We have a huge art box. It's packed with markers, construction paper, kid safe scissors, crayons, finger paint...you name it, it's in there. When I need to pay bills online or talk on the phone for a few minutes or just need some quiet time. I sit a few feet from Aidan and take out the art box and let him go to town.
Water is our best friend. I thought about spending the money on a water table but then I thought I can get just as much use out of a sprinkler. We let Aidan play with the hose and the sprinkler a lot. We also will fill up a bucket and let him take a paint brush and "paint" the house. The brick gets dark and he thinks he is a painter. He's allowed to spray the cars and anything else he can reach with the hose. We also have a baby pool. We spend a lot of time at the splash park.
Side walk chalk. Enough said.
When I am doing laundry, I let him sort clothes with me and we can work on our colors. He has to say every color out loud. He gets to press the buttons to start the machine too. If you saw our pile of laundry, sometimes this takes up 30 minutes of our day.
(For Charlotteans) We frequent Monkey Joe's and Discovery Place and Imaginon. Monkey Joes' has discounted days and parents are always free. We have a discounted Discovery Place (children's museum) membership because they were under construction for so long. Imaginon has free story time and lots for kids to do and it's all free. There is also a kids movie at AMC Carolina Pavilion at 10am on Tuesday mornings.
I let him participate in cooking as much as possible. He is so curious. I just pull up the kitchen stool and give him little things to do. If I am doing something he can't help with, I just give him a small mixing bowl with water, a little flour in it and a spoon and he's cookin' away.
If you are looking for activities that cost a little bit, We have done swim lessons, gym classes, and he is going to an all boys camp at the YMCA this summer. The Y is great. We try to avoid the pool because it's nuts but their other programs are great.
We take walks and let him burn energy. We walk on the sidewalk and he runs about 10 feet in front of us. Adam and I get to catch up on each others day and he gets to run wild.
Our local Parks and Rec department has activities at neighborhood parks that cost $5 and under and are a lot of fun. Most cities do this. We have done a teddy bear lunch and lots of nature walks. Lunch is included (the $5).
The hubby has friends that live in the country on lots of land with lots of farm animals and we love to take him there and let him play with the animals. He gets to ride horses and pick eggs from chickens and chase baby calves. It's great. I am sure there are farms that let you come and do this for free. It's so educational.
We have a park near our airport at the end of the runway and he loves to go there and see the planes take off and land. We also drive right to the end of our street and watch the train pass by. He loves it.
I guess that's about it. I am racking my brain trying to think of things we do to keep him busy and while I feel like we always have something to do I would love more things to do. I do also love a good rainy day and a Disney movie on the couch.
Look forward to reading the other entries to get ideas.
Happy Friday to you all! xoxo
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