Teaching kids to entertain themselves.

Parents enjoy playing with their kids of course they do, but in some cases, it isn’t always possible to entertain them. 

• Encourage learning- Learning is so important and kid’s brains are like sponges. They will take on everything you tell them and while they won’t do everything perfectly they will do the best they can. Encourage alphabet games, counting and colouring. Pop up posters around their play area with pictures of numbers and rhymes so you can do them together at first before letting your child do it themselves. A white board is another great idea that can be coloured in and kids can practice their numbers and writing too!
• Give them the right tools- Give them stuff to play with and stuff they can learn from. Give them cars to play with, play doh, putty or dolls. Be smart and instead of giving your child all the toys alternate between things, so boredom doesn’t sink in.
• Set them up- If your child is going to play by themselves before you set off to do your own things prepare your child with everything at hand. Spend 15 minutes with them getting them organised and make it fun so your child is excited about playing.
• Check in and don’t take over- By all means check in with your child, take an interest but avoid taking over if they are messing things around. Kids need to have fun and mess before they get it right. Playing should be without rules anyway and who cares if their Lego isn’t like the one on the box if your child is having fun that is what matters most.
• Provide a kid-friendly space- To give you piece of mind ensure where your child plays is kid-friendly and safe. An area allocated to your child is an ideal way to promote playing by themselves as everything is easily at hand. Forget the perfect house now and keep your home child-friendly as this will give you a tiny bit more freedom. 
• Admire their work-When your kid does seek you out and has been quiet for some time, take a few minutes to admire what they have achieved. It may not be much, in fact, it could be a bloody mess, but they tried! They also played by themselves and this is a win, win!
• Work on it and lengthen the time as you go along- Playing by themselves takes practice and kids are notoriously hard to entertain anyway but don’t give up! Children will improve in their ability to play alone and you could find yourself surprised at their time spent alone playing.