365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child: Plus 50 All-New Bonus Activities (Paperback)

~ (Author), Ruth Bennett (Author) "The next time you take a walk, encourage your children to "adopt" a tree in a park or other public place..." (more)
Key Phrases: bug motel, grownup job, giant dice, Chicken Scratch, Reminder Supervise Closely Required, Ibble Dibble (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A rich source to ward off boredom." -- USA Today

Product Description

Make the most of your time with your child-whether it’s five minutes or a whole afternoon-with simple, fun activities that will excite the whole family. From arts and crafts to toymaking to math and number games, 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do with Your Child will help take your kids away from the tube and stimulate their minds. You’ll promote better health, improved mental abilities, a stronger parent-child bond . . . and the best part is you’ll never hear "I’m bored" again!

Now featuring 50 bonus activities, 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do with Your Child is a book you’ll dip into everyday.Best of all, these 415 activities require little or nothing in the way of props-usually anything around the house will do-or set-up time. Extensive indexing makes it easy to choose the best activity for any day according to:

-Age group

-Exhaustion factor

-Indoor vs. outdoor

-Materials required

-Skills learned

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media; 3 edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580627552
• ISBN-13: 978-1580627559
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #551,001 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PARENTS - BUY THIS BOOK!, March 8, 2001

By	Misha (Staten Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do with Your Child (Paperback)

I have read literally hundreds of books on how to be a better parent (much less a good one), and have NEVER read one that puts all the tools in my hand better than this one. Buy this book!

There are more than a handful of obvious choices, of course - #126, playing dress up; #229, paper, scissors, rock - but there are lasting treasures here, too - drawing an outline of your child's body on a large sheet of paper for later preservation; growing celery and carrots; drawing a silhouette of your child's head. There isn't enough room here for me to show it all.

The true joy of the book isn't in the ideas - after all, anyone could throw 365 ideas together on a couple of sheets of paper and hey presto! You've got a book...! What the Bennetts do is present the material with a warm humor (expertly offered with grin-cracking illustrations the kids will appreciate, too). This is a book for all ages - I bought mine in 1991, when my oldest was 4, and we still get great ideas from it.

Turn off the TV, pluck the youngsters from in front of it (I'm telling you, they'll still watch it even when it's turned off!) and bust open this book. Stand by for smiles!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy, Compact, Portable and Packed..., June 12, 2000

By	Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do with Your Child (Paperback)

A small, but thick book with lots of activities, for kids of all ages. This one can fit into a backpack, or hang out on the kitchen table for those moments when there's "nothing to do". The descriptions are enough to fit on one page, but include the 'ingredients' you'll need - sometimes just your mind - to keep the TV off! Activities are arranged alphabetically by activity name, so the best way to use this useful book, is to open to a page grab-bag style. You can also refer to types of activities in the back (Creativity; Indoor Play; Math; Words and Language; Toy Making, etc) and find something suitable for your child, your energy and your resources. A great gift item!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to a family's library, March 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do with Your Child (Paperback)

This book was recommended in the book Living the Simple Life. I'm so glad I took the time to get it. It's a wonderful resource for busy families looking to spend some quality time together. So turn that TV off and buy this book. Encourages you and your child's imagination and they learn through playing with simple things around the house and the bonus is that by not watching that TV, you've spent memorable time with each other...what could be better?