New favorite book

If you have young children and don't already own a copy of Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner one of the following are true:

1) You're such an outstanding, energetic, creative parent that you don't need a book with something like 700 easy ideas to entertain your up-to-ten-year-old.
2) You are the parent of a large family and you don't need to worry about keeping the younger kids entertained because that is already assigned to the older kids.
3) You have never heard of it.

I heard the Popcaks interview Bobbi Conner on one of their shows that I downloaded. I am sorry I don't know exactly the date of the show. I just download them in batches and listen to them when I get a chance.

This book is outstanding and, for me, potentially life changing. It is full of so many simple ideas to help you get the kids playing and not asking for another DVD. Myles spent 45 minutes playing with rolled-up socks and an empty laundry basket. No Elmo was necessary for today's shower!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Okay, so I have a 10 year old home from school for the summer, bored to tears, along with a 15 month old...so I am taking your advice, and have ordered it.....will let you know how it goes!!!!

Miss you,
Aunt AM
I'm gonna' check this out. I've got five children from eight on down to ten months. I'm willing to try anything.
It's either that or more Spongebob Squarepants.
eulogos said…
I didn't have a TV when my kids were growing up, after the oldest was about 3. We were concerned that he wanted to watch TV too much (I think this is before there even were DVD's or videotapes either) and when he went behind the TV to get a ball and knocked it down, and it didn't work, we didn't even try to fix it, just said, too bad, its broken, and put it out for the garbage. So we had no TV for about the next 15 years.
For some of those years I was homeschooling too. The whole cabbage patch doll thing came and went without my kids even hearing about it. They made an imaginary world out of clay, with ongoing stories. They made an imaginary world, with a drip from a water pipe stream running through it, and stick houses. They went to a somewhat wild (for inside a city) park and built campfires and tree forts. One daughter made a doll and clothes for it. Later when we moved to the country they had whole hills to climb, ponds in the woods and swiming holes in streams, wild strawberries and abandoned apple orchards, miles of backcountry road to go biking on.
Usually the little ones started being able to follow the older ones in these pursuits at about 5 or 6. Before that there were still many things they did together. Or all the younger ones would watch the chickens, make tents with sheets on the clothesline, play with dolls and blankets in the straw, make mudpies. In the house there were plays directed by the older ones that every kid had a part in. There was always lots of drawing, painting, and building stuff.

At some point I got a TV because I wanted to watch videotapes of movies, which I never go to see because my husband worked eveings in a restaurant. I thought that without cable and no antenna the kids wouldn't be able to watch
TV on it. Big mistake. They had some sort of antenna hooked up right away, and watched the fuzzy screen avidly. I really think my 7th and 8th kids were worse off for having this.

I did have TV when I had up to 3 kids and they watched the kiddie shows like Sesame Street. They also colored and painted and cut and pasted and played with blocks. I played with them a lot. I didn't do all that much housekeeping I don't think. But I did use the TV, when I had it, to have some time when I wasn't "on call" every minute. The dynamics are rather difference once there are some older kids around.