Easy Ways to Keep Preschoolers Busy

One of the most challenging parts of homeschooling (for us, anyway) is keeping 2 year old Owen busy while the other boys are doing their work!  Now that a new baby is also claiming a large part of Mom’s attention, I have been looking for constructive ways to keep Owen busy.  Otherwise, he finds things to do like submerge the tube of toothpaste in a sinkful of water in the boys’ bathroom…

I posted the other day about playing with pipe cleaners and a strainer.  I got that idea from this post on Smockity Frocks.  Another suggestion of Smockity’s was to sort dried beans with a spoon.  We tried it, and Owen and Gresham (age 5) both loved it.  It’s a good activity for fine motor coordination too!  I gave the boys a bowl of beans, a spoon, and an egg carton to sort the beans into.  They may eat with their hands at the table, but using the spoon for beans was fun!

Here are some other ways that I keep Owen entertained at the table while we do school:

• Play doh.  This is our favorite recipe.
• Pattern blocks
• A geoboard and rubber bands.  We bought this one, but you can easily make one with a piece of wood and nails.
• Scissors – Owen cuts up junk mail and scrap paper.  Lots of fun – just a lot of clean-up when he’s done…
• Blocks – Gresham received this set of wooden castle blocks for Christmas.  It was my favorite gift that the boys got this year!  All three of them enjoy building castles, and best of all – it’s a quiet activity!

How do you occupy your preschoolers?