Keeping toddlers busy and learning...

LiveNLove44

I am absolutely loving my time with DD this summer. I am a teacher and this is my first summer in 8 years where I'm able to not work. I am staying home with DD (almost 2) and couldn't be happier. I'm curious about what you SAHMs and others do daily to keep your LOs busy and learning! I discovered today that by 6PM, I was utterly exhausted and we'd done everything we could inside since it was raining all afternoon/evening. I am really interested in finding new games, routines, etc. to keep it fun. I'd love to hear what works for you!!

amberrmariee20

I took my 3.5 year old outside to ride his bike today, he's slowly getting it. He's one of those "mommy I can't help me" kids ! We do the alphabet daily and count daily. He has really good sentences already. We started practising writing letters, but he's still not interested much in it. We like to count crayons, if bryson had 4 crayons and mommy takes 1 how many crayons does bryson have ... Etc, we also do this with his dinkies(cars) ... If bryson has 1 dinkie and mommy gives you 1 dinkie how many do you have... Just simple math and easier then saying 1+1 is ?

smlowe9311

I'm also a teacher to an almost 2 year old so this is a new experience for me as well. My game plan this summer is to have 1-2 fun activities that get us out of the house a week (park, beach, science center, library toddler time, local petting farm etc). She also LOVES helping with chores/projects around the house so laundry/dishes etc. I will have her help with. That's all I've got so far but would LOVE to hear other ideas too!!!

Sbrouwer0706

I used to nanny for my nephew when he was about 2. He used to help me cook and bake. He loved it. He has gotten really good now (he is 4) and he knows how to measure flour and dry ingredients with only a little bit of help. We also did a lot of crafts. I would put finger paint in a ziploc and seal it and tape it to the window. That would occupy him for a while and he would go back to it throughout the day. We also made some homemade play dough. He helped me in the garden a lot with pulling weeds which he loved to do. We also built a lot of forts and would read a book after lunch every day.

I would find a lot of ideas on Pinterest. Hope this helps!

lucky1187

I'm a SAHM. My Dd will be 2 this August. Our normal routine consists of Breakfast, a little dancing/music time, then she starts helping mom clean the house, she likes unloading the dishwasher, and vaccuming. We read books, and color. After all that it is already lunch time, and she is ready for a nap. (So am I) lol. After she takes a snooze, we kick the ball, then head outside. Her water table has been a hit recently. She loves snack time with watermelon recently, when we come inside to get dinner started, she plays in the kitchen using her drawers of fun plastic kitchen utensils. After dinner, bath time, read a few more books, and she is ready for bed. I hope this helps you. Pinterest has some great activities to try for toddlers too.

LiveNLove44

Thanks, ladies! These suggestions are great. DD and I have a solid routine at this point, but when it's rainy, we're in need of more activities. We paint, color, clean, cook, read, read, read, do yoga (has anyone watched Cosmic Yoga on YouTube? hilarious with a toddler), practice shapes on a chalkboard, play pretend with all of her babies and toys, etc. I've found some interesting ideas on Pinterest for other activities, but I love hearing different ideas from our lovely BMB

@smlowe9311, I need to look into our local activities for kids during the day. We have wading pools, parks, and splash pads for sunny days, but I need to check out the indoor options, too! Good idea about 1-2 times a week!

jegoffin

You're a teacher so you know that young kids learn best by play. My girls are almost 2 and 4. I send them out for independent play as often as possible. Let them get dirty and try new things, play make believe, run, jump, problem solve. We do a lot of reading and arts/crafts. I try to do at least 2 "outings" with friends a month. I work pt year round and my mom usually takes them to story time on Thursdays. I make a point to NOT entertain them all day everyday.

ElleMF728

I'm with PP's try to get out of the house as much as possible.  We play outside several hours every day and go on errands several days a week.  I also agree with @lucky1187, I'm always surprised by how entertaining DS finds cleaning the house and helping with dishes.  

Some fun summer activities we do are:

Water table, bubbles (we have a bubble machine that he loves), sprinkler, baby pool, walks, going to the park, we make forts out of boxes (we are in the process of moving so we have a lot of those right now), running errands, helping mommy vacuum, helping with the dishes.  Really anything that you need to get done can be turned into a game although it may take 10x as long with LO "helping" you.  

Being exhausted by 6 pm is pretty standard for me, and TBH rainy days can get pretty lazy.  I try to run errands during bad weather and sometimes will even do a "fun" bath just for playing.  

DS will be 2 at the end of July.  

MamaOwl15

DS just turned 2 and most of his day is learning through play. He likes to "help" when I cook and clean, loves reading books, doing puzzles and playing with his cars and trains or blowing bubbles or kicking a ball. He's really interested in learning letters and colors right now.

His routine isn't very structured most days, though we did go regularly to storytime at the library until it got too hot for me to walk the mile each direction. So most days, rather than having a certain time we work on any given skill, I just take advantage of teachable moments as they come up. Some days, if it's raining or my energy level is extremely low, we just watch movies. Not my ideal, but he still works on his vocabulary skills and identifying colors and shapes.

aah1013

I'm with my daughter from whenever she gets up until 2pm, then I'm home for bedtime. I work 2:30p-7p.

I basically realized that I can't fully entertain my daughter at all hours because I still need to get stuff done. I consider everything a learning experience. Sorting laundry, cleaning up toys, cooking, anything! I just involve her if she's interested. If she's not, she can play on her own. We break up housework with actual fun stuff like games, art projects, bubbles, or whatever. I do allow some TV (I know some don't). I need a little time to rest before work, so we do snuggle up and watch about an hour of TV before we leave the house.

Oh and we go to free programs all the time! Public libraries offer so many great opportunities for kids. It's totally worth looking into what is available around you. Plus my daughter loves going on errands, so even a trip to Costco can be exciting for them!

Staying at home is totally exhausting, but you'll figure out what works best for you all. Just remember, downtime is ok!

on_the_move

one of my DD's favorite things to do is splash in the puddles and play in the rain.  I let her put on a bathing suit and rain boots or sandals and have at!  She can always take a bath when you are done.

double2rouble

We get out most mornings.  We go to the library, zoo, swimming, or park some days.  Other days its just running around doing errands with time to explore (flowers at lowes, fruit at the grocery store).  We read a lot and build with blocks.  Play hide and seek and lots of playing with her babies.  Honestly I am exhausted most days before 6, more like 2 or 3.  Toddlers have way way too much energy.  Getting together with mom friends helps too

AshleeM7784

I'm home with my 15 mo old son full time. We've had a beautiful summer/spring so we spend most of our time outside, but we live in Seattle so I has to work a bit harder to come up with activities during our rainy winter.

There are tons of great free/inexpensive activities in our area that we try to take advantage of: story times at our local library and book store, we go to the community pool about once a week, open toddler time at the gymnastics school.

I'm an artist and love arts and crafts, but sadly my son doesn't seem to have a single artistic bone in his body. Sitting and coloring (or even finger painting!) doesn't hold his attention so we tend to do lots of really physically active things. It is exhausting though so I'm trying to stretch his attention span for things like puzzles and quiet play activities.

ljburrelli

My son is 2...I love taking him outside to play, ride his bike, go for a walk or even swim but on those rainy days I take DS to the library for toddler story time or if he's exceptionally rowdy we go to an indoor play area.  Luckily I have a lot close by and let him burn some energy with the other kids!!!

eat111315

Great suggestions above!
In addition we also:
- watercolor paint the driveway/sidewalk. If you don't have watercolors just regular water will occupy a good half hour plus you can then paint EVERYTHING!
- shaving cream in the bathtub. Squirt about a can of unscented shaving cream and dump in a nudey kid.
- open up a card board box and tape it to the wall then paint, glue, color away.
- we go to the library a lot. They do story time and on off days ours doesn't mind the kids running around the open space in the kids section to blow of steam.
-check out your local barnes and noble. they usually do a weekly story time and most have Lego tables and Thomas tables to play with.

sugarplum513

Check out your local library, most have great children's programs and are free of charge. My daughter does My Gym twice a week, we read books, practice letters and counting, paint, other craft activities, build sculptures with Lego duplos, go to the playground, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, water table, long walks, baking, and eat 2 meals and 2 snacks (at least) before dinner. I thought being a SAHM was easy, until I became one. It's exhausting!!