Summer has hit us in full force here in Nevada already (109 on June 1, whee!) and that means that as much as I want to enjoy lots of sunshine and playtime outside, we need some indoor activities too. I came to the point last month where I felt I had exhausted all of my ideas for things to keep these boys busy and happy. I mean, yeah we've done (and still do) all the usuals. Paint, chalk, stickers, bubbles, stamps, crayons, playdough. We have three thousand toys. Baby pool, water table, climber and slide in the backyard. But their attention span is so short still, especially one twin in particular. My little Aaron will sit and color but Alex will take the crayons and run away to hide them. Activities last such a small amount of time that I feel like I run through so many of them each day. That is normal, though, I know. Especially at not even 2 years old. But it doesn't mean I can't keep trying!
After a bit of thought, some perusing of pinterest and toddler activity blogs, I decided to buy the Toddler Busy Book that I had put on my amazon wish list a while back. I'm really glad I did. I feel like it gave me the kick start I needed to think outside the box. In the last few weeks I've come to realize it really is the little things that are so engaging to them right now.
So this week we had a balloon party. The kids kicked and bopped balloons all around the playroom while I told them the colors of the balloons. We pushed brightly colored pom poms into a hole I cut in the top of an empty cornstarch container.
We also dumped them out and put the lid on and took it off and scooped pom poms with measuring cups. They love this thing! Another huge hit were gallon sized zip lock bags. That is it, just bags. I gave them each one and they proceeded to roam around the playroom stuffing all kinds of things into those bags. For a half an hour! In the kitchen we stacked cat food and tuna cans and played with real kitchen tools that I now have set aside for them. (while wearing sunglasses, of course)
We stacked big boxes that I had hoarded for a week or two. Daddy Pears and I just taped them shut the night before.
We colored paper plates with markers and filled them with cheerios and made tambourines. (PSA: Not ALL Crayola markers are "washable", whoops)
We (they) even jumped on the crib mattresses that I brought out into the playroom. This was a huge hit because Alex loves to jump (look at that air!) and Aaron hasn't quite figured it out yet but is working hard on it.
The best part is now I have a ton of new ideas. Some from the book, some from the blogs and pinterest but some just from me. Now that I am looking at things differently I see potential in a lot of things. I think it is going to be a fun summer. I will be sure to share our adventures. If you have any great ideas for us leave a comment, I'd love to hear about them!
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