Ideas | Teaching Every Day

I read Simplicity Parenting and it recommended de-cluttering kids’ rooms so there were fewer toys and (gasp) books available to them. I forgot the exact number, but I think the book advocated having five books out at a time for young kids. Um, we can’t do that. We started out with about five books when my oldest was born. Now we have three shelves full of kid books. I love books. My daughters love books. We have lots of books.

But I get it. The idea is if you only keep a few books out a time, it won’t be so overwhelming to kids. Five favorite books is easy and simple. Too many choices can be a bad thing. And admittedly, it is difficult to find a particular favorite book on our overcrowded shelves. I like the idea of focusing on only a few books at a time. I also like the idea of weeding out some of our books. So I took out all the seasonal/holiday books and put them away in a closet.

When it was winter, we had all of our snowmen and mitten books on a special shelf downstairs. Now that it is spring (hurray!), the winter books are gone and replaced with flower and Easter books. It makes the books a little more special and exciting that they only come out during a certain times during the year.

You could do this with any books, not just seasonal. Just put away some of your books and then create a rotating library in your child’s room. It can change every week, month, or season…depending on when you remember. 🙂

Okay, so this isn’t so much about learning. It’s more about beating boredom and having fun with your kids. When I realized we were playing the same handful of games over and over again, I had an idea….for a jar. Idea jar. Ha. I cut up some colored paper and then went around the house writing down every game, toy, and activity. Then I put them in a jar. Whenever the kids are bored, we pull one out and do whatever it says. It could also be used as a reward jar.

I made our jar with ideas that could all be done inside (in case of rainy days) and could be done as a family (some games that we have are too complicated for our two-year-old). What’s that you say? You don’t want to stay inside? How about an idea jar for things you can do in your backyard? Or field trips to places you would like to go on the weekend? Or how about activities older kids can do by themselves for 10 minutes so you can have some time to check Facebook in peace? You could even (gasp) make an idea jar for chores. Everything is more fun when you draw it randomly out of a jar, even doing the dishes, right? Well, it’s at least worth a shot.

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