Winter Activities for Toddlers

Try to go outside for as long as you feel comfortable each day, it will break up the day and make it go a lot faster. As for indoor activities, kids love to think that they are helping with "grown up" chores. Get some pre-made cookie dough and let him smush it onto a pan & put sprinkles on. (Also a good time to teach him how to use the dustbuster.) Edible play dough is also fun. Let him play in the laundry and help you put clothes away. My son has never been good at matching up socks or folding anything, but he knows which clothes belong to daddy, mommy, & himself, and will carry each piece of clothing one by one to the correct room. Great way to wear him out!

Best of luck - and have fun!

Why do you need to stay indoors? Just bundle him up and go outside to play. Sure it's cold - that's what they make cold weather gear for. Go inside every hour or so to warm up. The coats/hats/gloves they have now are nothing like when we had when we were kids. The new high tech stuff keeps kids warm for hours even in zero temps. My kids spend hours outside each day in the winter - even the toddler. It's a great new world to explore when it's covered in snow and ice and frost! A few small sand toys will keep my 2 year old busy for >hours< with just an inch of snow on the ground. And they still ride bikes and trikes and the 'flintstone' car when the driveway is clear of snow/ice.

For indoor ideas... head to a bounce play like Monkey Joes. Both of you can run/walk laps on the indoor track at the Monon Center in Central Park (it's free). Or go swimming at the indoor pools there (small fee). All the local parks departments have mommy & me classes and programs, and the Children's Museum does, too. At home, do playdoh (it strengthens the fingers so he'll be ready for coloring sooner), put stickers on construction paper, build a fort in the living room from couch cushions and blankets, draw a hopscotch game with chalk on the floor of the garage or buy the foam interlocking squares to make one for indoors, cover the kitchen table with plastic and let him paint (toddlers LOVE to paint!), let him help you make cookies, fill a dishpan with halfway with rice or dried beans for a 'sensory table' (like preschools have) with small scoops, etc.

I'm a working mom so I don't have quite the same issue as you but none the less I joined a group of moms on meetup.con from my local area. They have some great local ideas that may not ne able to be duplicated on here (unless someone is from your area). They even have home meetups / play groups as well as a ton of free ideas I hadno clue about

I have a daughter and turning on music and dancing is a great stress reliever followed by a break with a video ( yep I shameslessly now admit to using sesame street or other DVDs from my library to make it through a day). It's a sanity saver.

My 18-month-old loves going to our Chick-Fil-A. They have a really nice play area with a toddler section. Usually a few other kids to play with, but not too too busy. We try to hit up their free kids' meal nights and make an evening out of it. We've tried McDonald's, too, but their equipment just isn't that great for toddlers. I'm just hoping we don't get bored at Chick-Fil-A before it's warm enough to go back to the park!

Also, see if there's a moms' group in your area on meetup.com .

Good luck!! K.

S.,

Our little one goes everywhere with us when the others were in school... Hardware store, grocery store, mall for just a walk, or where ever we needed to go to do our running for the day. He also loved trains, so we got him a Thomas train set to play with (the plastic track set is better for the younger ones), we would make a track for him and he would push the trains around the track or turn them on and just watch them go around.

We also like McD's play grounds... some of the smaller ones work better for the younger kids then the really big sets. We have 3 McD's close by with the sets... for the little one we liked the one in "The Valley" close to Sand Run Park (eventhough I really miss the fish tank they use to have). I have seen that some other fast food resterants also have playgrounds for kids now, but I haven't been to them.

We try to bundle up the kids and take them sledding a few times during the winter... I don't sled much, but daddy & papa really like going down with them. There are a few hills the Metro Parks run and have fires to help warm you up & keep you warm. They also have ice skating spots... although I've never ice skated.

Other indoor things are blocks (mega or wooden)... at first they may need help putting them together, but little one catch on quickly. I haven't tried the painting, but I did color with my 3 using the bigger toddler crayons and now they have come out with even more types of crayons for even younger little ones. Most crayons are non-toxic because they know they will end up in mouths for a while. We also had reading time, they pick the books and I read them. Sometimes this can last an hour or more with 3 little ones picking books, but it does help them later to love books.

Also, let them help you... cook, clean, laundry (mine love loading the washer - they get to push all the beeping buttons after its loaded), bake - whatever you need to get done for the day. Even a small task like setting the table helps them to learn.

Mine are a little older now, I have 2 & 4 yr old boys and a 5 yr old girl at home, as well as a 15 yr old that lives elsewhere and a little one due in July. But it seems like yesterday that they were just learning to walk, start playing and understanding life.

Good luck & enjoy your time with the little guy... oh, and enjoy the holidays!

J.

I will agree that your toddler will likely handle the colder weather better than we do as adults. They're so active, they usually don't notice the cold.

We have the same problem. I used to teach gymnastics, and when the little kids (18 months-4 years) were unmanageable, we'd stack up mats and do "Smash and Crash". We do it at home with pillows and a hallway now.

We also will go to the mall, WalMart, Lowes (any place with a lot of open space) and let them roam around with us. It seems to tire them well.

Our 20 month old is getting into Legos because of her older brother. Duplos and Megablocks are big enough not to be a safety concern. We also have a lot of dance parties in our house. Get a good music CD from WalMart or Target - that can easily consume 1 hour of time going through the songs and dancing.

All that being said, I am a working Mom, so my time spent with my kids are in hours/day and weekends. Not full day.

Having the same issues with my 4 year old!

For free: We go to the indoor playgrounds at the Mall, indoor playgrounds at McDonald's. Chik-Fil-A (sp?)has an indoor playground too. You could go sledding if the weather is appropriate. Sometimes we open up the garage (take cars out)and let the boys skate/bike around it. I used to do that as a child and loved it.

$$: There are local jump and plays for a cover charge.
Also, you could try Chuck E Cheese for a price of course. It depends on what you want to pay for.

Do go outside for awhile unless it is really bitter cold. the fresh air is good, then you can warm up with hot chocolate or hot cider when you come in, yummy!

Read lots of books, bake cookies and/or bread--my now 15 yo used to help me knead the dough, he still remembers "push, fold, turn".

Libraries sometimes have story times too.

We made a card board house out of a moving box or 2 for our oldest, he loved it, we even put a string of indoor Christmas lights on it (maybe your little guy is too young for lights if he is munching crayons though). After another move, when we had the 2 kids, my husband made a cardboard castle from many boxes. It was a great hit!

If your house is warm enough let him play with a basin of water and measuring cups, tupperware, spoons etc. Or let him "help" you wash (unbreakable) dishes in the sink.

Stickers were fun at that age too, you can get a book where the stickers can be re-positioned.

Play dress up. Or "tent" with sheets and blankets, "fort" with couch cushions, "store" with toy cash register, "train" by lining up chairs, he can be the engineer and make lots of train sounds.

Sing and dance. Make some home made percussion instruments (drum from oatmeal box, shaker from tupperware filled with dry beans etc). Play along with cds.

Go visit a friend with the same situation, or invite them to your place.

Have fun, you will miss these days sometime

K. Z.

There are a couple of things you can do. I am not sure where you live but my kids love to go to the Cincinnati Museum, they have several areas for all ages. The sprouts is where my 16month old and I go but when it is not busy we go to the other play areas.
Nothgate mall has a play area, we call it the singing tree. I think Tri-county does as well but we have not gone in several months, more like a year or more.
There is also a place call Entertrainment. I have not taken my 16 month old there yet but we went a year ago and the 3 year old at the time 2 year old LOVED it.
Couple of things you can do at your house is make playdoh. There are some recipes that make it so that if it is eaten accidently it will not hurt your child. I have not done this but I know of some friends that have. Finger paints are another thing you can make these edible also, I don't have these recipes but you can goggle them and they will come up.
My 16 month old also chews crayons, I can not tell the number of times I have found evidence of the crayon in the diaper.
Oh you can also find some wooden puzzles my son loves them and will play with them while I am making lunch. We have some that stack and some that are animals that have to be matched up. They seem to entertain him for the time I am cooking.
Also it does not hurt to take him outside every once in a while. I do that with mine just to burn off some energy. Usually just 30 to 40 minutes outside does the trick for my kids.
Hope these ideas help.