Parenting Toddlers

For those of us who live in the Northern part of the country, Winter is still in full force…it feels like January or February. My daughter has been looking forward to playing in the puddles for months, but they’re all frozen. So what can you do with your toddler to provide some fun indoors while waiting for Spring, or for you lucky people in other areas, while it rains or you just don’t want to go outside?

My friend Carrie gave me a deck of 52 activity cards that I can do with Peanut. I picked out five of my favorites - that can be done indoors.

*Goop. This requires a lot of mess tolerance, so a mat or a non-carpeted floor is great for this activity. You need cornstarch, water, spoon, food coloring, and a mixing bowl.

First, empty a box of cornstarch into a large dish or baking pan. Gradually add water, about one cup, until mixture starts dripping off a spoon. Add food coloring if you want. Adjust the consistency by adding either more water or more cornstarch.

The Goop should be runny when you try to pick it up but solid in the pan. You can form it into balls or pour it into cups. Playing with Goop is fun for kids, and stress-reducing for you. Playing with dough is a great tension reliever!! Get messy! Have fun!

*Silly Soup. You need a small cooking pot, plastic food and small toys, play bowls and spoons. My daugther loves to play tea party, and this is the next step up. You make soup with the above ingredients in her play kitchen or your real kitchen.

As she adds ingredients, “taste” the soup and comment…”Oh, this is good, but it could use another rubber duckie.”

Sit down and “eat” the soup together. Make sure you talk about how it’s pretend and fun and not for real eating. Toddlers are masters at the concept of pretend. Just in case, though, just make sure everything is clean!

*Freeze Dance. Physical activity can give you a real boost just when you need it, both physically and emotionally. Put on some songs (either toddler songs or appropriate non-swearing adult songs). Dance like crazy. Then pause the music and yell “FREEZE!” You can also use “Stop.” At first, pause in the same place in the song so she can learn to anticipate it as she practices the game and the concept. If you have a child-friendly CD player, she can pause it on you and yell “Freeze.”

You can use this in other situations once your toddler learns the “Freeze” idea and you need an immediate response. Like when she’s about to walk into the parking lot without looking first.

*ABC Album. Your toddler should be getting aquainted with letters. To help with this, you can make a personalized, special ABC album together. You need a permanent maker, photo album, or binder and cardstock, pictures and photos, and glue.

Use the marker to wirte each letter on a seperate page in the album or binder. Together, find a bunch of interesting pictures in magazines, newspapers, or your computer. If you have a lot of family pictures, use those too.

Place or glue each picture on the correct page. When you finish, you can read through it together. If they can associate a person or loved one or favorite animal with a letter, it helps them learn it. For Peanut, A is for Aunt Annie.

*Bedtime Book. For this, you’ll need a camera and a small photo album.

Take a picture of your toddler at every stage of his bedtime routine…picking up toys, brushing teeth, reading stories, turning on the nightlight, etc.

Arrange the photos in the album. Write each step next to the picture. You can make it story-like if you want. Your child will love being in a book!

Start your child’s bedtime routine by reading the book together. It will help ease him into knowing he’s going to bed soon.

A little more about books: you don’t even need a photo album or binder. When I was little, my sisters and I made a book for our little sister using a paper bag and some magazine pictures. Twenty years later, she still has the book. It doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy. Kids will love it anyway. The important thing is that you can take what you have in your house and turn it into a fun activity.

I think we’ll give the ABC album a try today on this cold, cold first day of April! If you have any activities that your toddler enjoys, please let me know. Good luck and have fun.