While I am too busy this week, I am trying to devise ways to keep The Boyz busy – does that make sense? I’m too busy and they’re not busy enough!
One of my favorite activities to encourage the boys to engage in is ‘following directions’. I don’t care what activity it is, as long as there is a process of independently following written directions, a video, a recipe, or a schematic.
From the earliest ages, I look for toys that present lots of these opportunities. Some of my favorite commercial toys are Lego Products, K’nex, Rokenbok and Keva Planks.
I have ‘heard’ some discussion on the internet lately about building products that are geared especially for girls. Lego also introduced sets appealing to girls. I know there are innate and biological differences that affect what boys and girls are drawn to and excel at, but maybe sometimes parents just don’t think to bring lots of building toys into a house of girls – if you haven’t – why not get some? Yes, Dennis and I bought baby dolls, kitchen sets, and dollhouses into the house from the time Ethan was a toddler. Some things were played with, others were hit on the head with tools 😉
Learning to follow directions is a progressive skill, so I start small – when they are small.
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| Lego ‘Mosaics’ |
Building on these skills get you bigger and better creations – with motors!
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| K’Nex |
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| ‘Screamin’ Serpent’ |
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| ‘Amish White Bread’ |
