Bean Bag Toss

My son loves to throw things! I discovered he loves bean bags for that reason. I decided to make some simple bean bags out of old scraps of clothes and fabric I had. Then I set up a few baskets and containers for him to throw them into. If I get more ambitious maybe I'll eventually make him a bean bag toss board with holes to throw them into out of cardboard, a box, or wood.

Stacking Containers

This one is also good for kids of a variety of ages, but probably best from age 2 to 7. A friend of mine gave me a large stack of probably about 30 2-pound yogurt containers (no lids). They stack all together for storage, but my boys love to set them up-side-down in a row, or in pyramid shapes or like a wall or in a circle to enclose and "trap" one of them. Of course, the best part is busting down the whole stack after they have been set up. More recently, my 4-yr-old has started taking them down in a more orderly, coordinated fashion, which I think is a good sign of development. It pretty fun to do and easy to help teach them to "clean up!" afterward (not a lot of small pieces).

One of the best things I have found is to not put all the toys out and accessible to my kids. Then I can rotate things and get them out for a "special activity" and it is a treat, rather than something that's always there.

Valentine's Day Snacks

I'm not a mom quite yet, but thought it would be fun for moms to have their toddler help make Valentine's snacks for the family.

Here are some ideas:

heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (use a cookie cutter)

english muffin pizzas with heart shaped pepperoni (just use kitchen shears to cut the pepperoni)

cupid's arrow made with pretzel sticks, marshmallows and other small candy

Here's a treat/activity:

Have your child finger paint his or her own valentines using chocolate pudding. Draw basic Valentine's shapes on cardstock or paper. Have them color using red, purple, pink etc. Make some chocolate pudding. Have them use the pudding to finger paint on the paper. It sounds funny but I did this with kids at school and they loved it! The pudding dries well. Just make sure it's a little thinned out. Then you can enjoy the leftovers if you'd like.

Library Story Time

Our local library has awesome programs for kids of all ages. They have story time even for babies! If you don't live in this area you could check with your library to see what programs they have available. Here's the link to look at their calendar of activities: http://provo.lib.ut.us/kids/kids_main.html

Author Invitations

I will be sending invitations for people to become authors on this blog. I would love for my friends to share ideas, if you'd also like to be an author or want to just share an idea, please email me!

Fort

I recently found out my little one loves to play under a fort I made for him. It's an old game we all played as kids and it seemed to entertain him for a little while. I just tied a sheet to his crib and secured it on the other side with his dresser. It would also be fun to bring in some stuffed animals, blankets, books, etc. This one's also good for kids of all ages!