For the past few days my best friend, her husband, and their 28 month old daughter ("Miss A") have been staying at my house. Without children of my own that age, I was a bit nervous about what we would use to keep Miss A occupied for that long. While I try to have toys on hand for a variety of age ranges, I wondered whether I had enough things to entertained over a number of consecutive days. I needn't have worried. The past few days have reinforced what I already knew, that often the best "toys" aren't toys at all, but simple household objects. Here are some of the things that Miss A and I enjoyed together. I suspect you already have all of the items you need for most of the activities, and if not, they can be purchased inexpensively at the grocery store.
1. Cup Stacking and "Bowling": Gather up the plastic and paper cups you have hanging around the house (if you don't have any, disposable party cups are available at most dollar stores). Challenge your little one to stack them into different tower formations. We particularly enjoyed building pyramids and super high towers. When you get tired of stacking the cups, arrange them in a bowling pin formation on the floor. Stand several paces back, and roll a soft, indoor ball at the formation to see how many you can knock over at once.
2. Kitchen Sink Water Play: A water table is a wonderful thing to have, but if you don't, you can create a similar experience in your kitchen sink. Fill it up with warm water (adding a bit of dish soap makes it particularly fun), and add a few unbreakable bowls, spoons, and other objects like a ladle, a colander and a funnel. Pull a steady stool up to the sink, and allow your toddler to experiment with scooping and pouring the water from container to container, and with different utensils. Add a dish cloth or sponge, and let him pretend to help wash dishes too. As with any water activity, careful supervision is critical. Stay nearby to ensure your little one is safe on the stool as well.
3. Mixing Bowl Drums: Turn a few unbreakable mixing bowls upside down on the store. Give your little one two wooden spoons to use as drumsticks (regular spoons would work too), and let her bang away. It can be especially fun if you take turns drumming, and try to copy each other's patterns. Make sure you experiment with drumming at different speeds and volumes too. If our child is slightly older, you can even insert a "teachable moment" about how the different sized drums create different sounds.
4. Transferring Beans: Set out a bowl of large dried beans (I recommend lima beans), a spoon, and a muffin tin or ice cube tray. Encourage your tot to spoon the beans from the container into the compartments of the muffin tin. Try transferring the beans with different sized spoons, and other objects like small tongs too. It's fantastic fine motor practice, and can be a way to teach one to one correspondence and number recognition if you have your toddler spoon one bean (or two etc.) into each separate compartment. Working with the tongs also helps to develop the muscles needed for a proper pincher grip, an important pre-writing component.
3. Mixing Bowl Drums: Turn a few unbreakable mixing bowls upside down on the store. Give your little one two wooden spoons to use as drumsticks (regular spoons would work too), and let her bang away. It can be especially fun if you take turns drumming, and try to copy each other's patterns. Make sure you experiment with drumming at different speeds and volumes too. If our child is slightly older, you can even insert a "teachable moment" about how the different sized drums create different sounds.
4. Transferring Beans: Set out a bowl of large dried beans (I recommend lima beans), a spoon, and a muffin tin or ice cube tray. Encourage your tot to spoon the beans from the container into the compartments of the muffin tin. Try transferring the beans with different sized spoons, and other objects like small tongs too. It's fantastic fine motor practice, and can be a way to teach one to one correspondence and number recognition if you have your toddler spoon one bean (or two etc.) into each separate compartment. Working with the tongs also helps to develop the muscles needed for a proper pincher grip, an important pre-writing component.
5. Spectacular Scarves: It's no secret that playing dress up is a favourite toddler activity, but you don't necessarily need a whole box of props. Gather up a bunch of scarves from around your house (this is particularly fun if you have different textured scarves such as silk and wool), and let your kids explore. Scarves can be blankets for playing house, capes for super heros, skirts and accessories for fashion divas, and the tails of animals. They are also great for playing peek-a-boo and surprise with. We also enjoyed turning up the music, and dancing with them.
After such a fun couple of days, it feels lonely here without my little friend. Does anyone want to come over for a playdate?
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