Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What are you doing with your kids daily

29 replies

Wejustdontknow · 16/04/2020 13:33

I have ds13 and ds6, eldest quite happily fills his day with school work, screen time and whatever he wants to do. We play board games every so often when he asks and have some tv shows we watch together. Ds6 has always struggled to entertain himself and unless on his iPad very rarely plays alone. I get easily fed up of the same repetitive pretend games every day like building dens or playing action figures but do try to do some of that daily with him.
Can I ask how much time do you spend entertaining and playing with your kids, what you do with them and how much time do you expect them to entertain themselves, particularly interested in people with kids around 6 years of age. Thank you

OP posts:
crosser62 · 16/04/2020 13:39

School work, maths and English.
Reading, we go through his book shelves and pick out 3 books.
Football in the back garden.
Baking, it’s chocolate cake today. Weighing and measuring and using kitchen equipment, mixer etc.
We have had a sort out of his toy boxes, one bag for recycling/bin, one bag for Charity one bag to save.
Cleaned and hoovered his bedroom, changed his bedding so he helped with that.
We had lunch, watch a film and will do spelling she’d this afternoon.
I’m cramming this into my days off from work though so we save a lot of stuff for them.

When at home with dh & I’m at work his day is spent mostly on his iPad and having a kick about in the garden.

formerbabe · 16/04/2020 13:46

I don't really play with my dc and never have...I do crafts with them, baking, reading, art, board games, quizzes, kick a ball with them, play frisbee, watch tv...but actual get down on the floor and play make believe games...nope.

So far in lockdown, we have a walk every day, do school work, watch tv, they bake or help me cook, they do Lego together, put some music on and have a disco, read, colouring...eldest is 12 but loves those grown up colouring books.

frostedviolets · 16/04/2020 13:47

What are you doing with your kids daily?
Hmm, telling them to stop arguing/taking stuff out of cupboards/breaking things/jumping on beds/annoying each other and watching them demolish vast quantities of food mostly..

DH is redoing the garden; installing decking, new fence, planting etc so they’ve been ‘helping’ with that too

maternityclothes · 16/04/2020 13:48

We have a 3.8yo.
In the morning we have breakfast then clear up (he usually helps me prepare & clean up)
Then we have a shower together. He then continues to play in the water while I get dressed etc in the bathroom.
I brush his teeth, dry his hair & get him dressed.
We'll then do activities like painting, playing with toys, building a train track, play doh, playing in the garden for about 2 hours. He can entertain himself for about 30 minutes or more without any input if I need to do some housework.
We then have lunch then clear up, again he helps.
After lunch he plays on his bike or scooter in the garden/driveway.
I work for a few hours in the afternoon. He watches tv or tablet for 2 hours until DH finishes working.
Him & DH then go for a long walk.
Then it's dinner & clean up.
Then story time.
Then bath & bed.

It's Groundhog Day but it seems to work ok for now.

Wejustdontknow · 16/04/2020 14:02

We had got rid of the duplo for lego which I am really regretting now as he played with that for hours and just never wants to play with the Lego, today we have bern for a long walk and done some baking so far, going to pinch the suggestion of scooter on the driveway as do is at work so no car there at the min. Think we will reinvest in some play doh and maybe look for some new things he can play with as think he is fed up of the things he has. I have subscribed to the toucan box which came today and have bought a pop up tent for his den building. It is probably the Groundhog Day situation that is getting him bored I guess

OP posts:
Fluffybutter · 16/04/2020 14:07

We haven’t been doing any school work for last two weeks as it’s Easter hols so they have been days mostly spent on her iPad , FaceTiming her friends, playing in the garden and doing Lego .
Next week it will be back to school work in the morning and whatever she wants to do in the afternoon .

Beechview · 16/04/2020 14:08

Same as you op.
I throw mine out in the garden for a while too.
Youngest dc is 7 and I’ve signed them up to maths factor, which is free at the moment.
Now playing in the garden and then some arts activity this afternoon for an hour or so then some gadget time.

whatevernext1976 · 16/04/2020 14:11

My two DS's are 12 and 8. They start 'school' at 8.30 am and finish around 3 pm. Today we've done Conquer Maths, English worksheets (Comprehension). Joe Wicks, History work on Oliver Cromwell and Ecosystems for the eldest, the Stone age for the youngest. I get them to both read aloud to be for 15 minutes plus some quiet reading.10 minutes times tables practise and spellings. One hour for lunch and a few short breaks throughout the day to play in the garden.
It's nice weather where we are so having a BBQ later, boys will help me make burgers and some prep.

Hopingitrains · 16/04/2020 14:16

Mine 5 & 8 watch Netflix cartoon series for a few hours in the morning when they wake up.

Then they play for a few hours, duplo, lego, dress up pretend play or just making a mess with toys type play.

Then a movie in the afternoon after lunch.

Then a bike ride or a walk. We don’t have a garden so that’s their only time outside.

Then an hour of reading/being read to/audio books.

Then another movie and then bed.

Quite a lot of tv/movies so around 6 hours a day. But it’s an unusual situation.

Allyg1185 · 16/04/2020 14:16

One ds here age 8. It's the Easter school hoildays here so no school work has been sent through but we have still been doing a little reading, writing and maths per day. Also been doing alot of baking, lego, drawing, arts and crafts, rock painting, films, board games, garden play/gardening, bike rides and walks, games such as Roblox and Minecraft

Hopingitrains · 16/04/2020 14:18

And I only ‘entertain’ them when I’m reading to them or taking them out for a walk or ride.

The rest of the time I’m working, doing housework or relaxing myself.

Gulpingcoffee · 16/04/2020 14:18

I’m not exactly playing with my 5.5 yr old but I am around supervising and suggesting then I swap with my DH after a few hrs. We’ve had a good day so far (they def don’t all go so smoothly!). I try to avoid tv in the morning. Breakfast and clear up, at 9am he does some school work, some worksheets, practice writing certain letters, he read a poem to his grandmother over FaceTime. At 10am we went to the local park on scooters, back 11.30. I took them into the garden and we built a marble run with water running down it and the marbles landing in a bucket of water with jugs to keep pouring the water. That descended into anarchy after 20mins and the kids ended up in their pants running through the spray of a hose. Lunch at 1, at 1.45 he went to his bedroom to watch CBeebies on the iPad for a couple of hours while the little one naps. At 4 my husband will bake some little cakes with them. Then they have to amuse themselves till tea at 5.30. I usually play a game like dobble with him before bed. He will entertain himself for 20 mins with Lego, books, magnatiles or colouring (occasionally) but he’s not a great player. He can read so quite often goes to the sofa with a book.

fartyface · 16/04/2020 14:21

I don't play at all with my kids save for 10mins of den building here and there with the 4yo.
6 year old mostly reads
8 yo plays with her dolls.

They all play together which helps a lot.

No screen time this week as it is sunny, we have a garden and I save it for when we are working.

CheshireDing · 16/04/2020 14:23

I have a 6 year old (and also 8 year old and nearly 4), it’s a school hols this week and really hot so they have largely been entertaining themselves, sometimes together, sometimes separately.

The 6 year old has been doing a mixture of these over the hols - baking, colour by numbers, cross stitch, drum practice, Lego, Hamma Beads, Aqua Beads, I got him a Kobo Clara to read books on as library is closed, listening to audiobooks, making ‘potions’, trampoline, he made Pom poms on forks the other day (really quick and easy)

CheshireDing · 16/04/2020 14:24

Next week it’s back to ‘home schooling’ which is from 9-12.30pm and we do English, maths, science every day then slot the other things like history, geography etc in

Pollaidh · 16/04/2020 14:25

I have a 6yr old and 10 yr old. Currently holidays so more TV than usual, occasional family film. Today we've been baking, dancing, later a walk. Maybe some sign language lessons online. He's watching TV at the moment.

During "term", we have more structured time and he's not really able to manage zoom calls with his teacher without help and in any case teachers aren't teaching them, just checking they haven't been murdered by their siblings during lockdown. We do a mix of formal teaching of maths etc from worksheets and online, navigation/map reading, sign language, first aid, cookery, music, daily yoga/dance/sport, daily walk with/without scooters, snakes and ladders or junior scrabble. They are free from about 4-6 every day, but help lay the table. In his free time it's TV, lego, junk modelling, or finding ways to torture his sister.

TwoZeroTwoZero · 16/04/2020 14:26

My dc are 7 & 9 and I don't really do much with them tbh. When we're not doing school work, we read, talk and play cards together and they play Minecraft with dh on the PS4 every now and again but otherwise they entertain themselves. I don't set up craft activities - there are craft materials available for them to use as they choose but I don't do it with them. I don't play games with them either and tbh I think it's better that they can organise and invent their own games and use their own imaginations rather than relying on my input.

Areyoufree · 16/04/2020 14:33

YouTube, Disney+, Netflix, Xbox, Roblox and Minecraft.

Oh, all right. We have been doing some school stuff, a lot of baking, lego, and have put the tent up in the back "garden" (small, fenced in gravel area).

But there has been a lot of screen time.

Chocolateandamaretto · 16/04/2020 14:42

We put a tent up in the garden and have got hours of mileage out of packing to camp (filling her bag up with crap and taking it out to the tent) camping out (laying in the tent in a sleeping bag) and cooking on a campfire (assembling sticks in a “fire” and pretend cooking leaves on it) this is only with nudging from me.
Cutting and sticking also popular - get old magazine, newspapers, junk mail etc and cut it out to make a collage.
Writing letters to friends/cousins. We have a sort of consequences set up with some school friends where they are writing a story as a team.
Painting, drawing, stamping (a good set of stamps and ink is great for thank you cards etc in the future as well) rock pets, origami fortune tellers, baking, duplo, Lego, magformers, barbies.
TV!!!!

FiddleFigs · 16/04/2020 14:48

DD is 6. In the morning, she watches a bit of TV (as a reward for sorting herself out/making bed etc on her own). Then she does at least half an hour of learning (she picks one of the various KS 1 learning books), half an hour of creative writing and then she plays with her dolls until lunch. After lunch, she plays for a bit (dolls, lego, puzzles) then art for an hour, followed by about half an hour facetime with her best friend. By which time it's about 3pm, when I finish work (from home) and we go for a walk/bike ride and then pootle about the garden.

We're very lucky that she's quite resourceful and independent, and good at keeping herself entertained with minimal input or assistance.

TheEndIsBillNighy · 16/04/2020 14:58

Much like everyone else TBH. They are 6 and nearly 5. We do homeschooling every morning until 12 as I just find it makes the day go quicker and I’m not told about their boooooooredom every 5 minutes.

I am atrocious at “playing” with toys. I have zero imagination and find it so cringeworthy. Even if I set up scenes with sylvanian or dinosaurs, it lasts 5-10 mins max.

I set up old cardboard boxes & Diet Coke cans and we did “target practice” with their Nerf guns. They loved that.

I’ll set up modelling clay / kinetic sand / play doh and they’ll do that for a while.

Earlier, we got clipboards and they tallied up flowers by colour; we then put the data into an Excel spreadsheet & made the most basic graph...sounds arduous, but I hoped it’d inspire them to take the initiative in future. Who am I kidding?!

Wejustdontknow · 16/04/2020 15:20

Some great ideas on here, especially things he can hopefully do alone if I set it up for him

OP posts:
DinosApple · 16/04/2020 15:35

School haven't set anything in the holidays so we're just chilling. DD2 (9) likes a bit of telly to break up the day, DD1 (10) could happily read all day. A bit of Minecraft at the weekend and a few facetimes to family and friends.

Occasionally we bake or I get a hand with dinner, but that's it really.
Next week we'll be back to schooling 9-12.30.

Bluewavescrashing · 16/04/2020 15:40

Lego
Tv
'Helping' in the garden or with chores for pocket money (which they can spend online)
Trampoline
Swingball
Drawing
Board games
Slime
Baking with me
Reading
Out on bikes if no one else is playing out
Crafts

rvby · 16/04/2020 15:58

My ds is 7. I do little to entertain him. I do plan lessons for him because his teacher, while lovely, really struggles to come up with work that isn't soul crushingly boring. This consists of finding books for him, planning comprehension questions, selecting handwriting practice books, and finding online activities to help his mental maths.

He's up at 7, needs to eat/dress/clean teeth and may then read until 9. Sometimes we cook/bake breakfast together in this period.

9-10 lessons. Start with handwriting practice because he hates it, then maths, then French. Tiny amounts of work, but more than he ever did at school so I count it as a win.

10-12 read, go outside to amuse himself, play, etc. he occasionally wants me to play pretend with him.

12 lunch

1-3 read, play, etc. At this point he starts to lose the will to live a bit - he is best in the morning. Will start to want me to participate a bit more / wants attention, I do what I can but I am still working.

3-4 Put him in front of TV while I exercise; he usually has a snack etc. This is for the best because he goes downhill moodwise. He should have a nap, but he won't.

4-5 go for a walk together; come home and I prepare supper while he does his own thing, usually reading. Sometimes DP will chat with/amuse DS. (Not DS dad but they get on)

6pm supper. Usually a disaster but an ordinary disaster. Often have to feed him because he can't be arsed. Again, best in the morning.

6:30-8:30, an elaborate schedule of carefully orchestrated pre bedtime activities. This is the worst time of day, doesn't want to get in the bath, then doesn't want to get out of the bath, wants patting while lying in bed, wants reading to despite having spent 6 hours reading already, and so on. I accommodate it because I get it, I'm a whiny arsehole towards the end of my day as well, and he's very good for the vast majority of the day.

He is almost completely self sufficient which is useful because I work FT from home.