You need a busy basket

A listener suggests an idea for screen-free entertainment

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that you need a busy basket. Toddlers aren't
the only ones who can benefit from an entertainment kit.

(00:25):
Put one together and you will never find yourself at
a loss for what to do. Today's tip comes from
Before Breakfast listener Farriita Alkough. She has a nineteen month
old daughter and notes that she has prepared a busy
basket full of activities such as blocks and stickers to

(00:46):
keep the little girl independently occupied. Anyway, while editing her
home office, Friita came across books she had been meaning
to finish new books she hadn't touched, crochet and crossed projects,
art material, and so forth. She says, it occurred to

(01:06):
me that grown ups need a busy basket too, So
she found herself an unused basket and threw in it
a few half read books, her half done crochet project,
a couple of new adult coloring books and pencils, a
journal and.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
A nice pen. She says, I've been meaning to cut
down on my screen time, so this came at a
perfect time. It now sits in my home office, so
if I have a spare minute or after hours, I
can use it to read or create. It's already working.
I spent a good fifteen minutes coloring at the end
of the day instead of scrolling on my phone. I

(01:47):
love this idea. We have explored the concept on Before
Breakfast before of creating kits, that is, keeping things together
as a way to encourage fun or progress on projects.
A busy basket is another way to think of this.
You are creating a kid for screen free fun, one

(02:08):
you can pull from when you need it, or even
take with you if you are going somewhere boring, like
I don't know the dentist's office. What you put in
your busy basket is up to you, but the point
is to make it look enticing. With toddlers, you definitely
want the kid thinking, hey, I'd like to play with that.

(02:30):
So what would do that for you? I would probably
like some nice notebooks and pens. Maybe it's some really
cool new markers and a coloring book. I would probably
like some design magazines, and maybe a book of photos
of gardens, or maybe a book of funny essays or poems.

(02:51):
Think about what would make you excited, then put together
a basket full of the goodies. Then, like Farita, whenever
you are looking to fill a little time, you can
grab the basket. Now, it might not be quite as
obvious as grabbing your phone and scrolling around on Instagram.
I guess your phone is also a busy basket of sorts,

(03:13):
but with a little preparation it could be equally cool looking.
And if you are trying to spend less time on screens,
that is a big benefit. Indeed, in the meantime, this
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

(03:44):
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartMedia.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
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