I'd love some ideas for simple activities, games, or crafts that you do at home with your kids. This will be especially helpful to me as I will probably be spending less time at the parks and more time inside as the summer approaches. (I live in Texas and have an extreme dislike for hot weather-- I know I shouldn't complain after the harsh winters that so many of you have experienced.) Here are a few activities that we enjoy, though not very innovative!
1. Hide and Seek (I seem to be doing all the hiding at this point!)
2. Family dance party (just put on some music and go! You could make it a freeze dance game, too.)
3. My husband made a house out of a large cardboard moving box with a wrapping paper tube as the chimney. He cut out windows and a door. Later we colored the outside and the inside with crayons.
4. Easter Egg Hunt all year round. I had my 18 month old do an egg hunt dress rehearsal before our ward activity. I hid all of our Basic Beat shaker eggs around the living room and she collected them in her basket. Little did I know she would enjoy this beyond Easter! We did it several times today even though she would watch as I "hid" the eggs. We did it once also using all of her Fisher Price animals. I was thinking you could probably use other sets of objects too: beanbags, small balls, etc.
5. Bug hunt. Walk along the sidewalk or at a park and look for bugs. This idea was created completely by my daughter.
Please share your fave activities via a post or a comment!
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7 comments:
We are in the same situation as you!! I'm totally loving the 85 degree weather we are enjoying right now, but I know its just a matter of time before the 120 degree heat sets in!!
We go to story time a lot during the summer. The library is more air conditioned than my house, so that's nice!! This summer I am going to take a "Mommy and Me" swim class with Cecelia.
I don't know if you are familiar with this website, but www.mykidrocks.blogspot.com is an awesome website, full of activities for preschool aged children. The blog is done by a woman with two young children who use to be a first grade teacher.
Cool! Thanks!
Our storytime doesn't run in the summer...BUMMER.
Well, personally I enjoyed YOUR ideas. Your daughter is pretty darn creative for 19 mos! I feel like I am still working on the creative thing. We did do one thing that was pretty fun a couple of weeks ago though. We went "camping" inside. We made a tent out of blankets and the kitchen table, and laid more blankets underneath. My daughter has this little play lantern that lights up, and we brought it inside. My husband started making shadow puppets against the wall, and my daughter LOVED it! I'm sure you could just use a flashlight as well.
I get Parenting magazine, and there's always a page with creative simple ideas of things to do around the house with your kids. Anything from playing basketball with laundry baskets, to games you can play while cleaning the bathroom, etc.
Although my daughter is only 11 months, I have two three year-olds (well, one turns 4 tomorrow) who come play with us once a week. We have lots of fun together. One of their favorite things to do is to "seek" out pieces of paper with their initials. I just write their initials (or entire names) on pieces of paper and then we hide them and look for them. They find them and then re-hide them for each other. It keeps them quite entertained and they want to do it every week.
They also love dress ups. I have a big box of dress up clothes. About half I made from cheap Walmart fabric and the other half I bought at DI. They aren't really costumes but are fun clothes for them to put on. Of course, we always take pictures.
This is a great question and I look forward to reading everyone's suggestions.
THanks so much!!
Fun idea on Tales from the Crib today. I love this: http://talesfromthecrib.blogspot.com/2008/04/art-gallery.html
My kids love indoor picnics! And if they take place under a blanket fort, all the better. At 18 mos, Little V would also be ready to start helping stir batter, so start baking with her (we had a period where we would make treats multiple times a week--my husband's coworkers loved it). If you have a preschooler, check out the cute kid aprons at Williams Sonoma for boys and girls. I got the pink one that says Princess for my daughter when she turned three (although I'm generally against clothing that says stuff like that, I really wanted a cute apron for her, and this was all I could find), and she LOVED it! It was a bit long for her at the time, but I just folded an inch or so under at the waist before tying it, and it was no problem at all. [Note: Liz, there's a cherry one, too!]
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