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Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

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Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#41

Post by noobermin »

sidpatil wrote: post #34
stevekemp wrote: post #27

Being unemployed probably means you don't have a huge budget, but some for our child I've tried to do a little bit of "everything" to see what he enjoys. When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know", so I say "We're going swimming in the sea", "Lets plant some seeds", "Today we're cooking / sewing", "Lets pick a spot on the map and go visit it by bus/tram", or "Lets draw pokemon evolving". (maps are kind…

> "Mommy music" doesn't appeal as much which I find a little fascinating. What genres does "Mommy music" consist of?

dad was a metalhead and mom was a punk

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#42

Post by alfor »

Mine just installed planet zoo (20$ on steam) and she is having a blast.

I am not for video games in general, but I am surprise at the amount of planning, learning involved in this.

We also bought a used cricut and she made some cute stuff with it, but there is a computer drawing side to those projects.

You can build stuff together, learn to draw, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#43

Post by mabbo »

stevekemp wrote: post #27

Being unemployed probably means you don't have a huge budget, but some for our child I've tried to do a little bit of "everything" to see what he enjoys. When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know", so I say "We're going swimming in the sea", "Lets plant some seeds", "Today we're cooking / sewing", "Lets pick a spot on the map and go visit it by bus/tram", or "Lets draw pokemon evolving". (maps are kind…

> When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know"

A blogger I read a while ago (I completely forget who) wrote something about this that stuck with me: if you ask a kid if they want pancakes or cereal for breakfast, they'll pick one and be delighted. If you ask them what they'd like to have without presenting options, this can lead to a complete meltdown. Picking from infinite options, forcing them to think all of them up and then turn down n-1 of them... It can be too much for a kid.

Give kids a small number of diverse options where you also approve of all of them. Everyone is pretty happy with the decision. (This system maybe also works really well with adults.)

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#45

Post by stevekemp »

sidpatil wrote: post #34
stevekemp wrote: post #27

Being unemployed probably means you don't have a huge budget, but some for our child I've tried to do a little bit of "everything" to see what he enjoys. When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know", so I say "We're going swimming in the sea", "Lets plant some seeds", "Today we're cooking / sewing", "Lets pick a spot on the map and go visit it by bus/tram", or "Lets draw pokemon evolving". (maps are kind…

> "Mommy music" doesn't appeal as much which I find a little fascinating. What genres does "Mommy music" consist of?

I'd choose goth/rock/techno/industrial-metal and stuff from the 80s. She'd choose goth/rock/techno/90s music.

So a reasonably high amount of overlap, which is why it's a bit fascinating.

(I guess I learned early on that he liked loud drums, loud rhythms, and repetition. Things like Rammstein - Fier Fier, Prodigy - Firestarter, so I tend to bias myself in that direction if he's nearby or listening with me. Maybe that's all it is, but it's fun to observe.)

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#47

Post by chongli »

Try taking her to a local library and asking the librarian in the children's section. Libraries often have fun and educational activities for children and families to enjoy. If they don't, at the very least the librarian should be able to help you find books of projects for kids to do.

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#48

Post by ankaAr »

I don't know where you lives, but do hicking with her if you have time.

Try to do some theater of mind games (d&d or whatever she or both likes). Maybe you can't afford going somewhere but nothings tie you there.

Talking about that if you lives in a city big enough, there must to be hidden places with a story to tell, grab a map a visit that with her. Think about a story you can tell with that. I learnt more about buenos aires (the city where I live) and Chicago (the city where I'm moving soon) because Dresden Files books and roleplaying, than from school. And I learned how to love every city secret because of that.

Why I'm talking about roleplaying and walking time together? Because both will be spending time together and will be knowing (a looot) each other, and over that, you will be feeding her imagination and curiosity.

And it is free.

Re: Ask HN: How to keep my daughter busy while tickling her curiosity

#49

Post by circlefavshape »

mabbo wrote: post #43
stevekemp wrote: post #27

Being unemployed probably means you don't have a huge budget, but some for our child I've tried to do a little bit of "everything" to see what he enjoys. When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know", so I say "We're going swimming in the sea", "Lets plant some seeds", "Today we're cooking / sewing", "Lets pick a spot on the map and go visit it by bus/tram", or "Lets draw pokemon evolving". (maps are kind…

> When I ask him what he wants to do he says "I don't know" A blogger I read a while ago (I completely forget who) wrote something about this that stuck with me: if you ask a kid if they want pancakes or cereal for breakfast, they'll pick one and be delighted. If you ask them what they'd like to have without presenting options, this can lead to a complete meltdown. Picking from infinite options, forcing them to think…

Sounds plausible, but IME doesn't actually work with real kids
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