Occupying Toddlers During School Time

If you’re homeschooling with littles underfoot, one question you often get asked (and ask yourself) is “what do you do with the littles while you’re schooling the olders?”

Obviously there are many answers and not a one size fits all answer for everybody. The things we have done have varied with the different personalities and temperaments of each child, with their age and abilities, and so on.

For a long time it has been easy to occupy our toddler son with drawing – he loves to draw, and I don’t discount that as educational. Every penstroke, every circle he draws, is preparing him with the motor skills to form and shape letters and numbers later on. Every critter and creature he sketches is encouraging and expanding his imagination, or allowing him the opportunity to ponder things he learned earlier in the day.

In fact, my son loves to draw SO MUCH, that in all honesty, he goes through entirely. too. much. paper. Or, he gets ahold of my dry erase markers (and once a permanent marker!) and scribbles all over my to do lists and math lessons.

Which is why I was really excited to find this:

That, my fellow delighted moms (and dads), is a double sided dry erase lap board. And my four year old son LOVES it. Since he has recently been expressing an interest in letters in addition to drawing (finally!) he has the opportunity to flip back and forth between the two, drawing and then “writing”, drawing and then “writing.” It occupies him for LONG periods of time. (With low odor markers of course!)

And sometimes after I get the girls settled in with their school I’ll sit down with him and work on some very simple handwriting and phonics. He gets into it and asks “what makes this sound” and “what says that” and “how do you write ___”… It’s all really cute, of course.

After he tires of his lap board, sometimes we’ll move on to other activities. He likes to sit in my lap while I read a science lesson to the 6 year old, and he likes to pretend to “do school” with preschool workbooks. Sometimes he gets to water paint (which he also loves and uses too much paper for) and sometimes it’s time for a movie and a nap. ;0)

Either way, the double sided dry erase lap board is DEFINITELY working to entertain — and educate — our rambunctious toddler boy!

What works for you?

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We Are That Family. {P.S. If you’re looking for a blogging tip, (which this week’s WFMW is SUPPOSED to be about..) I did a series for beginning bloggers a while back called How To Blog.}

~ Buy this on Amazon: Board Dudes Double Sided Dry Erase Lapboard (Or try to find it on clearance at JoAnn’s like I did.)

~ Read my Disclosure Policy