I think all Moms and Dads, both stay-at-home and working; tend to get burnt out on ideas on how to entertain their very energetic and curious toddlers and preschoolers. In my other life, pre-children, I was a Pediatric Occupational Therapist and I have to admit that even with that experience behind me, I still hit a wall when it came to ideas. Being a therapist in a very active and stimulating environment tended to elicit more creativity from me than being at home in a much quieter and less stimulating (for me, anyway) environment. Plus all of my resources (preschool teachers and other therapists that had very good ideas that I could borrow and bounce ideas off of) had disappeared. Add to that being a frazzled new Mom, ‘pregnancy brain’ when pregnant with my second child, and lack of sleep made for a lot less brain cells being utilized! I needed ideas to get me through the day. Luckily I ended up having a very creative neighbor and we tended to motivate each other to keep coming up with stuff. We needed ideas that were easy, fun for both the parent and the child, and preferably didn’t cost anything! I guess you could call them ‘boredom busters’. Even if it was something that lasted 5-10 minutes, it was worth it to me.
So here I’ll list activities that I and my children liked and worked for us, as trivial as some of them may seem, and I welcome anyone to add any ideas, recipes, games, resources, toys or books that they and their children have enjoyed and benefited from.
Indoor activities today...outdoor stuff tomorrow. Please leave comments with your fun activities.
Tabletop
Volcanoes – We have little plastic volcanoes, but any small container or cup will work. Just put baking soda in, add food coloring if you want colors, and then slowly add vinegar and watch it bubble over! (Put the cup on something that can catch the ‘lava’ without making a mess.)
Gooblek- Mixing cornstarch and water can make for a very interesting (and quite messy) textural experience. It’s not quite a liquid or solid. I add food coloring and give them some play dough-type toys to manipulate it with. Don’t put it down the drain or garbage disposal! Wait for the water to evaporate and then throw it in the garbage.
Potions – This is a girl’s favorite. I would just give those ingredients such as flour, baking soda, seltzer, glitter, or anything from the pantry or craft cabinet that can be interesting to them to mix up with spoons, bowls, cups, etc.
Rolling balls, marbles in paint – Get a shirt box or other type of box, put paper on the bottom, and let them roll small balls, marbles or trucks (for tire tracks) in the paint and then around the box for some neat designs!
Play dough- You can hide small items in the play dough for them to dig out and find.
Hiding musical toys- We would have the child leave the room, hide the musical toy and then they would have to find it using their ears instead of eyes.
Flashlight games- Let them look around the room to see where everything is, then turn of the lights and give them directions like, “Find the red pillow”, or even simpler such as “Find the ceiling”, and then have them shine the light on that object.
Stickers- When learning body parts we would put stickers on them and then have them take it off their nose, etc.
Wax paper, straw, colored drops of water- Use a straw to put drops of water on wax paper and then move them around by blowing on them with a straw.
Straw and ping pong - Have races by blowing the balls with the straws across a finish line.
Egg carton sorting beans- Get a bag of various beans and have them sort them using an egg carton. If they have good attention span, this one is good.
Bucket of snow – Scoop up some snow and put it in the bathtub, sink or big bin and use shovels, spoons etc, to play with it and watch it melt.
Rice and sand - Fill boxes or bins with rice sand and them hide small toys for them to find or use it as a mini-sand box.
Dance party – Clear the furniture and crank up the music! You can also play dance freeze.
Ripping paper- Another messy one but if they are good cleaner-uppers, then it can work. Have them rip up paper to make confetti and then have it rain (you can have umbrellas handy), or throw a ticker tape parade for a deserving hero.
Scavenger hunts – Indoor and outdoor – just draw pictures of items to find and have them check them off as they find them.
Campfire stories –You can use a lantern or flashlight to gather around, and put marshmallows on a Popsicle stick, then tell a story, read a book or sing a song.
Sink or float- Get various items and a clear bucket or bin for water and have them guess if it will sink or float.
Ice cubes- Bring ice cubes into the bathtub (you can use food coloring or put a small toy in the middle of it), then watch and feel it melt.
Stacking and crashing - You can stack anything from Tupperware, formula containers, yogurt containers, blocks, boxes, etc. and then crash through them with any type of toy vehicle or dinosaur, etc.
Learning body parts – putting stickers on and ask them to find the one on nose, etc.
Coins – stacking, sorting, putting in (could cut slit in disposable Tupperware top or shoebox)
Balls- Just clear a space and put as many balls in there as you have and see what happens!