Today’s post is the third in a series of “At Home With Gratitude” topics. We at Little Wonders hope this series will be helpful to you, our community, by providing support and resources during these unique times. As Mireille’s recent blog post mentioned, we hope to find the silver lining and embrace this as an opportunity to slow down and spend quality time with the ones we love most. By doing this with gratitude, we will set an example for our children and hopefully make this a time that our little ones will remember fondly.
By Stephanie Fustar
Being at home all day, every day with young children is beyond exhausting. They require so much of our physical and emotional energy, leaving us depleted and stressed about our ever-growing “to do” list. This post is meant to provide a variety of products and services that facilitate your toddler playing or working independently. My hope is that it will buy you 5-30 minutes of time to work, clean, prepare food or practice some self care. Many of these items are included on my Amazon Idea List found here, but I encourage you to support local toy and book stores in your area! Many of them are open and providing delivery or pick-up options.
Arts & Crafts
There are so many arts and crafts products that toddlers enjoy and can do themselves. The classics like play-doh (maybe add some new tools), drawing with markers/crayons/colored pencils, art with stamps, stickers and tape and painting with watercolors are sure to keep them occupied. Be sure to put a placemat underneath so they can work independently. Mix it up by getting different colors/patterns of paper or cardstock! Other ideas for art include dot art, water wow books, button art and make-a-face sticker books. There are many options for activity workbooks/placemats such as tracing, cutting, pasting, and taping. Crafting ideas include making jewelry with pony beads and string or snap pop beads. Dress up dolls, lacing activities and puzzles are other fun activities that will occupy some children.
Storytime & Books
We all know the benefits of reading to our children and Reading Bug storytime (11am on Facebook Live) is part of our family’s daily routine. We broadcast it over the family television for easy viewing. The San Mateo County Libraries are also offering multiple storytimes each week. Along the same lines, YouTube also has many options for stories (The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of our favorites).
If you have a CD player at home, read-along books are a great option. For free digital read-along books (and many other types), check out Hoopla and Kanopy Kids for free through the SMC libraries.
For non-screen time “reading,” try the many types of Poke-a-Dot books and “sound books.” Or challenge your child to line up his stuffed animals and read his favorite books to them!
Pretend Play
Many toddlers can spend a good chunk of time in pretend-land. While many great products exist, parents can easily facilitate this with existing household items. My daughter loves when I ask her to “make dinner” with her pretend wood kitchen tools and food. I change it up by letting her choose an apron, and bringing out various measuring cups, whisks, plastic mixing bowls, and pots.
Other ideas:
Tea time: Let your child’s imagination run wild by letting her choose where to have the party, with who, what to serve, how to decorate the table
Doctor: Use dolls or animals, let them use a few band-aids or bandage wraps from the household first aid kit
Dress-up: Bring out some of your clothes/accessories - my kids love my cowboy hat and boots. Encourage them to dress up their dolls too!
Make-up: I save all my used-up makeup containers and put them in a special make-up bag for my daughter. Pump/spray bottles and make up brushes and containers are her favorites.
Car/vehicle wash: Fill a plastic bin with water (soap optional) and have your child run his own car wash for his trains/vehicles. Provide brushes and towels for extra fun.
Building
Toddlers love to get on the floor and play and there are many products available for building all kinds of things. Classic toys like trains, legos, magnatiles, blocks and lincoln logs never get old and can be combined to create a whole city! For a new twist add couch cushions, stuffed animals and toy vehicles. Fort building is another fun activity and can be varied by using different blankets, sheets, cushions and pillows. For an extra special fort, set up a tent!
Outdoor
Young children love to play outside (who doesn’t?)! Sand and water tables are a great way to encourage independent play and plastic storage bins make a simple DIY option. Make sure to include floating toys, scoopers and other fun accessories. Other products that can be used in bins include kinetic sand and water beads. Sometimes my family makes outdoor time extra special by turning on the bubble machine and playing fun toddler dance music like Kidz Bop. Another favorite outdoor activity is drawing with sidewalk chalk - challenge your kids to draw something or get them started with the outlines that they can color in.
I hope some of these ideas are helpful in buying parents some much-needed time! We are still updating this list of resources for families with infants and toddlers. Hopefully it is helpful for your family. Please add your favorites!