With so much rain in the forecast and impending lock down on the horizon, it looks like we will be spending a LOT of time at home and indoors in the coming weeks! Call it a rainy day, a quarantine, or social distancing, but I know I’m not alone in that I’ll be home a lot with two toddlers that need to be entertained! So here are some things we are doing to stay busy:
Watercolor. My girls are SO into watercolor right now, and it’s surprisingly not that messy! They are so good at it!
Gel Crayons. My friend Angelica recommended these – they’re so cool! Your toddler can color on windows or mirrors with them, and then they wipe off.
Building Forts. I’m sure you already have what you need to do this – blankets and chairs/couches/tables! But I do have to say how much we love these blankets around our house – we have a few and they come in so many colors!
YouTube Yoga, Ballet, etc. We love finding random things like this to follow along on YouTube! A good channel I like to do with the girls is Cosmic Kids Yoga, but you can browse through tons of options!
Teach them Songs for toddlers with actions, including:
- Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
- Who Took the Cookie
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
- Down By the Bay
- Five Little Speckled Frogs
Disney +. I loooove watching content on Disney+, especially the movies from when I was a kid that feel so nostalgic! And for some reason spending time watching things on Disney feels so much better than a lot of the other weird kid shows out there these days (I’m looking at you, Blippi!)
Play Games. Believe it or not, there are games toddlers can play! Here are a few I like:
- Lucky Ducks – I remember playing this with my little brothers, so cute!
- Memory Matching Game with Cards. My girls love this one! I can’t believe that they can actually do it! Start with just a few cards (like 6 cards/3 matches) and slowly add more. I also love this one with the Disney characters they know and love!
- Counting/Sorting Bears
- Roll and Play Game
Take a Walk in the Rain…obviously only if you’re not already sick! Wear clothes/shoes you don’t care about and let them splash in puddles and get wet! My girls love this and I’ll do it before they’re about to take a bath anyways. Then a warm bath feels extra good! If you live somewhere that you can let them walk on their own, let them! Otherwise, we are obsessed with this wagon and you can take out the cushions so it’s waterproof/easy to dry off!
Take Baths…long/fun baths with bubbles and/or new bath toys! My girls love playing in the bath, and it’s definitely something to do! Here are some of our favorite bath toys:
Cook/Bake/Prepare Food Together. Think of something easy they can help you with in the kitchen! I was scared to do this, but one day let Romy “help” me mix up some GF cornbread mix from Trader Joe’s and she was SO proud. I’ve also let Piper “help” me make rice krispie treats by pouring in the cereal. They love it!! They honestly didn’t even increase the mess by much!
Dress-up. Make fun costumes at home, or order some fun things on Amazon! My girls love to dress up as their favorite characters, and it’s so fun to watch them start to play pretend! Here are some favorites we currently rotate, but I bet your little ones would love it if you just got creative and pulled things out of your closet (or Halloween bin!):
- Monsters Inc. Pajamas (Piper has Sully and Romy has Mike)
- Moana and Maui Costumes
- Unicorn headbands
- Princess dresses (my girls are weird and not really into the princesses but I know most little girls their age are!)
Play doh. My girls love play-doh, and my friend Kaeli bought them fun little toys to use with it! You can also make your own play-doh, here are some instructions!
Flash cards. My girls love doing flash cards, and it’s so fun (for both me and them) for them to show me what they know!
FaceTime a friend or relative. If we are all staying home, it’s better to stay in touch! We also love our Portal – my girls especially love the story time function when my parents read them fun/interactive stories!
Small play dates with a friend/Mama or two! I have a small circle of mom friends by me, and play dates really help an otherwise tough week! Invite a friend you trust to come play, of course use your best judgement on where they’ve traveled/been and trust them to stay away if they’re sick at all!
Some other ideas from my friend Kaeli:
- Magic sand
- Sensory bins (love the ideas in this post!)
- Shaving foam play on cookie sheets
I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments, as always ;).
Try to stay safe, healthy, and sane over these next few weeks!
xx
Jen
OOTD
