Hi! Writing this post because…well, nothing better to do! Ha!
I have seen a ton of posts on my facebook groups asking about activities to do with your kids and whatnot, so I was inspired. Since I only work part time and we don’t use daycare, some of this I have to do anyway.
Even with me being home a lot normally, Justin is used to going different places and seeing all kinds of people each week! He is for sure sick of Matt and I and even though he has so many toys, he needs a change of scenery.
So, here is a list of good ideas I’ve seen online, things I have tried, some things I’ve made up and the best tips I’ve come across.
I apologize for the godawful photos -this was kind of an afterthought and I used what I had quickly snapped.
Basic Things To Do Every Day
Tubby!
Easy (duh, you do it anyway) and most kids love it! We usually don’t bath everyday, but since the pandemic we have been! We have nothing but time so why not?
* If I need to, I can sit with my computer on the bathroom floor and get a half hour of work done while he splashes around.
Weather depending, we try to go for a walk each day.
Walking is the best your gonna get for a change of scenery, so might as well take advantage!
Also weather depending, we also try to play outdoors at least once a day. Playing outside is good for releasing energy, getting some fresh air and switching things up. You really don’t even NEED much for toys, a ball and running around works fine and is what we end up doing often anyway!
Some fun things to do outside:
Justin is a little young for a real obstacle course, but for older kids its a great idea! You can keep switching up the activities and order the’re in to make it different. For now, I created a simple path for him to follow using my little garden fences. He loved it and we cheered every time he reached the end! (celebrate everything)
I also grabbed this board from the garage as a “balance beam”. It doesn’t take much, you just have to be creative!
The big question. What to do indoors?
The best tip: Switch up your toys!
Every night, I move his toys around into different rooms or places. If you have a lot, you can put a couple different toys away each night and then bring them back out the next day. This helps keep him from getting bored of the same things every day.
Everyone has amazon boxes laying around these days. A box big enough to sit in and some crayons takes up some time!
*Side note: If you try an activity and they don’t seem interested, try again the next day. Sometimes Justin is just in the mood for a certain activity and will do it for an hour. Other days he will barely even look at it.
Thinking outside the box (or technically inside I guess?):
We got this slide from facebook marketplace about a month ago and usually keep it outside but with the current circumstances, we brought it inside for some fun. Obviously he loves to slide down but to switch it up we started racing his cars down it. Now we get a lot of entertainment from something that otherwise would have just been sitting outside in the rain!
One thing we did ‘by accident’: I pulled out a box that contained all of his “baby toys” (rattles, things that hung from his activity center, etc. He actually pulled out each one individually and played with it for a few minutes. Woohoo!
After going through some of these more “normal” activities, I had to start getting creative.
So, here are my Pinterest creations so far:
A tissue box and some scarves, napkins, bandanas… Simple. Justin didn’t play with it for too long but he was pretty happy for the short time he did, I will try again!
Pipe cleaners and a vegetable steamer. Pinterest had a strainer in place of the steamer, but I worked with what I had! He actually loved it! I started off just sticking them into the holes but, I totally underestimated him and he got them out in no time. So then I weaved them through a couple holes, he was so happy truing to get them out and stick them back in! I wish I had colored pipe cleaners but what can you do.
Fridge magnets and a muffin tin. We’ve had these magnets on the fridge and he plays with them, but switching up where they are really helped! We loved sticking them to the metal and also started separating them by color in different cups.
* This was the first time he’s really showed me that he understands color so that was actually super exciting!
* This is also probably the best thing I’ve “made” so far. He keeps going back to it and playing for a while.
I have these “bricks” and a Thor hammer from his birthday party. I pile them on this little side table, he counts down from 3 and hits them with the hammer. Can be done with any cardboard boxes and a bat, wooden spoon, etc. Doesn’t have to be fancy! I swear he piled them up and knocked them off 75 times in a row last night, win!
We tried solo cup bowling this morning. It was not as successful as I imagined BUT our weird little guy loveddd stacking the cups and… trying to wear them as shoes? LOL. Bottom line, it entertained him for a while!
With playgrounds closed, I really wanted to get him a swing for some reason. Well, here is what we managed to come up with! He didn’t complain!
The seat from his baby bouncer, some rope and my husbands pull-up bar!
*I tied a lot of knots, gorilla glued the knots and made sure it would hold weight before putting him in it of course!
I knew he needed something different to get some energy out and I know he loves to bounce, so I went on the hunt for a trampoline. I posted on my local facebook group to see if anyone had anything to help and this morning I picked one up from someone who had one in their yard no longer being used. I brought it into the backyard and cleaned before letting him touch it. There was a rubber pad on the bar which was worn so I just cut it off and sterilized the bar. Perfect success so far!
We still have at least a month to go so I will edit and add things we continue to do! Good luck and stay safe!
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