Kids that do not know how to play

United States
January 18, 2007 4:33pm CST
I am looking for some advice. I have four children. My two middle children are step children which my husband and I got custody of after the death of their motherin August 06. They are good children and I spent much time with them before they came to live with us permanently. They are 7 and 9 years old. The problem with them is that they do not know how to play. WHen they were living with their mother they did nothing but watch tv and play video games. I have a strict no tv rule until after dinner and baths are done. So all of my children probably only get about 30 -45 minutes of tv a day. And they can only play video games while we are in the car or waiting at the drs office or something like that. I am having a hard time with these kids and playing. I send my kids outside everyday for atleast 15 minutes if it is cold. But my two children will play outside no matter what the temperature. I have noticed that when my two step sons go outside to play they just sit out there. THey have no interest in playing. When they are inside the house they just sit around with toys in their hands, they do not really play with them. These kids have been with me since July and they just do not seem to be catching onto the new rules and process of playing. We have even tried playing with the kids and they will play as long as the adult is playing, but they will not play by themselves. Someone please help me find a way to teach these kids how to play. I would be so happy.
No responses