Fun, interesting INDEPENDENT projects for kindergarten/first graders
January 6, 2022 12:35 PM Subscribe
Fun, long lasting, independently playable toys/activities/kits for kindergartners and first graders?
A close friend (but physically far away) is about to go in for breast cancer surgery(and will be doing the full shebang). Prognosis is good, but this is going to suck. Especially bc COVID. And especially bc she (and her incredible, kick ass husband) have 2 girls, a transitional kindergartner and a 1st grader. They're doing all the things, meal trains, therapy, etc. I'd just like to find some kits or activities or toys that allow for some fully independent play at that age so that Dad and Mom can try to maybe have some quiet(er) time while the kids have some fun.
The girls are precocious, whip-smart, and into both stereotypical girl and boy stuff.
But they're still kindergartners/first graders.
The key is:
Repeatable play or long time until it's done
Little to no parental input needed
Fun!
Not too noisy
A close friend (but physically far away) is about to go in for breast cancer surgery(and will be doing the full shebang). Prognosis is good, but this is going to suck. Especially bc COVID. And especially bc she (and her incredible, kick ass husband) have 2 girls, a transitional kindergartner and a 1st grader. They're doing all the things, meal trains, therapy, etc. I'd just like to find some kits or activities or toys that allow for some fully independent play at that age so that Dad and Mom can try to maybe have some quiet(er) time while the kids have some fun.
The girls are precocious, whip-smart, and into both stereotypical girl and boy stuff.
But they're still kindergartners/first graders.
The key is:
Repeatable play or long time until it's done
Little to no parental input needed
Fun!
Not too noisy
Stickers keep my 5yo occupied quietly for a relatively long time (though the downside is that we end up with stickers all over). The Melissa & Doug puffy reusable sticker pads are great for this - and the stickers aren’t too hard to pull off of the places then inevitably end up. I don’t like the non-puffy sticker pads as much.
It really depends on the kids though - some kids will spend a long time drawing or building with toys like legos but my kid is not particularly interested in either of those. She’s much more likely to do imaginative play with small animals or dolls.
posted by insectosaurus at 1:02 PM on January 6, 2022
It really depends on the kids though - some kids will spend a long time drawing or building with toys like legos but my kid is not particularly interested in either of those. She’s much more likely to do imaginative play with small animals or dolls.
posted by insectosaurus at 1:02 PM on January 6, 2022
Agree with sticker books! Also art supplies -- pads of paper and fresh markers will keep many kids busy for hours.
Magnatiles are also excellent for all ages -- my older kids still play with them as much as they did when they were toddlers.
Also suggest Lego/Duplo! Or playsets/figures? (Sylvanian Families, Paw Patrol?)
posted by heavenknows at 3:21 PM on January 6, 2022
Magnatiles are also excellent for all ages -- my older kids still play with them as much as they did when they were toddlers.
Also suggest Lego/Duplo! Or playsets/figures? (Sylvanian Families, Paw Patrol?)
posted by heavenknows at 3:21 PM on January 6, 2022
Agree with heavenknows on the Magnatiles if they don't have them. Also, when my daughter and her friends were that age, they loved to play school and my sister bought her a school play set--like this. They were take turns being the teacher and would also bring all the stuffed animals into the school game.
They also liked to play doctor for a really long time, working on their stuffed animals. You can always supplement a toy doctor set with lots and lots of wrap bandages, faux medicine bottles, prescription pad, doctor's jacket, etc.
I also notice that Lego has made something that's kind of like those perler bead sets, but uses pieces and are reusable, called Lego Dots. My daughter's friends would sit around and do that for a long time, but this may be better because it doesn't require you to iron it at the end. Here it is.
posted by biscuits at 3:36 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
They also liked to play doctor for a really long time, working on their stuffed animals. You can always supplement a toy doctor set with lots and lots of wrap bandages, faux medicine bottles, prescription pad, doctor's jacket, etc.
I also notice that Lego has made something that's kind of like those perler bead sets, but uses pieces and are reusable, called Lego Dots. My daughter's friends would sit around and do that for a long time, but this may be better because it doesn't require you to iron it at the end. Here it is.
posted by biscuits at 3:36 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
In addition to iPads and books and coloring stuff, I have had great success with blue painters tape for occupying young kids (2-6) on airplanes. There's no reason that wouldn't work at home, too. It feels exciting and messy to stick blue tape everywhere, but it's easy to clean up and you can't really damage anything. Plus you end up with a big sticky blue ball at the end, and that's fun in itself.
Kids love office supplies! File folders, sticky notes, address labels, those low-adhesive color-coding dots, the adhesive clay stuff. (Watch out for anything permanent!) One important thing is not to direct them too much, I think part of what they love is taking this grownup stuff and subverting it for kid purposes, whatever those purposes may be.
posted by sportbucket at 3:54 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Kids love office supplies! File folders, sticky notes, address labels, those low-adhesive color-coding dots, the adhesive clay stuff. (Watch out for anything permanent!) One important thing is not to direct them too much, I think part of what they love is taking this grownup stuff and subverting it for kid purposes, whatever those purposes may be.
posted by sportbucket at 3:54 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have a kindergartener and he can build Lego sets from directions by himself for hours. Or basically anything that involves screens, including things that sound dull like typing lessons, math practice, etc. Get them blank unlined notebooks to write and draw in...big sets of tons of colors of crayons and markers...
I asked my son and he said "video games", for what that's worth.
posted by potrzebie at 5:24 PM on January 6, 2022
I asked my son and he said "video games", for what that's worth.
posted by potrzebie at 5:24 PM on January 6, 2022
A color happy subscription from radandhappy.com, and ginormous boxes of colors
posted by beignet at 2:01 AM on January 9, 2022
posted by beignet at 2:01 AM on January 9, 2022
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Outschool does online Zoom enrichment classes led by live teachers, ranging from low-key craft-and-socialization hours to workshops in fun skills like improv, art and dance, science, animals, life skills, the works. These can be great as a source of extra attention for the kid when grown-ups are tapped out.
Might depend a bit on the kid, but building toys (Duplo, LEGO, marble runs, MagnaTiles) are also a generally good option for independent play.
posted by Bardolph at 12:59 PM on January 6, 2022 [2 favorites]