Mud Pies & Minivans: Fun 4 Lil' Ones

(Newest activities toward bottom of page)

Pudding Painting:

This is a messy but really fun activity for your lil' ones that is not only really yummy but extremely fun & potentially educational (definitely an outside activity)!

Supplies: make a box or 2 of pudding (just 1 flavor or multiple favors), bowls, spoons, paint brushes, & whatever else you can imagine that would make this activity more fun (BE CREATIVE!)

* For an easier clean-up, I recommend bringing out a towels & washcloths to rinse your kids off outside.

What to do...

You can approach this activity in many different ways, the most fun is having your kids paint themselves or each other with the pudding using paint brushes. I use this activity to drive home "body parts". For example, "Paint your toes", "Find your belly button". You can also have them paint on paper, fill up cupcake liners with their spoons, or whatever else you can imagine to make this activity even more fun.

"Put pudding on your toes"

"Find your belly button"

My lil' pudding face

Putting pudding in a cupcake liner

Everywhere....

Yummy....

Aidann (27 months) and Asher (15 months)

pudding painting

Happy and all worn out!

Time to wash up!

Collage Creations:

This activity is really fun, especially for a 2 year old who is obsessed with glueing!

Supplies:

A stick of glue (the kind that is purple when wet but dries clear is best for the younger kids)
Various colors & shapes of construction paper you have already cut
Blank paper (can be any color)
A bowl to put scraps in

What to do...

Give each lil' 1 their own piece of paper. You can write their name on it to prevent them getting mixed up later on. First, talk to them about what they will be doing & the behavior you expect (no eating the glue, trying to keep the scraps of paper on the table, & etc). Then allow the older ones to put a some glue on the paper & stick the scraps on it. You can talk about the different shapes they pick & the various colors as the craft goes on. This is a fun & easy craft that even my 1 year old enjoys!

*To mix up this collage craft, you can also cut out various people, animals, & objects from magazines for them to work with.

*Remember it is very important that kids participate in clean up process. Sometimes it is a lot of hassle & it takes more time, but you are instilling in them that they ARE capable (which builds self esteem) & they ARE responsible (which builds character).

Cleaning time!

Picnic in the Park:

Its always fun for kids when you change up their normal lunchtime routine. Have kiddos help you pack up lunch, an extra special treat thats out of the ordinary. Helping you get ready makes them feel like a big kid & also helps builds up the anticipation for a special day in the park! Pack up other fun things for the park like balls, riding toys, etc. It's great for bonding!

Sock Sort:

When doing laundry, have your toddler help sort the socks into color groups. They will have a blast, but also be learning at the same time!

Look, Listen Feel, Hear Walk:

Nothing required except a kid, lol! Go on a walk with your lil' 1 outside at a park or just around the neighborhood. Constantly encourage them to utilize their senses, minus taste of course. "Did you hear the airplane?". "Do you feel the breeze?". When you get back home you could even have them draw a picture of some of the fun things they discovered on their walk by using there senses. This activity will help them later on in their writing to be more descriptive and "look" beyond just what they can see.

Feeling the "rough rock"

Playground detour

A bug they found on a rock

Stopping to listen

Observing the tree

Gingerbread Houses:

Who said that Christmas time was the only time you are allowed to make a gingerbread house? This activity is WAY too fun to limit to just once a year.

Supplies:

Paper plate
Small milk carton (empty)
Frosting
Candy
Plastic knife
Graham crackers

What to do...

"Glue" carton to the center of the plate with frosting, then have child frost the carton sides & top & then use graham crackers as the walls & roof. Frost the graham crackers again & add candy to house. If child wants to get really creative they can frost plate and create a whole yard scene. Have fun with it! Even lil' ones can enjoy activity if they have someone to help them, although they will probably eat more than decorate lol! In my pictures I used a kit I purchased after Christmas, but I have also done it with the carton before.

Putting up the walls

Decorating

Some for the house & some for us

Playdoh Fun:

Everyone loves Playdoh, but why not spice things up? If you look, they have added so many fun & new playdoh set ups. My daughter, Aidann, adores "Sesame Street" & so I found a cute lil' set up where you make Cookie Monster cookies & letters from Playdoh & you can feed it to him. Aidann adores it! Asher loves food (so funny because she is sooo skinny, I have no clue where she puts it) & so I found her a set where you can make all sorts of interesting foods from the various molds. It also has a fun little machine where you can make noodles for spaghetti! This hands-on activity allows your child to get creative & use their imaginations. Help them identify their shapes, colors, and letters.

Give them a roll & watch their imaginiations soar!

Dance,Dance, & Instruments:

Paper plate tambourine: (http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Music/Paper_Plate_Tambourine/Paper_Plate_Tambourine.html)

Get creative!

Aidy inspecting the tree

Box Houses

Get some boxes from Lowes or Home Depot or even some fridge boxes & cutout doors & windows (Kids like the ones they can open and shut the best). Then have them color or paint their houses. Once they are finished add some pillows, play food, books, or whatever and you are good to go. Hours and hours of fun!

Flashlight Amusement
Give your kid a flashlight, turn down the lights, & you will have your toddler amused a good hour or so. They love to chase the light, hit the light, find the light. To make it educational, you can say, "Shine the flashlight on the bookcase" or other various objects to help increase their vocabulary & understanding.

Supplies: Hats, dress up clothes, snacks (ring pops and other candy jewelry is always fun), special drink (for younger kids you can use flavored water-still fun but doesn't stain. plastic tea set, optional kids size table and chairs, materials to make invitations.

What to do... Have your kids make up invitations to the Happy Hatter Tea Party where everyone must bring a hat and a smile. Even if its just you and your kids at the tea party, its fun to have them make an invitation for you or daddy. Set up the table with the tea set, bowls filled with the treats, place cards could be fun also. Its pretty self explanitory how you conduct the actual tea party stuff but make sure you capitalize on encouraging manners at this time.

Rarely get sugar,
so loving the ring pops

Spray Bottle Fun

Themed Lunches

What are you focusing on teaching your lil' one? Numbers, colors, or shapes? Well, a great way to drive home topics is by using food! If your child is learning about circles for the week, then why not set aside a day where there whole lunch is circles? My friend, Pam, cut some hot dogs (nitrate free of course) & light string cheese cut and cut them into circles. She also added some grapes to complete the circle themed lunch. The ideas are endless with this one! If your child is focusing on a certain number, 3 for example, then make sure that there is 3 of everything on their plate. Maybe cut a sandwich into 3 pieces, 3 crackers, 3 carrots, etc. Color themed lunches can also be a blast! Maybe if you are focusing on orange you could serve a glass of orange juice, orange fruit slices, American cheese, etc. Make sure you are able to take the time to walk them through their lil' snack or lunch to ensure they understand the point you are trying to drive home! Be creative & enjoy!

Kids will absolutely adore this idea! All you need are various sponge shapes, a variety of paint color, butcher paper, & an environment you won't mind potentially getting a lil' messy. Roll out some butcher paper for each child & simply allow them to use the paint & their sponges to decorate & personalize their own wrapping paper. When they are all dry, kids will love getting to help wrap gifts for family & friends in the paper they helped to create!

LET IT GROW! Let it grow! Let it grow!

Since it is the beginning of a new year, my husband & I thought it would be so fun to have the kids plant their own flowers. This activity is awesome because it can be super empowering, help reemphasize the concept of responsibility & also how things grow/change. First, the girls got to go to the store with their dad & help pick everything they would need out. They loved how they got to pick the color/design on their flowers pots, the types of flowers they wanted to plant, & etc. Even lil' Aussie got to take part in this activity (why not?). After they got home, we explained to them what we were going to do & why we were going to do it. We talked about why we have to put in the soil 1st & why we had to dig a hole & push the seeds deep down. We talked about what plants need to grow & how they were going to be responsible for making sure their plants got these things. As those lil' ladies planted their seeds, put their pots in a sunny spot, & watered them their faces truly beamed with pride!
Over the past few weeks those girls have been so faithful in taking their job seriously & they are finally starting to see the results. You can even make a science project out of it by having them draw what they see over the course of time. Good stuff!
Painting Indoors

Since I am not supposed to getting up as much these days, my mom was kind enough to put together a new art box for the "A Team". I had showed it to them when we 1st got it & they immediately were drawn to the potentially messiest thing in there-paint! This activity I am usually down for, but because I was unable to oversee this project to the extent I usually would I decided to give them each a paintbrush & a "cup of paint" (aka a cup of water) instead. "Will you please go & paint my house pink with sparkles. I also need my fence painted green", I asked. At 1st they just stared at me a bit puzzled until a few second later they caught on. They immediately ran to their playhouse & began "painting" away. It was so cute as they would keep running back to my house every 10 or 15 minutes asking for a new paint assignment or reporting back to me a new paint job they had commissioned for themselves. They would have seriously done this activity every day the rest of the week, but I didn't let them. I try to space those activities/trips that they especially like out because otherwise they lose their special & it is not such a treat the next time they get to do it.

Get Out & Do Something New

Sometimes it takes some serious detective work, but in every state there are things for kiddos to do. It is important, especially if you are a SAHM (stay at home mom), to get your kids out & about every now & then. A lot of places offer tours if you are just willing to ask. Why can't they go see how a pizza is made or how a grocery store operates? Aidann has especially shown a huge interest in cows recently, so we are setting up a trip for her to visit Shamrock Farms where she can not only watch actual cows get milked, but get an idea how milk is even bottled & shipped. There are also zoos, ice skating rinks, parks, candy factories, & etc. You can even just set up play dates with other mommies you know. Assign someone the snack & someone else an art project or group game & rotate. Classes are also great way to get the kids out of the house like sports, dance, Gymboree, etc. Some libraries also offer free weekly programs for kids to enjoy or some bigger activities throughout the month (movie day, a bear picnic, magicians, & so forth).

Laundry Basket Demolition

This is probably 1 of my energetic husband's favorite activities to do with the girls. Awhile back we purchased these big cardboard blocks by Imaginarium. The girls love to build big towers or castles out of them. Well, 1 day my husband decided give the girls rides in the laundry basket & pull them all around the house & then right through their creation sending it crashing down on top of them. I definitely recommend doing this on carpet & using the cardboard blocks so it can stay a fun activity & no one gets hurt. This game is actaully good when you have multiple kids because everyone must participate in building the tower each time if they want to have a turn in the basket later on. Then only 1 kid gets to ride in the basket while the rest of the kids stay clear & we encourage them to cheer & be happy for their sibiling. Then when their turn rolls around, the same positive behavior & participation is expected out of the other siblings.

Mining for Gold
This activity I have not tried with my kids yet, but we used to do it at my old job & those kids adored it. All you need to do is collect some rocks & then spray paint them gold. The next step is to hide them in a sandbox (If you do not have 1, you can get creative & hide the "gold" in a designate dirty zone or fill up a big Tupperware with oatmeal oats or something). Next, equip your kids with some gold finding tools like shovels, sifters, buckets, & etc. then you are ready to go. Usually kids will get excited if your are excited, so make a big deal about how they get to go out & look for these special treasures. Before you do the activity you could even find a kids book from the library about panning/mining for gold or find a video so they can see how its done.

Painting Outside

Sure painting inside can be fun, but it can also be very exciting (and less messy) to paint outside. We just got the girls some watercolors, paintbrushes, a cup of water, & a huge roll or IKEA paper & rolled it out on the driveway & let them go at it. They loved being able to paint on this extra long sheet of paper while also watching the cars go by & kids playing. My husband even washed their hands & dragged out the picnic table so that they could also enjoy some lunch outside before returning to this very relaxing project. I thought it was cool how he used the long roll of paper rather than separate sheets because it presented a great opportunity to share with each other & just enjoyed laying on their lil' bellies painting next to each other.

Ice, Ice, Baby

Get out your kids pool & add a huge block of ice in for some extra fun. They are very inexpensive at the water store & your kids will love messing with it: Sitting, licking, throwing, etc.

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