Ways to Occupy Preschoolers While Waiting

Jonathan is 7 weeks old now! He’s an adorable baby, but boy does a newborn change up the routines around the house!

This morning, I was about to stop and fix lunch when Jonathan decided that he needed to eat RIGHT NOW (even though it wasn’t time yet). Gresham and Owen (ages 5 and 2) were fighting and throwing toys at each other, and so I had one sit on the couch and one on a chair so that they were separated, but still close to me so I could supervise them! Here are some ways that I kept them occupied while feeding Jonathan – plus some additional ideas for waiting times.

• Sing the ABC song
• Practice counting – to 10 for Owen, to 100 for Gresham
• Practice counting backwards
• Practice counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s
• Play “I spy” something that starts with a certain letter
• Name the letter that things in the room start with
• Name all the mammals you can think of
• Name all of the swimming animals you can think of
• Memorize Bible verses
• Teach them how to “twiddle” their thumbs or pat their head while rubbing their tummy – if they can’t do it, it’s at least good for a laugh!
• Investigate what color eyes everyone has. Whose eyes are the darkest? The lightest?
• See who can roll their tongue and who can’t – it’s genetic!

How do you keep your preschoolers entertained while waiting for something?