Waiting With a Toddler

My 2-year-old (well, he'll be 2 in a few days) and I were waiting in the doctor's office the other day.  If you've ever waited for ANYTHING with a 2-year-old, you know how that goes.  And if you haven't, then try really hard to never have to do it.  It is not pleasant.  "Wait" is definitely not a word he has learned yet.  Anyway, we're in the waiting room and I took my iPad, crazily thinking that would actually help!  First, you have to understand that I have a "teacher iPad," meaning everything I let the kids do on the iPad is educational.  And he was having NONE of it!  The only thing that finally got his attention was the new watch Disney Junior app where you just watch tv.  Yeah, I know it's sad that I had to resort to that, but if you've ever waited with a 2-year-old, you'd totally understand.

My experience with him in the waiting room made me think about what a great job the teachers at Language Stars* are doing keeping him engaged in class.  After our recent trip to the doctor's office, I now understand how truly difficult it is to keep little ones happy without any of their normal toys and gadgets.  Here's one way they do it:  Anticipation.  At the Parents and Tots class last week, the teacher had those huge yellow bags again.  She just leaves them propped up against the wall before class.  They are clearly filled with something that promises to be fun, so kids and adults alike can't help but be distracted by them as class starts.  WHAT IN THE WORLD is in there?

Last week, it was filled with these huge, blow-up fish!  I have no idea where they get all of this super cool stuff, but my child (and I) LOVE it!  He was totally engaged for almost (he is 2 after all) the entire class.  Nothing gets everyone's attention quite like blow-up fish.  Then, she brought out the colorful preschool parachute to bounce them on while singing the song of the week about fish.  (A song I sang ALL WEEK last week, by the way.)

Here's a bad picture of the fish.  In my defense, the kids kept rolling them around because
they were having so much fun.  It's hard to take a picture of moving fish!  

Here's a better picture.  Isn't this toy just adorable?!

Then, the teacher brought out water and various foam sea creatures.  Water is always a hit with my little one.  He LOVES to play in the water table at home and would do so for hours if he could.  All little ones love water, so she knows that this activity is sure to delight the entire class.  Again, everyone is engaged.  Now, if I could just figure out a way to sneak some water and all of his water toys into the doctor's office, we'll be all set . . .

Thanks for reading!
Tammy


*We receive 50% off of our tuition for blogging about our Language Stars experience.  But, all of the opinions are ours.  We love LS!