Evening Activity Ideas for 3 Year Old Boy

Careful about adjusting that bedtime! I wouldn't.
Can he talk to dad in the afternoons?
Get a few some craft kits at Michaels, Pat Catan, etc. maybe Christmas ornaments for later this year? He could do O. per week.
Otherwise, easy board games, MegaBloks, O. errand, walk, playground.
We always relaxed the schedule a bit when dad was out of town: went out to eat, got lost looking at stuff we happened upon, etc.

Starfall.com

I have a recipe for Dog Treats that is a blast - the kiddo uses cookie cutters and you roll the dough using a rolling pin. My 4 yr old has loved making doggie treats for two years now. We dont even have a dog, but freeze the treats and give them to friends' dogs when we plan to see them. PM me if you want the recipe.

Go for a walk after dinner

Have him help you hand-wash some dishes - or unpack the dishwasher. When I had a dishwasher, I would take out the sharp items and then have my son put the other utensils away. If sorting is too much a struggle, let him simply put the utensils in the right drawer. You can sort them later.

Star gazing, moon observing

oh sweetheart, Please listen to the wise mommas that have been there done that.

DO NOT change his evening routine. If you need to do something special do it during the day light hours.

If you need to do somethings different for your own self, Make some new meals you've been wanting to try. Plan some fun activities for yourself for after DS goes to bed.

Don't change his evening routine and most of all don't change his bedtime.
Daddy can call him during breaks in his meetings, Daddy can leave him little love notes or presents to open at bed time, wouldnt one of those books from Hallmark that are recordable be darling? Daddy can take him out for breakfast, or plan a weekend just the two of them when all the meetings are done. you can take DS to meet daddy for lunch during the day.

But please, after 5 pm, keep it simple and keep it the same.

I suggest that you DON'T adjust his bedtime. Dad can go in when he gets home, make sure your son is sleeping peacefully, adjust his covers and spend some quality time with YOU.

Children do much better when they have the same routine.

I agree with Toni V.
I wouldn't adjust the bedtime. You could create a disaster when it's time to try to change it back. And not only that, but during all the "transition" time (both ways) neither of you will be comfortable and used to the routine.
4-8 weeks is not that long.

My husband works (and has worked for our entire marriage) regressive shift work. It is normal for there to be days (multiple) where he doesn't see our kids AT ALL, because he is asleep when they leave for school, and they are asleep when he gets home, and then he transitions to getting up and being gone before they are up in the morning and back home and going to bed by the time we get home from evening extra curricular activities.

From the time they were little, I didn't adjust their schedule to "fit" with Dad's. It is a proven fact, that the schedule my husband works increases health risks (over the long term)... it just isn't healthy.

It also is a great skill for kids to learn to adapt to the idea that the world doesn't revolve around them. I know he is only 3. I get that. But 3 is notorious for being a time when kids suddenly start waking in the night and having bad dreams and other issues to deal with. I wouldn't mess with his sleep schedule.

Your son is secure in his relationship with you and Dad, and that won't change just because Dad gets home late for a few weeks. He will still have the weekends, and the days that there aren't late meetings. You just have to tell your son what to expect, and don't stress over it yourself. He will be fine.

Go out to eat
Go for a walk
Walk around the mall
movie and popcorn at home
arts and crafts or crafts and giant mess as I call it
bake cookies or a cake

Put on some music, read books, make sure he has fun, engaging toys, let him help you cook, fold laundry, etc, watch a movie together (when my son was 3 he loved Pinnochio, Dumbo, Babe and Cinderella) basically just do what you do during the day.
If you are craving some adult company invite a friend over for dinner! Even if your friends don't have kids, that's okay, we ALL need adult companionship on a regular basis. Make something yummy and open a bottle of wine :-)

First let me say - I'm sorry I am not answering your question directly. I just wanted to note that I'm there with the moms who recommend not adjusting the schedule. My father traveled a lot for work when I was young, so there were some weeks at a time where I did not see him. I talked to him on the phone and I always, always, always knew he loved me. It did not negatively affect our relationship in the least.
So - can your husband take breaks in the afternoon to call your son? Alternatively, can they have some time together in the morning before your husband heads to work? Does your husband have the weekends free?
Best of luck.

I agree to try and get out of the house. I am a SAHM too and when my husband is working late a lot it's all I can do to not go crazy by bedtime! Go out to eat, go to play areas, go to the park, the mall, a friend's house, etc.

If he has a little friend he likes to play with have the mom and the kid over for an evening play date. You could make an easy dinner, feed the kids and chat with the mom. I of course like to have family dinner and such on the weeknight, but if I knew a friend needed some help/grown up time, my husband would be happy to fend for himself or go out with the guys one night.

I also agree to look into a local community center or Y. I take my kids swimming a lot during the winter and it's great! It is fun, it wears them out, and I shower them at the gym so it's quick and easy!

I would also hesitate to really change his bedtime to accommodate seeing dad. I know it will be hard on him (and you) but it might backfire on you if you keep him up later, etc. Just maybe have your husband spend more time with him during his off time or take him out on a Sat/Sun afternoon and give you a break.

My husband works long hours every day, so I feel your pain! Hang in there and stay busy!

Do you have a YMCA in your area? The Y has lots of drop-in programs for kids ages three and up in the evening. Our Y has gymnastics, rock climbing, dodgeball, soccer, floor hockey, arts and crafts, as well as swimming and a play structure. We always like to take a trip to the library on a weekday evening. You could take him to McDonalds for ice cream and to play on the play structure there.

i say let him sleep-dont disrupt his life due to daddys changes..

As the wife of someone who travels a lot for work... I agree with the others who suggest not switching bedtime...

I'd switch to trying to plan some special things on the days that he is available. If he is able to take a later morning at home - plan a special breakfast. Plan some quality time on the weekends.

Changing kids schedules is really hard on everyone. My kids often have weeks when they only see their Dad at breakfast... but he makes up for it on the weekend and the weeks that he is home he always puts them to bed.

My fun ideas are:
Library story time
Special walks to the park or in a nature area
Winter crafts (making snowflakes, painting snow pictures, or making Thanksgiving craft ideas).
Special movies (we don't watch much tv, but the weeks that I do the whole thing solo - we often budget some tv time in for everyone to get a little break).
New coloring books.
Make roads on your kitchen floor so he can drive cars all over while you get some work done at dinner time... masking tape works well.
READ :)

Good luck!

if this is going to be going on for 4-8 weeks.. you really cant spend tons of money each day ..

so the activities have to be reasonably priced.

check out the local parks and rec dept catalog.. or other cities parks and rec catalogs nearby.. look for a fun class.

our library has evening activities. gymnastics classes..
kids love to go play at mcdonalds playlands.

Our library sometimes has evening pajama storytime, so see if anything like that exists around you.

Invite a friend over to watch a movie and eat popcorn. Start around 6:30 and you'll be done by 8:00.

My mother-in-law swears by the Y. My father-in-law used to work crazy hours and she would pack the kids up after dinner, take them swimming at their local Y, shower them there and put them in pajamas then straight to bed at home. I haven't tried it with my 2 yo yet but am thinking I will soon.

My husband does bath/bed time in our house and when he's working late, I'll push bedtime back by 1/2 hour but no more. Some good tested indoor activities:

- Playdough with kitchen (or play-kitchen) equipment (cookie cutters, rolling pins, measuring cups).

- Dried beans in a baking tray with trucks

- long, long, long baths (try shaving cream paint)

- Going through my "junk" jewelry (old jewelry in an old jewelry box)

- Coin sorting/stacking

- Play in the sink

- Help cooking

- New paints/watercolors/pencils/pastels - whatever he doesn't have yet

- Epic train-tracks through the house (see if you can get a cheap set on amazon/ebay/craigslist/consignment). Or use painters tape for cars.

- Give him your camera/phone and let him take pictures

- Do yoga (although it ends up being strength training for you sometimes)

- Build a fort

- Dance party

- Chase the dog around the house/get a dog (lol)

- Sort through a junk closet, let him look at stuff you take out

- Baking soda in a glass baking dish. Food coloring in vinegar. Use an eye dropper to make little explosions in the baking soda. Not too messy, but not for company either.

- Sign up for pinterest - there are literally a million ideas on there for keeping toddlers entertained.

Good luck!

You've already gotten a lot of this advice, but I strongly agree with those who say don't mess with his bedtime. I had kids with sleep issues so I took classes and read books about children and sleep. Changing his bedtime can affect mood and health. You may never get him back to his old schedule. At that age, routine is VERY important. Routine might actually be a comfort for him in dad's absence. Can Dad see him in the morning? Talk to him on the phone? Skype him? My husband worked late and traveled a lot, but when he was home he made the most of his time with our boys. They are very close to him now as teenagers. His time away at work activities did not have a long term negative effect on their relationship.

So I guess he is not in preschool.
Does he nap in the afternoon?
If your son is tired, it might really be hard to keep him up. What time will he have to stay up until, until your Husband gets home... and how long after that will he still be up, to play with Husband? By then, then what time is it that he will be going to bed?

Keep in mind...that if you alter his usual bedtime, in order to stay up later for Daddy... it might be VERY VERY hard, to get him back... to his normal bedtime. Not all kids, will adjust.
And, he may NEVER, again go to bed early at his usual time... if you make his bed time later for only 4-8 weeks, and he may never want to go to bed at his usual regular bedtime, ever again. After this. And he may then just get used to going to bed late. And it will backfire. Because, then when 4-8 weeks is over, he will NOT want to go to bed at his usual regular time. Because he will be used to, the late, routine.

Is Husband wanting him, to stay up later, in order to wait for him to come home and then play once he does get home??? Does... your Husband want you and your son to do that? Will your Husband, be all ready to play with son, when he gets home from those night meetings? He'd need to eat dinner too, wind down, etc., and then that will make the timing of things later and later. And then play with son, for how long, and what time will son be going to bed? After all that?

If you keep son up later, and have evening activities for him in order to keep him up later for Daddy... it might actually make him too tired and sleepy, to then have to stay up later, to wait for Daddy to come home, later. And then stay up later for Daddy.
Tired over tired kids, get fussy and cranky.
If your son has to stay up later, but gets fussy and cranky by the time Daddy gets home later, then what?

If it were me, I would just keep my child's bedtime the same. Despite Daddy coming home later.
For me personally, my kids getting adequate sleep, and sleeping when their usual bedtime is and them being tired at that time and going to bed, is more important.
And in fact, when my kids were younger and my Husband worked late a lot, I just kept my kids' bedtimes, the same. I was with my kids, solo, most of the time. Their sleep schedules were important.

Per my kids: IF they are doing a lot of activity at night, prior to bed, then I had to get them WOUND down, again... in order to get them keyed down for bed. And that took like 1 hour, down time, prior to bed, to get them keyed down, for bedtime.
IF your son is having evening activities... he might get sleepy/tired before Daddy actually comes home. Then he'll need to stay up longer, to see/play with Daddy. So that is 2... activity periods, for him, at night, before bed. Then, he'd need to key down, before bed, which would be later than he is used to. And who knows how that will affect him. Especially if he is regular about his sleep times.
That would not work, for my kids, when they were that age. When my kids are tired, they are tired and go to bed. Sure I could make them stay up later if I had to, but that was not something I wanted to do.

Remember: It ALSO... affects the child the NEXT DAY. Keep that in mind. They will either still wake up early as usual (even if they did go to bed late the night before), or they will sleep in longer, the next morning.
So think about that.

All the times that my Husband worked late, and my kids did not see him, they were fine. I would explain that Daddy was working late. But we'd all see each other the next morning, before my Husband went to work. And he'd make extra time, in the mornings, to spend with them... before going to work.

For me and my Husband, our kids going to bed at their regular times and getting adequate sleep, was important. More so than having them stay up later at night, until he came home from work. There were many times my Husband, was even later in getting home at night than he thought he would, because, work and meetings and trouble shooting at work, would at times, make his coming home time, later.