Entertaining a 4-year-old? Pick a theme

It is very daunting to entertain a small child all day. Especially in a time when you can't really leave the house or play with anyone else.

What has been working for us is to simply pick a theme, and then collect anything in the house we can find that fits that theme. For example, today we picked "insects". You can see from the photos above what we gathered up.

Sometimes when we realize we have a lot of toys, books, or activities that fit one theme, we stay on that theme for a few days. But somehow, just having the theme gets us looking at our books and toys in a new way, playing with things we wouldn't normally play with and looking up different crafts or activities online.

If you're having trouble selecting a theme, start with a toy or book your child likes. Our themes vary a lot - they might be types of animals (like insects), categories of things (like vehicles or family members), school subjects (like shapes or colors), a specific color (like all the yellow toys we can find), a holiday, or really anything else that creates a connection for you. One day we just pulled out everything we could find that was sparkly. 

I've found that in addition to making the day more fun for my son, it's also kind of fun for me to choose a theme and gather things up. Give it a try!