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Fun for 5yo boys
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I know several of you have a house full of boys, so I thought I’d ask for some suggestions. What do your boys do all day?
I need ideas for activities to keep my 5yo DS busy. He has been spending a lot of his time lately just wandering around the house, not really getting engaged in anything. This leads to entertaining himself by pestering his sisters or parents. I know this is mostly just typical little boy stuff, but I need to channel some of his energy into other activities!
DS spends all day long with 5 girls (1 big sister, 1 little sister, and 3 more girls in my home-daycare.) He and his big sister play very well together, but when she is in the mood for more crafty pursuits, or when DD spends more time playing Barbies than DS can handle, he starts getting into trouble. I can always tell DD to just ‘go find something to do’ and she has dozens of options, but DS can’t seem to find anything to hold his attention. We do have playdates with a couple of other boys regularly, so that helps, but there still seems to be a lot of time that he just isn’t interested in doing anything.
We do spend lots of time outside, so he gets plenty of balls, bikes, rollerblades, sandbox, running in the sprinkler, playground, etc. He enjoys Lego, plays with wooden trains/tracks, and he is already reading so he will settle down and read a book. So it’s not like he doesn’t do anything, but he just seems bored much of the time, so I thought I’d see what interests your young boys have.
Joanne
When my son was 5-7 years old he loved playing Trio, Imaginext and taking outdoor expeditions. My older son would make up an explorer expedition guide for my younger DS. It would include a check list with things like, discover a leaf you have never seen before, watch a spider in it’s web, see baby bird eggs in a nest. My DS could not complete it all in one day, it actually would take him several weeks to explore and find all the items. Once he completed the expedition, my older DS would have a reward waiting for him. Another thing that kept my DS occupied was giving him a digital camera. He would spend hours indoors and outdoors taking photographs. He is 8 now and is actually very good at taking photos. He can see things in a way that I can’t. His photos display a wonderful talent now.
Tammy
Maybe there are some “crafty pursuits” that your son could join in on. Some of the things my boys have enjoyed: braiding, knot-making, weaving pot holders, knitting on a Nifty Knitter, sewing (they’ve enjoyed stringing buttons onto sturdy thread or stitiching their names onto a piece of felt, or sewing buttons onto fabric in a pattern) . A big box of craft sticks and some glue have led to amazing creations, a paper airplane book led to hours of fun, scraps of wood with a hammer and some nails are always interesting as well.
My 6YO DS could spend all day outdoors looking at bugs and climbing trees and “mining rocks” (that’s what he calls it when he smashes one rock against another to try to break it open and see if there’s “gold” inside). He really needs lots of time in nature.
I have a 6-yr-old; he has 3 older brothers so he gets lots of ‘boy’ time. To keep him busy during the day we do a combination of things:
School work – for the past year or so he’s done some very gentle school work. Math games, letter recognition then phonics, lots and lots and lots of reading out loud. Now he’s learning to write his letters, read and started RS math. He spends about 10 minutes (if that) on each subject.
Play – how that boy does play! I made a ton of pre-school activity bags when he was younger. As he aged he outgrew some of them. A few we updated for him, the rest we got rid of and I made “older” ones. I can post a list of the ones he uses now (and at 5) if you want. He also has blocks, Legos, cars, Lego-minifigs, geoboards, play dough, slime, stuff like that. He can play with those any time he wants as long as he’s quiet. We also have magnifiying glasses, microscopes and other ‘sciency’ stuff he can use. I have a big box of activity bags (okay, 2 boxes) and I rotate through them weekly so he always has something new to do. He also enjoys mazes (I ripped out the pages of the maze book and put them in a binder with sheet protectors so he can use them over and over). He likes to use the mini-chalkboards and dry erase boards too. Building inside forts is fun.
Books – lots of picture books at his level, in every room of the house.
iPod – I have my iPod Touch loaded with educational apps. He gets to use them once in a while, for (usually) short periods of time.
Computer/TV – I do let him play on sites such as Starfall, more.Starfall, etc. He also watches Jeff Corwin, Wild Kratt’s, LeapFrog, Meet the Sight Words, Magic School Bus, stuff like that. He can have one movie a day, typically while I’m working one-on-one with the older boys.
Outside time – you mentioned he gets lots of time outside. Great!
There are some great websites dedicated to boys I can send your way, if you’re interested.
Thanks for the ideas. I’d love to see more information about your activity bags, Crazy4boys.
We do some school, including Life of Fred, some pre-printing activities, and some literature read alouds.
DS is not yet interested in any of the craft type activities that DD spends hours on. He’ll work with perler beads for a while, and he occasionally joins in with some painting or playdough for a few minutes, but then loses interest. I’ll continue looking for new ideas that might spark his interest.
The outdoor expedition might be a good idea, too. It’s just a matter of figuring out what he would be able to find in the backyard. I’ll have to work on that one.
Thanks again everyone.
Joanne
And here’s my LONG list.
1. http://homeschoolcreations.com/preschoolpacks.html I look through these pages and print out the ones I think he’ll like. I never just print them all.
2. This is a blog post I did a while ago with links to the various bags we’ve used. Has some links at the end of the post with more places to look for activity bag suggestions. http://gentleartofchaos.blogspot.com/2011/08/preschoolkindergarten-activity-bags.html
3. Confessions of a Homeschooler – http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com Again, I just look through her various stuff and print what I think he’ll like. There are pages for pre-K, K4, K5, 1st and 2nd. Sometimes I choose from pre-K, sometimes from 1st. Just depends on what he can do and will like. Typically I try to find 3 to 4 weeks worth of activities printed at a time from various sites. I keep them in a file folder and give them out as needed.
4. He also likes to play with: pattern blocks with or without pattern cards, math balance (with buckets and bears), geoboards, Dot markers (either with worksheets from the above sites or just make his own designs). Inchimals, building blocks, Frogs on a Log, colorful dinosaur math manipulatives. Legos, Unix cubes, play money (and he plays Store). Kid K’nex and regular K’nex.
5. We have a large Tupperware container filled with amaranth (what I had on hand, you can use rice, beans, whatever). He puts it on a large cookie sheet then plays with his toys in it like it’s a sand box.
6. A box of sheets, blankets, ropes and such to make forts. Dress-up clothes (capes, swords, Ranger cloaks, etc).
I think that’s most of it! I can explain anything in more detail if you’d like. There are some days when NOTHING keeps him busy and other days where he plays quietly for hours. And the in-between.
Blessings!
Heather
My 7yo loves legos, Erector set (he has a set for 5-12yos), origami, quilting/sewing (he’s done pillowcases and little monster stuffed animals), crochet, taking pictures and making videos on his camera, drawing, painting, clay, paper mache, gardening (he just planted some cacti).
Two of my boys will spend hours with anything to do with water. My current 5 year old boy absolutely loves to help with scrubbing the floor. I give him a small bowl of soapy water and a little scrub brush. He will go through the kitchen or bathroom and find all those little spots that need to be scrubbed. We have an entire house of hardwood floors and tile. So this can keep him busy for a while. Another one of my boys loves for me to give him a small bucket of water and a few toy boats.
Another idea is a mini sandbox. I have seen them for sale or you can make your own. Just a box with some sand and a few sand toys – a dumptruck, car, mini rake etc.., I keep it on a high shelf and only bring it out occasionally. Make sure to include an old shower curtain or garbage bag to put down on the floor to catch the sand that might come out.
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