Ocean in a Bag
Toddlers love tactile stimulation. That’s why sandboxes, bathtime and squishing their food is so much fun. So why not let them squish something besides their peas? Get a ziploc bag and put in some blue hair gel, add some glitter and a very small amount of water. Cover the top 
with some packing tape so that they don’t get it open. My son plays with his ocean in a bag in his high chair while I get dinner ready. It seems that there is no end to his delight at watching it squish back and forth.
Variation:
Put a few small round beads in the bag. Then they will have something to watch move around as they squeeze the “water”.
Filed under Activity Ideas | Comment (0)Sorting
Toddlers love to investigate new and interesting objects and sort them. An egg carton is a perfect way to let them sort items. Offer interesting objects like cotton balls, uncooked pasta, marbles and buttons. If your child still likes to put things in his mouth offer larger items. Sorting helps a child learn fine motor skills and helps them understand concepts of similar and different.
Variations:
Show your child how to use a pair of tongs to pick up cotton balls and put them in the egg carton.
Count the items as your child puts them in the egg carton see if he will at least point at them with you or count with you.
Filed under Activity Ideas | Comment (0)Spill the Beans Activity
This activity is not recommended for youngsters who still like to put things in their mouths, but if your child has passed that stage you should have no problems.
You’ll need a plastic container that is shallow and a bag of beans. I used pinto beans. Pour the beans into the container, put your child in their high chair or at a child size table and let them play. Offer items such as spoons, bowls and cups so that they can fill and pour.
This activity helps a toddler learn rules of gravity, the concepts of full and empty, and light and heavy. It also teaches cause and effect and helps a child gain certain motor skills like learning how to scoop and pour. Many preschools have something similar but they are usually filled with water or sand. If it is a nice day outside filling a container with water and letting your toddler play is another great activity that teaches many of the same skills.
Giant Blocks
You can easily turn cereal and cracker boxes into giant blocks by covering them with some contact paper with a pattern on it. My favorite sized box is a kleenex box. I just cut a bit of another box big enough to cover the hole where the tissues came out and then cover the whole thing with contact paper.
Your toddler will have a great time building with them, and knocking his huge towers over. Blocks are some of the best educational toys. A study done as recently as 2007 by the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute found that children who play with blocks averaged scores 15% higher on lanquage tests (a good indicator of cognitive development) than their peers who did not play with blocks. Children who engage in this type of play may also have better impulse control and longer attention spans.
Here are a few alternative ways to play with these blocks. 
Go bowling!
Set the blocks up on end, and give your toddler a bouncy ball. Show them how to roll it toward the blocks and knock them over. It may take a few times of you showing them how to do it, but once they get the hang of it they’ll have a blast.
Bombs Away!
Set the blocks on end and let your toddler drop the ball into them. My son loves doing this, he even makes crashing sounds as the blocks fall over. Try and get your toddler to set the blocks back up himself. It might be a bit frustrating at first, but they’ll catch on quickly.
Alligator
Set the blocks out on the floor at various intervals show your toddler that he should step over them. He may need your help by holding a hand so he can keep his balance the first few times. As he gains more coordination he should be able to step over the blocks on his own.
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Indoor Sandbox Activity
No, I don’t really want you to put sand in your house! Use a shredder or just tear an old catalog and put the peices in a box. I used a diaper box. (FYI toddlers also love tearing paper, so they’d probably enjoy helping. Look at that two activities in one!) Then give them a spaghetti spoon and let them have fun scooping up the peices.
Other variations:
Bigger box: This takes more paper, but a toddler will love to be able to actually sit in the box.
Treasure hunt: Use two boxes, one empty and one filled with the paper shreds. Put some small items under the paper, then let them scoop the paper into the empty box and find the treasure. My son was absolutely taken by this activity and did it over and over for about an hour.
What your child learns from these activities
The simple act of tearing paper helps a child learn fine moter skills. They realize that they can’t just pull of the paper (especially if it is glossy) that they must instead use more skill to achieve the desired result. There may be a few moments of frustration as this is figured out, but most children figure it out quickly and gain great satisfaction from the noise and repeating the act of tearing.
Using a spaghetti spoon helps a child understand the concept of scooping. They realize that they must get the spoon underneath the paper.
By hiding small items under the paper they also begin understanding the joy of hiding, looking for and finding an object. Many children at around this age completely understand the concept of object permanence (that the object is still there even if they can’t see it because it is hidden), but they still shriek with joy each time they find an item even if they were the ones that hid it.
They will also absorb natural laws just by playing. They’ll see and understand that the paper falls down, that they can squish it to make it smaller, push it together and make a pile. It may seem like they are just throwing paper around, but they are learning a lot.
Filed under Activity Ideas | Comment (0)What We’re All About
This blog is to help parents of toddlers find educational, interesting, not too expensive activities. I know my own son can move from activity to activity at lightening speed and it seems as if his toys don’t hold his attention as long as they used to, so I was desperate for some ideas that would keep him occupied and develop good skills. Unfortunately I didn’t find much, so I ended up coming up with most of them on my own.
I would like to pass the information along here to hopefully help out other bedraggled parents.
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