Do you PLAY with your kids?

[portlandpeeps]

a saying I could relate to when my daughter was small: Cleaning your house when your children are small is like shoveling the walk while it's still snowing.

I played with my daughter all the time when she was small. She was an only child, so I had to be mom and playmate. My DH has always been good at acting like the little brother so she learned how to deal with teasing.

Now that she's older we make crafts and bake together.

 

[AllChookUp]

I do it far more now with my granddaughter than I did with my daughter. I think I was just too busy back then, but that's no excuse.

My granddaughter is 3 & 1/2, and I have already spent truly hundreds and hundreds of hours on the floor playing with her. Plus, the "play" we do is imagination and creativity-based. Her mind is so amazing, and I love that she is willing to challenge herself with creating new worlds and solutions.

I made a promise that I would never be too busy to put down what I am doing and play with her. As a result, we have a bond that is amazingly close and strong.

I would have it no other way.

 

[momofdrew]

It isn't so much needing to play with your child as it is to BE with your child...when my kids where young I taught them how to cook and how to weld a hammer and saw...lots of reading stories after supper and going for long walks in the woods... lots of board games and pushing them on the swings and going down the slide with them...my girlf friends daughter who is 48 still remembers when I used to make her mom come with me and my kids to go to the beach and look for sand dollars instead of doing the housework...

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Today was day one of my "playing" idea. Kids were really gung ho about it!

Today we "surveyed" a piece of "farm ground" that we purchased from a local farmer and we *gasp* broke it up into a house allotment (sad, but true happenings).

They divided out 4 lots for homes. Then painted the building area for the "houses" orange and the yards green. The middle unpainted areas will be roads and a park. That was their decision LOL

Then we used a yellow crayon to mark yellow "survey pins" at the edge of each property. I am going to get some yellow push pins to put in there because we can't see the yellow crayon dots.

They used paper, popsicle sticks, and playdough to make for sale signs. Then each kid chose a lot to "sell". Well, no one's buying until someone gets jobs and makes money to buy LOLOL (that's another day!)

The kids needed a break for lunch (and I just needed a break LOL) and they asked if they could go do their own thing after lunch. I said sure. That was a couple hours ago. Now they are all in the livingroom sitting down with their "lots" they mapped out playing with the Littlest Pet shops.