Blanket Time

Many years ago, 

In a land not far from here, 

There was a mother.

She and her family went to church.

This church didn't have a children's program,

so the very smart mother started training her little chicks.

The idea in the beginning was to train little tiny people, to sit quietly.

And more than quietly, that they would play independently. 

Many years later one of those little chicks grew up, 

She left the nest and started a brood of her own.

One day while talking to her momma,

She was reminded of this little trick.

This young mother hen rounded up some little buckets, 

margarine tubs,

coffee tins,

wipe containers,

lg sour cream cartons. 

She filled them with tiny toys, 

pasta beads and yarn,

little men and animals,

polly pockets and clothes,

cars and trucks,

She put out little blankets,

each little chick picked a tub of toys,

and they set about training a second generation of chicks.

Another ten years went by, 

The mother hen added more to her clutch.

The newer additions in her nest were different.

Not exactly baby swans amidst ducklings,

but more like eggs from another farm.

Raising this new batch of chicks proved to be more challenging.

These new chicks would remain chicks. 

The natural progression, 

 the learning to play independently, 

It would never happen on it's own.

The mother hen's feathers greyed,

Her beak flattening and losing some of it's natural smile. 

Their nest becoming less and less orderly.

This tired and more cynical version,

of the hen and her rooster decided they needed change.

So she went through their home, like a bird on a mission!

The idea of starting something new,

something that might help her smallest chicks,

 lit a fire under her!

Broken toys in one pile, 

another pile of unused, under appreciated toys, 

toys that were only used as projectiles, 

they were all bagged up and filled 4 giant trash bags to donate!

A whole room full of toys was whittled down to 8 small rubbermaids. 

Again, the baby blankets made their appearance, 

again each child picked a tub of toys,

and the order came back. 

There are still moments of projectile toys,

Times when the chosen tub isn't as appealing as someone else's choice. 

Sure! 

They are still wild little chicks, with all kinds of special needs.

But

it

is

MANAGEABLE!


This might seem a little too drastic for you...
Maybe you're just looking for a few minutes of peace,
maybe you are trying to home-school bigger kids and need a distraction for your littles.
Maybe you have a room full of toys, and would rather free-range your play time.
COOL!
Whatever works for you!
But this,
THIS works for us!

One of the biggest challenges with our particular bunch,
the absolute inability to play independently.
To pick up a toy, and play with it,
as it was intended,
just doesn't come naturally.
This helps us with that.

Our group also gets distracted easily.
Like, the little dog constantly sidetracked by a squirrel,

that's all 5 of our littles.

But when they are on their own blanket,
there is a boundary.

It has also helped us to have a time limit.

"We are going to do this for 10min."
Then I give a two minute warning,
"You only have 2 more minutes to play!"
Then comes the 30 second warning.
"It's almost time to pick up."

We have gradually increased our time and are currently doing 20min.


One of our specific challenges is managing expectations.
We have a few that are on the Autism Spectrum,
schedules are a BIG DEAL!!!

Knowing what comes next is EVERYTHING!!!

If this sounds like something you'd like to try, here's a run down of what we used!

• 20qt Sterilite storage boxes 
• baby blankets
• Egg timer 
• Filling for the boxes. 

Here's a few filling ideas.

1. Mr and Mrs potato head 
2. Matchbox cars and play mat
3. Barbies and clothes
4. Character sets. (Batman, Robin, Superman, Thor, and a few bad guys)
5. Marble set.  (The kind you build with little tubes and drains)
6. Train set and tracks.
7. Melissa and Doug beads and shoelaces.
8. Special books from Usborne and little flashlight.
9. Age appropriate legos or duplos.
10. Aqua-doodle mat and pen.
11. Animal sorter and cups.
12. stickers and paper.
13. Lacing boards and laces.
14. magnets and a cookie sheet.
15. puzzles 
16. find it tubes.

I will be keeping my eyes open for more things I can box up and incorporate.

I'd love to hear if you have any other suggestions,
and if you have tried anything like this!

Happy Nesting!