indoor activities

So this one is probably one of my favorites. As challenging as it has been to research/Pinterest some activities for Redford.. I just got creative with it. We are all creative by nature, because of the creator who made us. And because of that we are made in his image... which is creative. Yes, you are creative and you are fully capable of being creative. Some things that I did was just to look around the house for some items that we could make into a activity or challenge. One thing I love about the age 9months-2 year olds are that you can re use these items. I went to Hobby Lobby on one our outings, and would browse through the aisles and would just grab some things I saw hanging up.  I had no plan, I had an idea but didn't really have a plan yet.  I would just see stickers, and think, "oh that could be handy! Paper (duh) and of course beads and then the usual: tape, markers, crayons, chalk and so on. I kinda just started brainstorming what we could do together. It really is that simple.

Below are some of my favorite activities that Redford and I still use today:

Rice Bin: 

For this activity I found on Pinterest, and then tweeked it a bit to fit Redfords needs. Instead of Sand which is what i had found on Pinterest. I decided to use rice! Rice is and easy clean up, Just vacuum it up. But then Redfords' mom, Andrea put this nylon picnic blanket down for him to use incase it gets messy (because it will) instead of vacuuming it up. I can just use the blanket to put it back into the rice bin. For the items in the rice bin, I took some tupperware, tablespoons, cooking utensils, and allowed him to explore!

What you will need:

• Storage bin
• 5-6 bags of white rice
• Cooking utensils
• Tupperware
• Cups/varies of sizes
• Spoons (little/big) whatever you have in the house
• A blanket used only for this activity

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Puff balls:

This next activity was and is one that I did find on Pinterest, I used it and we have switched out different bottles, to keep it fun and interesting. Because... why not?! It keeps it new. And it he still loves it. 

 What you will need: 

• Puff balls (you can use cotton balls if you'd like, I used mutli-color so we can practice our colors while he is exploring.) 
• A bottle ( EMPTY--water bottle, dishwasher bottle, milk carton. I would suggest the older the child, the smaller the hole to get the ball in. The younger the child, I would suggest it being a bigger, much easier hole) 

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Pick-up-sticks: 

For this activity, It is super super simple. I grabbed popsicle sticks from hobby lobby. I used a cleaned naked juice bottle and let him practice putting the popsicles in the bottle. He loved it! 

What you will need: 

• Popsicles sticks
• Empty Bottle 

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Painting with cars:

For this activity we got this idea from Gymboree! Redford loved it so much! I think mainly because he loves cars so much! We started painting when he was 8 months I believe, He gets better and better the more we do it. We used to finger paint, then we added paint brushes. This one is fun because he gets to use different tire tracks and mark his trails as he goes. 

What you will need: 

• White paper or anything you can find. 
• Cars/ tractors 
• Washable paint 
•  An apron or smock to cover clothes, or strip them down to their diaper. 

When the cold/flu hits your home your kiddo is going to need some activities to do. These activities come very handy when we are locked up in the house with sickness. He loves them and it keeps him busy and engaged other than watching tv all day. Give you kiddos a challenge to do during the day so they can grow and integrate their brain!