Boat Fun!
Arion's West Indian Adventure
Hermione & Douglas Pattison
Tue 19 Jul 2016 06:35
| The question which everyone, without fail, asks me when they see us living onboard is “How on earth do you keep those children entertained in that small space”. It really seems to fascinate people and thinking back to when we were preparing for our trip I spent a great deal of time worrying and imagining how I was going to keep two highly energetic children amused on Arion. 9 months on, and I think I have come up with answers. The first thing to say is that I was very well prepared with what I brought on the boat. We have very limited space, so each toy or item had to really earn its place. I did a lot of asking around, and my sister in law especially, was an incredible resource with her knowledge of these things. The toys I selected all take up little room and have ‘high play value’. At the beginning of the trip I had to spend quite a bit of time ’teaching’ the children how to play with these toys. Of course, time was not a problem as we have lots of it on passage and it was a joy to be able to spend that time playing with them. The time put in at this early stage paid dividends later on as they soon ‘learned’ how to use the toys and were able to entertain themselves for a little time. At only just two years old, Alice’s concentration span was so tiny, with Arthur’s not much better. I have really noticed over time how this has dramatically increased. The levels of concentration still only amount to minutes but it is much better than before! Obviously a lot of this is due to them being older, but I know that some of it is due to having only a limited number of toys to play with and certain types of toys, which require imagination and concentration. Because there is not an endless supply of different toys, they have been taught some form of self discipline, they cannot just chop and change activity when they get bored so they make the most of every toy. I have never once heard either child say ‘I am bored’ (and if they did they would soon be handed the dustpan and brush and told to get on with some helpful jobs!). The next point to make is that making longer passages takes practice. The children are now so used to what happens and in many ways they are easier on passage than at anchor. As soon as we are moving along they relax and go into a much calmer state. Often they are happy just simply ‘pottering around’ . The more time goes on, the better they get quite simply. Arthur and Alice have historically fought like cat and dog over everything. On the boat they have been forced into spending 24 hours a day together and for the most part with no other children to engage with. This has done them a great deal of good and although it seems like they still fight all of the time- actually the time they spend playing nicely together has increased. This is more pronounced while we are at sea. In recent weeks, there have been whole days on passage where my intervention has been minimal. I have offered to play games/read etc and they have turned this down, preferring instead to play on their own- making dens and generally a horrendous mess down below!! But lets get back to the beginning, where it certainly was harder keeping them entertained. My images of cruising, lounging in the cockpit with a book while the children played, were shattered almost immediately. The night before a full day passage or longer, I would go though the toy shelf and seek out any bits which had not been used for a while. These would go on a list, and I would then make a rough ‘timetable’ for the days we were at sea. This meant that I was never ‘all at sea’ (excuse the pun) with what to do if they did need entertaining. I would simply look at my list and organise this item/ game. We would do this for 30 minutes or so, then I would change over to the next one if necessary. I found a bit of planning meant I did not have to think about the children’s activities while we were bouncing around, and it ensured a variety for the children. So, what are the ‘activities’ which have been most successful? In my mind, the best thing you can have on your boat are what I call the basics; paper, scissors, glue, coloured pencils, paints. They take up no room and the time our two have spent just fiddling around with those things is huge. In the beginning we would all do a specific ‘task’ together like painting a boat, or cutting around shapes etc, but now I rarely do anything like this with them. They have been equipt with the skills and imagination to help themselves and use these independently. When we bought Arthur a roll of sellotape recently you would have thought he was given an amazing toy!- He spent days making all sorts with it, so for 50 cents, it was well worth it!! We keep all old yoghurt pots, loo rolls and boxes, and everything gets turned into some sort of space ship or a telescope. Uncle Michael stayed with us for two weeks and in that time spent an enormous amount of time making things out of ‘rubbish’ with Arthur. I really noticed when Michael left, that Arthur suddenly was making quite wonderful things on his own. Michael had taught him how to create his own work, rather than relying on an adult to guide him all of the time. When Arthur learned to make paper planes, there was no looking back. He makes about 10 per day and spends ages modifying them for better flight. Books are great, we have a lot of books on board and they have been read over and over again. Don’t skimp on books- we mostly save stories for bedtime, but occasionally we read on passage in the cockpit if everyone just needs a break. Lego- we have the equivalent of less than a shoebox of lego on board, i.e a small amount, but this is hours of fun. Usually Arthur will do this on passage when Alice is asleep as he does not like to be disturbed!! Memory is a fabulous game as it consists of a small pack of cards, therefore takes up very little space. We always end up playing this on passage if weather/ conditions allow. Annoyingly Arthur always wins….. Story dice; we were given these and it is a tiny box with 9 dice inside. Each face has a different picture so you roll the dice and end up with 9 different pictures which you have to make into a story. Alice is a little too young for this, but Arthur really enjoys playing this with us. Cooking- often I will make a loaf of bread and we all get involved with kneading it en route. If it is flat, ‘Rocky Road’ is a great thing to make as all of the ingredients like nuts/ dried fruit can be cut up into small pieces which the children do and it takes them forever to do it. I have a special children’s knife onboard which they cannot cut themselves with, but it does, surprisingly, cut! They also use it for fruit and vegetables. We have 2 'wipe clean' writing books on board. Again, in the beginning I would do this with the children, but soon they would help themselves and do it on their own. Grandma gave us some pre-school learning books, maths, english etc and these have been great to do with Arthur for 10 minutes at a time. I would really recommend these for living on a boat because as the parent you are guided by the book and do not have to think too much! We have about 7 jigsaw puzzles onboard, all in their own little zip-lock bag with the picture from the box cut out, in the bag. Each passage the bag comes out and we do a few together. The children do not tend to do these alone, but love it when I do it with them. Alice loves her Doll, and this has been a great toy to have onboard with all the different outfits. We even took up valuable aft locker space (sharp intake of breath) for Doll’s buggy which has made outings in various tropical locations, and for the times used, was worth bringing along. The word game, is a very simple game which Granny made for us. It consists of a small bag and some strips of vinyl with words on them. When the child can read the word, they get to keep it. Alice is too young for this, but Arthur quite likes to play it for short periods and Alice does join in in her own way! Music is really important to us, as we will put on some loud music and all sing along and dance. It breaks up a long day and lifts any mood. We also have some audio books which again, we all listen to together. The Roald Dhal ones are the best as they are so funny. The children also love Mr Men. The children spend hours and hours ‘winching’ things up and down through the middle hatch of the boat. It is sweet to watch them work a a little team. They sometimes make little lifts for their teddies out of bottles/ rubbish! They have invented many other similar games with nothing more that a shoelace or piece of cloth so I think the boat has been a very inspiring environment for them to live in. Another game they love is hiding in their wardrobe. It is such a tiny space I can never believe they are both in there, but, often with some teddies and a torch, I find them in there giggling and doing something so secret that I am definitely not allowed to be involved. Lately, I have noticed the children do not want to ‘play’ with me as much, preferring instead to be left alone to do their own games together. It often goes hand in hand with much whispering and secrecy! Their recent passion for den building (a torch is great here as they can go inside and hide for ages doing whatever it is they are doing-a torch seems to make it more fun and exciting!) I am not so keen on this as the entire down below area is taken over with cushions and towels. On the plus side, this is one of the rare occasions where I might get to read a chapter or two of my book, so I do not complain! They also love dressing up. We do not have any costumes onboard, but they make their own out of my clothes, and usually pegs and string. They were given some cowboy hats recently which has sparked their imagination, but they are quite inventive with what they create. Dollie’s tea set has been wonderful. Almost every passage we have what we call ‘dollies tea’ and we all sit in the cockpit with teddies, dolls and drink tea out of tiny plastic mugs!! Face paints are a good thing to have onboard. We have not done this on passage (the thought of greasy hand/ nose prints all over the boat!!) but we have done it a few times to go ashore or for parties/ celebrations and so I would definitely recommend this as something to take with you. Finally, when the weather is awful and things on deck need dealing with, we will give the children a film to watch. We use TV sparingly, but there are times when it has been invaluable knowing that they are safe and occupied down below. My main concern at the beginning, was keeping the children occupied. We went from a very busy, physical existence to a 36 foot yacht. It has been at times exhausting and I certainly do not get much time to myself, but it has definitely been one of the easier aspects of our lives afloat and totally worth it. Do not let the children put you off cruising. Yes, our boat is far too small and we are on top of each other constantly, but we respect each others space, and are definitely closer as a family. If I thought I knew my children well before, I know them very, very well now! A good deal of planning is necessary to ensure happy children and parents, but this gets less as time goes on. By far the hardest aspect of sailing with children is the night sailing. Douglas and I both love night sailing but neither of us are good at sleeping ‘off watch’ on the first night of any passage. It makes the following day a real struggle. |