To Do with a Tot

My husband wanted me to come up with a list of things to do with Pearl when he's in need of inspiration, and these are the ideas I gathered up. I thought I would share them here, too. I found many, many more ideas but pared them down to the ones I thought most suitable for an eighteen month old. Please feel free to give suggestions! This list is a work in progress.



Around the House:

• Build a jungle gym (away from hard corners) out of sofa cushions
• Hide an object under one of two or three cu      ps & have her try to find it
  
• Blocks!  Knocking over the tower is a favorite, but try horizontal 'stacking' too! And sorting by shape.  Someday I want to get some colored ones so we can sort them by color.
• Take her on a blanket ride through the house!
• Listen to music and dance!
• Sing and do the movements that go along with:

• The Wheels on the Bus
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Patty Cake
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Etc

Get a Little Messy:

• Paint! (at the table/outside please!)
• Bubbles!
  
• Color with crayons!
• Texture play - get a few bowls/containers.  Fill them with cheap, differently textured stuff - one or two kinds at a time.  Include measuring cups for scooping; funnels, slotted spoons.  Talk about the color, texture, size, shape, taste if she tastes it!  Add a container of water if you want to get really wild.
  

cornstarch
cornmeal
oatmeal
ice cubes
cotton balls
jello
pudding
dry beans
rice
flour

Get Out:

Go to the park!
Go outside!
Go to the library!

On the Computer:

• Explore Flickr - try photos other than those of herself.  Family members is okay but I think better yet would be animals: kitties, puppies, birds.  A tag search for pets and then talking about/identifying the kinds of pets, for example.  Body parts would be another good one (careful with that one though! ;) )
  
• Kneebouncers - this is a site with lots of simple flash games.  Some of them require aiming, but others (the guitar/keyboard/drums one is good) just respond to banging on the keyboard and/or clicking mouse buttons
• Make a Jackson Pollock painting - Move mouse to paint, click button to change colors.
  
• YouTube for Toddlers - This a list full of links of toddler-entertaining YouTube clips.  And let's not forget her favorite, the Silly Kitties video.
• Music Videos on Noggin - Can't go wrong with Laurie Berkner, Dan Zanes, and Elizabeth Mitchell!
• Learn some new signs!