Participation?

[childcaremom]

My group is quite small and varies in ages quite a bit (1, 3 and 5 yo).

I usually have activities set up on the preschool table for the older kids to explore each day. They either engage with these or they don't. The 3 y o loves these types of things and will spend the first hour of the day exploring what I set out. The 5 yo arrives later and heads straight for the toys. I'm ok with that.

We have a short circle time (calendar, songs, stories, yoga) and then some sort of creativity period (art, sensory, etc).

The 3 year old is right into all the activities. Loves circle time. Loves to sing, listen to stories. The 5 y o does not. She gets excited that it is circle time but then will act out, not listen, ignore me, etc. I have talked to her about being respectful, listening ears, etc etc. I have switched up the circle to make it more engaging and active. I have played with our schedule to see if she is more interested if we start later, earlier, etc. No dice.

Any tips for reluctant joiners?

We are done with our indoor activities in a month anyways but thought I would file some tips away for future

[mamamanda]

I had one like this and circle time was when I finally found a way to engage him. Now he loves "activities" as he calls them. Have you found something your 5 year old is really into? For us, dcb was obsessed with dinosaurs. I got dinosaur books, dinosaur gross motor activities, dinosaur sensory bins, etc. He is always on the move so when we count we make it a game. We clap as we count each number 1-8 then we draw out the 9 & shout 10 while "going crazy" which means jumping, dancing, spinning, etc. Then they settle right back down to start from 11 & repeat the cycle. They all love to count now! With abc's we use zoo phonics & do lots of motions with each letter sound. I incorporate a lot of gross motor into whatever I want them to learn. I also find ways to let dcb "help" with circle time. He can pass out mats, pick up mats, point to my board, etc. That's what has worked for us.

[childcaremom]

I had one like this and circle time was when I finally found a way to engage him. Now he loves "activities" as he calls them. Have you found something your 5 year old is really into? For us, dcb was obsessed with dinosaurs. I got dinosaur books, dinosaur gross motor activities, dinosaur sensory bins, etc. He is always on the move so when we count we make it a game. We clap as we count each number 1-8 then we draw out the 9 & shout 10 while "going crazy" which means jumping, dancing, spinning, etc. Then they settle right back down to start from 11 & repeat the cycle. They all love to count now! With abc's we use zoo phonics & do lots of motions with each letter sound. I incorporate a lot of gross motor into whatever I want them to learn. I also find ways to let dcb "help" with circle time. He can pass out mats, pick up mats, point to my board, etc. That's what has worked for us.

Thanks. She is really into Frozen and I try to avoid commercialized stuff like that. However, maybe I can tie a few activities into a Frozen theme and see how things go.

She has a super short attention span. Loves to paint but is "done" in 3 minutes. Is hungry but is "done" in a few minutes, etc. Not anything that seems worrisome, she is just ready to move on to something else. The only time she seems truly engaged for a length of time is when we have free play or are outside. And a little part of me thinks it's ok to just leave it at that as she will have to sit in a desk soon enough.

[Josiegirl]

I just posted something a little similar to your question so I'll be watching here. I love the dinosaurs idea, zero in on something they like and run with it. My problem will be trying to draw in everyone's attention who is used to free play all day.

Sounds like movement is key to your dck. Can you take your activity theme and create large motor games out of it? something as simple as writing on slips of paper different activities and let them take turns drawing one out of a bag, then everybody gets to do the activity? Does she stay more engaged when it's a sensory activity, such as playdoh or rice table? What about hunting up some new sensory ideas, sparkly slime or different spices to smell, sounds to hear, etc. Make a sand tray for spelling out her name? Hunting games for certain items that all start with the same letter? Just trying to throw some different ideas out here.
If she likes Frozen, you could make wintery sensory bottles. Or hide mini snowflakes in a rice table. What about going into the fairy garden theme, making magic wands, I don't know.

It's really hard when their attention span is short. They end up distracting the whole group and everything gets off kilter.

When she paints, do you introduce unique things to paint with? Legos, cars, animal feet, forks, pine branches, just anything can be used. We've dribbled paint on the bottom of paper plates and placed painted side down on paper, then the dcks twist them, creating really cool color mixtures. I'm picturing adding glitter or salt to any painting you do and see if that keeps her interested a bit longer. Make puffy paint, that's fun to do.

[mamamanda]

Honestly, I believe kids learn best through play anyway. If your dcg will go play w/o issue then I would just let her do that for now. One suggestion I do have for attention span I something I started a week ago & have already seen a difference. I put out a blanket/mat for each child & they get one activity of choice from the"special" closet. Set a timer & they don't get off the blanket until the timer dings. You could start with 5 minutes. When she handles that well move to 10, etc. My dcb that is always rough has actually started sitting & focusing on building blocks, doing puzzles, etc since I started this. He's doing it on his own during free time now.

[childcaremom]

I just posted something a little similar to your question so I'll be watching here. I love the dinosaurs idea, zero in on something they like and run with it. My problem will be trying to draw in everyone's attention who is used to free play all day.

Sounds like movement is key to your dck. Can you take your activity theme and create large motor games out of it? something as simple as writing on slips of paper different activities and let them take turns drawing one out of a bag, then everybody gets to do the activity? Does she stay more engaged when it's a sensory activity, such as playdoh or rice table? What about hunting up some new sensory ideas, sparkly slime or different spices to smell, sounds to hear, etc. Make a sand tray for spelling out her name? Hunting games for certain items that all start with the same letter? Just trying to throw some different ideas out here.
If she likes Frozen, you could make wintery sensory bottles. Or hide mini snowflakes in a rice table. What about going into the fairy garden theme, making magic wands, I don't know.

It's really hard when their attention span is short. They end up distracting the whole group and everything gets off kilter.

When she paints, do you introduce unique things to paint with? Legos, cars, animal feet, forks, pine branches, just anything can be used. We've dribbled paint on the bottom of paper plates and placed painted side down on paper, then the dcks twist them, creating really cool color mixtures. I'm picturing adding glitter or salt to any painting you do and see if that keeps her interested a bit longer. Make puffy paint, that's fun to do.

Great ideas. Thank you!

I've highlighted the part that gets my knickers in a twist. I don't care if you don't want to do it but don't ruin it for anyone else, kwim? Which is why I would like to pique her interest, so that everyone else can enjoy it.

I will try to gear the activities to her next week and see if that makes a difference.

[childcaremom]

Honestly, I believe kids learn best through play anyway. If your dcg will go play w/o issue then I would just let her do that for now. One suggestion I do have for attention span I something I started a week ago & have already seen a difference. I put out a blanket/mat for each child & they get one activity of choice from the"special" closet. Set a timer & they don't get off the blanket until the timer dings. You could start with 5 minutes. When she handles that well move to 10, etc. My dcb that is always rough has actually started sitting & focusing on building blocks, doing puzzles, etc since I started this. He's doing it on his own during free time now.

My thoughts, too.

I actually saw your post about the blanket play and adopted it, as well. It works so well at quiet time for our group. I am going to try putting out the theme activities on the blanket for a period of time instead of toys.