Sew, finger knit, cross-stitch/needlework.You’d be surprised what your kid might remember when she is doing headstands on the couch! Move their bodies by doing gymnastics/dance/stretch/yoga.For books (which are easier to use in the car or on airplanes), we like these Usborne sticker books and these reusable sticker books. You can usually find sheets of stickers in the dollar aisle at Target or at the dollar store. Our girls LOVE these tempera paint sticks, and this paint set makes the brightest, best colors! For younger listeners, Melissa and Doug make great paint with water books, and their Water Wow! collection is mess-free too. Do a puzzle (especially a great book-themed puzzle, like this Goodnight Moon one).And, our 3-year-old will often ask to look at one book while she listens to another one… For some reason, both of my girls will listen to a whole chapter book via Audible, but have trouble with chapter books that we read snuggled up to them. We have one going almost every single time we are in the car, even if it’s for less than 5 minutes. Stare out the window of a car, or even look at pictures in a completely different book while riding in the car! Our second-favorite time to listen to audiobooks is in the car.In fact, almost every time they sit down to eat, they ask for a story! Not only are they listening without distraction, I find that they usually eat a better meal if they have a story at the same time. Eat! This is by FAR my girls’ favorite time to listen to stories, whether an audiobook through Audible or a picture book that we read.I know I personally love listening to audiobooks while I fold laundry or do the dishes… Maybe my kiddos would too! While we have never intentionally done this during read-aloud time, this is a brilliant idea! I love the idea setting a goal for kids (“Can you pick up the legos by the end of this chapter?”) or simply using it as background noise for whatever their tasks are. Our kindergartener loves the Paint By Sticker Kids books, but for more advanced sticker-placers, Paint By Sticker makes an “older” version of their books as well. We go through drawing paper like no other in our house, but my oldest also loves coloring books like this, this and this (be sure to get these markers to go with that one!). These tend to be quiet activities that some kids will do for HOURS… So put an audiobook on in the background and see what happens! Build with Legos, blocks, Playmags, bristle blocks, etc.Anything small that kids can spin, flip, and twist in their hands can work wonders for their attention. Fidget! While spinner fidgets have been all the rage lately, when I was in the classroom, I often had kids fiddling with paper clips, small rocks, or small balls of clay or play dough.Some things your children can do while they listen to read alouds or audiobooks (links included are Amazon Affiliate links to products that we know and love in our own house): In fact, if your goal is that all of your read-aloud sessions look like cozy cuddling times in a comfy chair in a well-lit room, your kids are going to be missing out on a lot of quality time with books! Instead, think about providing your children with quiet ways to occupy their hands and/or bodies, and see if it changes the duration or focus of your read-aloud time. So, what I’m saying is that read alouds don’t need to look perfect to be effective. Michael Gurian, have written about this if you’re interested in reading more). But, literacy and brain research experts have shown that fidgeting or moving one’s body actually fired brain connections that help learning and listening happen more effectively? (Two of my favorites, Jim Trelease and Dr. One of the frustrations people most frequently voice to me centers around feeling like their children (or students) aren’t paying attention while listening to stories.
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