simple plan: : ways to survive the school pick up line

Many of us have been there, day after day, waiting and waiting (AND waiting and waiting) in the school pick up line. I am nearly a year and a half in on this, not that I’m counting or anything, and it is quite possibly my least favorite time of day! Toting around my younger two children to pick up my seven-year-old mid-day, can be a mundane task!

This reunion of my little trio consistently disrupts our day! The typical scene involves an exhausted one year old who is often jolted from her nap and a four-year-old who is suddenly taken away from one of his favorite afternoon TV programs!

At the beginning of this school year, we needed to remedy this, I NEEDED a new plan. So, it was then we started playing “games” as we waited! A wait that can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes! These are games that are fun, SIMPLE, and make time fly!

1.) I spy – mindless and fun! My second son loves this game! I typically challenge him by asking him to play with finding letters or shapes rather than just colors! Really helps enrich all he is learning from preschool! ex: I spy with my little eye… the letter Q!

2.) Simon says – easy enough to play while strapped into a car seat and oh so much fun!

3.) Sing- a- longs –  now that Christmas music is off the radio, why does it have to stop? Among other songs, we like to keep the holiday spirit year-round! My one year old just loves this!

4.) Counting – once again, great adjunct to what my preschooler is learning and fun for my one year old! We count the school building windows, cars (yellow, white, blue), and even people walking by!

5.) ABC sound game – we pick a category (animals are the most fun!) and as I announce each letter we say the name and letter sound (and if we are doing animals we make the animal sound too!) ex: D is for duck; the “d” sound; quack quack

So, while these pick-ups bring me down at times, this is a fun way to pass the time with my littles… until the day comes where busing becomes possible! However, at that point, I will probably remember these pick-up days fondly and yearn for this time with them!

What is the school pick up line like for you?

How do you keep your littles happy while they wait?