Keeping 'em Busy

Toddlers around tough!  They don't stay in one place, and things like ceiling fans and lights don't keep them amused anymore.  Attention spans are short, and they always have to be moving.  As a full-time, stay-at-home mom, it can be very trying to entertain my 15 month old without getting into a rut or losing interest in whatever we're doing myself.  So, I wanted to share a few things that we like to do and items we have here in our house, and I'm hoping that others will share their toddler activities, too!

Arts and Crafts:

We started with crayons, Play-doh, and finger paints fairly early on, after getting an email from BabyCenter that suggested trying those items around 7 or 8 months.  We have had a lot of success with the Crayola Tadoodles line, which includes bath crayons, regular crayons, markers and stamps.  Tadoodles are bulb-shaped, perfect for toddlers who still have some time before they're ready to learn the pencil grip.  The bath crayons are very easy to wash off of the sides of the tub.  We bought a large roll of easel paper from Michael's for regular crayons and finger paints.  We just masking tape the paper to the table or the floor and let her go at it.  But, best place for finger paints with a young toddler?  Outside!

I was very excited to find a younger kid's version of the magna doodle at Target.  Fisher Price has the Made by Me!  Elephant Doodler, which is recommended for children 12 months and up.  Again, the writing instrument is bulb-shaped for little hands.  And Addisyn just loves sliding the little yellow mouse back and forth to make her drawings "disappear".

Looking for a less messy way to paint with a toddler?  We grab a paint brush, a cup of water, and head outside to let Addisyn "paint" the sidewalk.  It's comical to watch her walk a few steps, make a few quick strokes with her brush, walk a little further, and squat down again to add a few more lines and dots.  She also gets a kick out of dipping her brush in the cup for more water.  Want an inside version?  Check out the Aquadoodle!  I had heard of this years and years ago, but wasn't really quite sure what it was.  Turns out it's just a big mat with a surface that's specially made to change colors when it's wet, and it comes with a marker that you simply fill with water.  We picked up some cheap sponges and cut out shapes to use as stamps, too!

Quizzes:

No, they're not for a grade... Addisyn loves to point out items to us, especially when we ask her where something is.  She used to hold my finger while I nursed her, and she would use my finger to point out different parts of my face and head.  I'd tell her what they were, and then point hers out, too.  Now I'm able to ask her where they are, and she knows.  We do this with other household objects and toys, too.  This has really become a great distraction tool when we're in a situation where we're holding her and she wants to be put down but we can't put her down.

Books:

Now that she's walking Addisyn definitely doesn't want to hold still for me to read to her, but we make it work as best we can.  I find that I can keep her attention a little longer if she has something to do like point out pictures of things I ask her to show me, or turning pages.  We have a few flap books, and those seem to work well for us, too.  I love to see her looking at books herself.  One of her favorites is called Hand Hand Fingers Thumb.  On many of occasions I've glanced over at her "reading" the book to herself,  looking at and pointing to her hands and fingers.

Sand and water fun:

We decided to get Addisyn a water table for her first birthday, after seeing how drawn she was to the dog's water bowl, and she loves it!  Shortly after we got her water table we also discovered that she enjoys digging, as she would crawl from the water table in the backyard, over to our little garden and play in the dirt.  Our next investment: a second-hand sandbox.  She is absolutely tickled when we turn over a bucket to make a sand castle, and we pull the bucket away and there is a tower of sand left behind!  We always start with the sand box, and then move on to the water table.  This way we can rinse off the sand, and avoid her getting absolutely covered in sand after she has played in the water.

My Little Helper:

Let's face it, staying home with your children isn't all fun and games.  There are still household responsibilities to take care of, and that's where my little helper comes in.  Even young toddlers like to feel helpful, and what we see as work is still just a game to them - make it fun!  Addisyn is always helping me fold laundry and put her diapers away.  She hands me a pieces of clothing so that I can fold them, or gives me her diapers to put away.  We also try to stay in the habit of cleaning up her toys each evening before starting her bedtime routine.  I sit by the toy bin and ask her to go get specific toys that are out on the floor.  She brings them over to me, and most of the time will put them away when I ask her to.  Not only are we creating good habits by getting her to put her toys away, we're also working on object recognition, and playing a fun game.

Memberships:

Sometimes - okay, a lot of the time - I just have to get out of the house.  As a Christmas gift my husband gave me a membership to the Fort Worth Zoo.  For just $65 a year I get free parking and admission (non-members - $5 for parking, $12 per ticket), and get discounts on food, merchandise, the train, and the carousel.  Addisyn will get in for free until she turns 3.  We definitely got our money's worth out of that membership within the first couple of weeks.  I also have an annual membership to the Fort Worth Nature Center - a great place to hike, and just spend time outside.  The individual membership was $45 for the year and includes admission ($5 per person for non-members), a discount at the gift shop, and many of their special events are free (usually $5 in addition to admission for non-members).