

Now you have to understand I have a thing against TV. Our children are limited on how much and what they can watch. So I couldn't use the very easy out of TV to keep my son zombielike. We also didn't allow computer games, video games, or tablet games during the toddler years, although now we have a Wii with appropriate games.
At Mass last Sunday our neighbors daughter and children were visiting and sitting in the pew in front of us. She had an adorable 18 month old son with her who, in my opinion, did excellent. After Mass we talked and her parent mentions how busy he is and she made the same comments, expressing how she is always chasing him around and that most standard toys don't entertain him. I made some suggestions for what has worked for our equally busy children and decided to make a post for other parents struggling with the same issues. As our family has always been very low income I have listed things in groups from cheap to expensive. You don't have to be rich or even middle class to provide most of these items for your children.
Even though I have many of these items linked to affiliates on Amazon it's more so you can visualize what I'm talking about. I always look for gently used items before buying new. If you do buy online through one of my links however thank you! The little money I receive as a commission doesn't effect your price and helps to support this blog. I was not compensated in any way for this post.
Note: All children need supervision, especially young ones! These are not ideas for unsupervised play but more for things that will keep littles busy for extended periods of time so you can do things like fold clothes, do the dishes, or even read while being close by.
Cheap To Moderate
Water Tables

I cannot stress this enough that a Water Table is a life saver. Almost ALL children love them and will play with them for hours (I have never met a child who didn't love them ). When we got one it changed our lives for the better.


Play Dough is great and can be so cheap as to make it very affordable. I do encourage you to make your own from THIS recipe simply because not only is it cheaper but it doesn't contain any toxic chemicals and is much softer so that even very young toddlers can manipulate it. You don't need all those accessory's either. Although THIS SET pictured is very good for toddlers. Just plastic spoons, knives and cookie cutters work. Play dough was and still is a great outlet for my children.
The Local Park
Many parks now have "toddler friendly" play toys that are made specifically for the younger children. Going every day gets your child out in the sun and fresh air and lets them run, jump, and climb to their hearts content.

These balls are great for toddlers up to 9 year olds and come in different sizes for different ages. The nice thing is they are inside/outside toys and can be used for those rainy days when outside play is not possible. They also are inexpensive and are excellent at stimulating that deep muscle I have talked about.
Outside Play

Daily outside play is a basic and free activity, but can also be destructive if you don't have things for you children to do. Some fun ideas are sidewalk chalk, bubble blowing (always a huge hit!) , kicking balls, outdoor slides and swings, digging in the dirt or sand, and making stick houses.

Most toddlers love to stack blocks and I like the wooden ones that are unpainted due to fears of toxic paints. For some kids they will play with them for a good hour or more. With younger children you will need to build with them for awhile before they get the hang of it and watch out for blocks small enough to choke on. You don't need expensive blocks here and a set will not only last through several of your own children but can be saved for future grand children. Click HERE to see a fairly inexpensive basic set. Or heck you could make your own!

Bubble Blowing
Most toddlers cannot do this on their own without LOTS of parental supervision, although now there are many bubble blowers on the market that even a toddler can use. For outside bubbles a Bubble Blower is great and provides lots of fun time.
Moderate to Expensive

Indoor Trampoline
Indoor Trampolines are great for little ones up to preteen years. Put on some kids music and let them boogy down. Don't forget that you can find these used!

Toddler Indoor Gyms, Gymnastics, Tumbling, Or Martial Arts
Most of these classes cost a fee that can vary from moderate to expensive, but they are also a lot of fun! We went to a very low key toddler gymnastics that my son LOVED and was more like a structured play time. He learned lots of balancing though.

Children's Museums
If you live in a big enough town it may have a Children's Museum to go to. You can get a membership or pay every time you go. They are really fun with all sorts of different toddler friendly activities. Google them and you will see. This is in fact where we first discovered water tables and knew we had to have one. Check out the cool Portland Children's Museum
Swimming Lessons/Pool Time
If you have a local indoor pool they usually do toddler swim time and lessons. This is a great outlet for energetic little's let me tell you. And as a bonus your child will learn swimming skills! Most lessons for toddlers are very reasonable.
Wonderful suggestions all! I remember those busy days and all those things work at keeping children occupied and learning happily. Funny thing, we had a girl first also, then a boy, and then another boy, and then two more boys. The first two were as different as night and day. From the first I figured it was genetics, girls and boys are different. Then I had more boys and discovered that there are varieties of boys (I'm sure that there are varieties of girls too, I just don't have first hand experience mothering them) and I love them all. The best part is when they are grown up and they become our best friends. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fabulous post! I have a boy and I had to learn just like you that boys are very different from girls. Thank you much for sharing this helpful information with Roses of Inspiration - I thoroughly enjoyed what you had to say :) Hugs!
ReplyDeleteGood morning! Just letting you know that this post was among last week's featured posts. Due to the usual craziness surrounding a large homeschooling family when sickness invades, the featured posts didn't get shared across my social media sites and pinned to pinterest. So, yours will be shared THIS week! :) Thanks for linking up at Mama Moments Mondays, and please help yourself to a featured button. :) Thanks! :)
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