For anyone who's wondering how these first couple weeks have gone, let it be known: we are having an absolute blast! Each day is a somewhat spontaneous compilation of house time and activity time, going and coming home, going and coming home - learning that home is the place we always land. We've seen many good friends at least once, and a few, two or three times. We've been to multiple lakes to swim, and multiple parks, and Como Zoo, and Giggle Factory. We've been to church and a restaurant, and Gramma's house... Still planning to do the Childrens' Museum and maybe a water park in the next 2 weeks.Two weeks from today, Ed goes back to work and our days will change significantly. Ironic for an introvert, I find myself craving people and activity during this transition time. The thought of 12 hour days at home without some kind of fun activity to break up the day (especially without Ed) seems crazy to me - Eva is a very active girl!
So... what I'm looking for via this blog post is a list of about 20 or 30 fun kid-oriented activities. Summer, winter (especially), indoor, outdoor, home or away. What are your top two or three FAVORITE activities to do with toddlers during the day? Give specifics - names, locations, good times to go, etc. Let me be clear: we're NOT bored; just looking to expand the repertoire in prep for Papa's return to work...
We'll do this similar to how the recipe post went down previously... The first 2 activities our family decides to do, the suggestioners (I know - making up words) may very well get a call to see if they're available to join us... So - think hard: if everyone out there comes up with two or three ideas, maybe we can brainstorm our way to 101 ways to have fun (with toddlers)! :-)
20 comments:
You might want to save this one for winter-time, but I used to do this with kids I babysat. Buy a big package of coffee filters (the round kind, not the ones that are folded in half like an envelope), and color funky patterns on them with markers. Then, pinch the center of the filter in one hand, and twist the rest up with the other hand, and dip the small tip in about two inches of water. You'll have really fun (and easy to clean up) tie-dyed sun catchers.
p.s. Please take pictures!
At the Hudson Library there is a great Librarian in the Children's Dept. that does a super job w/ storytime. There's a program called Lap-Sit too where parents stay w/ their children. Depending on what you and Eva are comfortable with.
Also, at the library in the children's dept. are teacher resource books called Story Stretchers that list great activities that go along with children's stories. For example, The Very Hungry Caterpiller may have an activity where you could make a fruit salad w/ the fruit mentioned in the story. Art projects, Math and Science projects are listed as well. Fun stuff.
To break up daily monotony you could plan a rainbow week. Each day you could wear a different color and make an effort to eat foods of the same color. i.e. Monday = Red Day. Wear red shirts and make some strawberry jello.
I'm so happy to hear you are having a great time.
1. Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. Open only warm months (like April thru October or something), but pretty much the nicest outdoor park you'll ever see. Prathi would love the different things to climb on, jump from, and dig in. Bring a shovel and a pail for digging in the sand, sunscreen cuz there's not a ton of shade, and a snack or lunch to eat under the picnic shelter. It is gated on one side, so no worries of escape, and there's a nice bathroom too. ry Stillwater. Hmmm...and it's within walking distance of Starbucks as well.
2. Water Station. Just tried this with my splash-lovin Cait recently, but Totty and Nathan loved it too. Lay a towel on your kitchen floor. Place a large plastic bin on the towel. Fill a smaller plastic bin 2/3 full of water inside the larger bin. Provide different kitchen utensils and different density objects (bowls, cups, spoons, wisk, cork, marbles, foam, etc) to play with in the water. Bonus application: you will be mopping most of the water up at the end, so do this when your floor is dirty and you'll kill two birds with one stone!
3. Two words: CANDY STORE.
Love you!
In the winter we snowblow a big pile in the center of our backyard to slide down or climb up.
There is the 'Eagles Nest' which is great for winter.
Leaf projects in the fall - collect them and use the as stamps with paint.
'Family Fun' magazine has been a great resource for us for crafts.
Friends who have kids to play with, any age, and new toys at their house was always fun.
I love to go for walks with the kids. Just pack up cheerios & drinks & walk around our loop with them in the stroller. I show them different flowers, and answer lots of questions. Another fun one, is to take a large piece of paper, washable paints, and head out to the grass. You can finger paint or use different objects to make different shapes, even turn it over so the grass makes a pattern too. Or chalk up the driveway with hopscotch or get a little pool they're like $6 for her to play in right in the yard with balls and other water toys. We're so glad you are having so much fun. It seems like you are adjusting wonderfully and being wonderful mommy & daddy. Love you guys!
For a day around the house - create a 'wind tunnel' with a couple old sheets and a big fan. Just anchor the sheets sround the fan and let the air puff the sheets up like a tent. It's fun to play in, you can do funny voices in front of the fan too. As long as the fan's plastic grate is safe for little fingers..... -Amy
oh, what a world of fun awaits you guys! The sweetest thing about kids is that they readily accept any random, quirky idea you can come up with ~ and then they usually initiate it the next time... so be "forwarned!" On the many inevitable at-home days, you can create "something" out of nothing... ie: fancy tea party (with British accent, and finger sandwiches they have helped you make)invite stuffed animals... my boys love this - we just did blueberry scones and vanilla tea last week- a dance off with jiggy tunes - plant a sun flower fort(ask me)-fort under dining room table-any fort/anwhere- when playing guitar, provide her with percussion insruments ( the ones from your kitchen are the funniest)- Art as gifts for family-put on mouse pad or magnet- get a cash register and play restaurant - T loves this -he is empowered as the owner and waiter, and we use props from the kitchen- "Can we play Appleby's, mom?" play vet with a line of stuffed animal patients, candy pills,ace wrap,etc. smooches ~ a
ooops ~ one more thing ~ old fashioned tape recorders are a BLAST ~ and they are a fun language tool ~ some speech therapists use them... ~a
Vonda,
If you're willing to make the trek to St. Paul, check out Como's Blooming Butterflies at Como Zoo. It is a large, caterpillar shaped tent full of live butterflies prancing about and doing what butterflies do. The zoo, park and conservatory are all at your fingertips as well. AND, there is even a Caribou Coffee on site. I prefer mom and pop shops, but when I get a caffeine urge it works in a pinch!
Kelly Kentfield
Check out Kjelshus blog (link is on my page) - she gave 100 reasons she likes MN and many fun options in there for preschoolers.
The Woodbury Parks and Rec Department has a "Puppet Wagon" that travels around to various parks all week. The show are about 15 minutes then you could play at the park. There are about 4-5 shows per day, M-TH.
We love to pack a picnic lunch and some playdough or craft and go to Central Park in Woodbury. We eat lunch, visit the library, walk around the waterfall area and then do our craft. If they are still hanging in there, maybe an ice cream cone at the ice cream shop before we leave.
If you check out various web sites for stores, they often have free "craft time" "music time" "story time" I know that Creative Kid Stuff, Micheals, The Red Giraffe all do it.
Speaking of Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, here are some August activities...August 11, 10 am puppet show, August 15 and 22 Storytime and craft at 10am, August 18 RAD zoo reptile show at 10am, August 20 Kindermusic at 9:30am, August 27 Storyteller Mike Baker at 10am.
Wooddale Fun Zone in Woodbury has a rollerskating rink and play area for kids that is fun.
Maplewood Mall has a carousel that is fun to ride plus a small play area for kids.
Battle Creek Waterworks is a small outdoor water park in Maplewood you could go to. http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/parks/waterpark/index.htm
Being home with 3 young kids, I am always looking for fun, cheap ways to get out of the house....sometime just a trip to Target is our excitement for the day!!!
Young kids love playing in a big plastic tub (or pan) full of dried beans, rice, or cornmeal, with scoops or trucks to drive around in it. You can write letters or numbers in the cornmeal too with a popsicle stick.
Make puppets from paper bags.
My 3 year old girl's favorite activities:
Coloring with crayons or markers
Cutting with scissors
Watercolor paints
Playdough
Pretend play (especially with Mama)
Tea Parties
Biking on a little bike down the sidewalk
Reading stories
Dancing around to music in ballerina leotards
Doing chores with Mama (give Eva a dish tub with a little water and some plastic dishes and have her wash while you wash or give her a spray bottle with vinegar water and let her clean the bathroom as you clean)
Kids love routine so if you start off each day with some Bible stories/songs/prayer and then have her work on daily chores (reward her with a sticker on her chart) and then do a craft/art thing or playdate followed by lunch, and a nap time/quiet time on bed followed by a snack, a walk, or play time and making dinner the days will fly by!
Nothing fancy here....But it is what we do, and it requires no travel, for days when you just want to chill at home:)
We bought a plastic tote with a snap lock lid, it is around 12" by 18" maybe a foot deep or so. Then I went to Micheals and filled it till it would still shut with craft supplies. I did this for Mikayla when she was 3, and now I still continue to fill "the bucket" for the boys, & soon baby Shelby. These are the things I fill our craft bucket with:
Regular popsicle sticks
Colored popsicle sticks
Pipe cleaners/all kinds
Pom Pom Balls
Wiggle Eyes
Craft glues / not Elmers
Unpainted small wooden objects to paint
Large Plastic Beads
Large Wooden Beads
Yarn in Multiple colors (makes awesome hair)
Styrofoam balls and shapes
toothpicks
Clothes Pins
-and probably alot more I can't think of right now.
No instructions needed. Just pull out the craft bucket, set her at the table, and use your imaginations! And possibly sneak away occasionally to clean:)
There is also an awesome new craft product that they sell...I can't think of the name...but they are colored styrofoam wormy things that when you dip the end in water it activates a glue and you can stick them together to build anything! They are a blast, and our kids love them, plus there is no messy clean-up.
My kiddoes favorite....
HUGE bowls of new fallen snow on the kitchen table. Great with action figures, measuring cups and spoons.
Also
Chocolate Snow Shakes
snow
milk
Hershey's
Stickers, stamps,and a roll of newsprint paper from Hudson Star Observer office. You can make wrapping paper, draw your kiddo etc. Very fun.
Jenny mentioned Central Park in Woodbury. We love going to Lookout Ridge there--the indoor play park. Adults can play, too. I know Jen mentioned this one last night--she gets the credit. But I wanted to put my vote in! Costs between $4-6 depending on when you go. Adults are free.
Winter ideas:
-Smores Indoors: Make 'em over candlight.
-Indoor Beach: Fill plastic bin with sand, place in basement and make castles.
-Colored Snow Spray: Fill cheap spray bottles (found in travel section at Target) with water and food coloring. Spray snow with colors.
-Nighttime Skate: Put on headlamps and go to a skating rink. We have skates Eva can borrow. Fill a thermos with hot cocoa. Sip with a peppermint stick.
Autumn Ideas:
-Night hike: Make popcorn and head out to Willow River for a hike. Most state parks have many Children's programs. Carpenter Nature Center in Hastings has very good, inexpensive stuff happening all the time. See www.carpenternaturecenter.org for info.
-Cardboard Town: Create a town or hide-a-way using appliance boxes. Paint and color.
-Camp in the back yard. Roast hot dogs over the fire.
PW...you have the best ideas, and are so adventurous...headlamps! LOL
Wow! So many great ideas. Lots of my faves were already mentioned. I'm writting all of these down. So fun. I thought of a couple others, but they might be more things up this direction!
If you are venturing far from home, one of my all time faves (to your great surprise I'm sure) is to go down to South Mpls. to the lakes. (Linden Hills also has an amazing park with a wading pool, FYI) We walk around the flower garden, rock garden, go on the nature preserve, or walk around the lake. We have a picnic at the rock garden. We go to the beach to swim, and then head up the hill. There we take time for a free bread sample from Great Harvest. Sometimes we pick up ice cream from Sebastian Joe's, or a smoothie from the co-op. We love to go to Wild Rumpus bookstore, and Creative Kidstuff, even if we're not buying! It would be a fun place to meet Ed in the evenings too. They often have music at the band shell there.
If you want to join Bella and I some Friday, we love to go out for tea just down the street from us. Pots of tea there are $4 for a 2 cup pot. Next door to the tea shop is a place that will paint fingenails of little girls for $5. We also like to go to the little local library in the same area to read books.
B & I also love to go to the play place at the Rosedale Mall, to get a soft pretzel, and read books at Barnes & Noble.
Don't miss Afton Apple in the fall! (If you want to send the apples our way, we'll make them into an apple crisp for you!) Down the road from there you can use one of their red wagons, and pick your own pumpkin in a field. We like to do both places, although I think you could get a pumpkin at Afton Apple too!
Happy times!
Post a Comment