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      • activating schema
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    • word consciousness
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    • numbers
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    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
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creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines

home / family life / family fun / creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines
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keep kids busy on the sidelines  teachmama.com

 

Many families spend a good chunk of time bussing kids around town, from dance class to music, from soccer to t-ball.

And though it’s awesome that our kids are busy, burning steam, and having fun with their friends, all these activities often mean that siblings are in tow, trying to stay out of trouble on the sidelines.

If their little buddies are there, that’s one thing. But if they are stuck for an hour or more just hanging around, with no park or playmates, it’s tough.

Many of us know thatย sideline entertaining isn’t always the easiest thing, especially for busy and tired parents.

Sure, we can all hand our kids a cell phone, iPad, or tablet to keep our kids busy, but what to do if you want to keep kids busy but unplugged during their siblings’ activities?

What if we want our kids to (gasp!) be unplugged while their siblings are having their activity? ย I have some ideas. Tried, tested, and true.

Here’s the skinny. . .

  • Creative Ways to Keep Kids Busy on the Sidelines:

When youโ€™re heading out to practice or a game or the dance studio and you know you will have kids in tow, grab a bag and throw in a few essentials.

creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines: teachmama.com

You always should have a blanket, a bag of snacks, and some paper and a few pencils or crayons. Always. With only paper and a pencil, you can play:

  • Tic-tac-toe: Mix it up by using letters, numbers, or simple pictures as your markers. So fun. And so old school but so great for early writing and thinking skills!
  • Guess the picture: One person draws a picture and the other person guesses what it is. Challenge yourselves by setting a timer or allowing only a handful of steps in drawing the picture.
  • Silent conversations: Super-simple conversations composed on paper, with no talking permitted. This game is great for quiet hallways during music lessons.

creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines: teachmama.com

  • Family name letter connect:ย Learn family members’ names and find connections between sounds and letters.
  • Strike it out: Fun math game that builds skills and requires no set-up or space. Critical thinkingย along with computation skills are practiced and kids have no idea!
  • Keep score:ย Teach your kiddos how to use tally marks by keeping track of each team’s score. Or keep track of the number of blue cars to red cars in the parking lot or the number of moms to dads on the sidelines.

creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines: teachmama.com

Or grab these few items to make your sideline entertainment even more fun:

  • Melissa and Doug Make-a-Face Crazy Characters Stickers Pad: My kids love that they can make all sorts of faces with this set–and whether kids are 3 or 13, they’ll have fun with this for sure.
  • Melissa and Doug Fairies Reusable Sticker Pad: The fairy set or Melissa and Doug Vehicles Reusable Sticker Padย or any of the reusable sets are seriously awesome. Kids make scenes and stay busy. For a long time.
  • Melissa and Doug Sticker Collection – Fashion: The amount of hours Maddy and Cora have spent with this set is unbelievable. ย They’ve made fast friends on the soccer sidelines with these sets; a few sticker sets, a big picnic blanket, and a bunch of kids make an hour long practice zip by.

creative ways to keep kids busy on sidelines: teachmama.com

  • Puffy sticker sets: All of these are awesome–there’s theย Puffy Sticker Play Set: Mermaid, Puffy Sticker Play Set: Chipmunk House, Puffy Stickers Play Set: Pirate,
    Puffy Stickers Play Set: Dress-Up
    and more. Reusable. And tiny sets that open up in a little foldable book. Love these.
  • On the Go Fun Sets: There are a ton of these sets, and they’re mostly geared toward kids ages 3-8. We love the
    Sea Life Colorblast Book – ON the GO Travel Activity
    , Water WOW! Alphabet – ON the GO Travel Activity, Color-N-Carry: Adventure – ON the GO Travel Activity, and more.
  • Pinball Arcade – ON the GO Travel Activity: My kids love this. Yes, it’s a little loud with the bouncing ball and the snaps of the pinball handles, but with a background that can change and the math fun that can happen if you challenge your kids to keep score, Pinball Arcade is a winner.

The possibilities for sideline fun is endless, and really–unplugging isn’t as difficult as you may think!

What are your favorite ways to entertain your little loves while big sisters or brothers are at practice? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!

melissa doug blog ambassador button

 

fyi: This post was written as part of theย Melissa & Doug Blog Ambassador program. All opinions are my own, influenced only by my experience as an educator and parent and longtime toy lover. Huge and happy thanks to Melissa & Doug for their willingness to work with bloggers in this way and for always creating awesome, meaningful products.ย 

Affiliate links are used in this post.ย 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Quick! Thereโ€™s still time to see if your area is registered to participate in this yearโ€™s National Civics Bee! #ad

Click the link in my bio to learn more and to grab a TON of free resources for families and educators. 

This yearโ€™s registration deadline is approaching, but you still have time! 

What better way to get students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities? 

https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

#CivicsBuzz #strongcommunities #middleschool #civicsbee #teachersofIG
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Have you heard of The National Civics Bee? #ad 

The National Civics Bee is an initiative aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. 

Organized in partnership with The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the competition in your community will inspire middle schoolers to become better informed about American democracy, to engage respectfully and constructively in the community, and to build greater trust in others and institutions. 

Learn how to bring The National Civics Bee to YOUR community now: https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

Iโ€™m thrilled to have partnered with @mom_select and @civicsbuzz for this exciting campaign! โ™ฅ๏ธ๐Ÿค๐Ÿ’™

#CivicsBuzz #middleschoolers #teachersofIG #communitypartners
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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

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View
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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia

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