"Play Beans" as Owen likes to call it, has worked out wonderfully. I put a mat down in our living room and told him "the rules" are his must keep the beans on the mat and no throwing beans. I bought 5 bags of different colored dry beans and I give him a few bowls, measuring cups and containers. We sort the beans into colors, or he just scoops and dumps them. In the picture below he was burying his toy kiwi. (I do have to constantly remind him not to eat the beans....)
Pipe cleaners + Colander = fine motor activity for toddlers I made some squiggly ones and made one into an "O" shape. He just likes to stick them in or have me stick them in while he pulls them out. This activity isn't as popular as the beans, because he is easily frustrated if he can't get the bendy pipe cleaners in the tiny holes, but it works in a pinch and I think he will like it more once he gets better at it.
Fruit loops + bakers string = edible necklace We did this activity at the JCC after story hour one day and Owen really liked it. They wrapped a tiny bit of masking tape around the end of the string to make it rigid for the kids to be successful and then handed out cups of Fruit Loops. I laughed because many of the kids, including Owen, had never seen Fruit Loops before so they didn't eat them at first. Owen had most of his necklace strung before he saw another boy eating the loops, he looked at me like "is this okay to eat?" and I told him he could eat some. This is a great activity for toddlers. Works on focus and fine motor skills. I need to find a few mini boxes of Fruit Loops so Mr. Owen can make another!
Owen really likes stickers. It really doesn't matter what kind of sticker it is and those free address stickers they send in the mail in hopes of you donating money work great. He just likes to stick the stickers to paper and try to peel them off. He also likes stamps. He played with some round stampers that he really liked, they were small enough for his little hands and didn't require an ink pad. He needed lots of supervision though because the ink doesn't wash off very well, but he had a blast stamping the paper.
Owen loves to help me bake. He stands on a chair and "mixes" and his favorite thing to do by far is add chocolate chips "taste it!" He also REALLY likes to help empty the dishwasher so I wait until he wakes up from his nap to do it. He brings me one item at a time to put away and he puts away the tupperware himself b/c we keep it down on a special shelf just for him.
My friend Kelly suggested this book, and I just picked it up from the library. I'm hoping it has some good ideas.
If you have any suggestions for toddler activities I'd LOVE to hear them!
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