsaw puzzles and I have a huge amount of them (almost all from charity shops). 15 minutes to bed time!!

I have a 5 and a 4 year old so it’s a bit easier as they (generally) play together.
She likes Lego, drawing, colouring, reading, helping with the cooking, chopping paper up , sticking things, crafts... she has absolutely zero interest in any toys other than Lego.

Following more for ideas

My almost 4 year old mainly plays with trains (wooden track, loads of trains), cars, fire engines, tractors...you get the idea! All while making droning engine noises. This doesn't last all that long though!

He likes being noisy, pestering me to put the TV on, taking toys off his baby brother things like jigsaws, play doh don't last long unfortunately. He does love a good story though, that (as well as the trains/cars etc) is probably his longest lasting activity.

He is hopeless at entertaining himself at home! But take him to softplay and 99% of the time he will go off and find another child to play with, so I try and get out as much as possible. I feel your pain though. It's so easy when the weather is good and you can just visit any park.

Apart from the TV and the switch he likes jigsaws, board games, his wooden train set, marble run , painting and playing random made up games with whatever toys take his fancy. I have to join in and he always gets cross because I get something wrong.

My 5 year old is a live wire as well. We do lots of outdoor stuff anyway. Waterproofs and wrap up warm. We have ponies and rain doesn't seem to bother him as much as it does his older sister so we still do that.

Indoors he likes watching Youtube, lego, colouring in, playing with his nerf guns, playing with his imaginex toys. Making box forts is a good one. And anything involving sellotape is very popular at the moment.

I have a 5 and.4 year old.
So they generally amuse each other, when not arguing or fighting.

But 5 year old likes Lego, screeching, dinosaur s, screeching, dancing, screeching, jumping, screeching, ponies/castles, screeching, playing on the tablet, more screeching, role play/dress up, more screeching... You get the gist.

The 4 year old likes Lego, ponies, babies, "making mummy a brew", bubbles, drawing, play dough, water, knights, trains, cars, stories, dinosaurs, pirates, anything to do with elephants.

I have a five year old in year 1. Her favourite things are:
Watching and dancing to just dance you tube videos
Playdoh
Slime
Baking
Reading
Playing with her soft toys
Pretend cooking
Playing on IPad when she's allowed.