Much as I enjoy bringing the kids out for all kinds of play and fun during the weekends, there are really some days that I just want to stay at home and be a couch potato. On days like these, I have to think of ways to occupy the kids so that they won't drive me nuts with their incessant, 'Mummy, I have nothing to do!!!'
Just because I'm nice, I will share with you my three golden rules you can follow, if you want to encourage your kids to have fun at home while you kick back and relax on your couch with a latte in hand. My golden rules spell F.U.N!
Be FREE!
Kids generally get turned on by activities that have no rules whatsoever and they have free rein on what they want to do. Free doodling is just the activity to encourage this 'freedom'. Sometimes when I run out of ideas, I just pass them some paper and paint and tell them to draw 'something'. This something can sometimes occupy them for hours! Again, doing this at home means you don't have to worry about paints getting onto their hands because the sink's just right there. A quick wash will get rid of all the paint stains - Just make sure you choose kid-friendly water soluble paints.
Or pass the kids some scrap materials and ask them to create something with them. You'll be amazed at how creative the kids can be! Christmas is just round the corner - Why not get them to create some Christmas decorations to hang up in the house? :)
Create UNFORGETTABLE memories!
Once in a while, the kids get to get involved in making one of our favourite desserts - Glutinous rice balls in sweet soup. This whole rolling and kneading of the dough is a lot of fun for the kids, although I always have to make sure they've washed their hands clean before we start. We don't want to end up with bad tummies after eating, do we? :) It's precisely such activities that create unforgettable memories for the kids and it will erase their impression that 'staying at home is boring'.
Don't NAG!
You know we moms love to nag, whether we admit it or not. I have come to the conclusion that it's an inevitable cycle of life. My mom nagged at me, and now I nag at my kids. They will continue to nag at their kids. And the underlying reason is because kids generally don't do what the mom says for the first time. We have every reason to repeat our instructions again and again until it's done. Now, if we want the kids to really have fun at home, we have to remember to cut down on the 'Stop touching that!', 'Be careful of the water spill!', 'Keep the volume down!'. The kids would really appreciate it if we just let them have fun without all the non-stop nagging.
So really, we don't need to have grand plans to have fun at home. As long as the kids can derive some kind of fun factor from the activities, you score points. The best thing about having fun at home is that you can get into all kinds of mess and the kids can be ushered right to the bathroom for a wash. Just make sure the mess created are not irreversible and you have a nice bottle of Lifebuoy hand wash at home. =P
