“I have a strong willed and determined child”, I hear you say. Will a timetable and activities work for them? My daughter is a typical two and a half year old and ‘No’ is one of her favourite words. I can’t guarantee that the timetable and activities will work for every child, but you can have so much fun at home learning through play. If your child does not want to participate with the activities then I would recommend this:
- Speak in an enthusiastic voice that shows excitement! If you are excited to do the activity, then your child will be too.
- Have everything ready for the activity before you ask them to come. Your child will more likely want to participate if they can see what they are going to do!
- Gently encourage your child – they could bring their favourite toy with them to do the activity.
- Transitions are difficult for young children so a timetable of the day helps with this, as they know what to expect.
- Let your child know when it is nearly time to finish. You can use a timer here which I find incredibly useful.
- We have a 1, 3 and 5 minute timer. I turn over the timer and explain that once it has finished it is time for our next activity.
- If your child isn’t interested in the activity then do not push it. You don’t want to make them and you upset and pushing it can lead to them resisting it again in the future.
- I would return to the activity later on in the day or the next day and see if they are more willing.
Lockdown Learning 