Indoor fun: Seven things to do with your toddler when it rains (or snows)
It's cold season, and this means a number of rainy or snowy days spent indoors. While, hopefully, for many of us there will still be plenty of sun, bad weather should not be a deterrent for fun. My little active toddler was my inspiration to come up with a few fun activities and games indoors. Here are a few ideas.
Home Safari
Find a few toy animals around the house - dog, cat, bunny, dolphin - you can surely find a few of them around. Tell your toddler you are going on a safari to find all the animals. This requires a bit of quick preparation. Place the animals around the house and put pieces of masking tape on the way, so he can easily find them. Add a few distraction objects (shakers, maracas, balls, drums) for extra tasks in between and a few pillows on the floor to serve as obstacles he would surely love to climb over. Start on the course by following the masking tape to find the animals; tell him warm/hot/cold to help him find them. When you reach distraction objects, tell him to make noise (shake the maracas) to wake up the animals. This game will satisfy the curiosity of a little explorer and teach him cause and effect.
Music Box
Select a box that will hold a variety of musical instruments. These include old pots, pans, bowls, lids and spoons, along with more traditional baby drums, shakers, and bells. Add a few baby musical instruments, such as a guitar or a bongo drum, xylophone and anything else that would make some great noise. First, pick the music - it can be a style (country, rock, pop, Latin, etc.) or your favorite musician, or traditional baby music. Your toddler will love new sounds, as kids are traditionally drawn to music. So don't be afraid to play something other than Twinkle, Twinkle. You can sing and dance together. Then, tell your toddler about the rhythm and something interesting about the music you are listening to. Take the music box and play different instruments together in tune with the music. End your music time by singing a few of your favorite tunes together.
Yoga Ball Fun
A yoga or exercise ball is a great investment for your stretching and abs strengthening needs. But you'll be surprised how much your toddler will enjoy it! You can sit him on top of the ball and bounce - find or make up a cute bouncy baby song and this will be continuous entertainment. You can also put the child face down on the ball and then pull him down with his ankles - this will make him climb back up and then get pulled down again and will sure generate some giggles. This is a nice exercise of up/down or high/low. Another ball game is to sit across from your toddler and roll the ball back and forth. Or, start a mini-bowling league by stacking some blocks or empty bottles and have your toddler roll the ball into them to knock them down. Finally, make him into Indiana Jones pushing the ball around the room.
Sorting Game
Sorting objects into groups is a nice way for your toddler to learn organization, patience, and develop thinking. It can be any object but you should definitely supervise this process. Sheila Ellison, author of 365 Games Smart toddlers play, suggests this fun Pasta Sorting game. All you need is a plastic bowl or container filled with a variety of pasta - either different shapes or different colors. Teach your toddler how to sort similar types of pasta in one pile and others in another; use descriptive words when you do it (curly, straight, thin, wide, etc.). Then, let him go at it. My son was entertained by this game for almost 30 minutes first time he tried. The sorting doesn't have to be perfect - the fun is in doing and learning. You can really sort anything. Have your child help you with laundry - teach him what socks, shirts and pants are and have him help you put them into piles. If you have a large collection of crayons, teach your toddler to sort them by color - a great way to learn your rainbow.
Arts and Crafts
Create a designated area in your home where your child will be able to play safely without causing damage to floors or furniture. Experts recommend having separate boxes for various items (vs. dropping everything together in one box) - this way your toddler will learn some important organization skills grouping objects together. When it comes to arts and crafts, I like the idea of having an arts table. This will be a central point for all creative activity. Supplies that come in handy are play dough, crayons, paper, finger paints, blocks, safety scissors, stickers and a good large washable bib. Spend time with your budding artist to make sure supplies are not eaten or smeared around the floor. Start by making shapes out of play dough - don't just squish it around but come up with a story (puppies always work). Then draw lines and shapes with crayons. Take some finger paints and stickers and fill in and around the shapes. For older kids, have them cut out the shapes out of paper. End this with stacking block towers. Then, of course, it's the fun washing game - what kid doesn't love water? Spending time on arts and crafts is a great developmental activity and it's nice to sit down and relax for everyone.
Visit a local library
Once the days get cold and gloomy, you will see moms strolling around the mall or playing at the mall's playground (if you are lucky to have one). This is a good alternative to being cooped up at home, but it can also get tedious after a while. It's both fun and educational to take your toddler out to a different place as often as you can - a chance of scenery is a wonderful learning experience. A local library is a great alternative. It's free to visit; there are no shopping diversions or excessive germs. You can roam around the children's books area, perhaps read a few together. A fun time for any 2-4-year old toddler is a story time hour. If your library doesn't offer this, perhaps you can suggest it - libraries are always looking to their community for ideas. Story time is another way to socialize with other toddlers and their moms or caregivers.
Bubble Time
Bubbles are a godsend! Sometimes I think babies are programmed to like them from birth and the love for following and popping these airy creations only gets stronger with age. A simple way to enjoy bubbles is by blowing both small and large bubbles and having your toddler chase them or pop them. You can also make it into a fantasy bubble game by asking your child to pretend he is a bubble and act like one moving slowly and popping. Toddlers love pretend games! Sing a song about the bubbles, so your child learns some new terms - fly, pop, one, two three. Add a drop of food coloring to the bubble solution and blow colorful bubbles on paper - this will be truely mesmerizing!
