Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that you need a busy basket. Toddlers aren't
Speaker 1: the only ones who can benefit from an entertainment kit.
Speaker 1: Put one together and you will never find yourself at
Speaker 1: a loss for what to do. Today's tip comes from
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast listener Farriita Alkough. She has a nineteen month
Speaker 1: old daughter and notes that she has prepared a busy
Speaker 1: basket full of activities such as blocks and stickers to
Speaker 1: keep the little girl independently occupied. Anyway, while editing her
Speaker 1: home office, Friita came across books she had been meaning
Speaker 1: to finish new books she hadn't touched, crochet and crossed projects,
Speaker 1: art material, and so forth. She says, it occurred to
Speaker 1: me that grown ups need a busy basket too, So
Speaker 1: she found herself an unused basket and threw in it
Speaker 1: a few half read books, her half done crochet project,
Speaker 1: a couple of new adult coloring books and pencils, a
Speaker 1: journal and.
Speaker 2: A nice pen. She says, I've been meaning to cut
Speaker 2: down on my screen time, so this came at a
Speaker 2: perfect time. It now sits in my home office, so
Speaker 2: if I have a spare minute or after hours, I
Speaker 2: can use it to read or create. It's already working.
Speaker 2: I spent a good fifteen minutes coloring at the end
Speaker 2: of the day instead of scrolling on my phone. I
Speaker 2: love this idea. We have explored the concept on Before
Speaker 2: Breakfast before of creating kits, that is, keeping things together
Speaker 2: as a way to encourage fun or progress on projects.
Speaker 2: A busy basket is another way to think of this.
Speaker 2: You are creating a kid for screen free fun, one
Speaker 2: you can pull from when you need it, or even
Speaker 2: take with you if you are going somewhere boring, like
Speaker 2: I don't know the dentist's office. What you put in
Speaker 2: your busy basket is up to you, but the point
Speaker 2: is to make it look enticing. With toddlers, you definitely
Speaker 2: want the kid thinking, hey, I'd like to play with that.
Speaker 2: So what would do that for you? I would probably
Speaker 2: like some nice notebooks and pens. Maybe it's some really
Speaker 2: cool new markers and a coloring book. I would probably
Speaker 2: like some design magazines, and maybe a book of photos
Speaker 2: of gardens, or maybe a book of funny essays or poems.
Speaker 2: Think about what would make you excited, then put together
Speaker 2: a basket full of the goodies. Then, like Farita, whenever
Speaker 2: you are looking to fill a little time, you can
Speaker 2: grab the basket. Now, it might not be quite as
Speaker 2: obvious as grabbing your phone and scrolling around on Instagram.
Speaker 2: I guess your phone is also a busy basket of sorts,
Speaker 2: but with a little preparation it could be equally cool looking.
Speaker 2: And if you are trying to spend less time on screens,
Speaker 2: that is a big benefit. Indeed, in the meantime, this
Speaker 2: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 2: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 2: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 2: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 2: is a production of iHeartMedia.
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