Little one | Play idea

Sebastian is really into games right now. He discovered our board game stash hidden away in a vintage suitcase and he's never been the same. But how on earth do you play a board game with a 2-year-old? Last week Seb was particularly determined to play Sorry!, which I quickly discovered he had already played with daddy... he wanted to get a Sorry! card so badly that when he didn't draw one after a few tries he started saying, "Sorry!" and swiping my piece off the board and across the room. Obviously, toddlers don't feel the need to play by the rules, which got me to thinking... he really didn't need all the particular pieces and elements of the game, he just wanted a part of it. He wanted to play in a way that he could understand, and yet would feel special and new. Likewise, Cody quickly discovered that when he plays Chutes and Ladders with Seb, that the really fun part for him are the action parts, i.e. going up the ladders and down the chutes.

So when Seb and I played Sorry!, we took away the choking hazardous pieces (since Bruno was playing, too) and used the wooden rings from our Melissa and Doug rainbow stacker. It was more like air hockey than Sorry!, but is that a bad thing?

Seb | Tissue paper sun-catchers

All you need for this project is contact paper (find it with shelving liner at Target, Walmart, etc.) and tissue paper. I was hoping it would eat up a little more time than it did, but after meticulously placing individual pieces of tissue paper onto the sticky shapes, Seb took handfuls and piled them on—done! I took the front pieces and put them on the now tissue-covered shapes, and trimmed the edges. Seb helped me punch holes, cut some baker's twine, and string it through the holes. We then washed the window, because we couldn't very well hang them on a dirty one, now could we? And then Seb hung them just where he wanted with some tape.

I loved this because it was easy for the youngest toddler to participate in, with guaranteed beautiful results. These would be great to make and send to family far away. Let me know if you try it!

Original idea found at No Monsters in My Bed.

Seb | Scrub scrub scrub

Sometimes I think that entertaining a toddler has to be the single most hardest thing in the world. Other times, I slap myself, because the best activity ever was so obvious. Like this one: washing toys. Duh. There should be a coalition of people that collect and distribute obvious ways to entertain these little people in our lives. I know that Pinterest tries to be that, but mostly I just find complicated activities that take hours of mommy prep and 5 ingredients that I don't have, and Target doesn't have them, either.

So what's the best so-obvious-you-almost-missed-it activity that you've done with your toddler?

P.S. In case you missed it, cloud dough has changed our lives. It's like a sandbox for the indoors, and the only thing Seb has wanted to play with for days. In fact, they are our cloud dough encrusted toys that Seb is cleaning right now.

Seb | Bean station

Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like I'm drowning. Sometimes I feel like my baby turned into a "real kid" overnight, and... suddenly I'm supposed to come up with activities for him? When did he get so clever? When did his mind morph into something that needed fresh activities, and things to spark his imagination? I don't know when it happened, but there is no doubt, as I watch Seb hobbling around the room pretending that a slotted spoon and a whisk are two canes, that it has happened.

But sometimes, I feel like I've hit my stride, and it's usually completely random and the results are brilliantly simple. During Seb's nap today I got some dry beans, various bowls, a lidded container, and some scooping tools, (side note: now he's walking around shirtless, with a backpack, saying, "I'm a schoolbus.") and laid them out by our sliding door. It was the first thing he saw when he stumbled out of his room, delirious, and calmly excited that he could hear the lawn mowers outside ("Mow-ning-ning-ning"). He quickly got to work exploring, playing for a full 30 minutes by himself until he asked me to play, too.

We had a jolly good time putting beans in our belly buttons.

Seb | Virtual book club

Cody and I are perpetually amused at the way Seb looks so serious when he reads his books. It's like he's reading the newspaper with the way he flips the pages, and makes interested facial expressions as he scans the pages. 

This year we're going to take part in a virtual book club, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm hoping to expand on what this club does and add some authors and more activites. Margret and H.A. Rey will most certainly be on our list.

Food | Peanut butter face & and other foods for this picky toddler

Cody told me a couple weeks ago that, "Seb gets his finicky eating habits from one of his parents, and it's not you." Fortunately, he is expanding his horizons beyond bananas and oatmeal, and I've made a list of the few things that Sebastian will eat without fail (usually). He now has two dependable sources of protein, people! Oh and this week I could hardly keep him away from the yogurt. I know he needs the calcium because he refuses to drink milk, but three bowls a day, Seb? We've also recently run into a new challenge. He thinks he's entitled to a look-over of the contents of the fridge before eating anything... (yah). This is particularly difficult because I think he is certain there is some magical, tasty food that we're not telling him about, but are hiding in the fridge, like...

"Come on mom, there has to be better food than this!" 

"Well kid, maybe there is, but I'm not going to risk your developing childhood diabetes. More grapes?"

The "Buy it or My Child will Starve" List:

Peanut Butter

Eggs

Yogurt

Grapes

Bananas

Oatmeal

Sweet Potatoes

Pretzels

Applesauce

Pasta

What does your toddler eat?