It’s one of those days.
It’s cold. You don’t feel like bundling up and braving the biting wind. Your kiddo is bored of their toys, you don’t feel like watching another second of Paw Patrol, and you have no idea how to keep you both sane.
Here are some suggestions for easily entertaining your toddler or baby inside. Emphasis on easily because this working mom is always looking for low-effort wins.
If your baby eats in a high chair, make sure you put them in the high chair for messy activities.
Stickers
For younger ones, stickers are king. It doesn’t really even matter what the stickers are. I buy the giant packs of teacher stickers off amazon and give my one-year old a sheet of stickers, a piece of printer paper and a pen.
Do you remember dress up sticker dolls? Those are great entertainment, too. Stickers help develop the pincer grasp in young kids and as your kid gains confidence in removing them, it’s a great boost of independence.
Paint
Have you ever met a kid that doesn’t love to paint? Me neither.
The easiest set up is to give your kid some paper and let them paint. Dollar Tree has cute wooden shape cutouts for a little variety– we’ve done dinosaurs, rainbows, and various holiday-themed characters.
If you’re like me and always have Amazon boxes laying around, you have endless possibilities for upcycling. I recently cut a box into the shape of a picture frame and my kid painted it, decorated it with stickers, then we put a photo in it and sent it as a gift to her cousin.
Cards
Speaking of using your child to make gifts, do yourself a favor and buy a pack of blank cards and have your kids create cards for every occasion. Every time I have tasked my three year old with making a card for someone, she takes it seriously and has been proud to hand it to the person. And if you haven’t noticed yet, most people are suckers for kids’ art.
Shaving cream
I have a bulk supply of cheap shaving cream. Have you ever given your kid a big plastic bowl full of shaving cream? It’s magical. You don’t even have to make slime with it.
Once they start getting bored, add a few drops of food dye. Give them some Tupperware, cups, spoons. This one is easy to set up, and so much fun that it’s worth cleaning up the mess.
DIY Sensory Bottles
You can buy these bottles or use a plastic water bottle from your recycle pile.
Fill it with baby oil and water. Let your kid pick a food dye color and then bring out all the random glitter, charms, beads, whatever you have sitting in the back of your closet. Help them add their selected items into the bottle.
Toys
If you are looking for some toys that will keep your kids entertained, possibly even independently, here are some recommendations that have worked in our house.
- Magna tiles– Endless fun for toddlers. We make giant towers and cars. If you need something new to do with these, stick them to your fridge. You can also make your own matching game.
- Magnet blocks– Again, these are great for giant towers. My one year old likes these better than the tiles.
- Foam soap– No caption needed.
- Scrubbies– We were gifted these and I was blown away by how popular they were. Both of my kids were entertained by these for well over an hour. I’ll let you in on a secret, it wasn’t the coloring that was the big hit, it was the bath tub.
- Toniebox– A rare hit with both my one and three year old. They love that they can control the stories and songs by themselves. I bought this as a Christmas gift and they’re already asking for more Tonies.
- Play couch– When my kids have too much energy to sit and do crafts with me, I build them slides off of the couch or make them soft landing spots to launch themselves onto. We are starting to get into DIY obstacle courses and these cushions are great for them.
- Trampoline– This is worth the amount of space it takes up in the playroom.
As Colorado’s cold season continues, I hope these suggestions can bring a little more fun to your winter days.
Although being trapped inside with little kids can be stressful, I have found that doing these activities with my kids has helped us bond, ignited their creativity and given them a way to practice focusing on a task.
