4-6 yrs kids during sailing - how to keep them busy

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cmedsailor

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Sorry if this has been answered already but I did a couple of searches and couldn't find anything (unless I was using wrong words). Any ideas how to keep kids around 4-6 years busy during sailing? And especially when you have to sail for 5-6 hours during the day so it's not sleeping time!
Thank you
 
Get them involved, make them responsible for some things as this will increase interest, maybe give them a personal log book to fill in.

Children are just small adults and will relish the challenge of a new task to learn.
 
Mine are 2 and 4 and have a large supply of toys on board, they like to "paint" with bruch and tin of water, but this works best with large areas of teak. Fishing with net for items in a bucket works OK, though maybe not under sail, making tents from ropes and blankets.

My 4 yo decided to helm for 45 minutes the other day, lots of supervision required, but worth the effort. Mine also like to "help" with everything, which may take longer, but is sure to pay off in the long run.

I feel that getting them to enjoy boating, ie not sailing per se, now, rather than putting them off through sticking to old sailing routines, is more likely to result in long term interest in being on board, rather than a battle to get them involved later on. If you want keen crew in the long run, keep them happy now!
 
can only agree with James...

We have tried hard to keep ours involved and enthusiastic from that age, and now, at the ages of 13 and 11 they both love going down to the boat, and are always keen to get out sailing as quickly as possible...

Plenty of involvement is definitely key.... its very easy to try and 'park' them below, but it will not pay off in the long run....
 
Agree with involving them as much as possible with running the ship, but only if they want to.
Our eldest, now seven, reads voraciously and is more than happy to go below and just read, although, having now done basic graphs in maths at school she has expressed an interest in plotting our position on the "X and Y axis" of the chart!
Our youngest, now five, proved herself adept at gutting the mackrel we caught last year once I'd slit them open (apparently she'd seen a fisherman do so on Blue Peter).
We read them stories in the cockpit, and when all else fails feed them!
The other thing of note is that we try and limit passge making to around 4 hours.
My sister, with similar aged children, resorts to a portable DVD which is something we have thankfully managed to avoid.
Ours also use passage making as a way to catch up on their sleep, without impacting on their sleeping at night. Now, if only I got the chance to do the same...
 
Agree with the above. Give them small jobs to do (hoisting enseign / burgees, hatch and instrument covers, winches in pockets, sail covers, sea cocks on (check them though!), instruments on etc etc.

Underway, we've found stuff like kid connex (not sure of the spellling) works well as does lots of paper, pens, sellotape and glue. Don't be Captain Bligh about the mess! Of course when they get to 7-8 they start to read. My 6 year old can now helm for 45 mins if he's in the mood and the seas are calm - I set the stopwatch on the instrumentation so he can try and beat his brother's record. My 8 year old is very useful (when he's in the mood) - helps me service the engine (for pocket money) and does most things on board within his physical capabilities.

You have to go with the mood though, and make it fun for them. I haven't always got this right and strive to do better!

Nick
 
I have 3 - 6,7 and 8 they have all been on a boat since they were 2 weeks old and they are not that impressed, they get involved for minimal amount of time and under sufferance, i am hoping for more involvement as they get older.
I am afraid we must be bad parents, but we let them play with there DS's and watch DVD's, it keeps them occupied. We tend to go places rather than go for a sail and this becomes the aim, it is all pretty unremarkable to them.
If my 8 year old was asked to get involved in anything to do with Maths, he would probably try to jump over the side.
 
Mine were a similar age when we started out.

I gave them little jobs to do, and over time they've carved out their own little niche of jobs they consider 'theirs' (and they get quite territorial about those).

- My youngest (now 12) is 'in charge' of the tender, the outboard, warps & fenders.
- Out of necessity; as the only other member of our crew not prone to the dreaded mal de mer; my eldest (now 17) is the designated other helm. She also helps out with sailtrim and has expressed an interest in learning more about nav. Can also work out a CPA on the radar.

The only thing the kids now 'blame me for' is is ruining their life by getting them involved in sailing/boating in the first place. My eldest's already said that she would like to buy a boat of her own once she's done with uni.
 
A difficult one this as it can all so easily go wrong.
I grew up with the upper Thames and green fields as my playground and I spent most of my hours just messing about doing anything to do with the river as soon as I could swim. I used to escape and go into my own little world near the water.
Cruising came late in adulthood for me.
When young, my children had a lot of short experiences boating as I worked afloat for much of the time and they had to leave before they became dissinterested. Short and sweet is the ideal.
Other prime factors are fun and learning. Give them aims, tasks, and rewards that are not bribes. Talk to their primary school teacher or their headteacher for ideas too. As a teacher for 20 years I reckon many adults are not too wise on how best to approach these problems.
I would try and make it a game.
One idea my teacher wife had with her slightly older primary school class, was to make a 9" paper friend who they called Flat Stanley. They took Stanley everywhere and wrote a diary which told of his travels and took photosof Stanley each day in different places so they could paste those an the diary. The diaries then became a great feature with others such as grandparents and friends.

As an aside to this slightly, I recently put this note on my Twister AssociationForum :-

It was one of those weekends, after slogging away through the winter and having had a 'last minute' panic to get her ready for launch day, that I found the diary had been booked on the first possible sailing weekend. I was scheduled to go and help my long time friend work on his huge farmhouse project.
So to try and ensure that all was ok and working fine, I suggested to my two offspring that they should try their first long weekend sail together without me, on my precious little yacht.
Kate, a bright chirpy academic of 27yrs with an RYA Coastal skipper with minimal experience afloat and Sam 24yrs, a very practical and physically capable lad, who has boated and sailed dinghys since a kid, having his RYA Competant crew and 1500NM under his belt .
A fine combination I thought and I waited at the end of my mobile from Friday p.m.to Sunday p.m. ( in case my advise was needed naturally ).
I was bitterly dissappointed ( but quietly proud and relieved of course ) to find they didn't need dads help at all.
In fact, they didn't ring me once ..... I had to ring them ......late Sunday.
The only thing that went wrong was a slight difference in opinion as to where the transit taking them in towards the war memorial was, before taking a turn to port and into Portsmouth harbour. They had 'done' the The Solent and even had the affrontery to tell me how well the spinnaker flew and that she made 6 and 1/2 knots in the F4/5.
The children have surely well and truly flown the nest!
"Can I have my boat back now please?"

best of luck, Scotty
 
If it helps and tides allow you could try to leave early while kids are asleep. I have very fond memories of waking up on the boat and hearing the water rushing along the hull.
We also had a dedicated toy cupboard full of odds and end that would keep us entertained but my folks always did their best to get us doing or thinking about somthing to do with the trip, destination or route we were taking.
 
I sail single handed with my 5 year old. Not very far as you can imagine. If there are 2 adults then it means you should have more time for the children, probably more than at home. I think you have to be flexible in your plans. If you are relaxed and enjoy having the children around they will enjoy it. As long as they go home happy they will want to go back. So if you have a bad time for any reason try and make up for it near the end of the trip.

My son was rolling paint on the coach roof at the weekend and I was on the brush. He waas bored by the time it came to do the second coat so I did that he did some colouring. Both pleased with our achievement.
 
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