My Three year old DD Can't Wait!

[disneyphanatic1911]

I let my DD3 know that I will be taking the family to WDW next summer, and being that she has no concept of time yet, she asks me every hour of everyday, "Daddy, are we going to Disney World now?"

What are some tips that you all have used to help your child understand the concept of time? I thought about trying the paper links and hanging them from her ceiling, removing one each day that passes. Then maybe have a "Countdown Celebration" when we got down to 10 days left. I found that idea on allearsnet.com.

Do you have any other ideas? All suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[bigkid@disney]

Hello disneyphanatic1911

I have an 8, 6 & 2 year old and I know what you mean about time. We are going for Halloween this year and when we get into the van, my youngest will often ask if we are going to Disney World.

When we went last year, we did the paper chain idea. It was set up for about 80 days out and each chain has a different character or something about Disney on them. I would worry that doing a chain for a year out, might get tiring or be sooooo long, she might lose interest. First off all, if you want the chain, I can email that to you. I set it up for the kids to cut out and where the glue/staple goes.

Another suggestion that might help. Many software programs have the ability to make a calendar for the year. You could start it now and have 14 or 15 months or however many months you need. Let her count down months, maybe she will learn the months and have an idea of it takes days to make weeks and weeks to make months. You can personalize the calendar with # of days out, etc.

If I can help with the calendar, let me know.

Have fun planning....

 

[rchristiansen]

My DD is nearly 3 (in sept) and every plane or helicoptor she sees flying overhead she tells me is "going to Disney World"

I like the chain link idea. You could do a sticker chart or something too. My DD likes stickers alot. Also we just keep our DD occupied with disneyworld.com, disney videos, etc. So far so good.

 

[ntburns22]

I just made a red, black, and white paperchain for our playroom. Because my DD keeps asking how many days till disney. So now we just go and count the chain. It is helping her with her numbers and she can see how long we have to wait. We are not going till October.

 

[tlbwriter]

We made a calendar and DD crossed off a day each night. Or when we remembered to catch up.

 

[disneyphanatic1911]

Thanks guys for the suggestions!

Does anyone know of any sites where I could mak a COOL calendar for her?

 

[MrsBanks]

The disney site has a section with coloring pages and other craft items (including a calendar) - for some reason I can't get the link to work but here is the site information

http://disney.go.com/magicartist/calendars/index.html

 

[bigkid@disney]

I hope you got my email.

If you have any questions, let me know.

I'm hoping over the next week or so to create a calendar for anyone to use. Add some Disney stuff to it and maybe leave room for anyone to personalize it.

Enjoy...

 

[disneyphanatic1911]

I hope you got my email.

If you have any questions, let me know.

I'm hoping over the next week or so to create a calendar for anyone to use. Add some Disney stuff to it and maybe leave room for anyone to personalize it.

Enjoy...

Yes I did! That is great! Thanks a lot!

 

[disneyphanatic1911]

*bump*

 

[bedgraynexl]

Neat ideas, we will have to do this for our next trip

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

oh you guys are going to have SO MUCH FUN! We just got back a few weeks ago with our 3 year old daughter, we told her we were going about 8 months or so in advance...this is how we counted our days down...We found a BIG Jar, and we printed pictures of Cindy's castle off the net..and bought some Disney Stickers at the Disney Store..and decorated up our jar. Then we put "x" amount of hershey kisses in the jar for each day we had left to our trip. Then every day she took another one out of the jar..until the day of our trip. And she new that when the candy was gone, we got to go to Disney World!
Have a GREAT time! We had so much fun, the memories that we shared while we were there are so priceless..Can't wait to go back.

 

[disneyphanatic1911]

oh you guys are going to have SO MUCH FUN! We just got back a few weeks ago with our 3 year old daughter, we told her we were going about 8 months or so in advance...this is how we counted our days down...We found a BIG Jar, and we printed pictures of Cindy's castle off the net..and bought some Disney Stickers at the Disney Store..and decorated up our jar. Then we put "x" amount of hershey kisses in the jar for each day we had left to our trip. Then every day she took another one out of the jar..until the day of our trip. And she new that when the candy was gone, we got to go to Disney World!
Have a GREAT time! We had so much fun, the memories that we shared while we were there are so priceless..Can't wait to go back.

That sounds like a COOL and TASTY idea! Thanks!