I know lots of moms out there have really fantastic and educational activities to do with their children, especially during these long winters days when we’re stuck inside. (I don’t actually know any moms like this, but I’m certain you exist. And that you have perky boobs and no backfat. Good for you. Hmph.)
Well some of us (read: ME) are not so good at coming up with fun things to do with our kids. I racked and racked my brain yesterday, but the best I could come up with was, “just go play and leave me alone with the Internet, CARSON.” Poor kid.
Luckily my little man was able to entertain himself. You just KNOW he doesn’t actually have any toys (not) and had to play with the toilet plunger I bought and haven’t used yet (gross, I’m not THAT bad of a mom)…
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And what kid doesn’t love vacuum attachments…
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He tried to figure out how to make the DVD player work since his mean mommy was trying to catch up on All My Children (Yay! Greenlee is back and Angie and Jesse who died waaaay back in the 80′s!!) (Look, there’s only so much Thomas I can take. It was MY turn to watch the TV, okay?)
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So what do you DO with your children? Anything more enriching than letting your kids watch “educational programming” like Thomas and All My Children?
I like to show mine how to play Frogger in real traffic. It helps her to develop her gross motor skills, and it’s exciting enough that she can play for hours.
Burgh Baby’s Mom’s last blog post..Roam Around the Dinner Table
Besides watching too much TV (I will say, in my defense, that when it is “my turn” I read them books), they play in the sink with plastic cups and spoons, they build forts with pillows, play marching band and play playdough.
Hope that helps.
Jerseygirl89′s last blog post..Wow, That Was Fun
what is it about vacuum attachments that make them stick the nasty things in their little mouths. YUCK!
We color/paint A LOT. Gluing and cutting is a big hit and so is playdoh. We do a lot of crafty stuff because well it keeps them busy for a good hour. Most days.
Good luck.
Kara’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday~the many styles of the Coupe
This is why I could not be a stay at home mom, at least during the winter. I would probably lock myself in the bathroom with the hard liquor.
I was off for two weeks at Christmas and we did a lot of PlayDoh, art work (Crayola Wonders stuff rules!), DVDs (of course ONLY educational…cough.) Go to the dollar store and get some of those cheapo stamps. Those are fun for art projects. The library is great as is the local mall play area. My girls love to play games on Nick Jr. (They’re 2 and 5.) Also, Barbie.com is great but not so great for boys.
What about Home Depot? My kids go nuts at Home Depot. It’s like an amusement park to them. With lawnmowers.
Hey, my girls played with a microwave box for days last year. It’s the little things that they usually love.
Jamie’s last blog post..One Card I Don’t Mind Her Swiping
I didn’t know you were an AMC fan. My mom has watched it since before I was born, so I sort of grew up with it, though I don’t follow it so much anymore. I heard they were bringing Angie and Jesse back. Can you believe it? I’ll have to tune in to see how they look. What’s next – Jenny & Greg???
Shelly’s last blog post..Another Cold
As a SAHM I believe that though my kids don’t get as highly enriched “quality time”, they get LOADS of mildly enriched “quantity time” and that makes up for it. They get Mommy hugs the moment they want them (unless I’m busy and can’t – like when I pee), and that’s important to their sense of self.
All that being said, they watch entirely more tele, every day, than the AAP recommends (which I’m pretending doesn’t bother me a lot), but also have loads of toys and area to play with them. Mommy spends a good bit of time on the internets, in the kitchen, or otherwise doing stuff that doesn’t involve little hands. They’ve mostly learned to amuse themselves.
Last night and today’s joy is a large box that came in the mail that is now the best.toy.ever. Hubby, unknowingly, took it away last night and wow! those were serious tears!
We’d do more art-y stuff but the 1yr old gets into it and tries to eat everything, thereby ruining the 3.5yr old’s fun.
Kelly’s last blog post..Maybe I Can’t Vote…
How about making a pseudo-sandbox by filling a big tub (the kind you can get at Target) with rice or oatmeal? Toss in a bunch of cups, containers, spoons, and other kitchen paraphernalia. Let him use it outside or maybe even inside (seeing as how you get to move out of there!).
Make some Valentines. Cut out the hearts and have him decorate them for Tate and Ella, grandma, etc.
I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else.
tulipmom’s last blog post..Award Season
Oh yea, SB loved those Dot Painters at Carson’s age. Let him try them on some coffee filters and then sprinkle a few drops of water on the filter. Cool tie dye effect!
tulipmom’s last blog post..Award Season
At least the plunger was unopened! It could always be worse!! Or nail polish all over the (new) carpet and dresser! What? I don’t know anything about that!!
Good luck! Hey, it’s Wednesday! Meijer’s new sale day!!
Getting the play tent out (or making one with a blanket and some kitchen chairs) is always a hit. around here. That’s what mine is doing right now. I know that Carson probably isn’t into Barbies, but we had a killer of a fashion show yesterday. Maybe he could parade around his Thomas characters or make a play with them. My girls are all about plays for some reason, too. Draaamaaa queens!!! I second the idea of creating a tactile box with rice, sand, beans, etc. It’s not TOO hard to clean up, and who cares anyways? It’s ugly blue carpet. Will anyone really notice once you’re gone?
Um…Nick Jr is my baby sitter….once it’s done the little one heads in for her nap and the older one lingers on the vine until big brother gets home.
Honestly…our ‘educational time’…well, it’s when she sits on the potty. That’s when we do our alphabet flash cards and write words on the magna doodle.
So yeah…no help here.
Sadie’s last blog post..Terminology Tuesday
I used to live in the Indianapolis area and they have a great children’s museum. A membership is really reasonable. So it was worth it to go half a day or after naps. It is also age appropriate for your kiddos!
Babyhead likes to fight. What can I say, he takes after his Martial Artist Dad. So, We have foam swords that they fight with. We also have lots of pillows in our living room and we pillow fight. A lot. It wears him out pretty quickly and he has fun at the same time.
Babyhead also has his own computer game…it is Blue’s Clues and he has taught himself (yes, I mean that literally) how to navigate the game and make pictures and and place shapes. That one always works when we are on the computer (yes we have multiple computers) as he wants to play games too.
Sandy’s last blog post..Baby Update
I second the Children’s Museum in Indy–tis very VERY coolie!
But for being-at-home-stuff-to-do, save a few toilet paper n paper towel rolls…it’s amazing how long they hold their entertainment value. Just turn ‘em loose–or if you WANT to be crafty n all, set ‘em up with crayons n bits o’ fabric n glue sticks or tape….
Empty cardboard boxes are THE toy of the year for at least a day, maybe more. Again, turn ‘em loose or let ‘em color the boxes however….
Nothin’ wrong with some TV time, for wee ones and/or Mama, nothin’ wrong with that at all!
~~
DanaB’s last blog post..Best Shot Monday: Sunny Day Dreamin’
Arts and crafts are the go to activity when we’re stuck indoors. This is after they’ve exhausted my limit of TV time (which is shockingly high-judge me). They love glue, scissors and bits and pieces of anything. I save all kinds of boxes, tp tubes, etc and let them create whatever.
Ditto on the creating a fort with kitchen chairs and blankets. That and a flashlight keep them occupied for hours. After a recent train trip, they turned the chairs into sleeper cars, and decorated them with their jewelry and scarves.
I’m guessing that Carson would not desecrate Thomas in this manner.
all things bd’s last blog post..D-Day: It’s All Good
Heh heh, that is perfect! Maybe if you get desperate he could start doing your taxes!
MamaGeek’s last blog post..Sour Flower
I give my 15 month old my cell phone. Sure, he regularly calls people I haven’t talked to in months but they just think it’s a bad connection and then I’m the good friend because I keep up. We also play bowling for babies where he stands there and I pitch the huge exercise ball at him while he cackles his head off.
OMG, Greenlee is back? Say what? I can’t comment, I’ve got to go check out abc.com and catch up on my AMC.
Oh, and my Grandmother-in-law DOES NOT see a problem with letting children play with a toilet brush that HAS BEEN USED. And she wonders why I won’t leave my infant with her.
AMomTwoBoys’s last blog post..Super Tuesday…Really, It’s SUPER
I haven’t tried this yet but a friend let’s her kids play “Try to turn the little white cloth into a cool gray/brown one!” It’s a swiffer and apparently it is used to get the soft downy layer off your table tops. I guess that isn’t supposed to be there and underneath it is a shiny wooden surface? Who knew?
I will admit it, I leave my daughter to her own devices. I know she watches WAY too much TV. She also pushes empty cardboard boxes around the house, “reads”, and goes in her brothers’ room and messes up their stuff.
I know she would love cutting, gluing, stamping, play doh, all that craft shit-But I am way too anal retentive about it. I hate the mess. Geez, I sound like a great Mom, don’t I? lol
Elizabeth’s last blog post..You have come to a sad realization-Cancel or Allow?
I’ve made a serious effort the last couple of months to spend more quality time vs. quantity time with Charity, and it’s been semi-successful. She loves the Candyland Castle game (the real quick/simple one where you just match the colored shapes – SO much better than the drawn out real Candyland game), so we play that alot. Oh, and we play our version of Red Light/Green Light (instead of racing, we go in circles in the living room).
If it makes you feel any better . . .
I just read an article by an esteemed psychiatrist, arguing that childhood boredom is essential to the development of creativity and innovative problem-solving skills.
I remind myself of this whenever I shove my kids into the basement, shouting “GO AND PLAY!” It’s not for me — it’s for THEM!
The Mom Bomb’s last blog post..Keeping Up With The Joneses . . . The Poop Version
Let him “wash” dishes. My son stands on a chair at the sink with a bubbles and water and a sponge or scrubber and a little running water and plays for a l-o-n-g time. I generally put a couple towels on the floor so I don’t have to end the play time yelling about keeping the water IN THE SINK.
ALso, rice is a good sensory activitiy, but v messy. Then he’ll get to really vaccuum afterwards, and for days afterwards too.
I wrote about rice here:
http://devivo.blogspot.com/2007/02/simple-winter-fun.html
and here
http://devivo.blogspot.com/2007/02/your-mess-tolerance-has-to-be-pretty.html
Henny Penny’s last blog post..Auction!
greenlee’s back? i didn’t even know she left.
i guess it’s been a long time since i’ve watched….
ali’s last blog post..wimps…clibamas…and fingers in boxes
Since we’ve been hit with the flu my kids have watched, um, well, t.v. constantly. They particularly enjoy Alton Brown (who doesn’t?) and Rachel Ray has been a favorite since making those gross looking banana splits.
Oh and I let my daughter clean out my purse yesterday.
I rock.
Mama DB’s last blog post..Down. Down. Down.
Isn’t it amazing? You can have a bajillion toys laying around and they’ll play with the plunger.
Love it.
~JJ!’s last blog post..Stop Mooching!
Angie and Jesse are back?!?!? WOOT!
weirdly i haven’t actually watched that show since i was about fourteen (it was my dear grandmother’s favourite, we used to chill out together and dis Erica Kane) and yet my excitement is genuine.
at my house, um, i’ve tried to teach O to enjoy cleaning. seriously. i’m a bad mother.
Bon’s last blog post..look out you rock ‘n rollers
I should be ashamed. My house is twice that big and my kids STILL play with the vacuum attachments.
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah’s last blog post..Randomness Part 103
Shark will play with Play-Doh for hours, making sharks of course. Well worth having to clean it up. What I’m the worst at is board games. I’ve never liked cards or board games. I’ve been really good playing one we got for Christmas that I actually like called Balloon Lagoon. It’s by the Cranium people and you don’t have to know how to read to play.
Mine like baths for “play” too. Strange but true.
amy’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday – The Beach
Is there something wrong with vacuum attachments? I like to think of it as “influencing a love of cleaning” for later in life. Or maybe just helping to build up the immune system from licking whatever might be on the attachments. Whatever.
We usually get out of the house every day, for something. There are a lot of free (or really cheap) toddler activities/programs that are perfect for saving sanity and getting energy expended. Although today it snowed and the boys ended up playing in the bathtub for about 90 minutes. They are clean kids…at least for the moment.
And we watch a lot of TV. And movies. But Garrett can name just about every character in every movie he’s ever seen – that’s got to be good for trivia or something later in life, right? Although sometimes – horror of horrors – I make him watch the weather. He is never very impressed by that – future meteorologist he isn’t.
Maggie’s last blog post..You are never too old…
I am no help here. I have a general and chronic lack of creativity. My toddler plays on the floor with cars and an empty oatmeal container (a TUNNEL, dammit). My baby sits and watches him adoringly. I mentally click off the minutes until naptime. I wish it weren’t this way, but this is how things play out when I’m home. When I work, it’s a little different. I’m more engaged in general. I think.
Erin’s last blog post..running for beginners: seven steps to success
Wha? Jamie speaks as if locking yourself in the bathroom with hard liquor is somehow NOT normal?
Gawf!
I’d rather entertain the boys by sticking forks in my eye than do arts and crafts. Hate paint. Hate glue. Hate glitter and the days it takes to clean it up.
And gawd forbid, do NOT get moon sand in an attempt for your child to entertain themselves. At least not as an inside toy and it’s winter time, so everything must be inside.
God bless Wii baseball.
Queen of Shake Shake’s last blog post..Imagine There’s No Blogging…
Little Elvis’ new super fun game is opening drawers in the bathroom, pulling out brushes, headbands, and whatever he else finds, and taking them to the tub. He also likes to pull out the thermometer and take it into mommy’s room and put it in her shirt drawer. Why did I buy him so many toys? Why?
Little Elvis’ new super fun game is opening drawers in the bathroom, pulling out brushes, headbands, and whatever he else finds, and taking them to the tub. He also likes to pull out the thermometer and take it into mommy’s room and put it in her shirt drawer. Why did I buy him so many toys? Why??
he he moon sand. in a giant salad bowl, to be used while standing on a chair at the kitchen counter. With mild supervision (while I’m cooking or cleaning)
make them help me cook/clean *evil*
fill up a sink (easier to clean) or a tub/container with water and give him his stacking cups adn some measuring spoons and cups, or ANYTHING that holds water , really. Put it in the bathtub if you want. I do this at the kitchen sink.
activity stations – every day there’s something new and interesting at their activity table. If it’s especially entertaining I leave it for a couple days, but then it disappears.
Cardboard box.
Exercise-ball-baby-bowling, darn, I thought I was the only one who did that.
Get those little ball pit balls (you can buy a bag of ‘em at target) and THROW them at each other. My kids think this is hilarious because normally they are not allowed to throw stuff at me.
vacuum cleaner tubes, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, saran wrap tubes, save them, they are fun toys.
washable markers and giant paper.
Let him play with pots and spoons! Better yet, give him a snack in a pot and give him a rather large serving spoon to eat it with. (snack = cheerios or something “dry” like that)
I could go on but I’m gonna shut up now.. really.. I do spend lots of time online but I get anxious if I don’t! Plus right now I can’t stop rocking the baby or he’ll wake up. Le Sigh.
jen’s last blog post..skepticism
I have to laugh at the vacumn attachments, my son does the exact same thing.
I’m as bad as you, wish I could come up with more activities during the day. Playdough is popular,
Rose Daughter’s last blog post..Domestication
My advice is to buy a second tv? LOL I can’t belive Angie is back. I have to start watching again!!
Christy’s last blog post..Snack Options
Hahaha I love the vacuum tube pictures. Mine used to love to stack DVD and VHS boxes.
Miss’s last blog post..And it begins
I let them surf the internet and play video games all day. I’m only sorta joking.
Groovy Mom’s last blog post..Google Searches
I spend my winter days thanking god that they are in school.
Don’t envy me overly, if we decide to have another one I won’t have a sibling to help entertain them.
:S
Loralee’s last blog post..Sideblog:Cache Valley Bloggity Lunch
We have way too much TV time here. That’s how I survive. Cordy also wanders off the play with her kitchen or play in her room sometimes, while Mira entertains herself with toys or eating carpet fuzz (her new favorite).
Christina’s last blog post..There’s No Such Thing As Equal With Siblings
My children are big cut and paste, glue, glitter, artsy crafty kind of kids…so I get some posterboard and some old magazines and let them go to town.
When all else fails I call upon Mr. DVD and Ms. Popcorn.
Worker Mommy’s last blog post..Because I Must Blog
Bossy believes whole-heartedly in this style of entertainment. And she also believes in long mid-day naps.
My son’s favorite toy used to be a big, shiny martini shaker…oops.
Hey, thanks for the site o’ the week, but the link is wrong
http://lifeaiknowit.blogspot.com
Assuming you meant me and not another Life As I Know It
thanks!
LifeAsIKnowIt’s last blog post..Movie Night
I’m so glad I’m not the only “Just go play!!” mom out there.
and now…i feel the need to catch up on All My Children…dang.
I am not a good one to ask for advice seeing I took great pride in the fact that my kids were playing quietly the other day only to find out they were playing quietly in the litter box. Yeah.
Alex Elliot’s last blog post..Pride Goes Before A Fall
I find crazy mosh pit style dancing works well at my house. Although I have three children, so I don’t really have to get involved. My kids like the Black Eyed Peas and the soundtrack to The Jungle Book.
Stimey’s last blog post..It’s Finally Happened
Someone gave me a book called 365 Things Smart Toddles Play or something like that. I never really do the stuff in there, not that Quinn isn’t smart, I’m just Not That Mom.
But here’s a few things Quinn likes that I think Carson would like. Shaving Cream in the Bathtub. Get some of that cheap Barbasol, or whatever, put Carson in the tub, and let him go to town with the sculptures. You don’t have to watch as closely, because there’s no water in there with him. Then when he’s done you can just rinse him off (shaving cream is just like soap). If he has a plastic table you can put the cream right on the table and let him play in it fully dressed. I love shaving cream.
Umm…what else? Pillow forts, obstacle courses.
Oh – sometimes Quinn will help me clean – give Carson a paper towel or Swiffer thingy and he can dust around the apartment…
Cathy’s last blog post..Looking forward to this…
Try plastic spoons, those throw away ones and plastic cups full of water….in the bathtub with no water in it. My niece loved to play in the bathtub with no water in it.
Then at three she started wanting expensive toys. Little brats.
Phoenix’s last blog post..Strength
my kids are older and we have provided them with – what i think will soon be known as one of the man made wonders of the world – the wii. they are entertained for hours and they are getting excercise!!
transplanting me’s last blog post..jill
Ugh. I am SO struggling with this right now. The worst part is that CJ ALWAYS WANTS TO WATCH TV. Which means I WANT to let him but I don’t WANT to want to let him. It’s truly an inner battle of the worst sort. Is it summer yet???
bananas’s last blog post..Soggy skies leading to ANOTHER IDEA!