Simple Things (Really Simple) To Keep Kids Busy, From Age Six to After Fourteen

Penguin fabric-bound classics

by Julia Sneden

Last time we looked at things to do with the very young.  Here are some ideas to engage slightly older children. The same principles pertain: keep a healthy ratio between passive (as in watching videos or TV) and active activities (ones in which the child must use more than his receptive senses; things that involve his body as well as his mind).

I am no enemy of TV, if it is kept in its place, but it should be only a small part of a child’s day. There is much that can be learned by watching short periods of appropriate (appropriate) television. However, when it replaces family interaction or healthy exercise of mind and body, it is lethal. When as a teacher I had to report to parents that a child’s attention span seemed very short, I was often asked: “Then why can he sit absolutely still for an hour and a half to watch a video?” The answer is, alas, that videos, TV, and movies feed a short attention span. The ever-changing, split second images; the swift action; the mood-changing music, constantly shift a child’s attention for her. Nothing stays front-and-center for more than a few moments. Worse yet, these vehicles provide passive entertainment that satisfies emotional and intellectual needs with little or no effort from the child.  

There are plenty of other things to do when your grandchildren, children of friends or nieces and nephews visit. The general principles and list of things to have on hand (see Part One of this article) stay pretty much the same, except that for older children, I’d suggest being sure you have playing cards, board games like Parcheesi, checkers, chess, and backgammon, and some sports equipment on hand. 

Continue to Julia’s entire article, Simple Things (Really Simple) to Keep Kids Busy, From Age 6 to After Fourteen

Julia’s previous article, Simple Things (Really Simple) To Keep Kids Busy, from Under Twos to Six

©Julia Sneden for SeniorWomen.com

Editor’s Note: During the years we were on vacation with our family, the first and last destination we would visit was the local library in the Florida town my parents lived in.  If your extended family is located nearby your vacation spot you might be able to borrow their library card. If you are returning to a previous vacation spot with some regularity and perhaps ownership, a library card of your own might be possible.