Re: Ideas for fidgety listeners
Silly putty has been banned from my living room, they like to make little pieces and it ends up in the carpet. In theory, or if you're sitting at the table, it's a great fidget though.
An exercise ball is great if it doesn't drive YOU nuts (my girls get to bouncing really high, they listen well but it about drives me batty).
"Tangles" (they sell them in the checkout area at walmart & such)
stress balls
coloring/drawing is definitely a favorite around here
folding laundry (it's their chore anyway, so I "sell" it as freeing up time later LOL)
we often do read-alouds at mealtimes, so they're busy eating. Especially if I can find the book on tape/cd/mp3 so I don't have to read it, but even if I do, sometimes I'll read while they eat and then eat while they're doing other things
my girls like to knit, but I think they were 6 or 7 when they learned, yours are probably old
enough to learn finger knitting though
I got some little "disks" from amazon that are designed to stand on and "twist" to get a waist workout, the girls stand or sit on them and spin or twist back and forth. They're compact, not too distracting for me, and were only like $10
similar to the workout discs, but pricier, sites that specialize in things for special needs kids sell squishy disk things that can be put on a chair to let the child bounce/wiggle while they're sitting.
The girls love crafts, so I often include them in what we're learning. Even if it's a different subject from the read aloud, I'll give them craft stuff to work on (coloring, cutting, painting, glueing . . .) while I read to them
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