seccotine_ch

Hi there

I know this sounds like the standard question, but what do you do
with your younger ones ? Sylvain, my older, is 7 and his sisters are
5 and 2 and I have some difficulties planning activities with the 3
of them. For instance, there is a nice museum near us, called
Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and older - when I plan
to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to follow the expo
path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who might be more
interested in running around ...

When I read about your days, you all seem pretty occupied, and your
kids go here and there, doing sport and music and all sort of things.
Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my son plays soccer
once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes to be home and who
could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit worried that we're not
doing *enough* interesting things.

Any ideas, suggestions for young kids ?

Thanks
Helen in Geneva

Mara

--- seccotine_ch <seccotine@...> wrote:

> Hi there
>
> I know this sounds like the standard question, but
> what do you do
> with your younger ones ? Sylvain, my older, is 7 and
> his sisters are
> 5 and 2 and I have some difficulties planning
> activities with the 3
> of them. For instance, there is a nice museum near
> us, called
> Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and
> older - when I plan
> to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to
> follow the expo
> path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who
> might be more
> interested in running around ...
>
> When I read about your days, you all seem pretty
> occupied, and your
> kids go here and there, doing sport and music and
> all sort of things.
> Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my son
> plays soccer
> once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes
> to be home and who
> could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit
> worried that we're not
> doing *enough* interesting things.
>
> Any ideas, suggestions for young kids ?
>
> Thanks
> Helen in Geneva
>
>
>
>




____________________________________________________________________________________
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to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
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Mara

Sorry, pressed send before writing. I have two young
ones, 6 and just turned 3 and we would often go to
places that were not for their age. We were for
example just in Italy with my parents and going to
'adult' museums. Their reaction to things my vary, but
they might surprise you. Yesterday I took them to a
3-D bug show and for a change my 3 y.o. liked it best,
sitting absolutely still and focused, usuallly it is
the other way around. Sometimes you might have to go
faster through or one might like to linger more in one
area than the other, but then I just say, J. wants to
stay in this room for a while, then we will go over
there etc. For the younger ones it might help to talk
about it before, like, do you want to go to a museum
that's all about food? And mention some of the fun
stuff that might be there, like cooking demonstrations
etc.'.
Sometimes you might have to do more snack and drink
breaks or go to a room they can run around more - if
that is not possible, run around outside the museum
first so they might be more focused when they get
inside.

Good luck!
Mara

--- Mara <mamadeluz@...> wrote:

>
> --- seccotine_ch <seccotine@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi there
> >
> > I know this sounds like the standard question, but
> > what do you do
> > with your younger ones ? Sylvain, my older, is 7
> and
> > his sisters are
> > 5 and 2 and I have some difficulties planning
> > activities with the 3
> > of them. For instance, there is a nice museum near
> > us, called
> > Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and
> > older - when I plan
> > to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to
> > follow the expo
> > path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who
> > might be more
> > interested in running around ...
> >
> > When I read about your days, you all seem pretty
> > occupied, and your
> > kids go here and there, doing sport and music and
> > all sort of things.
> > Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my
> son
> > plays soccer
> > once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes
> > to be home and who
> > could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit
> > worried that we're not
> > doing *enough* interesting things.
> >
> > Any ideas, suggestions for young kids ?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Helen in Geneva
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
> Need a vacation? Get great deals
> to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.
> http://travel.yahoo.com/
>




____________________________________________________________________________________
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http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting

Meredith

--- In [email protected], "seccotine_ch"
<seccotine@...> wrote:
>> For instance, there is a nice museum near us, called
> Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and older - when I
plan
> to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to follow the expo
> path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who might be more
> interested in running around ...

This is kind of funny to me bc my younger child is more interested
in museums than the older. I periodically take her to museums and
galleries when Ray is otherwise occupied (at a friend's house or
visiting his mom for example). She loves them, but she's also very
very active, so going to a museum is kind of like having a high-
speed chase through the halls and chatting about what she liked best
over ice-cream later. I don't know how she manages to see anything
at that speed, but she does. I also plan to spend some time in the
gift shop, and go with a very clear budget for that, so I don't get
sucked into alllllllll the neat stuff....ahem.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that its often possible to take
younger kids to places "designed" for older kids and even adults as
long as you don't have any particular expectation that your younger
kids are going to behave like good little tourists. I'd avoid places
where there are a lot of appealing things for little ones to have to
not-touch, but especially going to a museum in the middle of the
day, during the week, there's usually lots of space and few people
to knock over or otherwise irritate.

Its also possible to take older kids to places designed for little
ones if they're amenable. I've found that if *I* get down and start
playing (or whatever) my older kid will losen up a little on the
whole "I'm way to old for this" thing and start to play, too.

I'm posting a link to one of my favorite idea lists for other things
to do with kids, if you need some help thinking "out of the box":

http://sandradodd.com/strew/deblist

---Meredith (Mo 6, Ray 14)

Pamela Sorooshian

We spent a lot of time in parks and at the McDonalds Play Place when
my kids were young. If my oldest wanted to play with me, that was a
good time to pull out some little thing that was hard to do at home
with the little ones. A set of tangrams, a deck of cards, some dice,
some easy little game. Crayons and paper. A camera. Books I could
read aloud to her.

I'd go easy on the museums - there are plenty of interesting places
to go with little kids for quicker, easier visits. Even just the
grocery store can be awesome - try to find something new every time
you go - a new kind of fruit or veggie to take home and cut open.
Maybe dip the veggie or fruit pieces in some paint and use them as
stamps.

Stop for a few minutes to watch at construction sites. I loved the
book, "Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel" when I was a kid and so I shared
it with my kids. I just got curious about how old that book is and
looked it up - it was written in 1939, which means it was probably
one of my mom's favorite books, too, which is why she shared it with
me. There are some activities on the website for it, here: <http://
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/mike_mulligan/activities.shtml>
AND the same author write another of my all-time favorite books, one
I read over and over and over to my own kids, "The Little House." I
got a lot of ideas from these kinds of published activities - not
that I used them as lessons, they were just "ideas," that I might
toss out there if the kids seemed open to me suggesting something to do.

Anyway - one of the things "I" liked to do was think about great
kids' books that related to the everyday things we were experiencing.
One day we were scrounging for change and I remembered there was a
book about a family of pigs that scrounged for change all over the
house. "Pigs Will be Pigs" is the name of the book. These days, you
have Google to help you find such connections.

We went to a LOT of children's shows - musical theater, puppets, etc.
We went to events intended for young children at the library. The
older kids get a lot out of these.

We also spent a lot of time in libraries with children's sections,
movies, stores like IKEA with children's play areas and cafeterias.
The malls often have exhibits - car show, orchids, paintings,
jewelry, photography, and so on. We'd sort of wander through those
sometimes. Also, we DID go to museums and exhibits and things like
that, with the little ones in tow. You don't have to make a day of it
- we often went places for an hour or less, just enough to enjoy a
few things and then we'd go to a park or somewhere else to play. The
trick with taking three young children places is to make it short and
sweet and be willing to leave soon after arriving. That's why it is
better not to make a big investment of money or travel time.

-pam


On Oct 16, 2007, at 12:16 AM, seccotine_ch wrote:

> When I read about your days, you all seem pretty occupied, and your
> kids go here and there, doing sport and music and all sort of things.
> Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my son plays soccer
> once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes to be home and who
> could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit worried that we're not
> doing *enough* interesting things.



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

if you know me, then you already know. if

--- In [email protected], "seccotine_ch"
<seccotine@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there
>
> I know this sounds like the standard question, but what do you do
> with your younger ones ? Sylvain, my older, is 7 and his sisters
are
> 5 and 2 and I have some difficulties planning activities with the
3
> of them. For instance, there is a nice museum near us, called
> Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and older - when I
plan
> to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to follow the expo
> path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who might be more
> interested in running around ...
>
> When I read about your days, you all seem pretty occupied, and
your
> kids go here and there, doing sport and music and all sort of
things.
> Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my son plays soccer
> once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes to be home and
who
> could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit worried that we're
not
> doing *enough* interesting things.
>
> Any ideas, suggestions for young kids ?
>
> Thanks
> Helen in Geneva
>


Im not sure what kind of area you live in. but we live in southern
california.
so im never short on places to take my kids who are 7 and 4.
we go to the beach, mountains, parks, zoos, museums, childrens
museums, apple orchards, etc..
we even do library days .
they are girls, so they take dance lessons and acting .
i have an old trunk that i fill with dress up clothes and hats ,etc,
so that they can put on little performances and i video tape them..
alot of things like that dont take much money. just time, and we
have plenty of that. :)
hope some of this helps.

seccotine_ch

Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions and for the good energy
they bring with them ... I really like the way you see/put/organize
things :).

Yes, it does help. A LOT !

Helen, in Geneva (Switzerland)

--- In [email protected], "if you know me, then you
already know. if you dont, then youre a stalker. go away."
<theprettiestgirlinthemorgue@...> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "seccotine_ch"
> <seccotine@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi there
> >
> > I know this sounds like the standard question, but what do you do
> > with your younger ones ? Sylvain, my older, is 7 and his sisters
> are
> > 5 and 2 and I have some difficulties planning activities with the
> 3
> > of them. For instance, there is a nice museum near us, called
> > Alimentarium, but it is meant for 6 years old and older - when I
> plan
> > to go there, I'm a bit anxious : how will I do to follow the expo
> > path with Sylvain and watching the little ones who might be more
> > interested in running around ...
> >
> > When I read about your days, you all seem pretty occupied, and
> your
> > kids go here and there, doing sport and music and all sort of
> things.
> > Mine don't. We are together most of the time (my son plays soccer
> > once a week). As I am the kind of person who likes to be home and
> who
> > could spend her whole time reading, I'm a bit worried that we're
> not
> > doing *enough* interesting things.
> >
> > Any ideas, suggestions for young kids ?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Helen in Geneva
> >
>
>
> Im not sure what kind of area you live in. but we live in southern
> california.
> so im never short on places to take my kids who are 7 and 4.
> we go to the beach, mountains, parks, zoos, museums, childrens
> museums, apple orchards, etc..
> we even do library days .
> they are girls, so they take dance lessons and acting .
> i have an old trunk that i fill with dress up clothes and hats ,etc,
> so that they can put on little performances and i video tape them..
> alot of things like that dont take much money. just time, and we
> have plenty of that. :)
> hope some of this helps.
>

guideforthree

--- In [email protected], Pamela Sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@...> wrote:
The trick with taking three young children places is to make it short
and
> sweet and be willing to leave soon after arriving. That's why it
is
> better not to make a big investment of money or travel time.
>
> -pam
>


My kids are 10, 7, and 2, so I also have the age issue to deal with.
I have found that memberships have helped me deal with this issue. I
joined the zoo and a couple of other local museums. After paying the
membership fee, we get free admission. I don't have to deal with the
stress of feeling like I wasted the money if we have to leave shortly
after we arrived.

I am often pleasantly suprised when I give my kids a chance to attend
something intended for a different age group. My 10 year old wanted
to attend a class at the zoo for 8-12 year olds, so of course we
towed everyone along. All three kids enjoyed the class, and they all
participated in a way that was appropriate for their developmental
levels. Usually the trick is just to make sure everyone is well fed
and well rested.

Tina