Cheap/free things to do with a 3 year old

skintmum2012

My little Boy Thomas is 3 and he has been going to preschool with there are a lot of problems with his behaviour and he is getting worse the more he is at pre school. He pushes over the other children and pulls hair he is the same with his sister. There are loads of other problems with his behaviour he is getting an assessment at the hospital soon. Anyway he is very very worried about going to preschool he rolls in to a ball and crys and shakes so i dont really think there is muct point in keeping him there. But I am going to need to do things with him to help him learn but we don't have a lot of money does anybody have any ideas? Any Ideas would be fab I have come of with the musem.

pukkamum

The museum is obviously a good one, but how about some toddler groups, these are only for a short time, you are with him and it gets him used to playing with other children under your careful supervision, you can also leave if he gets too unruly.
I would also look on pre-school teaching websites for ideas, colouring pages, counting and reading sheets etc.
Make every outing a lesson at the park talk about the trees and animals, collect leaves and make pictures, give him a sheet with pictures on to spot when you are out and about, in town about the shops and people cars etc, bring your knowledge and enthusiasm and you can make any outing an exciting lesson.

Seanymph

home made playdough?
cooking?
water in the bath with containers?
a walk?
a visit to free museums?
bark rubbings?
playgrounds?

skintmum2012

Hi I could not agree more that you can make any outing a lesson and you can make it fun I should have said I have a little girl as well Heather is 1 I do try and take them both to play groups but it's so hard tom can't cope with loud noises and flaps and pushes kids over and all this while I am trying to keep an eye on Heather it's very hard. I have been trying to find preschool sites to look at but I cant find anything. I am going to keep looking though

skintmum2012

Seanymph wrote: »

home made playdough?
cooking?
water in the bath with containers?
a walk?
a visit to free museums?
bark rubbings?
playgrounds?

Bark Rubbings fantastic idea thank you

jackyann

All ideas above are good, but depend on your little boy.
It would be very difficult to know whether he is just slightly immature for his age ( although the average 3 year old can cope with pre-school, some are not ready) or whether he does have a developmental / behavioural problem. Obviously you are getting an assessment, but that will take some time.
I suggest that you talk to your health visitor - most HV teams have nursery nurses or early childhood advisors. They can come to observe your little boy at home with you and make suggestions based on him as an individual. They are useful sources of support when you are worried about your child's behaviour, and they usually work closely with paediatricians, can help with the assessment (depending on how it works in your area)
Good luck.

kingfisherblue

Try some of the activities from thius site - Tom can make a bag to collect fallen leaves in, which he can then use to make a collage. there are also lots of other activities

www.naturedetectives.org.uk

Also try the following:

www.activityvillage.com

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.ideas4kids.org

Invest in a pack of paper plates and try these ides:
* Fold in half and make into a rocking bird
* Cut out a triangle to make a fish mouth. Glue the triangle to the opposite side to make a tail
* Cut the edge of the plate out and use let Tom decorate it to make a necklace
* Invent a pizza - colour, stick collage pieces, etc
* Make faces, add odd bits of wool for hair
* Mix paints to make weird and wonderful colours - or mix primary colours to make secondary colours for a bit of science

Make collages - use junk mail cut into small pieces, those ribbons for hanging clothes, tissue paper from shoe boxes, bottle tops, oddments of wool and fabric, leaves, etc. Put all the bits and bons into a shoe box, but get Tom to decorate the box first.

I'll add more ideas as I think of them

kingfisherblue

Toilet/kitchen roll tubes - make totem poles, people or skittles.

Visit the library - many have storytimes during the day. It is also a good chance to find out about things (so if you make a totem pole, see if Tom can find a book with one in - maybe give him a choice of two or three books)

Water play - use washing up liquid for bubbles, or food colouring for different coloured water. You only need a washing up bowl. Try different types of containers - yoghurt pots, jugs, squeezy bottles, sieve, tall beakers, short beakers, spoons, ladle, etc. If outside, 'paint' the fence or the paving stones (especially good on a warm day, as the chldren can see the 'paint' disappear as it dries)

Build towers. Use pillows, beakers, wooden bricks, old video cases

Make a camp (indoors or out). Hang a blanket or duvet cover over the washing line or over chairs.

Have a picnic - my kids used to love a picnic in the lounge when it was raining. Use biscuit cutters to make sandwiches into interesting shapes and feed the crusts to the birds

Ask if the museum has a kids club - some offer activity sessions for under 5s during term time

Make Tom's name (big bubble writing, one letter per piece of paper) and decorate before attaching to bedroom door

Mix a small amount of paint into bubble mix. Put large sheets of paper on the floor (an old roll of wallpaper is ideal). Blow the bubbles onto the paper

Cover a tray with a thin layer of sand or talc. trace letters and numbers with finger, end of pencil, feather, fish slice, etc for different effects

If you have a sand pit, hide dinosaurs and have a dinosaur hunt. Or hide magnetic letters and numbers and challenge Tom to find a particular one

Chalk on the paving in the garden - you could even play hopscotch if you adapt it to make it a bit easier for Tom. Make a large dice from a square box and write numbers on instead of having spots (to aid number recognition)

skintmum2012

jackyann wrote: »

All ideas above are good, but depend on your little boy.
It would be very difficult to know whether he is just slightly immature for his age ( although the average 3 year old can cope with pre-school, some are not ready) or whether he does have a developmental / behavioural problem. Obviously you are getting an assessment, but that will take some time.
I suggest that you talk to your health visitor - most HV teams have nursery nurses or early childhood advisors. They can come to observe your little boy at home with you and make suggestions based on him as an individual. They are useful sources of support when you are worried about your child's behaviour, and they usually work closely with paediatricians, can help with the assessment (depending on how it works in your area)
Good luck.

Hi i dont trust the HV'S in our area they are useless I know of many people who have put in complaints. Tom has seen a Ped and the appoitment for the Hospital has come through and is next month. This is an on going thing so we have already got through most of the waiting. It's felt a long wait.

daska

What does he like to do most? Is he very active or does he like doing things or would he rather be left alone? If you give us clues we might think of different activities that are suited to him. e.g. DS2 would flip if I tried to get him to play with playdough or paint but access to a trampette is now included in his statement to help him cope with his sensory problems. Give us some more clues?

stiltwalker

skintmum, I feel for you. I have a nearly 3 year old girl and a 9 month old boy. My daughter also has additional needs. She has mobility, balance and communication delays (I am the only one that she really talks to and can understand her). She is not walking yet which makes many outdoor activities hard unless I can go with friends to help out. I'm lucky that I have some good friends with older children who invite me to go places and who help out enormously, have you anyone who would fit that bill?

We do lots of art and craft activities at home. The cebeebies website has loads of fun and educational stuff on for pre school age. Do you have a Sure Start children's centre? They may have good activities and these are often run by people with early years qualifications - don't be shy of talking to them. I also find that with 2 such littlies that people are very willing to help out at places like this, holding little man while I help DD or whatever (obviously not just random strangers in the park but other mums/people running the sessions at children's centre) although this may be a little easier for me as my DD's difficulties are physical and therefore obvious.

Hope you get somewhere with the hospital appointment, if your son does get some sort of diagnosis or tentative one look into any parent support groups in your area. I have found Early Years support (part of education for up to 5s) invaluable. You may have an early years advisory teacher in your area, mine is brill, check your local council website. I hesitate to use the d word (disabled) as it has taken me the best part of 18 months to adjust to using this word in relation to my daughter however you may need to look under disabled children's services to find what is available although I will stress that your child does not have to have a diagnosis or even have significant disabilities to be entitled to these services, they just have to have additional needs (which may well be temporary and solvable.)

Good luck, PM me if you need to.