Rainy day activities?

poemmom

Tue, Oct 28 2008, 9:03 am

What are some fun EASY things I can do with 2yr old son at home today? No big set-up/clean-up -- I need to be able to take care of baby at same time.

(Need something BESIDES coloring, play-do, bake cookies, reading, obvious toys. Done that!!!)

BusyBeeMommy

Wed, Oct 29 2008, 2:49 pm

I can commiserate. Been in all day today and yesterday and I'm not looking forward to the winter for the same reason. I have some megabloks that I play w/ DD and she loves it. Also, I think I'm going to make a seperate rainy day box of toys that I will take out only on those days. Ditto for shabbos. Good luck! And you could come visit here if you want to Smile

cubbie

Wed, Oct 29 2008, 2:57 pm

We call it scrunch & tear, I give each of the girls some old newspaper and they tear it up and throw it around, then they fill boxes and baskets with it and empty them on themselves. It makes a big mess, but they enjoy the clean up too, I put a big bag in the middle of the room and they have to race around to see how much they can get in the bag before a timer that I set goes off, I just keep setting the timer until the room is clean.

yo'ma

Wed, Oct 29 2008, 3:05 pm

Ok, here are a few from The Toddler's Busy Book, from the rainy day section. If you want more info on it, tell me:

doll bed, tape city, sheet day, chair maze, sticky figures, texture touch, surprise tins, ice cube bags, shaker bottle, sticky feet, highchair fun, who do you see, bottles and lids, fun with tape, block sorter, simple sorter, threading, mailbox, wave bottle, bubble bottle, ring fun, clothespin drop, clothespin can, indoor sandbox, clothespin poke, all gone, grocery store, rock play, what's in the jar, where's teddy, bear in the basket, fun with kleenex, nuts and bolts, nesting cans, toddler train, pull box, potty pals, blanket riding, jungle safari, nursing basket, porcupine playdough, monkey monkey, napkin bug, I think I can, interrupt rule, mini mask, early morning fun, people puppets, cartons of fun, cereal box puzzle, easy bird feeder, people blocks, magic mud, squishy bag, flying fish, no-cook squishy bag, painting bag, toddler pouch, pipe play, tubes and balls, tube fun, tube ball, net ball, fun with balls, toddler blocks, balls balls balls, sponge blocks, stacking fun, paper bag blocks, balloon fun, hide the beanbag, more balloon fun, beanbag throw, beanbag crawl, beanbag races, indoor baseball, toddler bowling, balloon play, toddler obstacle course, mini olympics, big mouth game, musical animals, unwrapping game, and finally, flashlight fun.

Okay, that was all from that chapter LOL

Aribenj

Wed, Oct 29 2008, 3:56 pm

Both my kids LOVE this.

Grab a big bin/pot/container or a small kiddie pool or if you have a water table, and fill it up with uncooked rice, pasta or beans (obviously make sure they don't eat it...) give them some spoons, measuring cups and teaspoons and tablespoons and they will be entertained for at least 45 minutes! (no joke! My little one will not sit still for anything, not even TV and he loves this!)

You can always reuse the beans for this game so they don't go to waste. It's a real lifesaver!

NativeMom

Thu, Oct 30 2008, 3:48 pm

This is something my mom did with us:
Make a home made matching game. Go though some magazines and find the same ads or pictures, a lot of magazines run the same ads in their issues. Cut out the pictures, find pictures of different objects like airplanes or people doing activities-things that your child can identify and paste them on index cards or something similar. I'm going to do this with my 2 year old when I have more time.

Aribenj

Thu, Oct 30 2008, 4:57 pm

BusyBeeMommy wrote:

Wow, Ari, that sounds like a terrific idea - do you think a 19 month old can handle it?

I wonder if I can handle the cleanuo afterwords... LOL

My son is 19 months old and he get SO excited when I get out my beans...
I just told him once very clearly: This is for playing, not for eating, and once in a while he tests me to see if I'm for real, but as long as you're watching them it's fine.
The cleanup can be a little tough. I put the whole thing inside the playyard and then at least it's confined to that area and it's easier to clean.

Honestly, I don't get the appeal... But for some reason, kids seem to like it.