Indoor Water Play

 

Winter has finally arrived to the California Bay Area (YAY!), but along with all the  rain, a little cold virusmtagged along. No matter how sick my toddler becomes he always needs something to channel that buzzing energy. Hence, indoor water play was born.

The activity is nothing too fancy. Just some cups, measuring spoons, and recycled condiment bottles (cleaned, of course!) , and food coloring added to water. If you embark to make a little similar play station be sure to cover your work space (we used a disposable table cloth) and wear play clothes that can get stained and wet.

And the toddler's vote? Definitely 4 stars! I mean, who can beat being ALLOWED to spill colored water all over the kitchen floor?

How do you keep busy toddlers happy and occupied on sick wet days?

Follow the Leader

How do you keep an active toddler busy during a garage sale? Well, besides having him fill up bags full of rocks( I used my grocery bag sign technique for my garage sale) make an obstacle course and have his friends play along!

Seriously, toddles love this sort of thing! First Create  starting point (see the star?)

Add some fun elements such as a plank for the wee ones walk and balance on. They loved walking side-ways, forwards and yes, even backwards (with parental supervision, of course).

Add some fun number learning. My son LOVES turtles, so turtles with numbers written in them-perfect. Plus, we love counting to three. Toddlers do love stepping from one element to another and these turtles did the trick.

End with a wow!  ended my obstacle course with a trip down the slide. The best part? Besides a little effort on my part and some handy-work with some chalk, this activity cost $0. Totally loving these cheap and free activities that keep my toddler a happy camper.

Have you created anything lately that has kept your wee one happy and occupied for more than 5 minutes?

Toddler Craft Project: Chalk Paint

Last week we made Chalk Paint, and oh was it loads of fun! I know I have seen this before and have been dying to try it. Of course, when I went to find a recipe I had a difficult time finding one that made sense, so we made up our own. Hours...and days later we are still painting our sidewalk with these bright neon colors.

The recipe is super easy (and edible too...which I found out when my toddler decided the paint was brightly colored milk....I guess he was thirsty-don't worry, he only took a sip!). Here's the secret to making chalk paint, enjoy!

To Make 1 Cup of Chalk Paint (One Color)
2 Tbls Corn Starch
1 Cup Water
About 5-6 drops of food coloring (we used Neon Colors)

Pour the corn starch in to a cup or jar, add the water and stir or whisk well. Make sure there are no lumps. Add the food coloring. Stir well again until you have the color brightness you want. Go outside and paint the ground!

Toddler Game::Gone Fishing

On a blazing afternoon you will either find E and I huddled near our oscillating fan (we don't have AC) or out in the garden playing with water. We fill E's baby tub with water and let the fun begin (you may remember these shenanigans from a few months ago). This time we went fishing for CORKS! (Remember this?)

We poured the corks into the water, I gave E a small net that was thrifted from Freecycle, and small plastic container to dump the "caught" corks in.

The object of the game, scoop all of the corks out of the water and...

Dump them into the container.

And repeat. Let me just say this game lasted for longer than I anticipated. I was able to water all of our plants without my little hose snatcher interfering!

Have you played in the water lately?