Dad Tip of the Day - Keep um Guessing
Dad Tip of the Day: Keep your kids guessing and switch it up on them when it comes to "play".
Kids need new experiences and challenges, as it helps open their eyes to new things, connect dots in their head, use their imagination and have more fun. Kids can get in a rut playing with the same toys and doing the same things each day, so as Dads, we need to figure out how to stretch them and switch it up on them.
An example from last weekend is when we "painted" a wooden fish. I have had this wooden shark hanging around my garage for years, and I am not even sure how it got there. I can't recall making it, but it was unfinished/unpainted wood. I had some red oak wood stain laying around the garage as well, so we stained the shark in red oak!
This isn't exactly a recommended activity for a 2 year old (but nearing 3), but with proper supervision, instruction and a pre-activity discussion on the dangers (would have taken turpentine to get off, and would have been bad if he splattered it in his eyes/mouth, etc), we got it done and Jacob "painted" the shark!
My wife was not exactly thrilled with this idea of mine (happens quite frequently 😇) but I assured her we would be careful. I stripped him down to his tighty-whiteies (the neighbors think we are crazy anyway) and used an old piece of carpet ready to be thrown away as our tarp. I got to teach Jacob how to pry the lid off the stain can, how to find an appropriate sized brush, how to evenly coat the shark in stain, and how to put the stain can lid back on by tapping it with a hammer. All of these were new experiences, and Jacob had a blast!
Keep um guessing dads!
Brian
That's a great thing to do with your child. As long as you made sure everything was safe, I think this was a great activity and it's obvious that he really loved it. Making stuff is really rewarding, even if it's something simple and even the youngest of children can appreciate that a lot! :)
it is always fun to make/do something with kids and I agree that new experiences are good for everyone!
Definitely great advice, my 4yr old is always wanting to do something, if he isn’t active he is so moody, lately we have been flying helicopters and drones, here in a few weeks I’m gonna be building a Aquarium stand so he will be out there with me and for sure helping, he helped build our deck, and pantry and a few other things around the house... mainly I let him help on just puttin the stuff together and measuring, eventually in maybe 3yrs I’ll actually let him start doin some of the cutting that still makes me very nervous 😜 but I let him watch me do it and tell him what to do and not do so he knows
That is awesome! Drones do sound fun, and good idea on the aquarium!
They r fun he loves flying them, he is really good at taking off and landing but moving them around not so good yet but he is learning
I can believe you, that your wife wasn't thrilled with the idea. :)
But despite that, you managed to teach your son something new and exciting. Even if you wouldn't write any explanation, the expression on his face is just priceless! Thumbs up!
This is sooooo much better than having kids sit around all day staring at phones! It's also cool that you took the time to teach him all of the little skills like prying open the can. Too often, we as adults forget that it is our job to teach our kids even the most basic of skills. Kudos to you!
I will soon become a father, this is an exciting moment in the life of every man. Therefore, I really like reading your advice about children. You can teach a lot and do your posts with an interesting description.
Thank you and wish you and your family good
Thanks for kind words and congratulations my friend!
Hi sir, i'm here and I see your post, it's really awesome post
It's a dad's job to teach them to jump in the deep end on the pool! You're doing great.👍😎
Soooooo... Was it cruel experience that made you go with first removing all stainables from the kid and area or was it the wife's efforts to minimize the damage after the kid was already hyped up on the impending project?
Nice one it's a good idea
good post