Guest blogger Kimberly Drew and her family recently moved to a new home. They discovered the challenge of keeping Abbey, their daughter with special needs, busy in productive instead of destructive ways. In today’s post she explains 4 strategies that work for her daughter and can keep other kids with special needs busy, too.

4 Ways to Keep Kids with Special Needs Busy

I don’t know about you, but when my daughter with special needs, Abbey, is getting into things, it can drive me crazy. She has a thing for doors, drawers, purses, cell phones, and anything that can be taken apart. Once when our youth group was over, one of our students decided it was harmless to let her play with her iPhone. In less than three minutes flat, Abbey had her phone in German. All the instructions were completely illegible! It took quite a group effort to find the right keys to get it back into English. We all had a good chuckle, but you can be sure the group doesn’t let her touch their phones anymore!

More recently, we moved into a new house and found ourselves painting every nook and cranny from top to bottom. Abbey is a copycat. She just wants to do what everyone else is doing and she LOVES to be helpful. So when I caught her with a wet paint roller in her hand, I couldn’t help but laugh! I quickly cleaned up that mess, only to catch her with her hand against a wet wall a few moments later. It was futile. There was to be no painting while Abbey was home, and it needed to be mostly dry before she got off the bus.

Although this behavior provides many funny stories, it can be extremely frustrating when I want to have a conversation with a friend, read an article, make dinner, or have a few moments of peace and quiet. So how do we keep our children occupied without constantly resorting to the TV or an electronic tablet? I know for our family, this has been difficult. It’s particularly puzzling when a child has a very short attention span. Here are a few things we employ for help in these moments.

Tip #1: The Off Limits Toy

Abbey absolutely loves to paint and play with play dough. However, I keep these activities off limits so that when I need something for her to do that she really enjoys, I can set her up to play with them and plan on having some valuable time uninterrupted.

Tip #2: Bin of Littles

I keep a bin in her closet with toy sets that are divided by zippered plastic bags. She absolutely loves to make a mess of these. Opening each bag and getting everything out is a great joy. It’s a chore to pick up and sort later, but it’s usually worth it.

Tip #3: Bath Time

After years of practice, Abbey can finally sit and soak in the bathtub. If I really want a few minutes to read, I can safely put her in the tub and bring my laptop or book or magazine into the bathroom with me to read while she plays. I get to read and she comes out clean. It’s a win-win for both of us.

Tip #4: Early Bed Time

If you get really frustrated, there’s no rule book that says your child can’t go to bed a half an hour early. It might mean an earlier morning, but it’s completely worth it if you feel your temper’s getting short or you sense unfairness creeping into your attitude.

Your Tips?

These tricks have helped us keep Abbey busy when we need to tend to other things. If you have other ideas, please share them in the comment box, so Kimberly and I can add them to our lists, too.