Toddler Activities
One of the best parts of being a Stay at Home Mom is the time I have gotten to spend with my youngest daughter. When I was working, I always worked from 8 in the morning until almost 7 at night. I did this Monday through Thursday. I would then spend the weekend catching up on cleaning or catching up on projects. It wasn't always "fun time with mom," especially when you still had so much to catch up on. I constantly felt like I was missing out on milestones or just time with her general.
Our toddler loves spending time outside and being at the park. If she could live there she would. However, I needed to find new ideas that would build on different milestones. I have provided links to some of the items I have used in our activities.
Our library has so many programs and resources for all ages. We go here a couple times a week! If you are able, taking your toddler to your local library is a great tool. One of the things we love most is our libraries Story Time! We go once a week and on the third week, my daughter was pulling me to the room saying, "let's go!" Our library also has early literacy kits. It comes with a few books and a set of resources that correspond with the theme. For example our latest kit was Music. It came with three picture books, a set of musical instruments, and a game of memory. Our youngest goes to the pack and keeps pulling out her favorite book and the instruments to play. Her favorite has been The Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals. It plays music while I read the story and has seemed to bring her deeper into the plot line. The game of memory was great, our youngest is only two, so I leave the cards up and I have her find the matches.
We have tried finger painting. I have used washable paint from Crayola. It was a great tool because it has come off clothes, hands, face, and even our hardwood flooring very easily. Our youngest wasn't excited about using her hands, so we have switched to paint brushing. It gives her the opportunity to practice holding and it allows her to express her creativity! Work those motor skills girl!
Save your toilet empty toilet paper rolls and grab a pack of crafting pom poms. For us, we taped the rolls to her standing dry erase board and taped them in a sequence for them to fall through each of the rolls. She got to watch as they fell all the way through. I personally want to try coloring each of the rolls a different color and having her sort the puff balls by color. They drop into a small bowl at the bottom of the roll. Note: these two have not been my ideas, I did find them on Pinterest.
We go on a walk and I ask her to point out what she sees. We are working on animal names. She calls a bunny "hop, hop" or a cat "meow" versus their actual names. Isn't she adorable? We love doing a rainbow walk. I tell her I see a certain color and point out to her what it is and she repeats it back to me. We try and find all the colors in the rainbow before we make it home. I love going on these walks because it allows her to apply what she learns in her books, at the library, or from Ms. Rachel (love this woman). They also say the children learn most from their parents and talking to them. This gives you a point of what to talk about.
This past weekend we went to Lavender Fest in Pemberville Ohio. There were forty plus vendors and one of them was PlayburgCo. Children can make their own sensory bin. Our youngest has enjoyed this because she can scoop or pick out some of the items from the bin. We spelled her name from the scrabble letters, she helped scoop the rice, we added in beads, and we picked some small toys to throw in too. This is a fun activity to work on motor skills. We picked out what color playdoh (we could have picked from slime as well). Now we can add this to our list of activities! Warning: I learned the hard way that some items do fit up the nose. Don't look away..
I can't believe I get to be home with my daughter all day. Being a SAHM has been a blessing. Seeing her work on milestones while having fun is key to her success. It's hard not to fill my phone with pictures every moment of her big smiles. Don't forget to checkout a couple of my other articles! Stay at Home Mom: The First Month might help us connect!
