Need suggestions please

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Need suggestions please
4
Sun, 10-17-2004 - 4:41pm
I just got rid of our cable, due to too many bills and too much watching it.
My son is 5 and watched too much junk on tv. So now he has none.
Any ideas on how to keep him entertained on the weekends and after school?
I have so many ideas for young children, but not for my sons age.
Thanks for the ideas.


Lilypie Baby Days



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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Sun, 10-17-2004 - 9:03pm

Mel,


We did the same thing! There are some great TV shows still out there for kids. On pbs they have changed the afternoon lineup in our area, so maybe they have done the same where you live. At 3:00 'Postcards From Buster' This is a great show and teaches a lot about American Geography. At 3:30 'Arthur' comes on. and at 4:00 is a new show called 'Maya and Miguel' which is a fun new show that kids can pick up Spanish and 4:30 is 'Cyber chase'. All of these shows are still fun and educational!


For outdoor activities I would recommend unstructured outside time. Let them be their own entertainment director there. Kids need to use their imagination. Without all of the distractions. If your like me I cannot and will not allow my kids outside by themselves so I take a book with me to read. You will be amazed what games and activities your kids will make up withouts you directing their every move. My kids love just digging in the dirt, collecting bugs and climbing trees.


If you are looking for enrichment activities there are lots of opportunities, here are a few ideas.


The first site is a link to EARLY Robotics which is a lego robot building teams...these are popping up all over the country and you might find one near you.


http://www.earlyrobotics.org/


This next one is a online chess club. The children take quizzes and learn chess then play against the computer...this is a free site and really fun!


http://www.chesskids.com/


Also a lot of parents who's children go to public school are practicing 'afterschooling' which takes over where the teacher leaves off to let it really soak in. This is done with workbooks and free internet sites. Generally if you just type a subject...lets say* kindergarten math games* you will find thousands of sites. Also you can let me know if you are looking for something specific, I will probably have tons of recourses.


Board games are a great way to learn and have fun. There are even some great learning video games out now that he would like and not know he was learning.


Hope this can help some!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 8:48am
Thanks for the links. I will check them out.
I am glad he still had PBS, I do like that channel, very educational, none of the other junk he don't need to watch.
Thanks again.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
Mon, 10-18-2004 - 1:48pm
At first I was thinking "WOW that is one brave woman!" But then I saw you still had PBS! In my area we get NOTHING without cable (no major networks, no PBS, nothing!) So here giving up "cable" is literally giving up TV totally!

I don't have any ideas really, both dh and I grew up in houses where the TV was always on just for background noise, and old habits are very hard to break. Plus at night TV is my main "release" from the stress of the day, to just veg and relax, so I figure my kids need to do that once in awhile too. *I* could never survive myself without CSI, Sopranos and Trading Spaces, so I let them have their shows too.

When I do say enough it enough, then they just spend more time outside. I'm lucky that it is beautiful here, 9-10 months of the year you can play outside. Plus he has about 7 friends on our street, so they ride bikes for hours on end, play street hockey or basketball, trade Yugi oh (how the heck do you spell that?) cards...there is always another kid around somewhere for him to "hang" with.



spring06sig2
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2003
Tue, 10-19-2004 - 2:11am
I had to laugh.. my dh grew up in a house where tv was on ALWAYS for background noise. When we moved in together, it was so foreign to me. He had a tv in every room, at one point he was talking about putting one in the bathroom. Thankfully I have cut it back. No tv in bedroom (there are better things to do in there!!) No longer in the kitchen..(HE has better things to do in there!!) and NOT in the bathroom, that's just gross!!!! So now we have 2 tv's in the house, 1 in the living room, and 1 in storage, when we move in a few weeks it will go in the guest room.

I really do enjoy my few guilty pleasures of tv though, I love Days of our lives (watched for 25year-ish) and the extreme makeover home edition, ER, Raymond, and of course Bear in the big blue house, and Dora the explorer. LOL!!!

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