Wednesday, May 16, 2012

My home, my playground

My elder girl and younger boy are 20 months apart, sibling rivalry has been getting more and more intense ever since my boy turn 1 year old. Previously, my way of dealing with this was to separate the two, buy two sets of toys for them, and avoid conflicts between them, but it had made the situation worse.
After some observation, I found that the best way to improve their relationship is to let them play more, fight more, and learn through the conflicts. I shall blog about this phase in another article, but right now I would like to share how to create a fun environment at home where they can play together in harmony.

Carton box house:
All kids like to squeeze into this small box, which they call it their "house", including my 6 year old niece, who visited us over the weekends.
They hide inside the "house", close the door, open the door repeatedly, playing "Big bad wolf" and feeling excitedly.

This is another version of the toy house, made by chairs, mattress and blanket:
Looked scary? Haha! This is exactly what they like, whenever someone shouting "big bad wolf is coming!" They would scream and run into the "house".

They are not only playing in the "house", but sleep and drink their "milk milk" there too :)


Another all time favourite of theirs, "slide" made by pillows and mattress:

With a mattress and a few pillows, you can turn your house into an indoor playground, at no additional cost! The best toy is not always the most expensive toy, there is really not necessary to buy more toys for our kids thinking that they would enjoy playing them.
They still quarrel and fight over toys very often, but not as bad as before, and now, I do see my girl caring for her brother, sharing her toys with him and my boy saying "sorry" after stepping his sister unintentionally.
Most importantly, my husband joins in the fun to played as the "big bad wolf", instead of complaining about his two little demons, I guess, he has better rest after back home from his work now :)

2 comments:

  1. I am laughing as I write this. Love all your improvised playground.
    I am sure your kids are having a good time :)

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  2. Thanks Andy, I've been checking on your blog for interesting outing too :)

    ReplyDelete