List 30 or more activities (besides watching television, surfing the net, or playing video games) that children like to do. Write each activity on a small piece of paper and place in the ‘boredom’ jar. When children complain that they are bored, have them draw one slip of paper form the jar. They must engage in that activity for at least fifteen minutes.
Build a water table from extra wood, place sides on it to catch the spills and place a ‘pond liner’ in it.
To help small children learn which buttons to press to operate the DVD player or Firestick, place animal stickers on significant buttons (ie. the giraffe makes the movie play and the elephant ejects the movie).
Using paper (styrofoam) cups, have children see how high they can build a tower before it topples over.
Fill a clear jar halfway up with small birdseed. Then, add a variety of items such as an eraser, a paper clip, the lid of a pen, and a bottle cap. List all of these items on a sheet of paper. Fill up the jar with more birdseed, seal the lid, and shake it up. Ask your child to shake the jar and find all of the items listed.
This game can be played with 3 or more people (adults included – this is a fun family game). Each person receives a pen and a piece of paper. One person reads out point number one and everyone records a response on a separate sheet of paper. Once the response has been recorded, the sheet is folded over so that the response is hidden. At this point, sheets are passed to the person on the right. Point number two is read aloud and each person records a response. The paper is folded again so that both responses are hidden. Again, papers are passed to the right. This procedure continues until the eighth (and final) point is read aloud. Take turns unfolding the papers and reading the ‘silly stories’ aloud.
This game is funniest when the group tries to use the names of people that everyone is familiar with. Once children become familiar with how the game works, have them be as creative and imaginative as possible with their responses.
When it’s too cold to play outside, bring a large plastic container of snow inside and pour it on an old vinyl tablecloth. Children can play with all sorts of toys in the snow.
When children long to play outside in the paddling pool but the baby is napping or it’s peak sunburn time, bring the swimming pool inside. Set children up at the kitchen sink, partly filled and with the tap dribbling. Let children play swimming pool with their dolls or add bubbles so that they can bathe them. You could also have them wash some unbreakable dishes or rummage through the cupboard for fun water toys like funnels, gravy separators, or plastic containers with holes punched in the bottom.
Mr. Dress-Up hit the nail on the head! Stock a large storage tub with all sorts of clothing, costumes, wigs, hats, and other accessories. The list of items to place in a tickle trunk is endless (as is the amount of time that kids will spend playing dress-up with items from their tickle trunk).
Possible items to include:
Clothing
Accessories
Tickle trunks are an inexpensive way to occupy children for hours on end. Be on the constant look-out for items to include in the trunk. Look for items in the following places:
Mommas – are you looking for more ideas about life with little ones?
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