[zebramom]

Today is the last day of school (they go from 9:00 - 11:30 - what's the point?) and I'm trying to come up with a list of things to do for Shorty that I can post on the fridge.

So far I have

Clay
Bike
Dolls
Easy Bake Oven
Swings
Chalk
Books
Color

We also usually incorporate a little bit of time of schoolwork into the day. She actually loves it and it keeps her in the routine and prompotes knowledge retention in kids.


I'm having a complete brain fart on other things to do. I know when we were kids we just did things. We don't have kids in the area and I do plan to do a few play dates, but we leave for Boston in a little over a week so I'm not scheduling anything until we get back.


Please help my brain!!!

[crick]

Plant a few flowers that are hers to care for so she can water them daily. Or a veggie garden?

Make your own "playdough" that she can color and mold. Or stick with the plain ole flour dough to make a handprint/footprint she can paint. Since you are really creative & crafty, bet you could do the stepping stones that lead out your door or something like that.

Sprinkler fun/slip-n-slide

If she likes dolls/stuffed animals - teaparty, circus, safari, vet office etc.

Read - does your local library do a summer reading program?

To get ready for the trip to Boston, maybe she can make up her own box of travel games? Car bingo etc. Maybe make a list of all the things she might see on the way there and she can make a game out of that.

Penpal letters - my kids love penpals!

If she has access to a computer, there are some great kid games online. Educational too.

Dress up, fashion show, dance a thon

Make a 4th of July "outfit" - get those cheap tshirts from Hobby Lobby to paint or those sun visor hats.

With all those sticks in your yard, I bet she could make an awesome fort!

[aspenhall]

I just ran across an amazing "kid wash" play thing that you make from PVC pipe...I can't wait to build!

FamilyFun: How to Make the Deluxe Kid Wash - and More Family Fun

Squirt guns

Bubbles

Bug Catching

Trampoline

Swing Set

[jbee]

get a little pool for sure, with cups and other pretend dishes, my kids and daycare kids can spend an hour in there, you can give your baby a bath in it, play kitchen,if you have a little slide you can stick it in it too.

[waited2long]

Have her produce her own puppet shows, based on her favorite storybook. She can make the puppets, stage, sets, everything. The puppets can be simple paper cutouts on popsicle sticks or made from old socks.

It's hours of creative play that involves dexterity, logic and imagination.

[momraine]

If she likes crafts, check out the craft section in Wal-mart or a dollar store and find some little crafts she can do, or just fill a trunk with scissors, glue, fun foam, paper, old magazines, etc. Look at the library for some of the Klutz books, they teach things like juggling and some are for teaching crafts and other things. We used to use scrap paper and draw designs of our dream houses. I remember making a dream book, all the stuff I wish I could have from catalogs and stuff and I drew my house (complete with indoor swimming pool with a roof that retracted on nice days!). Lets see, we used to make cars out of paper, very crude ones, and I cant remember the details, but it was something in the way we folded them and then just cut out the bottom to form the wheels. We also used to stand books up open and use them to make doll houses, the more books you had the more rooms you could make. If you have scrap lumber maybe give her a hammer and some nails and let her try to build something outside. Sprinklers are fun but more fun if you have someone to do it with, I find the garden type hold up better than the kiddie type.

[DianeScraps]

how about a photo walk? You grab a digital camera and start taking pictures from the moment you walk out the door, if you want to do it more then once you can do themed pictures like something blue, something fast, some gross, etc. you can upload the pictures to places like photobucket.com and then email the 'slideshow' to friends

Librarys usually have a ton of stuff going on

Free movies at Regal movie theater (Tuesday and Wednesday mornings)

water ballons

sidewalk art (my girls love to do 'cards' for daddy on the driveway for when he gets home from work)

Make freezer popsicles

plant something in the garden (pumpkins are a good one)

Make paper dolls (my girls are doing that at the moment)

[ajjhmf]

Okay, I am SOOOOO building that Kid Wash. What a cool way to stay cool and they can even ride their bikes through it!

Another idea is a 'bike wash.' We get the hose, buckets of soapy water, sponges and scrub brushes and have the kids wash all their outside riding toys. The kids love it, it gets the stuff clean and usually they keep going and wash ALL their outside toys.

Dress-up time is a big hit here. All three of mine get into it. Last week, J was a soldier, H was Cinderella and M was a Power Ranger. They we on a mission to save me. Sadly, it didn't work and I was still trapped under a pile of laundry at the end of the day.

Finally, I'm a big fan of quiet pretend play. I found that J had no idea how to play with toys when he came home, so we worked extra hard on this. Now he spends the little kids nap times building lego fortresses, storming his castle or creating elaborate action figure set ups. It's good calm play for him and it uses his imagination. H does the same with her doll house, polly pocket princesses and dolls. My rule is it must be done with a quiet voice and I will only respond to one "Mommy LOOK!" an hour.

[zebramom]

What an awesome bunch of moms. You know how to keep kids busy.

I love the kid wash. I'll have to get on that this weekend!!!

Thanks. Keep the ideas coming!!!

[meshsgrl]

Any ideas for 2 yr olds? I live in the country with a big back yard. We have kiddie pool, swingset, sprinkler, and a huge woods to explore. I have a limited amount of inside toys due to space limits. But this guy does not know how to play alone and I get bored with kiddie pool and sprinkler. I am also trying out the stay at home mom role... so i am NOT used to being at home all day and he is used to the babysitters who has 5 boys ages 7-9!

[aspenhall]

Send him on an adventure....in a book...

Give him a pile of books and ask him to find you all the things that are BLUE, or ROUND, or animals.

They have puzzles for 2 yr olds...

Also, get a bunch of cardboard boxes (smallish) attach them together with a rope, and have him give "train rides" to all his stuffed animals.

Have them help you cook (they stir or dump the ingredients)

Have them make bread "no-knead bread" by themselves (you supervise) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/di...=1&oref=slogin

make a giant bubble wand with a dowel and rope and string....or just blow bubbles while he runs around and tries to pop them....get a bubble gun or other automatic bubble blower

I don't like being the sahm of an only child too much, so I am always asking to babysit kids at my house JUST so A can have a playmate.

[shaylynn]

My little ones like to go on walks and see how many different kinds of leaves they can find. Sometimes we glue them or tape them into a homemade book and label too. They also like to take a bucket of water (can add a little food coloring if want to) and give them a paint brush and let them paint the sidewalk, swings, whatever. Another thing is a water bottle like you spray plants with, they can water things with them or if they are really hot, they can adjust the nozzle and mist themselves. Another is take chalk and draw a city for their hot wheel cars. Draw road to drive on, their home, stores, church, park whatever they can think of-spent many hours a summer doing this and the town can be recreated by just rinsing and drawing a new version. Hope some of these ideas help.

[aspenhall]

ooooh, yeah...As a kid, we'd do "rubbings" on our walk, take a sheet of big paper and unwrap a large crayon and go for a texture walk...find as many textures and pattern as you can, and lay the paper over the top and rub with the edge of the crayon on the paper to transfer the image....use the paper as a background for mounting a photo you took on the walk.

99 Days of summer games
FamilyFun: 99 Days of Summer Kids' Games - and More Family Fun

[aspenhall]

We're doing a "summer olympics" for Cubscouts this month.

A bean bag is the shot put, and a pool noodle is the javelin...and a wiffle ball in a knee high nylon is the hammer throw.

We're also doing "pigs in a pen" where you all kneel around a table with your chin on the table and your hands in your lap. Then someone drops a ping pong ball (painted to look like a cow/pig etc... or left plain) into the center of the table...the players all must only use their breath to push the ping pong ball off the table, or block it from rolling off if it gets too close to you. When it rolls off the edge, you add another ball and keep going.