5 Ways to Entertain Siblings With Large Age Gaps

I know most people plan out having kids a couple years apart but, life happened and 5 years went by before we had our second child. In general I would have to say that I am so happy I had my children further a part. I don’t know how moms do two in diapers!

However, in all honesty there are pluses and minuses for whichever route you choose. While I couldn’t be happier about my decision there have been a few challenges in having two further apart. In particular it has been quite the challenge to entertain both kids at the same time or finding things they are nothing interested in. Since they are so far apart they tend to be into very different things. However, here are few things that seem to work for us.

Painting or Coloring. What child doesn’t like paint? Early on it was simply finger painting or using the bath tub paints, but as time has gone on my youngest has grown fond of paint brushes and the whole painting process. And of course my oldest loves painting!

Play dough. This obviously didn’t work so well when my youngest was younger but since about 20 months she has been very into playing with play-dough and my oldest loves it just as much. This is one of my go-tos when I need to get dinner cooking.

Chase or Tag. My girls absolutely love playing tag. Although most of the time its my youngest running from the oldest, they both seem to enjoy it and usually end up in a laughing and tickling fit on the floor.

Simple puzzles. In the beginning it was more of my oldest daughter helping my youngest fit the pieces in. Now that my youngest is almost two so they can actually complete simple puzzles together.

Legos. I know this sounds strange! My oldest has always had a thing for legos so they have always been around the house. Recently my two year old has taken a liking to them. She loves trying to stick the pieces together and playing with the little lego friends. They will both sit for a good while playing legos next to each other and with each other.

Reading. This one is good from birth on. My oldest has always read to my youngest. She’s sweet like that. Haha. I recently set up a little reading area with a bookshelf and pillows and often find them snuggling and my oldest reading to the youngest.

In general there were a lot of toys that I thought were too old for my youngest, but as she was exposed to them from my oldest she proved she was more then ready. All children are different and grow differently, but I think that sometimes parents (myself included) do not expose kids to things because they think they wont be ready. But, sometimes you have no option and your kids surprise you!