Comments on: Staving Off Boredom

By: Trish

Trish — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:35:32 +0000

Brilliant suggestions - we love the toddler play book.

By: Betsy

Betsy — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:34:37 +0000

I echo the Peter and the Wolf/Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra comment–my toddler can now name/recognize most of the major instruments in the orchestra when she hears them and prefers these classical pieces to some of the kids’ music we have! I hope my boys follow suit!

By: Lissa

Lissa — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:39:14 +0000

I love all the suggestions - will be checking them out at our library.

Shawn - sounds like you have a great structure to your day. Toddlertoddler.com is a great resource. Thanks for recommending it!

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:29:17 +0000

This is quite possibly one of the best posts I’ve read in a long time … I haven’t heard of some of these books and I READ a lot. Though, we don’t have much money so that’s been a limitation.

I’ll add my two cents here: I’ve been home full-time with my girls since they were 10 months. I have almost always — with some exceptions — had a daily plan of what we will do. That plan, granted, has changed immensely. I have set up our days like preschool where we alternate high energy with quiet or calm activities that achieve a nice mix of arts, music, learning and physical development. By setting up time slots — no more than 15 minutes per activity — it keeps the day flowing. And, I found that planning out the day like this really helps me feel better about the days. Now that we get out of the house more it’s less preschool-like and more of working in art, music and learning in the mornings or just after dinner and on rainy days.

I love http://www.toddlertoddler.com as a resource. Sorry for the book. I blog a lot about keeping our kids entertained, and enriching their lives, too. It’s a passion, I guess. Thanks for these book titles.

By: Children's book reader

Children's book reader — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:38:33 +0000

Great suggestions. Another book that I have used is The Little Man in the Map. It is a great story, and helps kids learn US geography as well. Worked great with my sister’s 3 year old son.

By: Michele

Michele — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:10:54 +0000

The “Rock a Bye” series: Music of popular artists set to lullabies: Bob Marley, The Eagles, Rolling Stones, U2, Coldplay, etc.. they can be found on amazon!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:15:42 +0000

Thank you for all the great suggestions!

By: Goddess in Progress

Goddess in Progress — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:14:53 +0000

Oh yeah, one more. If you want to introduce kids to classical music but you don’t know where to start, there’s a great CD of the Philadelphia Orchestra doing Peter & the Wolf, with narration by David Bowie! The CD also includes “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” and “Carnival of the Animals.”

By: Goddess in Progress

Goddess in Progress — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:13:53 +0000

Justin Roberts is great. I got his CD “Meltdown” for xmas, and it’s really fun and catchy and sounds like “real” music (for lack of a better phrase). I enjoy listening to it.

Also, Barenaked Ladies are coming out with a kids’ CD (and accompanying storybook) called “Snacktime” in May. As a big BNL fan, my copy is already pre-ordered.

By: Eva

Eva — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:17:08 +0000

These sound like great suggestions!

Some favorite CDs at our house are:
Putumayo: I find that *I* actually like the music so it doesn’t grate on me, probably because it’s mostly musicians with regular careers singing songs for kids. Folk and Sing Along are favorites these days.

Laurie Berkner: Okay, she might grate after a while. But our kids really love her stuff.

Recent favorites at our house also include Paul Simon and Abba!