Homeschooling with toddlers and babies around adds an extra layer of difficulty on top of something that’s already not easy. While its so easy to get frustrated and decide you’ll just never be able to get anything done as long as they’re underfoot, there are definitely other strategies to try before you throw in the towel! Today I’m sharing three ideas for keeping toddlers busy during homeschool.
Include Them as Much as Possible
While it sounds silly to include a one-year-old in homeschool, and your two year old shouldn’t be able to sit for 20 minutes while the big kids do subtraction, chances are that your little one becomes distracting because he wants some attention too! Consider getting your child their own versions of the curriculum books you’re using with your older kids. The dollar store has plenty of workbooks with appealing colors and characters that might keep them busy and make them feel like they’re one of the big kids! We’ve even purchased used workbooks to check out a specific type of curriculum, and those have become our youngest’s books to use during school time.
Homeschool Only Toys
Consider keeping a basket of toys and games that your toddler can use independently that only come out during specific lessons. Some of the things we keep in our daughter’s basket are: chunky puzzles, shape and letter flash cards, a drawing board, objects to “count”, and color sorting games. These items feel like learning materials to the little ones, and also have a feeling of novelty since they’re only available while you’re needing to work quietly with the older students.
Keep Some Last-Ditch-Effort Strategies for “Emergencies”
You know what never killed anyone? A couple hours of TV or tablet time. Is it the best, most wonderful thing to do to let your toddler watch 17 hours of television a day? NO, of course not! But in our house, we use electronics as a tool, like a Swiss Army knife. You know how a multi-tool can sometimes be used as a knife, and sometimes a screwdriver, and sometimes tweezers? Technology in our home is like that.
While our older kids often use it as a tool for learning, sometimes our youngest needs it as a tool for distraction. And of course we use it plenty for plain old entertainment as well. While we try to be careful about the subject matter our kids are watching, the truth is that its just plain fun and relaxing to watch something purely for entertainment purposes.
What have I left out? Do you have a great strategy for keeping toddlers busy during homeschool? Let me know in the comments!
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