Category: 12 to 18 months

Junk Mailman

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If you ever feel like you can’t open the bills or get through the mail with a toddler in the house, this game is for you!

For a few days running, I set aside the junk mail that arrived and kept a collection in a paper bag. When I needed to sit down and peruse the items that mattered, I presented Veronika with this bag.

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She thought she’d hit the jackpot! There was paper to rip…

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…and envelopes to open. This last part is still tricky for her, but if I start a corner, she proudly pulls the document the rest of the way out.

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Inevitably there are lots of pictures and pages to flip through, especially if you save up catalogs.

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At one point, she needed a pen just like mommy and I could tell she felt very important!

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The game was such a hit that I’m going to make it a regular occurrence around here.

Do Nothing Day

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Like many of you, we now find ourselves in a period of “social distancing”; school is closed for 3 weeks and we’re limiting our exposure to the rest of the world. Places that are familiar to the kids like libraries, museums, and local classes are shut down. So I pondered how to approach this period without scaring the kids. One idea? Turn the ability to do nothing into a game, at least for one day. As in: have a do nothing day!

The idea of no chores and no appointments and no assignments is sure to appeal to kids, turning what might otherwise feel like a strange break into a fun adventure. We almost always have at least one outing or activity daily, so today when the kids woke up I declared it a “Do Nothing Day”. We even could stay in our pajamas as long as we wanted!

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Beds could go unmade.

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Chores could be skipped and playtime was a must. The kids could lounge together on the couch eating snacks and watching a Disney movie.

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Other perfect ways to pass the day? Building with Legos…

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….coloring pages…

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…and getting silly while cooking a recipe all fit the bill.

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Obviously we won’t keep this up every day (home school for Travis starts tomorrow!) but it set things off on a playful, joyful note instead of a scary one.

A few other helpful tips to “social distance” without alarming the kids.

  • Get outside every day. Even a small patio or lawn will give your kids fresh air and a daily dose of nature, even when you avoid playgrounds and group areas.
  • Use Facetime and Skype. Stay in touch with older relatives or others you might not be able to see in person now.
  • Order groceries online. Though this is something I’ve skipped in the past, you’ll have peace of mind if you check out an online service instead of bringing kids to a crowded store.
  • Build your mom community: Set up a group text list, and you’ll keep each other sane virtually, answer one another’s questions, and get through this time “together apart”.
  • Have a routine every day. Kids thrive on routine. Now that our Do Nothing Day is done, each day will have scheduled time for reading, math work, quiet coloring or puzzles, crafts, and more.
  • But finally, a little extra screen time can’t hurt. And will help you keep your sanity.

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Please stay tuned. I’ll have lots of activities and crafts in the days and weeks ahead. Wishing health to all.

Centerpiece

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Veronika has only been walking for a couple of weeks, but she already has a few nature forays under her (tiny) belt. Today when we headed outside, I brought along a small bag so she could collect treasures along the way.

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She loved dropping sticks and other finds into it!

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Of course, she didn’t know that I had plans for these items once home. I set out the items she’d found, along with a bright red beach bucket to be a “vase”.

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Note: You can use anything for the container, but I liked that the bucket wouldn’t break, unlike a glass or pottery vase. You could also try upcycling a milk carton for this project.

She’s at the helpful age where she likes to put things “in”, so one by one, she arranged the items.

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I cheated a bit with a few tulips we already had at home, since these added a nice pop of color. But look at the centerpiece she was able to create!

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I put this on the table as the family dined, and made sure she knew that it was her masterpiece. In sum, this was a really sweet way to engage a young toddler with nature.

Pipe Cleaner Sculpture

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Pipe cleaners are a fantastic way to introduce your toddler to the idea of 3-D and sculptural art. Because the ends of pipe cleaners can be pointy, this is definitely an activity that you want to supervise the entire time, not something for a toddler busy box. I loved taking time today with Veronika to show her how to manipulate them.

To start, I dumped out a package of multi-colored pipe cleaners in front of her. So needless to say, the game was already a hit!

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I started by making a few fun shapes. Using our imaginations, this one looked like a dog.

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She got quite a kick out of mommy’s art skills as we made the pipe cleaner say “woof”!

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Her next request was for a sheep, so I wound together white pipe cleaners into a semblance of a woolly lamb..

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She then loved pulling off the curly “wool” pieces.

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I tried to think of the safest way to make her a “sculpture” without resulting in any poking and pricking, and circles seemed ideal. Loop these together in a pattern or in rainbow order, or any other way that strikes your fancy!

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Veronika loved holding long chains of the loops, and also decided that individual circles made great bangles and anklets!

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In sum, you’ll have a great time together discovering all the ways you can manipulate the pipe cleaners, whether tight curly-cues, or interesting shapes, or more.

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Sandpaper Line Designs

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This classic toddler activity can be a lifesaver whether you need to keep little hands busy at home or if you’re on the go. To make it portable, simply cut the sandpaper square smaller and tuck the strands of yarn into a zip-top bag.

For an at-home version, I just sat Veronika down in front of a few squares of rough sandpaper and added strands of yarn in various colors and lengths.

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I showed her how to make a few depictions of real things, like a little “fish” swimming in water. Older toddlers can have lots of fun trying to fashion real pictures!

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But the enjoyment here for a young toddler like Veronika was the way the yarn sticks to the sandpaper. I demonstrated by holding it up for her so she could marvel at how the yarn seems to “stick”.

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She also loved scratching her fingers against the rough surface.

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Or just picking up handfuls of yarn and dropping them down again.

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Truth be told, her favorite version seemed to be draping strands of yarn around herself like a scarf!

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One way or another, this is a great activity when you need to entertain your toddler in a pinch.

 

Magic Carpet Ride

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Veronika is at the age where imaginative play starts to take off, so today I took her on a magic carpet ride!

Clearly your child will have no context for such a game, so you may want to take a quick peek at the magic carpet scene of a movie like ‘Aladdin’. Veronika was entranced by the soaring carpet!

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Then I sat her down on a big beach towel (with a rather magic carpet-esque print). A few doll friends came along for the ride.

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Humming and singing songs, we went for a magic carpet ride around the apartment, waving to the things we passed.

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I then transferred her dolls to a smaller towel to see if she wanted to be the one to give a ride, but this was met with confusion.

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So it was back to her big carpet for another ride! Does your child prefer to pull toys on the magic carpet, or sit for a ride? Please share in the comments!

Shoe Box Train

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We had a few leftover boxes around the house, so it felt like the perfect day to make Veronika a cardboard train. Okay, technically none of these were shoe boxes, but I use the term in the title because they were all about that size. Use any similarly-sized packages for this terrific tot train.

To put it together, simply puncture holes in the sides of each box, and attach them together with yarn or string.

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To make even this part fun, I made lots of drilling and clanging construction sounds as I worked.

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Veronika wanted to hold a pair of safety scissors to get in on the action! Once our train was complete, it was time to load up passengers. Some stuffed animal friends happily climbed aboard at the station.

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I showed Veronika how to hold the yarn so she could pull the train along with her as she walked forwards. I realized this was the first time she’s used a toy that pulls, rather than pushes, so it was great for her motor development.

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After a while, she did prefer to push the train cars along, which was just fine too.

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Station change! Next it was all aboard the dinosaur train.

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There were so many elements to this game that I loved, whether watching her busily load the passengers in and out, the way she said “roar!” to the dinosaurs, or how determined she was to make the train move. She even decided to test out a seat for herself!

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Motor skills, imaginative play, and so much more, all thanks to a few upcycled boxes.

What’s That Smell?

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For some olfactory fun today, I presented Veronika with smells from around the house and we had fun naming each item as we smelled it. Unlike when she was little, now she can parrot these words back to me, hold the items herself, make yummy noises of delight, and more.

I wanted to clearly differentiate between edible and non-edible items in the game, so we started with the latter. I laid out a flower, tea bags, spice jars, and three different scents of soap.

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One by one, I held them to my nose, then showed her how to do the same. For breakable items, like the spice jars, I waved the item under her nose. But she got the hang of it solo with the soap!

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The tea bags were a big hit, so much so that I got out a bag of coffee and let her inhale that one deeply, too.

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She looked so pleased when she smelled the cinnamon sticks, but she pulled back quickly from curry and a few other spices.

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Next we moved on to items she could smell and eat. I set out a few pungent foods, like cooked vegan sausage and yogurt. Berries would be good, too. Or berry yogurt!

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Veronika then found other fun ways to play with the items, and I was more than happy to watch her toddler brain explore. The cinnamon sticks were fun to take in and out of the jar, and the yogurt was fun to spoon through.

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Finally, I made her a chart with a smiley face for the scents she had liked and a sad frown for ones she did not. Older toddlers will get a kick out of this part of the lesson, and may want to add to it on occasion.

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Have fun continuing this kind of play no matter what room of the house you’re in, whether the bathroom or even outside.

Edible Finger Paint Activity on Foil

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Between an edible yogurt-based paint, pretty colors, an outdoor setting, and a shiny piece of foil as the canvas, what’s not to love about this project? The edible paint means it’s safe to play with toddlers or even younger babies.

It was warm enough that we took the activity outside to the patio, where a big beach towel could contain any mess. If it’s summer, you might consider stripping baby down to a bathing suit or diaper, in fact!

To make the paint, spoon non-dairy vanilla yogurt into containers or cups and add a few drops of food coloring to each. The pretty pastel colors felt just right for spring.

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For her “canvas”, I lightly crumpled up a piece of aluminum foil, then opened it back up again. This added lots of fun texture and shine to capture her attention. Note: I did also set down a brown paper bag in case she wanted to paint on that, too, but the foil was the definite favorite.

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She was eager to paint right away, and especially intrigued with using a brush instead of her fingers. Then she started painting her pants! Luckily it was warm enough to take them off and continue the activity.

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Next she loved pouring the paint cups right onto the canvas. After that we swished the yogurt around to even out the big blobs.

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Here is her final masterpiece:

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This activity was good yummy colorful fun.

 

Erupting Chocolate Ooblek

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Today I made Veronika a new version of ooblek. Wanting to make this one stand out from the crowd, not only did this version feature chocolate, but it could explode! And yes this activity is toddler safe.

As a reminder ooblek is about 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water. From there, there are so many ways to fancy it up. Unfortunately I messed up the texture of our ooblek from the get-go because I thought I had a full box of cornstarch in the pantry. It turned out I only had less than 1 cup left, and I’d already poured in over 1 cup of water to a plastic tub. So our mixture was on the watery side, not true ooblek.

But that’s okay, because there was more for Veronika to play with here! First, we sprinkled on cocoa powder in addition to the cornstarch. This was purely for the heavenly smell. Yum!

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We also added 2 tablespoons baking soda because we wanted our ooblek to erupt. (Note: Be careful, because the baking soda will offset the now-solid-now-liquid property of ooblek, as it will dissolve in the water).

To make the explosions, add white vinegar to squeeze bottles and squirt in a bit at a time. This is great for exercising those little fingers.

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Veronika almost couldn’t believe it when the first bubbles appeared. I had to help out with lots of the squeezing, but she was transfixed watching the eruptions every time the vinegar hit the baking soda.

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The resulting bubbles are really neat ones, too, almost like honeycomb, but with a quasi-solid texture. They won’t pop until you pop them!

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This made for lots of fun poking and prodding. Veronika was a little hesitant to get her hands messy, but adding a spoon helped her get in there.

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There also was also an added auditory component to the fun, thanks to the hissing sound whenever baking soda mixed with the vinegar.

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In sum, this project made for one happy girl!

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