My current favourite low effort parenting activity that takes up a lot of time

The years may be short but boy oh boy are those days long. With a baby and a senior-toddler (when do they stop being toddlers and start being kids?) I am kind of against messy activities at the moment. I need to be able to hit pause at any moment to feed, change or settle the baby, and a three year old is not exactly the most reliable in terms of leaving them alone with paint or food colouring or anything that might cause permanent damage. But never fear, I have a new favourite, no-mess, pausable activity that takes up a decent amount of time.

Step 1 is watching some sort of classic Disney movie – and by classic I just mean something that I watched as a kid. Now attention span wise this might mean its on the TV while the kid is playing with toys on the floor, or it might mean watching it it multiple parts.

Step 2 is getting the kid to tell you the story while you type it into the computer. Of course depending on the kid they can type (or just find some of the letters), but crucial as part of this is to write exactly what they say, poor grammar, incorrect story and calling the main character ‘that guy’ included. This activity is not about perfection, its about capturing them exactly as they are in this moment, and finding out how they think and what information they retain. Set the page up as landscape, and two columns and split the story across 4-6 pages. Make sure the text is at the top of the page to leave space for step 4.

Step 3 make it into a book! Please keep in mind you are a sleep deprived parent who is balancing a baby and probably swearing at your printer because those things never work as intended – done is better than perfect. I think ideally you would be able to find a stapler and could staple the pages together, I sadly could not and just selotaped the pages together. If you have a piece of coloured paper, whack that on the front to use as the cover.

Step 4 Get a cup of tea or coffee and set the kid up with their own book and some coloured pens. They can then illustrate each page while you contemplate life and stare into the void for ten minutes.

Step 5 Facetime a grandparent and get the kid to read them their story

And there we have it, an activity that takes up half a day, no mess, a ‘considered’ use of screen time, and a hella fun momento to look at as they grow. The best part being that if it clicks for you and your kid, it is super repeatable with different movies.

If you end up with enough of the books you can host a pub quiz at the end of the year where all your parent friends try to guess the movie based on the retelling.