Surprise on a String, Take 2

 This oldy but goodie is one I did with Erik when he was little. He tended to think that if he was in his high chair I owed him some food, so we had to do a little improvisation, but Maren had no problem hanging out in there.

 Set up is simple. Grab a few item from around the house, tie them to some string, and tape the string to your child's high chair tray. If they don't figure out what to do after a few minutes you can show them that there is something on the end of the string.

 Once Maren realized there were interesting things at the end of the strings she was hooked. This kept her busy long enough for me to get a few boxes packed for our move. That means it's a win in my book!

Pom Pom Sorting

 I was looking for a way to keep Sharli busy for a while and decided to go with one of my old stand-byes. Pom poms are good for SO many things, and most of them require very little prep work on my part.

 This day I grabbed a few small bowls out of the cupboard and set them on a tray with a set of tongs. I picked through the bag of pom poms to find only the ones that matched the colors of the bowls, and put those on the tray as well. I didn't give any instructions, just put the tray in front of Sharli and let her decide how to play with it on her own.

 She fiddled around with color sorting for a little while, and really enjoyed the challenge of using the tongs. 

 It didn't take too long before this turned into a game of "Ice Cream Shop". She would ask me what kind of ice cream I wanted, then scoop up a bowl for me. This kept her busy for as long as I was willing to sit and play along.

I picked these pom poms up for a dollar at Dollar Tree, and we have really gotten our money's worth out of them!

Contact Paper Dolls

 Sharli has a hard time adjusting to being alone when Erik leaves for school. It took her a couple of weeks to finally get settled in. I tried to find ways to keep her busy so that she wasn't just following me around all day whining about being bored. I was digging through my stash of supplies and thought it was time to make another Sticky Story Board. In a flash of inspiration, I decided to draw people (they're supposed to look like Sharli and Erik) on the non-sticky side of the contact paper before taping it to the wall. Thus were born our Contact Paper Dolls.

 Each figure has 2 outfits, one more casual and one more dressy. Sharli specifically asked for "church clothes" so of course we had to come up with something!

She LOVED this! It got played with constantly for a couple of days until all the stickiness had worn off the contact paper.

When Erik got home from school he was delighted to find his "mini-me" on the wall. He had just as much fun with this as Sharli did.

 I love finding new ways to use old materials and ideas. Go buy yourself a roll of contact paper and some craft foam sheets, you won't regret it!

Sensory Grab Bag

The idea for this activity came from a neat little book of activities one of our neighbors gave us, called The Preschoolers Busy Book. It's full of all kinds of great ideas that are mostly quick and easy to put together.
Set up for this activity is really easy. You fill a small bag (think leftover gift bag, brown paper lunch bag, pillow case, anything you have handy) with miscellaneous items from around the house. Aim for a variety of shapes and textures, and try to include things from multiple rooms of the house.

Have your child reach into the bag without looking and choose an item. They have to feel the item and try to guess what it is before pulling it out to see if they're right. My kids loved this, and it was a great way to keep them busy while nursing a baby. You can change out the items as many times as you want and keep this game interesting for days and days!

*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links.

Soap Sud Sensory Jar

I found this awesome idea from Hands on as We Grow via pinterest. It was quick and easy to make, generates zero mess, and keeps my kiddo busy, so what's not to love? I'll let you go to the original post for instructions, but you might not even need them.

 Sharli had so much fun shaking and rolling her sensory jar. She loves anything that has bubbles, and this was no exception. I love that she got to play with bubbles and I didn't have to worry about cleaning up a mess, or consoling her when she (inevitably) accidentally spills her bubble liquid.

Thoughts on Road Trips with Kids as a Single Parent

I had an anonymous reader ask the following question, and I decided that my response was way too long to put in a comment so you all get to enjoy.

"What about a road trip as a single parent of a 23 month old who doesn't like to sit still for more than two hours in a car. Would your road trip blogs be helpful still or is there any thing different you would suggest? I've never gone on a road trip alone before let alone with a kid. From Tyler to Arkansas (5 hours away) to GA ( another 8) after a few days rest in Arkansas with my sister."

While I am not a single parent, I do have some experience with long car rides alone with my kids. We live almost 1.5 hours (one way) from the nearest grocery store, so as you can imagine we spend lots of time in the car. LOTS! In addition to our regular trips to town, I have occasionally gone on longer trips just the kids and me; like 3.5 hours to my mom's house or 4.5 hours from our last home when we moved and hubby was driving the moving van.

I do think that most of my tips from my first road tripping post still apply, perhaps even more so when you're the only adult in the car.

link

I feel like organization and accessibility are key here. You need to be able to tend to your child's needs and entertainment while safely keeping your eyes on the road. Ideally you would have everything you think you might need where you can reach it without having to look down to find it. I fill up a box or shallow bag with things like snacks, toys, pacifiers, etc and keep it on the passenger seat next to me. When we were moving and I was alone in the car with the 3 month old baby, I filled up all the cup-holders by my seat with pacifiers. That way when she lost the one she had I could easily grab another and pop it in her mouth without having to feel around for the last one. I also invested in one of these and I feel like it's a life saver when travelling with a rear-facing child!

link

Now, while most of my tips would apply as a single parent, some of the activities may not. This is where you really have to know the abilities of your child. If it were me I would probably introduce any new activity in the days or weeks before the trip to get a feel for which ones she enjoyed and could do well enough on her own. The last thing you want to do is get started on a long trip and discover nothing you packed to entertain your child is within their capabilities and you're now up a creek without a paddle! I have lots of fun, car-friendly activities here and here, but there are also lots of things elsewhere on my blog and my pinterest boards that could work too. I've added the label "Road Trips" to any of my posts I thought might be adaptable for car trips, feel free to check that out. If all else fails you could do what my sister and I did when we were stuck in the car with three tiny kids for almost 50 hours; put rocks in an empty water bottle, screw the lid on tight, and hand it to the kiddos. You wouldn't believe how long that kept them happy!

Good luck with your trip, my anonymous friend! I hope you and your little one have a great time visiting family and exploring the world around you!


*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links.

MORE Ways to Keep a Toddler (and a Preschooler) Busy on a Road Trip

Several months ago we went on a big road trip that lasted almost two full weeks. This was the first major road trip we'd gone on since adding a second kid to the mix. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to maintain my sanity while keeping the two of them entertained, it had been hard enough with just one!

I knew I already had a good collection of ideas from our experience with Erik, in fact this post I did about our major road trip with him has been one of my most popular. That post really sums up a lot of what we did on this trip, so I do recommend you check it out as well. Even though all the old ideas are still good, I knew we were going to want some new things in the mix to keep the kids interested. I spent a fair amount of time searching for ideas and assembling supplies, but it was totally worth it. Here are all the activities I came up with, hopefully you'll find something in here that might work for you too. I put each one in its own zip top bag and put everything in a backpack so I could keep it handy and organized. 

And here is more information about everything we did. Links take you to the sites that inspired us, or to amazon.com. 

***Coloring books, colored pencils, and a pencil sharpener. I purchased a new coloring book for each kid so that they would be new and exciting. I chose to pack colored pencils instead of crayons because in warm weather crayons may melt all over the inside of your car, and because Sharli eats crayons.  

*** Glow in the dark bracelets and cheapo flashlights for keeping the kids busy after dark. 

*** Books! I bought a new book for each kid. Having something new and exciting makes such a huge difference. We also packed a big bag of our favorite books from our own shelves. Erik is getting big enough that he can follow a story without needing pictures to be entertained, so we checked out Mr. Popper's Penguins from our library and read that aloud as we drove. That was a fun one for us adults too, definitely one I'd recommend!

***An I Spy bottle. I somehow didn't get a picture of the kids playing with this one. It wasn't a huge hit, but it did keep them busy for a few minutes here and there.  

***Magnet Discovery Bottle. This one wasn't much of a hit with my kids. I think we ended up throwing it away part way through the trip because it was taking up room and nobody wanted to play with it. Who knows though, maybe your kids would love it. 

***Pipe cleaners. These were to be used on their own to play with, as well as to be used in our Pipe Cleaner Drop and to make Pipe Cleaner Shapes, both of which are outlined here. For the Pipe Cleaner Drop I ended up wishing I'd used one of those little snack size Pringles cans, since the full size one was kind of unwieldy for Sharli. Plus, the smaller things are the less room they take up in the car. I also remembered too late that we learned with Erik that sticks work better than pipe cleaners for this one.  

*** Sticky Sticks (and matching game). These have been one of the most favorite things we made for this trip. Months later they still get played with a lot. This one is so easy to make. You just attach velcro dots to craft sticks and you're done. If you want to make the matching game then you cut shapes out of paper and write the name of the shape on them. Even if your child isn't reading yet, there is still great value in giving them chances to become aware of print in the world around them.

***Open and Close Activity This one was pretty easy to put together. I looked around the house and the dollar store for small containers that I thought little hands could open and close and put them all in a bag together. It turned out that some of them were pretty difficult for Sharli to open, so I incentivized the work she'd have to do to open them by putting fruit snacks inside. 

***Button Snake. This was an activity I had intended to be more for Sharli, but Erik loved it! He begs to play with it at least once a week. I somehow failed to get any pictures of this one, but the link above has all the info.
***Pom Pom Magnets. These were super easy to make. I just picked up some thin magnets from the craft aisle and hot glued pom poms to them. The magnets I found were in little strips, so I glued a whole line of pom poms on with my hot glue gun (the adhesive already on the magnets wasn't enough to do the job) and then just snipped in between the pom poms with scissors. Throw in a cheap cookie sheet (I got mine for just under $1) and you have a great magnet board, as well as a hard surface for you kid to set on their lap for all the other activities as well. Both kids really enjoyed these magnets. Erik pretended they were cars driving around, or made pictures with them. Sharli mostly just enjoyed dumping them onto the tray and then putting them back in the bag. 

***Lacing Cards. We've made these before for Erik to play with, but that was a long time ago. They were a hit then and they are now too.

***Clip Sticks Counters. Erik might have liked these better if he weren't too distracted by all the other stuff in the activity bag. They were easy to make, all you need are some craft sticks (which is handy, since you'll want some for the Sticky Sticks too), some circle stickers, and a few clothes pins.

***Ping Pong Ball Puzzles. I thought this was a pretty clever idea. You can make an infinite number of puzzles, and increase the difficulty by increasing the number of balls so it's an idea that can grow with your child. Pick up a cheap package of ping pong balls, salvage an egg carton from your recycling and you're ready to go. 

One thing I talked about in my first Road Trip post was the power of snacks. If all else fails just throw some food to your kids and that should keep them quiet for at least a few minutes. Two snack ideas that made a re-appearance from our last road trip were edible jewelry and Surprise Snack Mix. Check out this post for more details. 

And because I'm super nice, I've been working on figuring out the perfect mixture for the snack mix so you all don't make the same mistakes we have. I learned last time that there are some snacks that don't play nice with the others. Our problem snack this time around was the frosted circus animal cookies. They did great until the car got too hot and the frosting melted. Then everything stuck together and got really messy and difficult to eat. Oh well, maybe next time it will be better. Our mix this time included the Circus Animal Cookies, fruit snacks, M&M's, and Goldfish crackers (except ours were the cheap brand so they were penguins instead of fish). I tried to include a mix of textures and flavors to keep things interesting.

I think that about covers it. Now that we've got a third little one in our home I'll have to let you know how things go next time we go on a major trip, but for now this should be enough to go on. Have a good trip!


*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links.

TBT: Color in a Bag, Plus More Color Mixing Fun!

For today's Throw Back Thursday post, we redid an activity that we've enjoyed before so that Sharli could get in on the fun too. This Color in a Bag activity is so much fun!

 It's been so long since we did this one that it was like a new activity for Erik. He loved it!

 I did have to watch Sharli carefully so that she didn't chew holes in the bags, but other than that this was a pretty low-stress activity.

 To add on to this one, we also added in some color mixing bottles. We found this idea on the same list of activities as our Carrot on a String activity. I've wished for a while now I could find some way to make a color mixing toy that would settle back into two distinct colors for long term play, so I was excited to try this idea out.

I was planning on making three of these bottles (yellow+red, red+blue, blue+yellow) but when it came time to put these together I couldn't find the other empty bottle I'd saved for this. Maybe we'll end up making the last bottle eventually, and if we do I'll be sure to share it with you all.

So, what do you need to make these babies? Let's gather our supplies:

- empty bottles with lids

-baby oil

-crayons (the original site calls for candle wax coloring, but crayons worked fine for us)

-water

-food coloring

-hot glue gun and glue

A few days before you want to assemble these, cut up the crayons (I used yellow crayons, it took 3-4 for one bottle of baby oil) into tiny shavings and put them in the bottle of baby oil. Let this sit for a few days until the crayons have mostly dissolved. 

When you're ready to assemble your bottles, fill them half full with water, colored with food coloring. Add your colored oil until the bottle is full, then seal the lid with the hot glue. You may want to shake up the bottle once before sealing it to make sure you didn't get too much of one color or the other. 

 When you shake the bottle, the colors mix together and you can see the bubbles of oil swirling in the water, almost like a lava lamp. They're really pretty! We found that the blue+yellow combo worked better, the red in the red+yellow bottle bled into the yellow oil a bit and so after a few shakes, the bottle just stayed orange. It was still really pretty though!

TBT: Fun with Contact Paper

For my next installment of Throw Back Thursday, I thought I'd share with you some of the fun we've had with contact paper. This stuff is pretty cheap and can be used in so many ways!

Get creative and build fine motor skills with a Sticky Story Board (here's a mini version of this for taking on the go)

Encourage imaginative play with a home made car mat.

Let your baby explore the concept of "sticky".

Create a unique work of art.

Expand on the story board idea and build those fine motor skills with some sticky fun.

Practice basic math skills.

Teach your preschooler how to spell their name.

Protect activities you've worked hard to prepare for your little one so they'll last months instead of minutes.


*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links.

Turkey Clothes Pin Counting

When I found this idea on Pinterest I knew I wanted to make it a part of our Thanksgiving theme. It was super cute and wouldn't be too hard to make, even though I don't have a printer to use the printable included on the original website. I loved how cute this was and that it also includes fine motor practice (which we need a lot of around here) in a math activity.

I know, this isn't the greatest picture ever, but my camera is dying so this is what you get. 

I chose to make my turkeys go through the number 12, since Erik seems to have 1-10 down pretty well, but needs to work on everything higher than that. I figure we can add a few more numbers each time we do a new activity and slowly build up his knowledge base.
I cut my turkeys out of construction paper and used a glue stick to glue the little pieces (beak, wattle, breast) on. Once the glue was dry I numbered each turkey, then laminated them with contact paper.
They are stored in a large zip top baggie and Erik can pull them out to play with them any time he wants.

Toy Matching Game

So you may or may not remember Erik's cousin Wyler that we met a while back through this post. Well, this week is going to be Wyler Week, and I'll be featuring a couple of activities that his mom Carolyn put together for him. These are things I've been wanting to try with Erik and just haven't gotten around to doing, so I'm super excited to see someone enjoying them. 

Here's what Carolyn had to say:

This was inspired by some matching activities that other moms set up for their kids on a Montessori Facebook group I'm in.

I gathered up a handful of toys and traced them on a sheet of computer paper, then went over the lines in permanent ink so they would be easily visible.  I called Wyler in to check it out, and showed him how all they toys had a matching outline.  He caught on pretty quickly and had everything nicely matched.  He pulled everything off and did it again.  Only his hammer got turned around.  It was backwards according to the outline. 

He started to rotate it in different directions, but didn't realize he needed to flip it.  After a couple tries I flipped it for him, though he probably would have figured it out pretty quick. 

 I have it set up on a tray (cookie sheet) on a book shelf so he can go back to it when he wants.