With so many of us at home right now I thought I would pull out this old blogpost and dust it off. These are activities that I still use to occupy my kids. They are also super easy to set up and only use things you already have.
Painting with pompoms and clothespins.
Painting with pompoms and clothespins.
What you'll need:
Paper
Finger Paint
Craft Pompoms or cotton balls
Clothespins
This is so much fun! When Ryals was two he got a GIANT coloring book for Christmas. The pages were the perfect size for clumsy little fingers. You simply clip the pompom in the clothespins and have your child dip the pompom in the paint. They can paint til their heart’s content and when they're done you throw out the pompom. You aren't fooling with paintbrushes.
Cardboard Box Car Ramp
Cardboard Box Car Ramp
What you'll need:
Cardboard Box, flattened
Tape
My husband, Jason and Ryals had hours worth of fun sending cars, trucks, trains and balls down that ramp. A week later and it was still standing in my house.
Flatten out your box to one long strip and tape any flaps down.
I taped mine to a tall toy you could use another box or a bookshelf. Anything that makes a ramp.
Water Play
Water Play
What you'll need:
Containers of varying size
Spoons
Small toys
I filled a pan with water and placed in little cars, old containers, a strainer a spoon. Etc. etc. I put the pan on a towel. But that didn't matter, the floor got wet. Hey! Free floor cleaner.
Ryals enjoyed filling the containers with water and pouring the liquid back and forth. He also tried to "sink" his little cars.
I filled a pan with water and placed in little cars, old containers, a strainer a spoon. Etc. etc. I put the pan on a towel. But that didn't matter, the floor got wet. Hey! Free floor cleaner.
Ry enjoyed filling the containers with water and pouring the liquid back and forth. He also tried to "sink" his little cars.
Object in a Bottle
Object in a Bottle
What you'll need:
20 oz bottle (empty)
Q tips
This is by far the most fun my son has ever had playing with trash. I just took an old plastic bottle and put cotton swabs in it. You could do anything, buttons (if your child is past the phase of putting everything in his/her mouth) clothespins, a small toy.
He loved shaking the bottle, opening the bottle and taking the objects out and putting them back in. He played with that bottle for 20 minutes, which in toddler time is like a week.