Got bored kids at home moms? Here is a complete list of things that I have been doing with my 2.5 years old toddler in the entire week to keep her engaged as well as teach her something new.
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Looking after little ones isn't easy and especially not being able to go out and with the social distancing it's just been getting harder and harder for the kids & exhausting for moms to keep them keep busy and entertained all the time. Although we are all in different parts of the world, still during this pandemic with kids we are all in the same boat.
It's can get really tiring to keep little ones engaged so that they don't drive your crazy. And top of it also worry about homeschooling them so that they don't miss out on their learnings is like a cherry on the cake. With my toddler at home full-time, I have been in a similar situation trying to keeping up a good routine with my toddler so that I am able to keep her entertained, teach her new things as well as get some relaxing time for myself.
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With kids, I have found that two things have always worked the best and we have had the most productive day of all when we follow them. Here they are.
- Following a fixed routine with kids daily
- Planning the next day activities the day before or even better plan the entire week over the weekend so that you never run of ideas and have everything ready to go
Having a fixed structure in my daughter's routine has helped me to improve on the activities and things that I have been doing with her over the past few months. And planning the next day activities a day before always keeps the day in track and I always have something planned to do next with her.
Here are a few activities that we have been doing spacing out in a week according to my toddler's schedule that has helped me keep a structure at home without all of us losing our mind 🙂
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1. Coloring
This is how we usually start our day in the morning. I have a table chair this one at our home for my toddler, which I set with a few drawing sheets and color pencils, crayons, or markers ready the night before. As soon as Mishika wakes up, she is excited to see the setup and starts to scribble or just draw on the sheets.
Sometimes I also give her coloring during the day when I need to get some time for myself. I usually have to sit with her for a few minutes and draw along with her and when she gets the hang of it, I slowly slip away to do my own thing while she is still busy coloring. With this activity, I can easily get around 30-45 minutes for myself in a go.
Related: 10 Easy toddler activities for early learning
2. Story time
We do storytime, twice a day once in the morning and once before bedtime. We don't spend more than 15-20 minutes per session and storytime get's my daughter excited and she enjoys playing with her toys after that for some time all by herself. Again a few minutes in a day all for myself to get my things done 🙂
I maintain a small library of storybooks for my daughter which is visible to her and I let her chose the book that she wants to read. All the more engaging and exciting! Sometimes she makes me read the same book over and over again until she is bored.
3. Learning alphabets (cards, song)
Since Mishika turns three soon, she has started to understand letters and numbers. Although for now, I am only concentrating on letters with her. Usually, I spend 20-30 minutes with her playing flashcards like the first words where each of us pulls out one card and has to guess the picture. It's a lot of fun and we play it like a card game. I have recently got this brain quest toddler card game for her, where each card will have a question for your little one and they have to find the answer. For ex: Can you spot anything red here? Brain quest games are amazing and they come for different age groups.
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Off late, I have started teaching alphabets to my daughter. For the entire week, I have only been concentrating on one alphabet like A, B, C, D, etc and I find activities for her that can teach her that alphabet. For example with the alphabet A, we spoke about apples, what are the different parts of an apple, created apple stamps with paints, and many others. Also during these 20-30 minutes, we sing nursery rhymes and count numbers at a time.
This learning session usually lasts for 30-40 minutes filled with multiple things to do which I plan a day ahead and I always make sure that we are seated on her table chair like in a classroom so that she is aware that it's a learning session but still is a lot of fun!
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4. Water play
If you follow me on Instagram, you will know how much we love the water play. Best way to make use of the sunny weather. We do this activity before taking a bath in the afternoon usually after Mishika's coloring session in the morning.
I fill a bucket with water, add some bubbles, and give her a few of her toys to wash. She loves this activity and it keeps her engaged sometimes for more than an hour straight.
During this time, I usually prepare lunch and dinner for the day, clean the house, and respond to a few important emails for the day. Or you can just make yourself your favorite cup of tea/coffee and sit back and relax!
If you don’t have access to your backyard, you can still have the same fun indoors, by filling up your bathtub with water and bubbles. But make sure never to leave your child in the bathtub all by himself as it can be very dangerous.
5. Gardening
With us all being home this summer, we have taken up a new hobby gardening. And I also involving my daughter with me in this activity on simple things like watering the plant or plucking the weed flowers (be careful to know which one are the itchy ones). It is a great activity to do with kids while getting some outdoor fun.
I usually do this with my daughter later afternoon or in the evening when the weather is pleasant.
5. Ride a bike
We do this activity daily. Usually, in the morning I keep swapping the water play and bike so that it doesn’t get repetitive for my toddler. Also sometimes I pull out my picnic chair and sit in my driveway if the weather is good while my daughter is enjoying riding her bike in the driveway.
6. Art & Crafts
Post the lockdown, I have started loving doing art & crafts with my daughter. I do one art & craft activity with my little girl daily and it takes us around 20-30 minutes per session. Usually, I club these with the learning session or do them in the afternoon post-lunch.
If the activity involves paint, I do it before her bath time as it can get really messy to clean afterward. Also, I make sure to plan everything I need for the next day's activity a night before.
7. Kinetic sand
A great activity for some independent play. I usually give kinetic sand to my daughter when I have run out of ideas, she needs something fun to do and I need some time to get my own things done.
8. Teach her hindi (my local Indian language)
I do this daily with her. I really want my daughter to pick up and understand Hindi (our mother tongue) comfortably as we speak it at home.
I teach her Hindi in a playful manner, where I show her a few objects and tell her the Hindi words for them and then ask her to spot them when I call them out.
My daughter understands Hindi really well but she is still getting used to the idea of speaking in Hindi. Hopefully, she will get the hang of it soon 🙂
9. Sensory bin (I usually put beans, bubbles, pasta, it can be anything)
Sensory activities are a great way to help kids explore new things as well as develop fine motor skills. A few days in a week, we have sensory bin sessions, where I put some lentils, pasta, beans, bubbles, etc in a bin and let her explore). Also, food color and boiled spaghetti make a really good sensory bin as well.
10. Screen time
I try and keep the screen time for my daughter under 2 hours. I give her an hour during lunch, while I clean up, prepare dinner, get my work done, or just sit back and read :).
Related: 20 Classic movies that you can watch with toddlers
11. Hide n seek / tag / pretend play
My daughter loves to play hide n seek either indoors or outdoors. We play it all the time at home. Also doctor-patient, student-teacher are a few more fun activities that we do at home.
Related: 15 Best pretend play toys for toddlers
12. Play board games
This is something new that we have added to our schedule. I often played card games with my daughter when she became two like the first flashcards or brain quest cards. But lately, we have added a new toddler board game the sneaky, snacky squirrel into our routine which has been a huge hit at our home.
Related: Best family board games by age groups
12. Tea party
Mishika loves having a tea party. She prepares tea and biscuits in her pretend play kitchen set and lays it out for me on our toddler table chair set. We have a lot of fun sipping the pretend teas and talking about the day.
13. Toys
Lastly, toys are always a great way to teach your kid how to play independently. Post the lockdown, I have been consistently adding new toys to our toy library at home. Some of our favorites are lego kits, dollhouse, puzzles, etc.
Related: How to get started with toy rotation
There are a lot more things out there that you can try with your kids. I hope this makes your day easier.
Below is an example of my routine with my toddler at home!
Related: How to set up a successful toddler schedule
Nice article. Its much needed at this pandemic times to keep kids motivated and engaged. While you talked about art and crafts , here are some amazing stickers to be used by kids: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V1VML9J?ref=myi_title_dp.