Hellobee Boards

@Bao: E has lots of toys too but if I'm not sitting on the floor with him in the room with his toys he won't just stay and play with them for very long. He HAS to be with me and able to see what I'm doing.

I try to keep a similar schedule so that it breaks up the day in an expected way for both of us. In the morning after breakfast and DH leaves for work we go on a walk, usually to the playground where we'll stay and play for a few minutes before we walk back. When we get home it's naptime. After nap we eat lunch, clean up around the house and then I try to plan something that he'd find fun to do. We either spend time in the backyard or we color/make cards for the grandparents, play with some sensory objects, blow bubbles, etc. Then we read books before naptime, he takes his nap, wakes up, eats a snack while we read some more books. By then it's time to make dinner and daddy is almost home! That's a typical "at home" day.

I do find that it really helps both of us stay entertained if we get out. For a long time we didn't know where to go or what to do. You can only run so many errands, especially when you're on a limited budget!! But now we go to library storytime 1-2 times per week. We also go to a Mother Goose storytime at a local bookstore once a week. Our local mall also has a children's play area so we will go there sometimes and I'll walk the mall with him and then give him time to play.

I thought of some activities!!!

I was talking to a mom at the library today and she was saying that she was going to start making a letter of the day box. Like on Monday the box will be an "A" box and you put things from around the house or pictures of things that are part of daily life whose names start with the letter A in the box. You can go through them and let them explore it. That night you put them away and on Tuesday "B" things will be in the box. I'm also thinking about getting felt letters so that they can associate the actual letter with it.

You can use empty liter bottles or water bottles and put water in them with a few drops of food coloring or glitter for her to play with. Just make sure the lid is secure.

I thought this link had some good ideas too! http://www.bluebirdkisses.com/kids/montessori/montessori-for-babies-baby-friendly-activities-part-2/

naps!!!

haha jk.......

same as everyone else said. we just make sure to get out of the house once a day, to the mall, the grocery store, a play group, etc! it helps a lot because driving/getting in and out of the car/etc takes up a lot of time i would otherwise be trying to kill at home

I agree that keeping young toddlers entertained can be brutal, especially on days that we can't really get out much (like this week - hand foot and mouth has us tethered to our house - ugh). I find that changing rooms helps. I keep a stash of books and toys in our room, his room, living room, etc.

We play a lot of "chase" running back and forth down our halls. We play with shoe boxes, stacking them, filling them with shoes, etc. We make piles of books, like block stacks, and read a lot. Like Running Elley, he is my little shadow - he finds things to do wherever I am, or I help him "help" me...which is rarely actually helpful, but cute.

Honestly, I will invent errands so we always have somewhere to go - like intentionally forgetting a few grocery items (I try to do most of my shopping without C, late at night after SO is home) so we can go to the store, going to Target to get one item from the dollar bin but cruising the aisles and exploring, etc. We joined the nature museum here - it is much much cheaper than the children's museum and really kid friendly and closer to home and free/really cheap parking. We also have play group 3 times a week, rotating between friends' homes.