Stepping Stones – a Toddler Trick for indoors

Think twice before you throw away any old cardboard boxes this week as they can make perfect stepping stones for your toddler. After emptying all the muesli bar and cereal boxes into tupperware containers this week we were left with 5 boxes which I flattened down to  make an awesome path way through our apartment. There are heaps of fun games you can play with these stepping stones.

What you need:

•  - A number of flattened cardboard boxes. ( cereal, muesli bar and cracker boxes are perfect!)
• - couch and or a couple of chairs

How to play: 

Hot lava

 1.  Place the stepping stones around your lounge from one couch to another.  Make sure they aren’t too far apart for your toddlers wee stride. Explain to your toddler that they have to make it from one chair to the other by stepping only on the stepping stones without stepping on the hot lava (carpet).

Footpath

1.  Line all the stepping stones in a row in an open space. Your toddler will enjoy helping you do this and picking what stepping stone will go next. Once your footpath has been built let your toddler walk on top of them! As they are walking on them, talk about what colors they sees or what color his foot is on, or what object he is standing on! You can point out some letters too!

Rainbow Rice – a Toddler Trick for indoors and outdoors

A friend from my coffee group back home in New Zealand got me on to making this amazing “rainbow rice’! I think it’s a great alternative to sand and is vibrant and fun for your toddler to play with! Your toddler can play with it pretty much any where!!! at a sand table outside, in a empty bath tub, paddling pool or in big bowls/containers you have lying around the house. It’s cheap, fun, easy to make and any spills are easily vacuumed up in minutes!!!! Joey also suggested you add in some shells, spades, cars, rakes which I thought was a great idea!

This toddler trick is perfect for any toddler! Parent supervision at all times to ensure none is consumed! =)

Go to african babies don’t cry blog to find out the amounts and how to make this amazing rainbow rice!

What you need:

• - White wine vinegar
• - Food coloring
• - Zip lock bags
• - Rice

This rice is also great to pop inside old plastic bottles to make maracas or I-spy bottles!

Joey has started her very own business called Rainbows which specializes in selling colorful cloth nappies. Check it out!!!

3-pin bowling – a Toddler Trick for indoors

This is a great game for wet days and one that you can generally convince older siblings and adults to join in too.  If you have a hallway this is a perfect game.  If you don’t – create a ‘lane’ with pillows or cushions. You can use more than three pins but it is the minimum to make a wall that is relatively easy to hit.  You will find that many toddlers will have just as much fun righting the ‘pins’ and putting them in a row as they will bowling the balls to hit them.

What you need:

•  - Three(or more) empty large soft drink bottles
• - A length of tape or piece of string to mark the start
• - A tennis ball
• - A hallway or a ‘lane’ created with pillows or cushions either side.

What you do:

1. Put your pins up at one end of the hall or the lane.

2. Mark the starting point with a line of tape on the floor or a piece of string

3. Each player takes a turn bowling the ball from behind the tape/string  to try and hit the ‘pins’.  You may need to help your toddler to get the right action going to bowl the ball forward and to release it along the floor…after a few ‘assists’ they usually get the idea.  Or they may lose interest totally in bowling and get more involved in putting the pins upright once they are bowled.  If you have more than three ‘pins’ try putting them in a ‘v’ formation like you will find in a real bowling alley.  This is a cheap, simple, fun game that will help burn a bit of energy on  wet day.

Carrot Tops – a Toddler Trick for indoors

This could be one of the easiest toddler tricks you could do but it will provide a point of interest for several weeks.  Now that winter is approaching the ability to grow something indoors is a real bonus too. “Carrot tops” can also create some interesting discussions around which part of the carrot we eat and where it really does grow.  You can never be too young to start understanding that our food doesn’t really grow on a supermarket shelf.  This trick was a favourite with my twin sister and I when we were young.

What you need:

•  - The ends off a carrot; just make an extra thick slice the next time you are preparing carrots for eating.
• - A saucer
• - Water
• - Patience

 What you do:

1. Simply place the end of your carrot top-side up in a saucer and place  enough water in the saucer to just cover  the bottom of the carrot.

2. Add a little more water every day and watch the fronds start to sprout from the end of your carrot.  In a few weeks you should have a nice fern effect!!!  Just like a carrot growing from the ground.  You can expect some failures however as we can’t tell how the carrots we buy have been treated; so put two or three ends in a saucer at once to hedge your bets.  Sometimes you can find one that is already starting to sprout – as we did – and this can give your project a head start.

Sign up to our Facebook page and follow progress as our carrot tops grow.

Magic Colored Milk – a Toddler Trick for indoors

I found this wonderful toddler friendly experiment online today on Steve Pangler’s Science website. It’s so hard to believe you can have so much fun with milk and food coloring. I thoroughly recommend you give this a try.

Go to Steve Pangler’s Science Website for all the amounts and instructions.

What you need: 

• - Plate
• - Food Coloring (number of colors)
• - Milk
• - Soap
• - Ear bud

What we did:

1.Place the plate on a hard, flat surface and get your toddler to sit down next to it.

2. Pour the milk on to the plate. Make sure you keep sneaky hands out of the way!

3. Place 2-3 drops of each colored food coloring into the milk. Your toddler will love watching this. Once again make sure no sneaky hands get in the way!

4. Give the ear bud to your toddler and get them to dip one end into the soap. With guidance get your toddler to place the soaped end of the ear bud into the circles of food coloring and hold it in there for 10 seconds(get your toddler to count with you.) This is when the magic starts happening! Your toddler will get very excited so make sure you have a camera ready!

NOTE: This is for decoration only, it’s NOT to be consumed!

Food Painting – a Toddler Trick for indoors

We all know that painting and eating are two things that toddlers love so when a friend told me about about food painting I knew this was something that I had to try with my daughter and share with you all! With such a simple paint recipe using only milk and food coloring it really is too easy to set up for hours of fun for your toddler! The foods you can paint are endless! I guarantee both you and your toddler will have a blast with this trick!

This toddler trick is perfect for those toddlers who love to paint and eat! =)

What you need:

• - Milk
• - Food Coloring (a variety of colors)
• - Food to paint! I would recommend foods that are white or neutral in color so the paint shows up on them the best!
• - Paint brush/es
• - Containers to put the paints in. Muffin trays are great!

How to make:

1. Start by mixing the paint colors together. Pour the milk into your container first then add 1-2 drops of food coloring. Stir till thoroughly mixed and repeat to make the other colors.

2. Set your toddler up with the paints and the foods you have chosen. They may need a little help getting started so show your toddler first how to paint on the foods. Once they have watched you do a couple of strokes I’m sure they will be eager to grab the paint brush off you and get under way!

3. Let painted food dry then let your toddler eat their art work! They will think it’s very neat that they get to eat it!

Leaf Rubbings – a Toddler Trick for indoors

Leaf rubbing is a great Autumn activity. The leaf rubbing itself is lots of fun, but gathering the leaves adds a whole other level of fun for the entire family. You can collect leaves from your back yard or garden or you can go for a walk at a nearby park or around your neighbor hood. The leaf rubbings can be used for a number of things such as cards and wrapping paper.

What you need:

• - Crayons or coloring in pencils
• - Thin paper
• - Leaves (not too small)
• - Tape

What to do:

1. Collect a variety of leaves to make leaf rubbings out of. The ones that have thick veins work best, but experiment with different types to find an effect you like.

2. Place leaves on table. Place paper on top of the leaves. Tape the paper to the table to stop it moving.

3. If you are using crayons remove any paper label from the crayon. Start your toddler off  by showing them what to do by placing the crayon length-ways on the paper and rubbing it back and forth. If using coloring in pencils show them how to color over the leaf. Tracery of the veins and ridges on the leaves will appear on the paper! Your toddler will think it’s magic!

Note: Coins and other textures can also be rubbed in this way!

Family Coloring In Book – a Toddler Trick for indoors

My daughter loves coloring in especially if it’s an animal, person or object she knows! The other day I thought it would be a great idea to make our very own personalized coloring in book using family photos! Sure enough, she has loved it. It’s a great way to keep your toddler focused and interested in coloring in! Your little budding artist can draw to their heart’s content and once the book has no more blank space left, you can start all over again with another set of photos.

This toddler trick is great for all budding artists!

What you need:

• - Family photos that are uploaded on the computer ( 5- 10 photos).
• - Printer
• - White paper
• - Stapler
• - Crayons/felt tips or coloring in pencils

How to make:

1. Choose 5 – 10 family photos (make sure they are all in one direction, portrait or landscape).

2. Print all the photos out in black and white in A4 size (you can print out in draft quality so you don’t waste as much ink and it also tends to be a lot lighter in color making it easier for your toddler to color in).

3. Now to put it together. Get all your pictures in the order you want and staple together like a book. ( you can put a blank piece of paper on the front so your toddler can draw their very own front cover).

4. Give the book to your toddler with some coloring in pencils! The reaction on their face when they open the book to see their very own family is priceless!

I hope your toddlers enjoy this as much as my daughter did! Photos of our book will be uploaded to our facebook page soon!

Drum Practise – a Toddler Trick for indoors

I am sure there is a musician in all of us and when you are a Toddler it is great fun to explore music making in a variety of different ways.  At some stage all of us want to be the drummer in the band and this week’s blog is a great way to let your Toddler make some music using the pots and pans you have on hand.

What you need:

• - First find your drumsticks
• - Woodens spoons or similar are ideal.
• - For drums select a variety of pots, fry pans, cake tins, tupperware or other plastic containers. And for your high-hat a pot lid balanced on a non-breakable container can work well (just don’t hit it too hard!)
• - Finally a favourite song or a piece of rock music to drum along to.

What to do:

Set up your drum kit around your toddler.  You can go from the smallest to largest container and talk about how each one makes a different noise when you bang it.  Sit the high-hat a short distance away so that it can be softly hit rather than banged hard.  Put the music on and have a go banging the drums along with the music.  Try to bang in the middle of the ‘drum’ and get your toddler to mimic you when it is their turn.  Sing along as you go and don’t expect it to be the Rolling Stones first time round.  Toddler’s attention spans can be short but this is an activity you can return to at different times during the day once you have your kit set up.  If your high-hat is getting hit for a six either abandon it altogether or put it directly on the floor.  Happy drumming!

Bus Driver – a Toddler Trick for indoors

My daughter just loves the song “the wheels on the bus”. She’s great at singing along and acting out the words. One wet afternoon last month after singing the wheels on the bus about 15 times!!!!!! We decided to make our own bus and have a afternoon of bus driving! It is a fun game for kids who want to pretend they are driving or being a passenger on the bus. This is great game to play with friends, family and your soft cuddly teddy bears!

What you need:

• - Chairs
• - Stool
• - A round and flat object to imitate a steering wheel. (plastic lid, plastic plate, tambourine)
• - Play set of keys (optional)
• - Cards to pay the bus driver with. (Loyalty cards from your wallet will do the trick!)
• - Hat for the bus driver.
• -  BIG Imagination

How to play:

1. Set up rows of chairs like the inside of bus. Depending on how many chairs you have you can make either one or two rows.

2. Make a bus stop by putting a stool closely down by the front of the bus (first chair)

3. If you do have family and friends playing as well – give them all “cards” so they can pay the bus driver for the bus ride.

4. I would recommend that the parents be the bus driver first to give your toddler and idea of how to play. So put on the bus driver’s hat and use the plate as the steering wheel. Open the bus door and invite your toddler/s on board.  Ask, “Where are you going?” Elicit responses like “To the park/to the pool/to the zoo/to the library/etc. Say, “Card please.” and help the children pay. After all the kids have boarded, start “driving.” Sing The Wheels on the Bus together. Turn left and turn right, having the kids lean with you as you turn. Call out the stops. “Next stop…the park!” “Next stop…the zoo!”

5. Let everyone have a turn of being the driver!