caradove

I am having problems finding ways for all my kids to play what they
want without having tiny game pieces getting spread everywhere. We
have five kids and my dd 6yo and dd 4yo want to play blokus,
jigsaws,knex, and other games. Problem is they wont pick up the small
pieces and my dd 14mnths is mobile and can get into their games. When
I say play in your room then I am not available to help them when they
need it and if they get in a disagreement 4yo tends to throw the
pieces either at her sister or all over the place, sometimes it has
been her brothers 500 pc jigsaw thats been thrown.

1.How to keep it safe for baby?
2.How to not have pieces lost/spread all over the room.
3.How have those of you with big families set your house up to cope
with this, give each child space but not be stuck in their room every
time they want a game with little pieces?


Thanks,
Cara

Debra Rossing

Don't have a lot of kids or a toddler but we've found that big ziplock
bags make it really easy to just scoop the pieces in and go rather than
having to fit everything into the "Correct" spot in the box (and some
game boxes are pretty picky about just how to put stuff). Or, small
storage containers of various sizes/types can contain the little pieces.
For Legos (and we've got LOTS of Legos), we'd set out an old sheet or
tablecloth that can be scooped up a la a 'hobo pack' and the whole lot
plopped into a big rubbermaid bin. Basically, making it SUPER easy for
them (or anyone else) to just scoop the pieces and have them out of the
way of Baby sibling with minimal interruption in the flow of playing.
Also, ziplocks/containers can contain the pieces not currently in use as
well - for example, have each color of pieces in Blokus (a favorite here
too BTW) have it's own plastic resealable container (a la the ziplock
storage containers) so that only the pieces they need are exposed on the
board, the rest are still in the (uncovered but still contained)
container - less scattering of pieces.

Deb

**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.

This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.

CNC Software, Inc.
www.mastercam.com
**********************************************************************




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Meredith

--- In [email protected], "Debra Rossing"
<debra.rossing@...> wrote:
>
> Don't have a lot of kids or a toddler but we've found that big ziplock
> bags make it really easy to just scoop the pieces in and go

I always go all "misty eyed" reading your descriptions of bins and
bags, Deb... Mo Loves bins and bags - loves to empty them out and have
lots of charming, empty bins and bags to play with!!!! <sigh>

I still use them as a way of cleaning up, and it *is* easier than
trying to get everything back into the original packaging, but I've
also really had to let go of the idea that its possible to keep whole
sets of things for very long.

I don't have any advice for the OP other than getting a shop-vac.

---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 13)

Emilie

>
>I don't have any advice for the OP other than getting a shop-vac.
>
>---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 13)

I love this idea. :-)

Because my children are all around 2 years apart this has been an
ongoing problem.
- With the second baby we just delayed getting much small stuff. We
got crates of duplo at garage sales so that Felicity and her friends
could build really complicated structures and still keep the
individual pieces big. Wooden train tracks are complex but the pieces
are big. We invested in hundreds of pieces of train, track trains,
train destinations etc. By the time the third was born we started
getting lots of small stuff, but it still helps to have lots of
complex big stuff that we can all do together.
-Playing on cookie sheets at a high the table where the baby couldn't
reach and the edges made the pieces less likely to fall on the floor.
-In our living room we got a gated metal enclosure and put it in the
corner (by KIDCO I think-similar to what people use around fire
places for child proofing fireplaces, but hexagonal) . The older kids
could open and close the gate, the baby could not. They still all got
to be in the same room. This would often frustrate the baby though.
-At one point we had a graco play yard set up for my three year old
to play with small pieces in (she needed help in and out) and the
gated enclosure for my then 5 year old to play with different small
pieces both my small living room. It helped not just with safety,
but also prevented the baby (known at that time as babyzilla) from
knocking down or ripping apart everything that the older girls were
doing. It was their choice when to go in or out of these enclosures,
and they were solutions we came up with together. It sounds crazy,
but it helped them all be able to play in the same room and be close
to mama at the same time.
-The older girls also play together or separately on a high captain's
bed where the baby can't climb up ...yet.
-I think the ultimate would be a raised loft with a rope ladder (to
pull up) in the living room. Even an ikea loft bed might work for this.
- My 3 year old was always a big pacifier user as a baby. Giving it
to her when we were using small things or paint tended to keep her
from putting other things in her mouth.

As I said before the main problem with most of these solutions is
that the baby gets very annoyed that she can't follow her sisters and
play with the small pieces too. I try to distract her, but the big
sisters are hands down her favorite activity.

If you come up with any other ideas -let me know.

Best of luck,
Emilie (Felicity 6, Cecilia 3, Charlotte 1)

Deb Lewis

***1.How to keep it safe for baby?***


Does your baby put stuff in her mouth? Sometimes or all the time?
Can you hang out with her and say "take that out of your mouth." when
she shoves something in there?

I work in a flower shop and the owners little girl has been there since
she was born. She's almost thirteen months old. Flower shops have
stems and leaves and matter on the floor all the time and she went from
a baby who would shove everything in her mouth to a very discerning
nibbler in a matter of days. Now she only grazes on found cracker bits
and cookie crumbs and the like.

Choking is less a hazard when the child is attended. Not everything
that goes into a baby's mouth will cause choking.


***2.How to not have pieces lost/spread all over the room.***

Have a bin for lost items. When you're picking up, if you don't know
where something belongs, stick it in the lost items bin. Then it's
only lost until someone saunters over to the bin and grabs it for their
project.

With little kids you're just going to have toys spread around. That's
how it is. Accept it the way you accept that grass will grow and birds
will poop on your sheets when they're hanging on the line. <g>

***3.How have those of you with big families set your house up to cope
with this, give each child space but not be stuck in their room every
time they want a game with little pieces?***

I don't have a big family but I think most of your fears can be
relieved by just hanging out with the kids when they're playing.
Asking your baby to take small, non food items out of her face, and
relaxing a little will help.

Deb Lewis

Deb

--- In [email protected], "Deb Lewis" <d.lewis@...>
wrote:
> Not everything that goes into a baby's mouth will cause choking.
>
DS was about 5 when his little cousin was born. We knew there would
be family gatherings (at our place and elsewhere) where DS would
want to have some of his toys out. We talked about the situation and
used a handy bit of information to *empower* DS regarding small
bits/choking hazards: when baby cousin is around, anything that can
fit through a toilet paper tube needs to be "guarded" - that is, DS
or some adult needs to be keeping an eye on it at all times, it
can't be just left laying out on it's own. We kept several empty TP
tubes handy (also good to play with, disposable, cheap, even
gnawable for a toddler) and DS would check items and decide whether
to play with them/bring them and so on. His own choice in the matter
was a big help in his cooperating with making sure stuff got put
away - even if HE didn't do the tidying, he'd make sure it got done
by asking for help with it "to make sure it's safe for baby". Over
time, DS got better at eyeballing sizes AND cousin got older. Now,
we're going to be doing that again because another SIL is due next
March (now DS is 9 and "baby" cousin is 4).

--Deb

caradove

--- In [email protected], "Deb" <debra.rossing@...> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "Deb Lewis" <d.lewis@>
> wrote:
> > Not everything that goes into a baby's mouth will cause choking.

I was always quite slack about little things being on the floor and
did not have kids who put everything in their mouths. But a few weeks
ago my just turned 4yo who did not have a habit of it and has been the
only pacifier-using kid, still is,ie. has something in her mouth
anyway! came up to DS and announced she ate money!! Then started
crying really badly as it started to hurt all the way down, so we
rushed up to the ER with a hysterical kid in pain but just as we got
100yds from the ER door I think it dropped into her stomach and the
pain stopped. So had Xray and three days of poop searching to make
sure it came out.

I just cant imagine if that penny had gone in her wind pipe instead,
just made me think about small stuff around combined with having so
many kids to be there for, compared to devoting all my time to one or two.

Also was at ER 2 days ago for 11yo ds to get a few minor stitches, and
friend shows up with 6yo son who worked a penny so far up his nose
even the doc had trouble getting it out!!!!!!!!

caradove

>
> I don't have any advice for the OP other than getting a shop-vac.
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 13)
>

Do you mean use the shop-vac to collect the pieces off the floor ,
then sort them out after? LOL

Just like the Noo Noo on Teletubbies.

Might experiment with our shop-vac!!!!!

Also you said you let go of the idea of having complete sets of
things. What do you do if child comes back a week later wanting all
the bits,it belongs to more than one kid, or as we are completely
broke and cant buy new stuff?

Cara

Meredith

--- In [email protected], "caradove" <caradove@...>
wrote:
>> Also you said you let go of the idea of having complete sets of
> things. What do you do if child comes back a week later wanting all
> the bits,it belongs to more than one kid, or as we are completely
> broke and cant buy new stuff?

Mostly these aren't issues in our house - except for being broke ;) I
*have* picked up some games second-hand to get more "bits", although
there's no guarantee a used game won't be missing the exact same part
that we've lost. I do a certain amount of validation when someone wants
to play a game or build and would like to have all the original pieces,
but its a fairly minor issue, here - maybe bc my kids are more used to
*not* having complete sets? Sorry I'm not much help on that end.

---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 13)