3 Little Ones and a Baby

[Unregistered]

Currently i am caring for 21 month Twins boy and girl, 21 month dcb (yes they are 7 days apart) and i also have a 2 month old baby girl and a 4.5 dcb. My SA children are great and basically care for themselves/each other ( my daughter takes care of sancks and such for them she is 12.5) i also have my ds who is 10 and the SA girls ar 8 and 6 and have been here since they were 4 and 6 so they kniw the drill, you know.

That being said, all my day time children are wonderful, seriously, i just termed an almost 3 dcb who i have had since he was 13m, he had developmental issues and became too violent with the other children. I also had lost a 4 dcb in January to go to preschool. I took in the baby and then the twins (which i was very aprehensive about after my last difficult group) but it turned out great, my only problem now is.........

What do i do with this young group all day?

The 4 dcb seems completely left out, the twins are not developmentally ready to do much arts and crafts, ( they are not sure how to even color yet) my other 21m dcb does great with arts and crafts but he has been here since he was 12m. And the baby is on her own schedule.

I get lunch, snacks, and nap done on time (most days) but i feel like the rest of the day is basically free play which is not what my schedule says..... Should i just change my schedule to mostly free play and diaper changes, we have to include adult led activities also, is getting blocks out for them or singing songs throughout they day enough adult led activity time?

What should i be doing with this group? I feel like im good to make it through the day as it is. I know they are great children but it is a lot of work......

[LittleD]

The twins may not be ready for coloring, but they won't get there if you don't get them to do it. They will learn with guidance and supervision. Start now! Arts and crafts are good for fine motor skills.

Do circle time that is appropriate for 4 yr old, the younger ones might not be able to participate but they are listening. Also have them do songs with finger actions. (Itsy Bitsy Spider etc) Just because they are not doing it doesn't mean they aren't learning. They will get there eventually. The 4 yr old can be your 'helper', have him pick out the story for story time. Do your teacher led activities through out the day, toddlers have short attention spans

[just_peachy]

I write my schedule to cater to my oldest kids' needs. Obviously the baby you'll want to feed, care for on-demand, but as for the other kids, I have about the same spread. Then what I do is let the 2yo's do a simplified version as what I'm doing with the 4yo and allow them to leave for free play at any time. So during crafts, I do a designated craft with the 4yo and let the other kids color and hang out with us at the table. Or let's say we're doing LEGOS, I'll give the 4yo the small LEGOS at the table, and let the 2yo's play with the duplo blocks on the floor next to us. Here, the younger kids like to mimic the bigger kids so this works well for us. Also, can the 4yo become your 'little helper?' Can he do fun things like dust while you're tidying up, or help with meal prep? This helps my older kids feel more 'adult' and also gives us some QT without having to change my schedule too much. There are also a lot of activities that all of my kids love

Play Doh!
Gak!
Dancing
Kid/baby yoga
going for walks
sidewalk chalk

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but the more structure I have to my kids' schedules, the less stressed I feel. I think it's in part because the kids are less stressed (and bored) and in part because having the structure takes the brain power of "now what?" out of my day.

Good luck! I'm always looking to fine-tune things so I can't wait to hear others' advice! happyface

[MNMum]

Giving them lots of sensory play. They may not be ready to "color", but they would probably love to stick their hands into some paint! I bring snow inside. Water play. But with my young group - we mostly free play. Read books. Sing simple songs.

We do circle time a couple times per week. Mostly my 3 and 4 yo participate. Sometimes the 2 yo's chime in.

I don't stress over the schedule. Meals, naps, and outside play - that's the schedule. Circle time happens when it happens - sometimes at the lunch table - sometimes not at all.

[Unregistered]

Giving them lots of sensory play. They may not be ready to "color", but they would probably love to stick their hands into some paint! I bring snow inside. Water play. But with my young group - we mostly free play. Read books. Sing simple songs.

We do circle time a couple times per week. Mostly my 3 and 4 yo participate. Sometimes the 2 yo's chime in.

I don't stress over the schedule. Meals, naps, and outside play - that's the schedule. Circle time happens when it happens - sometimes at the lunch table - sometimes not at all.

Thank you, this is basically what i am doing now, i just fit in songs and learning when i can but i am so used to having an older group and a lot of structure so for the past couple of weeks i feel like i've been in a whirlwind, the twins tore my eye level posters (alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors) off the walls yesterday while i was feeding the baby and that about did me in right there........ I think i will change my schedule to mainly freeplay with short adult led activities mixed in throughout the day.