On the Third Day of Parenting - Keeping the Family Occupied

Hello and thank you for hopping over from The Butterfly Mother and welcome to the 3rd day of #12DaysOfParenting. Today's sponsor is It’s a Sling Thing who are offering an Ergobaby Original Carrier and the theme is Activities to Keep the Family Occupied! My keyword to enter today’s giveaway is in this post below, good luck! Full details of the #12DaysOfParenting terms and conditions can be found on the #12DaysOfParenting page and all entries are to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Even in the years when I’ve been super organised at Christmas, there have still been plenty of last minute things to do. Jobs that are just easier without children underfoot. So a few activities here and there to keep the family out of my way and out of trouble have come in very useful.

I’m not going to lie - I love a simple, no fuss activity that requires little planning or effort on my part and yet delivers

Crafts

A pile of pine cones and some glitter glue make an easy craft that needs very little supervision. And with a piece ribbon attached to the top you have some lovely decorations to send to grandparents!

In the past I have found a few cheap Christmas craft sets at Hobbycraft, Wilkinson’s, etc. These provide a good half an hour - usually - of space for me to potter and get things done. Even when requiring some help or supervision, I find I can do small tasks at the same time.

Books

At the start of December we get out a selection of Christmas books. They only come out at this time of year, which makes them an exciting novelty! I used to wrap them individually and the kids would open one a day, like an Advent calendar, but then I realised that I had better things to do with my life than wrap 24 books. Things like wrapping actual Christmas presents, or cleaning toilets! And so the Christmas bookshelf was born.

During the pre-Christmas cull we manage to clear a whole shelf and that is where the Christmas books live until they go away again at Epiphany. The books provide a great deal to occupy the family, and having a child of who can read has made this even more accessible, as she can read them to the other two.

Biscuits

I like to mix up a small amount of icing or melt a bit of chocolate, set out the sprinkles and let the kids go to town on some of Lidl’s delicious spiced Christmas biscuits.

This is an activity that can keep my children - and husband - occupied for a while. Even longer if I don’t supervise too closely, because then they secretly eat as many as they decorate too!

Screens

I’m not ashamed to say it, sometimes Netflix comes in super useful. And at this time of year, when the coughs and the sniffles are spreading like wildfire, I don’t feel at all bad popping something festive on the telly and plonking the children in front of it.

We’ve added a specific Christmas profile to our Netflix account and filled the ‘My List’ section with all the family friendly Christmas shows and movies they have to offer. There’s some really weird stuff in there, but it’s great for half an hour of peace and quiet, when no one fights.

Snacks

And if all else fails, a selection of snacks always serves to keep everyone occupied for a decent amount of time. They don’t even have to be Christmas themed!

What is your favourite simple activity to keep your family occupied?

Today’s Codeword is: YULE. 

If you would like to read another post and gain another entry, then head over to Bumps Babies Tots and Teens for their take on Keeping the Family Occupied.

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