Category: 18 to 24 months

Cloud Dough with Vehicles

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Cloud Dough Vehicles (3)

It’s been a long time since I made cloud dough, which is basically just a super soft play dough requiring only flour and oil. In the past I’ve made this with baby oil, but this time I used regular vegetable oil.

Cloud dough should be 8 parts flour to 1 part oil, so I used 4 cups flour and 1/2 cup oil. Mix with a spoon or your fingers until incorporated.

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To add purpose to the play, we added Veronika’s construction vehicles. I also gave her two little cups that I thought we could use to mold sandcastles, but she preferred to use them for scooping, pouring, and filling up her trucks.

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Or vice versa, using the trucks to fill up the cups!

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It was fun to drive trucks through the dough and make tracks.

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Or just to sift through with her fingers. This stuff is always so soft and fluffy.

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It’s also nice for play because it clumps together enough to momentarily hold a shape.

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And when she tired of the game, a quick rinse of cold water got the vehicles clean!

Cork Printing

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Cork Painting (8)

Veronika and I have played around with several ways to make dot paints recently and since I had a few corks left over, I figured we’d test out how they worked.

I set out a craft tray with several different colors of metallic craft paint, construction paper for Veronika to dot onto, and the corks.

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It turned out the corks were the perfect size for little toddler hands to hold!

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She loved to dip in the paint…

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…and dot on the paper.

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She tested out all the different colors in this way.

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Then she tried dotting two of the corks together, with a look of very serious concentration on her face.

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This didn’t keep her busy for that long, but it was a cute alternative to a paintbrush, and we always like testing new tools around here.

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Toddler Brag Book

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Toddler Brag Book (8)

The “brag” in the title of this post is meant in the best way possible; toddlers are so proud as they near two-years-old about people and things that are familiar favorites. Here is a homemade book that lets Veronika celebrate things she loves. And yes, she is so proud every time she leafs through it!

To set up, I cut pictures from an old homemade calendar featuring family member’s faces. I also added a few pictures of current favorites, like sorbet and stuffed animals.

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Glue each picture onto a rectangle of colored construction paper, then cover each page with clear contact paper for durability. Veronika loved being my helper as I worked!

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Punch holes in each page and secure together with string.

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It was time to read through her book. Veronika loved spotting faces (“It’s Mommy! It’s Daddy!” she exclaimed).

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“It’s Travis!” She seemed genuinely surprised and delighted each time. Note: This little book also just happens to be the right size for the car, so it’s a perfect way to keep her entertained en route to a favorite destination.

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DIY Sprinkler

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DIY Sprinkler (3)

Childhood + summer + sprinklers pretty much never gets old, but if you need a quick sprinkler reboot after the umpteenth hot day of the summer, here’s a homemade version that will delight toddlers and big kids alike.

Use a hammer and nail to make holes in the bottom of an empty gallon water jug. I worried the plastic would be too thick, but this is actually remarkably easy to do. That said, the nail made very small holes so we did then widen them slightly with a rotary tool.

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To then transform it into a sprinkler, insert a hose, turn on the water and the water will rain down through the holes.

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I simply held this by hand, but you could also rig it up for lasting fun; anything tall like a basketball hoop or tree branch would work, in which case you might want duct tape to hold it all in place.

The kids loved to take turns holding it, too, turning it into almost a watering can over the bushes…

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…and sidewalk.

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Veronika loved stomping in the leftover puddles!

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Travis was thrilled he could make patches of mud.

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And of course they loved catching the water drops as they rained down.

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My kids are hesitant about actually jumping right under a sprinkler, but yours might want to shower directly under the spray!

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Scented Edible No-Cook Fingerpaint

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Kool Aid FingerPaint (4)

All jokes aside, no we don’t drink the Kool-Aid around here. But sometimes for coloring craft projects, it’s the best option to achieve bold, bright colors. I knew Veronika would probably end up eating some of the “paint” for this craft, therefore, but a little doesn’t hurt!

To set up, spoon non-dairy yogurt onto plates or cups (I didn’t measure exactly, but would guess I used about 1/2 cup yogurt per color). Add a packet of Kool-Aid mix to each portion, and stir to combine.

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I then dolloped smaller portions of the paint onto parchment paper in front of Veronika as her artist’s palette. I only made three colors, but you could easily set up a full rainbow!

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I encouraged her to swish fingers through the paint and smear it over the craft paper I laid out. We turned the blobs into fun shapes like a yellow sun or a red flower.

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Of course she did also very quickly discover that the paint was delicious. Which means we had some of this…

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…but an equal amount of this.

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Well, snack time and craft time were both taken care of!

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Painting Bag

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Painting Bag (4)

Here’s a quick variation on an old idea, a safe way to let a toddler paint with no mess. In the past, I’ve sealed paint in a zip-top bag for Veronika, but this time there was a secret piece of colored paper underneath. A colorful surprise was waiting with each line she made!

To set up, place a piece of colored construction paper in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Squirt in paint, making sure it is a different color from the paper. The higher the contrast the better, like yellow paint with blue paper or green paint over red.

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Seal the bag tightly, then show your toddler how to make marks in the squishy paint with a finger. The colored paper underneath will be revealed!

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This definitely earned little sounds of surprise, and Veronika liked making shapes and wiggles appear. Of course she also just liked squishing it.

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Or stepping on it.

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Since she’s becoming more sophisticated with her own drawings and understanding of art, she also really enjoyed when I “painted” trucks or other recognizable shapes in the bag.

Mostly, though, I let her entertain herself with this one!

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Mud Games, Two Ways

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Mud Handprints (3)

It’s no secret that toddlers love getting muddy, so today Veronika and I played with mud in two separate ways. The first was fake mud, and the second time was real!

For the fake version, we really were making ooblek, but I told her it was “mud” which she immediately loved. I dumped a box of cornstarch into a craft tray, then added 2 cups water.

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Mix with your fingers until you have that strange ooblek state of matter that is somewhere between a liquid and a solid. For novelty, we added cars and trucks to the “muddy” construction site!

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Veronika loved zooming cars through it. We also discovered that the tires would stick if you let them sit in one place for a few minutes.

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It was fun to watch the ooblek dribble and drizzle over the vehicles.

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I then added a little food coloring, which she swirled around by driving the truck wheels through it.

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And scooping it up!

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Next it was time for real mud. We mixed up a little potting soil and water on a plastic plate until we had a thick mud.

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Press your little one’s hand into the center of the plate (I recommend having water nearby for a quick rinse), then leave in the sun to dry.

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Obviously these prints are neither permanent nor as apparent as versions in clay or plaster of Paris, but they sure are fun.

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Stop and Go

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Here’s the perfect game to introduce your toddler to the idea that red means stop and green means go. These two colors represent “stop” and “go” in so many ways, whether traffic rules, figures of speech (“we got the green light”) or alert systems. You can introduce the idea playfully on your next car ride; the only requirement is that your toddler can tell the difference between red and green.

To set up, I cut circles from red and green construction paper and taped them to plastic straws. For older toddlers, you can also add the words STOP and GO as early sight words, You could also make the red shape an octagon instead of a circle, but I kept things on the simplest level for Veronika.

Whenever the car went forward, I asked her to hold up green. “Green means go!” we shouted, and she playfully held up her sign.

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Whenever I came to a red light or stop sign, I asked her to hold up red. “Red light! Red means stop!” I told her. This worked especially well during a long stop at a train crossing.

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Keep these little Stop and Go signs in the car and play often, and soon your toddler will get the idea.

Baby Pool Games, 3 Ways

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Ball Splash (4)

It’s late in the summer but still hot outside, so it didn’t feel too late to invest in a baby wading pool. Here are three ways Veronika has loved to play in it so far!

First up was a classic toddler fishing game. I had a pack of fish-shaped sponges that were perfect for this, although you can cut normal sponges into fish shapes if you’re feeling crafty.

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Attach a paper clip to each fish so it will be magnetic, then tie or glue a kitchen magnet onto a string and attach the string to a stick or dowel. I showed Veronika how to go angling for the little fishies!

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It turned out that the sponges were hard to lift once saturated with water, so next time we might play this while the pool is dry.

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After the fishing fun, it was time to make a splash! Simple grab a bouncy ball and toss it into a baby pool filled with a little water. This was fun from outside the pool…

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…or inside it! And it was equally fun whether with a small bouncy ball or larger beach ball.

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“Splash!” Veronika cried out happily each time.

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For extra ball fun, we didn’t just use one ball; I poured in our whole bag of soft play balls.

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This made for lots of extra splashing, sitting on, tossing, and otherwise playing with the balls in the pool.

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One thing is for sure: this girl is keeping cool in the pool!

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Toddler Beach Day

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1st Vacay (3)

It might seem daunting to take a toddler to the beach, but here are a few tips I’ve found that make it easy, even during the summer of coronavirus.

First up, of course, are the essentials. Definitely pack a kid-formulated sunscreen in SPF 50 or higher, plus a sun hat. If your toddler hates having cream formulas rubbed in, consider an easy spray.

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Veronika has a tendency to pull her hat right off, though, so for added security, I bring shade: an umbrella that is. I find that an umbrella is plenty, without having to lug along a pop-up crib or tent.

Now for the activities! We have a dedicated bag of sand toys they can be played with right at the edge of the blanket…

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…or brought down to wetter sand at the water’s edge when she wants to cool off.

When it comes to snacks, think ones that won’t get sandy. Applesauce pouches are ideal, but I also stash granola bars, juice boxes or water bottles, and easy chips like veggie stix.

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Veronika stayed safe, entertained, hydrated and fed. And it was as easy as a day at the beach!