by Beth Rosenbleeth
This post was written to contribute to the topic of Motherhood for the What Lola Likes blog by Beth Rosenbleeth. All facts, opinions, and professional tips are Beth’s.
Waking up and being ON the second my eyes open is not an easy feat.
And after my second child was born, life began to start off a little more chaotic than I had desired. Bottles had to be made, toast needed to be buttered, and I needed to drink my morning tea. Everything was everywhere.
So I turned to the most convent babysitter; television.
Where I may have now had a couple minutes to wake up, I also quickly discovered that it had zapped my boy’s creativity and personality for the rest of the day. (Sigh) The reality was that that 20 minutes lead me to more frustration.
What was this tone I had set for the day?
How was it that I was valuing my morning routines, yet didn’t seem to value his?
It made sense.
HereIwas hoping to start the day calm and grateful, as I was encouraging my son to begin the looking at a screen.
It wasn’t working.
Something had to change to help us all enjoy this season of life.
But what? How? I felt stuck.
I dug deep into my teacher brain and found a solution.
I call these solutions, Breakfast Invitations. LINK – https://www.dayswithgrey.com/blog/breakfast-invitations-faq
Simply put, this is an invitation to play that allows:
- Caregivers a minute to wake up.
- Caregivers time to prepare breakfast.
- Caregivers a chance to drink morning coffee.
- Engage and excite your preschooler at the most influential time of the day.
- Invite children to create, which leads to independent play.
Breakfast Invitations LINK – https://www.dayswithgrey.com/blog/breakfast-invitations-faq
are simple play prompts for children to engage to encourage creativity.
Once I implemented Breakfast Invitations, our day transformed.
Even better? They have for many of the families in our community as well. Every day my inbox is full with happy, caffeinated moms that have children playing.
What the boys understood most, was that play is an important part of their day. The more we read, the better we become at reading. Well, the more opportunity for play, the more time the boys began to play on their own.
We are all now starting the day with intention.
And that is something to be celebrated.
Want to see just how simple and fast it is to create an activity for your child?
- Roll out your white paper roll. You can find them here: LINK https://www.amazon.com/shop/dayswithgrey?listId=BI37YVL250R6
- If you haven’t had a chance to buy this yet, start with the back of wrapping paper or even the back of a paper bag.
- Grab an orange marker and write the color word orange. Draw an arrow down pointing to the next color word. Grab a blue marker and write the color word blue. Draw another arrow down pointing to the next color word. Grab a green marker and write the color word green. Again, draw the down arrow to the final color, pink. Keep it clean and write clearly.
- Use your marker and draw a checkbox next to each color. Your paper will look like the picture above.
- Next, call your child over. Ask them to simply find something orange. When they return, they check off the box next to red, and move to the next color.
- What it looks like on his end is a fun game. What is happening behind the scenes is that they are becoming familiar with grip, recognizing color words, holding their hand steady to form a checkmark, and MOVING. All this from a five-minute setup.
You will quickly see how much fun your children had, and how easy a Breakfast Invitation is to set up.
Transform your day for an opportunity to play.
Here are 20+ of the most popular Breakfast Invitations LINK https://www.dayswithgrey.com/blog/-preschool-breakfast-invitations for you to dive into!
BETH ROSENBLEETH
Beth Rosenbleeth is just a “regular mom” with a background in education and passion for hands-on learning. She’s the creator of Breakfast Invitations; the simple way to implement play and drink your coffee in peace as the day begins. Through her sought-after website, dayswithgrey.com, Beth reaches over 100,000 families in 90+ countries worldwide. She has also been featured in Parents and People magazine. Beth leads her followers in simple play ideas that help expand children’s thinking, communication skills, and independent play.
VISIT HER PAGE.