I love my four boys, ages 7, 4, 2, and infant and I would like to be able to get out more with them. They are just extremely active and run all over. I can get them to stay with me for awhile, but not too long. It is so hot here, so I can't take them to the park with my baby till it cools down. Do you have any tips or ideas? What do you do? What has worked for you?
Ugh! I've been to the mall to play too many times, but at least they can run. The heat will be over soon.
I have three girls, so not the same group you do. But, for awhile, it was still an issue to go anywhere! A few tips:
1. choose your location well. A contained area is helpful at first.
2. often if the oldest follows instruction, the others will. Enlist his help. You know his personality, but you can either make it a secret game that you two play, offer incentives, give him pseudo-authority over the youngers.
3. Wear a sling! If your baby is in a sling, you can give chase if you need to! And, instead of keeping track of the location of 4 people, you only have to monitor 3.
4. Make sure your first attempts are free events or outings. Talk to your kids about expected behavior and tell them you'll leave the first time ______. Someone runs away from you? You need to yell to get their attention? Whatever your biggest concern is. Tell them you know it's unfair to the others if you have to leave due to one's behavior, but that you are a family and have to work together and will need to leave if you ALL don't. And then do it. Leave. Deal with the screams and cries and pleas and promises for better behavior. Don't get angry. Don't yell at them. Just quietly leave and go home and tell them we'll try again later. After once or twice, they'll know you're serious and you will be able to have less stress on future outings.
5. Practice. Do a "drill" of whatever you predict to be a difficult aspect of a trip. Getting into the car? Waiting while you get the baby out? For us, we practiced "making a train." Making a train is joining hands so we can cross streets, get through crowds, just get everyone accounted for and prepared for what's next.
Hope that helps some!
I have a 3-yr old and a 2-yr old. Our favorite cool place during the hot summer is Phoenix Children's Museum. We have a yearly membership, and make the most of it. I've seen lots of kids 6-7 there and they seem to enjoy it as much as the little guys. We also like to go to the public parks with splash areas to stay cool. Day to day is hard though. My 3 (almost 4 year old) is VERY active, and it's killing us to be inside every afternoon, but sometimes we set up little obstacle courses inside (things to crawl over, under, through, etc.) We're praying the cooler weather comes soon though!
Imagination Avenue is great!! It's on Shea and 32nd St, right off the 51. There is plenty for the kids to play with, but it is overall a small enough place that you can let the kids "go" without them getting very far! They have a little cafe area and the food prices are really reasonable (like .75 for a cheese stick, 3.00 for sandwich with side). It's basically a kid-sized town, with each building having fun things to do. A movie theatre shows kids movies, a Home Depot with tool benchs and tools, a boutique with dress up clothes, etc. They also have a coloring and reading area. The cost is 7.50 per kid, but adults and infants are free.
I like to go to my local library for story time. I have four children that go with me all under the age of 3. I take a double stroller for the littlest ones and then the older ones walk with me. The storytellers that they have at the Cholla library (by metrocenter mall)are fantastic. They do stories and sing a longs and then have playtime afterwards. We have been going for over a year and overall have had more good times then bad. It is a nice, cost-free way to get out of the house and you can also socialize with some other moms which can create opportunities for future playdates. You sound like a very skilled mom, so no doubt you will notice when your kids are getting overstimulated. Then you leave. We also pick up books to read and dvd's to watch during the week. God bless your family. I hope this helps :)
Explora is the best place I ever take my 3 kids ages 6, 3 and 3 mo. They have hands-on activities for a variety of ages. You don't have to worry about them touching everything because that's what they want you to do! They have a nice outdoor play area with shaded picnic tables for you and the baby to sit at while your older kids play. It costs $75/year for a family to join and has been well worth our investment. My kids never get tired of going there. They also have an area for your baby to play once your baby is mobile.
Pamela
Hi S.,
Check out the Az Mtn Mamas at Meetup.com I also felt like it was too hot to take my son out but this group schedules playdates, hikes and all sorts of activities that are very kid friendly
Britt
I wear my little one in a good wrap or baby carrier so my hands are free and it makes a huge difference.
I take the children (I'm a nanny) to story time at the library or playgroup at a local church where I can spend time with other moms or nannies and the kids get to play. My mom always met up with a friend or two at the local McDonalds, bought something to share and let us all loose on the play equipment! That way you get to spend time with a friend and so do your children, and it's cool! I don't know if McDonalds still gives free mini ice cream cones to children or not but that was my favorite part of the day!
God Bless!
K.
When mine were that young I would take them to an indoor McDonald's and just let them run wild in the playground area. I would sit at one of the tables in there too.
They won't say a word to you as long as you buy something from them... most of the time I would buy 4 nugget happy meals and they would play and eat as they wanted.
It is challenging when it's hot out. First have you thought about trying to get them to sleep earlier and wake earlier so the park is an option, you can take breakfast to the park.
Second, I used to take my kids to the mall and play follow the leader or i spy and your infant can be in a stroller, with the other kids taking turns pushing. Sometimes just mall laps are good.
Money is always an issue, yet the older two can benefit from gymnastics, soccer and other sports where you could drop them off and leave with the younger two to keep them cool.
Try to remember that right now the season is changing, it is getting cooler in the evenings and darker in the morning and night.
Also try to remember that your kids will benefit from sweating and being outside enjoying life, that being a little hot can really be worth it.
I wish so bad that I had the answer. I too have little ones and I know that it is very hard. I have a 3yr old and 1yr old twins. We go to the mall (Fiesta, or Superstition) and the kids play at the play place. It's not crowded during the week. There aren't "toys" to play with so it is pretty clean. I take some alcohol hand wipes and wipe the kids hands off as we are leaving just in case. Another idea that I am considering is to join the YMCA. They have lots of activities for the whole family, together or apart. You may want to check it out. Otherwise, if you haven't already I would suggest joining a mommy group of some sort (M.O.P.S. is a great one). That can be a real help even just to have a play date one or two days a week/month. Hope that helps!
If you can keep them together for a short distance, take them to the Albuquerque zoo playground. They have a fun water feature that gently shoots short spurts of water from the ground and the kids have a ball running around trying to be where the next spurt will be. The "jungle gym" is very safe, made with soft material and completely enclosed with netting. It's hard to get hurt. It is also shaded by cottonwood trees.
