Summer is just around the corner, and we don’t want to miss a second of it! We scratched our brains and made a list of everything we could think of that would be fun to do this summer. We organized the list by places to go, fun things around the house, and scheduled events. Feel free to download a copy and customize for your family.
Print and post in a common place to cross off activities as you go!
Dinner time can be complete chaos with toddlers. The kids are hungry/bored and mommy needs to focus on getting dinner ready so we can eat on time. A couple months ago I decided maybe if they can “help” get everything ready for dinner, then they will be occupied while I make dinner and it’d actually be productive. So we worked a little chore for them into our pre-dinner routine.
They get to “set the table” each night! They each set their own place setting complete with a spoon/fork, napkin, cup, and plate. And together they help get baby sister setup too.
We’ve dedicated two lower drawers to everything they need.
They are always so proud that they set the table themselves. I love how they use their napkins just like mommy and daddy!
Post dinner they then scrape their plate and put it in the sink. These chores are super simple, and 2.5 year olds love to “help”, so seize the opportunity!
I saw something similar come up in pinterest, and then saw it again when visiting our local children’s museum, so we gave it a try. We will definitely be doing this lots more over the summer! First step pickup a set of watercolors ($1 at Target) and use whatever ice trays you have around. There are lots of fun shaped ice trays, but I just used the water bottle ones that I have.
Pushing on the backs of each color, pop them out of the plastic and put one color in each cup. Fill with a small amount of water (about 1/4 cup is more than enough).
Let the water color sit for about 1/2 an hour and then stir each. Be sure to stir well because the color will settle at the bottom.
Carefully pour each color or mixture of colors in the ice trays about 3/4 full.
Pop them in the freezer for a few hours or until your ready to use them.
Once they’re frozen flip the trays to remove the water color ice. No worries if any break!
We put each color in it’s own container. That way when they melt down we can just refreeze back in the trays!
We used cardstock since it absorbs water better than regular printer paper. This kept my toddlers busy for about 40 minutes and the ice was still very solid by then.
This was a lot of fun for everyone and easy for mom to prep ahead of time!
When you’re two, colors are a BIG deal. Another BIG deal is anything to do with crayons, paint, markers, glue, and stickers. So let’s put them together and get a full 30 minutes of entertainment!
I made a pass through the dollar store and spent four whole dollars on this little project. I picked up the following supplies:
On the foam board we used a bowl to trace a circle/square for each color.
We also put the word labels on each color box before adding the rest of the collage.
Throw some colorful things in a bowl and let them go to town gluing and sticking the colorful items to the right area of the board. We also used dot paint and leftover valentines candy.
And before you know it you’ll have a color collage to proudly display in the kitchen. They love pointing to it and reminding me who put which sticker where.
It doesn’t take too much creativity (proof) to come up with an interactive game to teach your toddler a new skill. One day the twins got into the cabinet full of paper plates/cups. They were fascinated by some cake sized plates, so I decided to turn them into a “game.”
On each plate I wrote the capital and lower case letter for each letter of the alphabet, ex “Aa”, “Bb”, etc,. Then we collected all of the letter fridge magnets and put them in a tub. It was simple: the kids take turns picking a letter from the tub and putting it on the correct plate.
The reward? A peanut! We keep the tub on the mantle and do it every day after nap and now they come running out begging to play “the peanut game.” (Shhh! … they think it’s about peanuts, but us mommies know it’s about letter recognition)
Depending on the age of your toddler you can decide how many letters (plates) to do each week. We did 5 letters each week and it seems to be a pretty good pace for 28 month olds.
My kids aren’t so subtle when they are starting to get bored. As soon as they start hanging on my leg or begging for an early snack, I have to quickly redirect before it becomes an epidemic. Sometimes it’s hard to think of something FUN on the spot, so posted inside of the pantry door is a list of “Boredom Busters” that we have accumulated over time. We started with a list of blank spaces to add ideas as we go.
Every family has their own idea of fun, so you can download the blank form here, print, post your list, and start adding your own “boredom busters.” Everyone in the family can add ideas and check back for something to do on a “boring” day.
To get some ideas flowing…here are a few examples that we have posted on our list right now (keep in mind we have toddlers):
Happy boredom busting!
