Entertaining a Toddler

I never realized how hard it would be to entertain a toddler. I mean they are little and easily excited about things so I thought it would be simple...what I didn't factor in was their short attention spans. Normally it's not an issue because we just go to our community park and run off some energy. For the days we cant get out of the house it becomes a HUGE issue with my VERY active toddler. So I thought I would share some things that have really helped me keep my busy toddler occupied.

So a while back on a rainy day I was looking for ideas to keep my very busy toddler occupied. So we had art day! We colored and painted pictures for daddy and we also played with some edible playdough. The painted was not a success because he kept putting the paint brush in his mouth and would cry because the paint tastes horrible so we moved on to the playdough pretty quickly. Tristen didn't quite understand that you don't just eat the playdough but you cut out of it with the cookie cutters. Tristen really liked it for what he understood. The recipe is super easy: 1 cup flour, 1 cup peanut butter and a 1/4 cup honey.

Flash Cards are a very fun activity for my toddler. We point to the pictures and are working on our animal sounds. To me his sound for dog, cat, horse and cow pretty much sound the same but he just loves it when I make a big deal with the sounds he made. We are also working on colors and numbers. I am not sure how much he really understands but he will sit for about 30 minutes while we go through the cards.

Puzzles are also a hit in our house for about 30 minutes. Some of the puzzles he can put together and some he cannot quite get yet.

Pretend Cooking is a family hit. He loves to have us sit on the floor and he will stir in his bowl and pot and then feed us. He laughs every time and will do this all day if we let him.

Building blocks is one of his favorites and actually prefers to build on his own unless you just sit there and watch him. You can see it in his face he is thinking really hard about what he wants to build and will throw a fit if you place anything on his tower because that's not the vision he had. His daddy does the samething :)

In a pinch I do let him watch cartoons and baby Einstein videos. I try and explain what is going on in the shows so he isn't just watching TV. I will use TV so I can get things done and I don't feel bad about it. I know there are a lot of moms that are horrified right now and I think its great if they can entertain their toddler and put away laundry, do dishes, clean the house, cook and feed a newborn without having to distract their toddler with the TV but this mom does.

So those are some of our inside activities that work like a charm. What I have learned is as soon as you think you have it all figured out your toddler will switch things up and keep you guessing. So I am sure in a month none of these things will work and I will have to find all new ones. That's what keeps me busy and entertained and I am thankful I can stay at home and keep my toddler busy :)