When the weather is not conducive to being able to go outside, what can your little do? Check out thees activities you can do with your toddlers and early preschoolers. Don’t have little ones? I am going to have a series of activities for different ages. Next week will be activities for older preschoolers. 

Little Ones

• Dress Ups A container of “costumes” is always a big hit. Items to include for boys and girls are things like a: hat, sunglasses, tutu, tie, belt, scarf, boa, jewelry, play fireman hat, and a play construction safety helmet. The thrift store and stores who have cheaper ticket items (such as the Dollar Tree) can help you stock your costume stash for not a lot of expense. Better still, ask other people if they have some items they would like to contribute.
• Playdoh is an all-time favorite. Put a piece of wax paper on the table to keep the dough from sticking to your table. If you have a biscuit  or cookie cutter, let your child(ren) make shapes. Be sure and let your little one know that they can’t eat their creations!
• Sugar Cookies Speaking of eating cookies, what about making a big batch of sugar cookie dough and allow them to cut out shapes with you? After they are cooled let them decorate them.
• Pom pom sort A bag of pom poms of various sizes can be used to create sorting activities. Sort according to size (big, little), color, texture (fuzzy/prickly). You can add cotton balls to the mix as well for more things to sort.
• Lids and bowls were always a thing my boys loved to play with. For some reason, my boys loved to have them all in a drawer or bin. They loved taking them out, throwing them on the floor, and of course. banging them together. If you have a headache, you may want to do this on a different day!
• Ball/ Bean Bag Toss Find  a container or laundry basket and something soft to throw for target practice. This is terrific for developing gross motor skills.
• Obstacle Courses can be created by using tape to walk along as a “balance beam” and  follow in a zig zag or serpentine pattern; you can include a chair to climb up and down on; and pillows to jump onto. The possibilities are endless!
• Paper Plate Trail. Have colored or paper plates taped down on the carpet and have your chid jump from one to another. Call out a color if they know that. If you are working on numbers, write a large number on the plate and call the number for them to jump onto.
• A Balloon Bop is a great way for little ones to get moving. How many times can they hit the balloon with their hand before it falls to the ground? How many times with their head? Name a different body part to keep your child interested and reviewing body parts. Calling out the number of times the balloon is hit will help them learn their numbers.
• Water Station Fill up the kitchen sink and add various containers for your youngster to fill and empty. Plastic items such as cups, cereal bowls, food storage containers and measuring cups and spoons were my boys’ favorites.