How are you doing friend? Can I be honest with you? This is hard. The days are long and I am pretty exhausted. Entertaining a 1 and 3 year old, working, cooking and trying to keep the house halfway clean is taking its toll. So if you feel the same way you are not alone. This is hard…. but I truly think God is going to do big things out of this. So hang in there.
Now that the reality has set in that we may be doing this for a few more weeks, I wanted to give you some ideas to keep your kiddos busy. I will tell you that I have not had a ton of energy to look for creative ideas, so I have been guiding the kids to use their imagination more. I may give them a scenario or a handful of supplies and let them get to work. It has been really fun watching their little brains work and much less stress on me to keep coming up with creative activities. But obviously that won’t keep them busy all day, so here are a few of my go tos….
My favorite activities with the kids:
Sidewalk chalk- Love the Littles and me doodle cards
Riding bikes and walks – we use this time to play I spy. This teaches them colors and new words.
Playing superheroes- We just run around the house or yard and use our super powers. Sometimes we get out the pool noodles. Here are homemade capes I made for the kids.
Play dough- Homemade play dough is easier for littles to use. Here is the recipe I use. Also I love Young Wild and Freedman kits if you are looking for something a little different.
Sensory bins- Busy toddler has great ideas.
Jumping in puddles
Crafts
Homemade obstacle courses
Supplies I keep on hand:
Most of these items I get at the Dollar tree) to entertain my toddlers. I can come up with a ton of different activities with these things
Marker
Crayons
Paint
Paint Palettes and Brushes
Glue Stick
Dot Stickers
Construction paper
Butcher Paper
Rice
Scoop scissors
Kids Tweezers
Play-doh
Kinetic sand
Animal Figurines
Balloons
Shaving Cream
Pom Poms
Baking sheets
Bonus: Glitter Glue tubes and Foam Sheets
Find a few good resources that you like.
I do not use Pinterest. I feel like a waste a ton of time and get nowhere. If I am looking for ideas I go to these 3 websites. My go to resources:
My best advice right now is just let your kids have fun. Let them make a mess and get dirty. Give yourself a break and don’t make it harder on yourself. This will be over soon.