Past Times for young children

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Right now, my 4 year old attends a Lutheran School for Pre-K. He is extremely bright. Many have been taken back by the intelligence that has been given him. However, when we get home from school and my wife and I are very tired, he is left either playing with his own towns or watching movies (disney) or cartoons. I am wondering what other past time might be well worth getting him into.
 
I don’t recommend getting a pre-schooler too involved in extra stuff. Kids don’t get to just be kids and their days have become so regimented. Get some good toys, ones that are educational. Set up an easel and get some paints, play dough. When I was a kid we would play for hours with Lincoln Logs, my dolls, I would paint and color. Do things that would increase imagination. Read stories, play board games. If he likes towns then get some Lego and have him build a city. This kind of imaginative play helps children become creative which helps in their school work as they get older. I really believe in letting children be children and not pushing them into stuff and activities too much.
 
Thank you. that is helpful. When I was a kid, I just simply played video games from as far back as I can remember until I was 18, over excessively. So I may have a temptation to go in the oppossite direction too much.
 
Yep, probably a little early to be structuring more activities. Just let him loose! LOL
 
Kids that age need a lot of time to play imaginatively with their own toys…but I would be very sure to keep the TV watching to a minimum. Playing with toys builds up the child while the television can be addictive and actually does harm, past certain reasonable limits.
 
It sounds like you and your wife are loving and considerate parents. The only thing I could think to mention is
  1. Make sure that he knows you are available to him–to listen, to engage his interests
  2. If indoor time is a necessity, I would suggest swapping out some of the cartoon time with art time–even crayons and a coloring book if you don’t want to get too complicated or messy
  3. There is no toy as great at the outdoors. It doesn’t have to be wide open spaces or deep woods, just a space where they can stretch their legs and explore a little.
Hope this helps.
 
GET OUTSIDE!!! Especially now with the weather so gorgeous here in Florida! 😃

At that age our boys just loved digging in the dirt! We gave them a big plastic storage bin filled with “stuff” like mason jars and lids, real (metal) hand shovels (not plastic beach stuff), pieces of scrap wood, nails and a hammer to practice on the wood, and access to a water hose… mostly they gathered leaved and made homes for the lizards and ants… dug in the dirt, collected sticks, etc.

LEGOS… oh Legos have taken over out house entirely!.. but I love them because they can get so creative with them.

Encourage free drawing too… just pencils and paper are enough. I used to have them make “books” by stapling pieces of paper together and have them write a story (mostly pictures at that age)…

SUCH a fun age… enjoy it! 👍
 
I have found a lot of success with giving the kids paper (either blank or from a colouring book), stickers, scotch tape, scissors, a stapler… Whatever you’re willing to let him play with. I have a clip on the fridge, so I display the most recent artwork (when the clip gets full, I recycle some of the older ones, and I occasionally stick one or two pictures in the cedar chest to remember when they’re all grown up). This can occupy my kids for hours.
 
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