For the month of May, a nearby shopping center is hosting an event called "Toddler Tuesdays" where they are hosting various crafts and activities for toddlers. I haven't been able to go - nor have I been brave enough to try (I hate crazy crowds!) but it gave me the idea to start this series.
Ever since Asher turned 1, I have been busy trying to research and think of activities for him to do. Even when he was just 4-5 months old, I was always busy on pinterest seeing if there were any mind-stimulating activities I could help engage him in. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff available for that age-group, but I found so many fun and interesting activities to do with a toddler. I remember feeling so, so excited for Asher to get older so that we could do more fun things together! I thought I would use this platform to share the different kinds of things we do to keep busy, to tire him out (let's be honest!) and to engage his little mind. There are a bunch of things I am thinking up for the next few months (string/peg board activities, painting, etc!) For the first post, I thought I'd keep it simple and just share some of the random, low-to-no cost, easy activities we do on a regular basis.
Reading
We read ALL the time. Literally. We read almost 20-30 books a day (granted they are usually around 5-10 pages only). Sometimes we read the same books 4-5 times a day. I've memorized a handful of his books, haha! I heard that it was good to start reading to babies at a young age so at around 3 months I started reading to him everyday (though I heard it is beneficial to start even younger -- even when they are in-utero!) We started reading to him at bedtime as a part of his bedtime routine when we started sleep training. Since then we've incorporated it more and more throughout the day. I also read that it is great to have books visible and within reach everywhere around the house - this way, they have easy access to it, and don't merely designate certain rooms/corners of the house for reading but see that it can be done anywhere and at anytime! We keep books in his room, our living room, our bedroom and even some waterproof books in the bathtub!
We frequent libraries and bookstores often. Most of the time, he's taking like 20 books off of the shelf and looking at 2 of them for 0.05 seconds each and I'm just chasing after him putting them back.. but more and more he's gravitating towards things he likes. (Right now it's animals, trains and colors!)
I also have books with me in my car so that whenever we go out for lunch or a park date or even just a quick coffee stop, he has books on hand to look at if he wants. Here he is with his adorable dino friend H reading while the mamas enjoyed some DD coffee!
Waterbeads/Jellybeadz
I purchased a pack of these because they were inexpensive and very multi-use. I initially purchased it to use as decor for Asher's birthday party but it's practically like magic because no matter how much I use them, I never seem to get rid of them fast enough. A couple tablespoons makes bowls and bowls (like mixing bowls, not cereal bowls) worth of beads. They initially come in a bag and the beads are just slightly larger than sesame seeds -- but you soak them in water and they blow up into these huge jelly beads. I think these will be great for color-sorting-type activities when he is a bit older, but for now he has fun just moving them from one container to another. These are easy to dehydrate back into their sesame-seed like state and rehydrate when you want to use them again. I literally have a lifetime supply so if you want some, I can mail them to you in an envelope (though i'm not sure if it'll pass customs because they will probably think it's anthrax or something.)
Link to purchaseJellybeadz: Click Here (Affiliated Link)
Pit Balls!
These ball-pit balls are so much fun and so versatile (though they are such a pain to clean....)! I bought a used pack of these for $5 and they were the best investment ever. I don't have a container to keep the balls in but they work well inside a baby gate, or even on a large comforter (so they don't roll around). We played with them in the bath one time when Asher was having a particularly hard day (but dare I say...we will never do this again? So hard to clean after!) and he loved it! For now, these balls are just for funsies but I can also see how this will be a great for a color-sorting activity when he's a little older -- with just a few baskets!
Link to purchase pit balls: click here (affiliated link)
Chuck E Cheese!
We don't go here often, but this is a great place to go occasionally if you have one locally and if you don't mind the bright lights and screens. Especially at this age (12-18 months) they have no idea that it actually costs something to actually play something so we paid literally no money for the entertainment aspect of it. At our local C.E.C., they have a lunch buffet for less than $8 and kids eat free. Unlimited pizza and salad for mama + baby, woot woot! So it literally costs less than $8 to eat a buffet and have a toddler run around "riding" rides, and "playing" games (LOL milk it while you can, mama! ) for 1-2 hours. I did happen to find a coin on the floor (ghetto or asian? probably both) so we used it to take a picture, lol!
Storytime!
Never in my life did I realize how many places offer free storytime until I had a child. It's pretty amazing! Almost all public libraries offer some sort of activity for kids so it just takes a little bit of research! We've been trying to frequent one of our local ones every week and it's been so much fun! It's been so fun to see how he is becoming more engaged with the songs and reading time with each passing month. So thankful to have friends to go to storytime with!
Waterplay
I don't have a backyard (but I have a small porch/patio!) so this will have to do for now. I purchased this awesome water table when it was on sale at Amazon and I'm so happy with it! It's really fun and engaging for little babes and keeps them busy for a pretty long time. Maybe one day we will have a backyard where we can do more fun water activities, but this will do just fine for now.
Link to purchase this water activity table: Click Here (affiliated link)
Free toys!
Sometimes, Asher gets bored of the toys we have at home. I recently started seperating his toys into different containers and cycling through them every few weeks. However, he was really into this lego stage recently where he liked to build and stack things. I didn't really want to buy any until he was a little older, but found out that one of our local malls has this awesome lego store with this lego table laid out so we try to go there so he can get his lego fix. It's also great to go to places like this so he can learn to share and not destroy things other kids built (are all boys destroyers? jee whiz..) As you can see, he really likes legos!
Coloring/Drawing
Asher got this really awesome easel for his birthday in January (thanks, Karen!) and he was always wanting to use it. I didn't want him to ruin it so early on and I didn't want him to use up the butcher paper roll quite yet (asian, again -- lol!) so I've just been taping up scrap paper for him to color on. It's been the perfect set up to sit him up on his high chair with the easel and he's been loving these quiet coloring sessions. Though the first few (okay, let's be real it was at least 10) times he had more marker on his high chair, fingers, face, neck, clothes and lips/tongue (yes, tongue) than he did on the actual paper -- but he's eventually gotten used to the idea of marker - on - paper. and he is eating a lot less marker ink (it's non-toxic, right?!)
link to purchase travel art case: click here (affiliated link)
link to purchase melissa & doug easel: click here (affiliated link)
There are so many things we can do with our toddlers but I think the most important thing that I try to remember is just to enjoy spending time with him! Sometimes, I feel the temptation just to keep him preoccupied so that I can get other stuff done that I forget to just enjoy playing with him and watching him grow! What a blessing and honor it is to be entrusted with these little lives and to have the privilege to spend every day with them!
Hoping to do some more fun activities in this next week, so hopefully I'll have a fun activity to share with you next week!
Until then!
xoxo
