Finding Salvation in the Great Outdoors
If you are staying at home with a preschooler, make it a point to get up, get dressed, and get out of the house as much as possible. Preschoolers need a lot of stimulation. If that need is not met, they may fill it themselves by destroying the house or torturing Mommy. And getting out is good for you, not just for your child. If you know all the Sesame Street songs by heart but have no idea who the president is, or isn’t, you really may want to get out a little bit more. Be careful to avoid overstimulation. I was not the walk-in-the-park type of mom. If I was going out, I liked to be where the action was: I loved taking my children to county fairs or local events and always had fun. The only problem was that the children would get overstimulated—the exact opposite of what I wanted to achieve. When a child is overstimulated you may as well forget about bedtime or sanity until she comes down from her high.
Introduction to the Arts
Preschoolers like to keep busy, and arts and crafts activities are ideal for this age. The simpler the better, and the messier the activity, the more they like it. I was not a stickler for a neat home, so I didn’t mind a little finger paint on the floor. It is really good for little ones to be able to express themselves, and messes are inevitable. If you are not comfortable with a messy home there are all kinds of products that can help keep things clean while you give your child some creative freedom.
