The Joy Fix

Use mindfulness, positivity, relationships, & gratitude to build joy

Creative Ideas to Build Wellness, Strengthen Relationships,
and Delight In the Times When Children are Young

  • Blog
  • About Erin
  • Joy Fixes for Weary Parents Book
  • Events
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Everyday Life With Little Ones / Putting the “Happy” Back in Happy Hour with Young Children

Putting the “Happy” Back in Happy Hour with Young Children

October 13, 2014 By Erin Leyba Leave a Comment

  by Erin Leyba, LCSW, PhD

When you have young children (especially more than one), getting dinner ready can be a real challenge. No matter when kids nap or what kind of snack they eat at 3 p.m., they all seem to get voraciously hungry, super tired, and very crabby in that precious window of the day I like to call “Happy Hour.” Although it’s usually much less than an hour, the time before dinner has unique challenges that can use some proactive solutions.

Although Pinterest-inspired parents will have plenty more creative ideas, these are 10 of my favorites to keep kids independently engaged while making dinner.

0 to 2 year olds

  • Put your child in an Ergo or Baby Bjorn carrier while you make dinner.
  • Play uplifting or calming music.
  • Keep a pack and play in your kitchen so your child can be near you (and you can play peekaboo or talk to your child about what you are cooking).

1 to 2 year olds

Novel Boxes – In and Out

  • Give your baby/toddler a box of tea bags, a box of band aids, a box with oatmeal packets, or some other box that can close (rotate them).

Martini Shaker

  • Give your baby a martini shaker with 3 to 4 parts to put together and take apart again. (It is Happy Hour, after all).

Happy Hour Toy Bin

  • Keep a separate bin of toys stashed away that baby can play with only during this time.

Do-a-Dot Markers

  • Give your tot do-a-dot markers and some paper (in their high chair). (These are also fun to put in and take out of the box).

Cheerios

  • Give your tot a long, skinny plastic bottle to fill with Cheerios.
  • Cut a hole in a margarine container for your child to fill with Cheerios.
  • Give your child the Cheerios book (to put Cheerios in the little circle holes that are tire wheels, apples, etc.)

3 to 4 year olds

Sorting

  • Have your child sort Goldfish colors crackers into four piles (these do not have artificial colors).
  • Have your child sort your coins from your money cup.
  • Have your child sort 4 different types of cereal/raisins and then eat them as a pre-dinner snack when they are finished.

Appetizers

  • Give your child a special “appetizer” drink like water with frozen strawberries or blueberries in it with a curly straw.
  • Give your child veggies with cream cheese, dressing, or hummus to eat while you make dinner.

Dress Up and Felt

  • Buy a packet of colored felt. Cut out the pieces so your child can change the seasons to summer, winter, spring, and fall.

For example, cut out:

Summer: pond of blue felt; green tree, brown house; person; yellow sun

Winter: white icicles to put on the house, white pond (to cover the pond with snow); sled hill; sled; snowman; snowman hat and arms and face

Spring: black clouds, lightning bolt; umbrella; rain boots and jacket for the person

Fall: orange top to cover the tree; orange pile of leaves; rake; kite; pumpkin; apples to put on the tree; bucket to put the apples in; ladder for the person to reach the apples

  • Give your child dress-up Joey or dress-up Nina (Melissa and Doug).

Beads

  • Give your child large block beads and a shoelace type string to make a necklace.
  • Give your child penne type pasta to string on beads.

Help Out

  • Have your child print family names on notecards and decorate them with stickers to make “place cards” for dinner.
  • Have your child set the table with plates, utensils, cups, and napkins.
  • Have your child scrub vegetables or arrange food (such as chicken nuggets) on all the plates by using tongs.
  • Have your child spray (with a plastic spray bottle from the dollar store) the table and wipe it down.
  • Have your child count out 4 carrots (or another food) for each person’s plate.

If you can bring the happy back into Happy Hour, the rest of the evening can go a little smoother. Instead of feeling stress rumble around you, you may actually enjoy the process of preparing and sharing your family meal.

Erin Leyba, LCSW, PhD, mom to three, is a psychotherapist for individuals and couples in Chicago’s western suburbs. She specializes in counseling for parents of babies and young children. www.erinleyba.com or erinleyba@gmail.com To follow this blog by e mail, click the follow button on the left.

Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Everyday Life With Little Ones Tagged With: busy bag ideas, children, dinner, happy hour, parenting, positive parenting, postpartum depression, pregnancy, work life balance

All rights reserved.

Erin Leyba, LCSW, PhD, mom to three, is a psychotherapist for individuals and couples in Chicago’s western suburbs. She specializes in counseling for parents of babies and young children. Learn more at ErinLeyba.com or by Emailing Erin

To follow this blog by e-mail, sign up with the form to the right.

Follow this blog via email

Sign up for articles and tips on parenting with mindfulness and joy.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow this blog via email

Sign up for articles and tips on parenting with mindfulness and joy.

Categories

  • Bonding (2)
  • Everyday Life With Little Ones (5)
  • Friendships (1)
  • Mindfulness (1)
  • Strategies for Mindful Parenting (10)
  • The Connected Couple (3)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Wellness (2)

About Erin

I am a mom to 3 spirited children, and work as an individual and marriage counselor in Chicago’s western suburbs (Oak Brook, IL). I specialize in working with parents of babies and young children. I love what I do and learn from every person I meet.

Read More

RSS SiteGround Blog

Members

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Search

©2015 Erin Leyba. All Rights Reserved.