Thinking up Toddler Fun

We have a toddler. We try to think up fun things for her to do and experience. It is hard sometimes to keep her curios growing mind interested and learning with everything else life brings. But we do our best.

Making popcorn is one of her new favorite things to do. She loves hearing the rumble of the popper and seeing the popcorn fly out of the machine, and eating it too.

Recently I realized Anna was in a “pouring” phase. She wanted to pour everything from one container into another. She continued to ask for water in her cup and the next thing I realized, instead of drinking it like I thought she was doing, there was water up and down the hall, water in the bumbo seat, and a few other random places. So then I came up with a fabulous idea. I thought, hey, I will let her pour macaroni into mixing bowls and keep things dry and clean. Ha ha ha! The next thing I knew she had poured it all over the floor, but she was loving it so I let her continue until she started throwing it in the air. Oh man!

I made Anna help me pick up all the macaroni on the floor and then racked my brain for a better idea. I came up with the macaroni “sand box.” I just filled the bottom of a storage container with macaroni and put spoons and scoops in it. She loves it. Now this invention is still not perfect because it still needs careful monitoring and some macaroni still ends up on the floor, but it is an improvement. I have been getting the macaroni box out about once a day for a little while of playing. Even Elise likes it.

Sidewalk chalk is another fun thing we all like to do. Yesterday. we drew a hop scotch and jump jump jumped across.

Elise even gets into it but half the time the chalk ends up in her mouth.

Anna loves when I draw pictures and tell stories about them. She especially loves when I draw animals; afterwords she will make their sound and color them in.

Sometimes it is hard having a toddler. They want to do and learn, they run and jump and get into everything, and dump everything out, eat their oatmeal with their hands and spread yogurt all over their face and chair, and drop bananas on the floor, and empty mama's wallet, and throw her cell phone in the trash. They don't quite know how to speak but they know exactly what they want and haven't learned how to control their emotions. They are fun and stinking cute, have lots of energy and are always seeking something new to learn and do and sometimes it is quite exhausting!