Indoor Activities for Toddlers

When it's too cold to go outside, days can feel pretty long when you have small children. On top of my own child's restlessness, I'm also a nanny so it's kind of my job to keep kids active and engaged. However, when you're stuck in the house, options are limited. Add to that the fact that we don't watch TV anymore (more on that adventure here) and it's hard to keep kids from bouncing off the walls or fighting with each other.

Here as some activities that we have found successful for beating the winter boredom. My boys are 2 years old, and my girl is 6, so some activities I did strictly with the toddlers and others were good for the mixed bunch.



There are various levels of prep required and mess involved. Maybe at some point I will make a more specific list of no prep activities, but for now, here are some things to get your wheels turning.




Balloon tennis
blow up a bunch of latex balloon and used kitchen spatulas to whack them around.

Bowling for solo cups
Stack up solo cups to knock them down. After a while they got tired of using the ball and started going Kung Fu on them.

Make silly putty
I like this recipe because it's just corn starch and dish soap, but there are a ton of recipes out there. I used 2 parts cornstarch and 1 part dish soap, but it really depends on what texture you're going for. For older kids, trying different ratios and predicting and comparing the results can be a great way to engage.

Crushing sensory box
Inspiration for this idea came from this post on Busy Toddler. Fill a bin or pan or whatever you have with stale breakfast cereal (am I the only one with a stockpile of this stuff?) and give the kids toy hammers and potato mashers. This one is great for little boys who enjoy the opportunity to be destructive

Play with bubble foam
I got this idea here. My intention was to do it in the bathtub, but it happened to be a nice day so we were able to take it outside. It's just soap though (which I always have) so it can reasonably be done indoors.

Stacking paper towels or toilet paper
I was amazed at how long this kept the boys entertain and how creative they got with their play. If you have a stock pile of paper products in the basement, you'd be surprised what the kids will think of.

Kid's yoga
So to be fair, I don't actually know how to do yoga. At all. But lots of moms do and there are lots of kid's yoga printables out there, so if that's your thing, go for it. What I do are different stretches and compare them to animals and nature: reach up high like a tree. Bring your heels towards you and flap your knees like a butterfly. I mix in more active moves like hopping like a frog and shaking our sillies out to create what we call Our Exercies.

Scoop and transfer monster
This one I did with just the boys, but it can be adapted to make it more challenging for older kids. Draw a face on a paper plate and cut out a mouth. set it on top of a mixing bowl (or tape it). Fill another large bowl with beans, rice, legos, or whatever small pieces you want to use (we used Lite Bright pieces) and give the kids spoons. Tell them to feed the monster. 

Straw Rockets
Chelsey has great directions and printables for this activity here. In a nutshell, you put paper rockets on the end of straws and blow to make them "take off" This was a little challenging for my 2-year-olds, but for older kids this would be great.

Make a catapult
Again, this is great one for little boys, and can be made more challenging for different ages. We placed large spoons on top of water bottles, put paper balls on one end, and stomped on the other end. You can get creative with it though.

Paint in a bag
I will be totally honest, this is not my favorite. It uses a lot of paint, and my little ones always seem to rip a hole in the bag. However, this would be really fun for kids who were a little older and/or learning about color mixing.

Contact paper monsters
Draw a monster face on contact paper and tape it to the window. Give the kids paper pieces and googly eyes and decorate it.

Snow painting
Great for all ages, especially when the kids want to play in fresh snow, but it's too cold or windy to go out. Fill a bin with snow. Give the kids paint brushes and water with food coloring for "paint." The boys loved this one. The would not stop until all the snow was melted.

Build a mountain with the couch cushions
This is a great way to burn off some energy, especially for toddlers since it requires a more effort for them to climb the mountain. We do this almost every day.

Face paint with washable marker
This is one of my son's favorite. Warning: washable markers are often not entirely washable. Usually I don't let him color my face, and I make sure we don't have anywhere important to be in the next few days. I've also used eyeliner instead of makers if I need it to come off easily.

I hope this helps bring your family a few moments of sanity. What are your favorite indoor activities to keep the kids busy? I'd love to hear them! leave a comment.

Blessings.

How My Toddler Changed After I Took Away the TV

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I have never been fond of TV myself. For most of my adult life I haven't had cable, and at times not even a streaming service. I was one of those people who swore that when I had kids they would never watch TV (we all know that chick; the one we smile at knowingly).


So even though I didn't stick to my guns there, I have always been intentional in limiting my son's screen time. When my husband moved out, one of the first things I did was cancel Netflix and take the TV out of the living room and put it in the den. Even so, my son's TV watching got a little out of control.


As a mom, I wear many hats. I am a chef, a maid, an errand boy, and a landscaper. I'm a single-mom so I'm also the only income and a full-time student. I felt tremendously guilty about the amount of time I was spending busy, and I found myself saying things like: you can watch a show while mommy takes a shower....while mommy does the dishes....while mommy makes a phone call...insert whatever other activity comes to mind that is easier without a small person.



None of those thing are wrong. But they started adding up. Add in the fact that it is winter in Michigan, and if you know anything about winter in the Northern US of A, you know it is usually too cold for toddlers to go out and play. At least not for any length of time.


I did the math and discovered we were watching TV for 4 hours a day! Not all at once mind you, but all little by little those shows were adding up. American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1 hour per day for toddlers, primary because too much TV viewing is linked to obesity and sleep disturbances.


Not only is that a disgusted amount of sedentary time, it was causing a lot of fights. When he was watching TV, if we had to stop to have dinner or take a bath or get dressed to go to church it became WWIII. I totally agree with this particular post on Not Consumed that electronics are killing our parenting. Screens distract children from important things happening in the real world, including following directions.



So one day I woke up and decided we needed a break, and we weren't going to watch TV all day.


Not only that, I was not going to be the replacement form of entertainment. I spend A LOT of time with my child. Nannying is my profession so playing with him (plus additional children) is LITERALLY my full time job. Plus we have plenty of playtime at home. I didn't have any more time to give, and even if I did, that would have totally defeated the purpose.


As much as I hate this fact and it pains me to say it, children need to be bored. If children are constantly entertained and overstimulated, then they are never given the opportunity to be creative, evaluate their own time and resources, explore, or use their imagination. Not only that, being bored helps them develop executive function, which is basically the ability to plan, prioritize, and organize things required to reach goals. A super important part of being a functional adult.



Needless to say, my small person was not on board with this plan. He whined. He cried. He tried to sneak and turn it on without me noticing, leading me to unplug it. It was quite the shock to his system.



But instead of giving in for a moment of peace, his insistence actually strengthened my convictions. Up until that point I just thought we were watching a bit too much TV. It wasn't until I took it away that I realized he did not know how to entertain himself. 



Well then I felt like a horrible mother and was convinced CPS should take my child away because I had never let him be bored. But then I gathered my emotions and we continued.



After 2 days he gave up the fight, the world was no longer ending. However, that didn't stop the constant can I watch TV now? When I went back to work, we continued our screenless lifestyle and my little charges went through a similar process of being convinced they were going to die and then realizing that they weren't.


After everyone realized life would go on, the kids adjusted in some pretty interesting ways. I knew it would improve our life, but I was not prepared for the depth and breadth of that positive change. After seeing the results, I feel obligated to share my experience with all moms. Not to say that everyone should do it. Every family is different. But I would feel guilty if I didn't share this miraculous change with the world incase someone is in a similar boat, and not sure what to do next.



Here are 3 changes that happened within my child once I took the TV away:


1) He learned how to entertain himself.

 I know, that's not a big surprise. Although for a while I was concerned about just how dysfunctional he had become. But once I stopped providing him instant entertainment, he suddenly got very creative. 


He was constantly pretending to be a cat or a dog or some other household pet that is adorable, but does not respond with words when you ask it a question (most frustrating parenting dilemma ever). He colored. He raided my kitchen utensils and "cooked" Kibbles n' Bits for the dog. And the most encourage of all, he became OBSESSED with books. 


Suddenly all of our together play time was spent reading to him. And when he was left to entertain himself he would "read" to himself. He's 2, so he's really memorizing the stories and reciting them from picture cues or making it up, but still. How awesome is that?! We get 30 book from the library at a time and they only last 2 weeks before we've read each one a million times and I need some new material.



2) He started to regulate his emotions better. 

Dominic has always been a very intense child. VERY intense. He's intensely happy. He's intensely sad. He's intensely angry. I know toddlers are intense by nature, but I've worked with a lot of kids in my career. He's intense.



But once we removed the screen time, there was a definite shift. It was so dramatic that other people noticed it. I didn't put much thought into it before we started this process, but since better executive function is linked to better emotional regulations, it makes sense. Not only did he develop skills to better reach goals in the physical world around him, he developed skills to better reach psychosocial goals, such as calming down after feeling upset or not acting aggressively when angry.



That's not to say that he doesn't still have tantrums and emotional meltdown. Once again, he's 2. That's also not to say that the same shift will happen in someone else's child or that too much screen time is the reason Sally Sue is having trouble regulating her emotions. All I know is ever since we made the switch his tantrums and emotional meltdowns have been reduced by more than half, and that's good enough for me.



3) He doesn't want to watch TV anymore.

This doesn't me he eventually stopped asking. He didn't, although he did ask much less frequently. But after a few weeks and establishing some much better habits with our time and resources, I decided that we were ready to indulge in a little screen time if we wanted. For me, a little was 30 minutes or less per day.



But in the end it really did matter because he won't watch TV anymore! I never offer screen time to him as a suggestion (I just feel like that sends the wrong message), but if he asks and I feel like it's the appropriate time for a little sedentary time, I will turn the TV on for him. However, he will only watch for about 15-20 minutes and then he walks away (usually to join whatever I'm doing). My child, who used to sit through an entire cartoon movie and ask for another one, cannot make it through single PBS episode. 



On more than one exhausted occasion I've said "let's have a family movie night!" and I go all out with popcorn and blankets and snuggles in the recliner. But even then I can only get about 30 minutes out of him and then he walks off to go read a book or something.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (although sometimes it is tempting). This is definitely what I want for our family. But it did take some time to mourn the loss of: why don't you watch Curious George while, Mommy takes a shower? I have not showered alone in quite some time. But at least now instead of being interrupted by whining about the end of a DVD, I'm interrupted by "Mommy, can I read you a book while you're in the shower?" In the end I would call that a success.





What has been your experiences with your kids and screen time? How do you combat the cries of boredom? leave a comment.


Blessings

Surviving Single-Parenting

Big confession coming on: I am a single-parent. It's not a big confession because I'm trying to keep it a secret; it's a big confession because it's not something I enjoy saying. When I do, people automatically start putting my family in boxes.

Did her boyfriend dump her when she got pregnant? Is she on welfare? Is her child being raised by a daycare center? Is she lonely? Is she miserable?

The fact that I'm young and bi-racial does not win me any points in this game.

Quite frankly none of that is anyone's business, but to dispel the initial curiosity I will clarify that I was married to my son's father, but we no longer live together. The key take away here is that I was not always a single-parent. Now that I am, and have been for some time, I understand that there is a big difference between raising a child(ren) by yourself versus raising a child with another person in the home, and often the transition can be really difficult.

That said, there are some key things to keep in mind when you feel like you can't possibly make it through this.

1. The Lord Provides 

This might be a difficult one to believe, so we're going to tackle it first. Whatever circumstances have come your way that have led you to parenting on your own probably do not feel like the Lord's provision. If anyone tells you that God is testing you, walk away. That's flat out wrong. The truth is we live in a broken world where bad things happen to good people for no good reason (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

No matter how overwhelming or stressful this period may, God has not abandoned you. He wants to help you through it. Kim at Not Consumed looks deeper at what the Bible says about the struggle you're facing.


 Seek out believers in your church and community that can remind you of this and pray over you. If your church has turned against you because of your situation (as some do), then leave and never go back. That is not the love of Christ and you don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

2. Find Your Network and Hold them Close

You are going to need help. The kids will get sick. Something will break that you can't fix. Your children and/or boss will need you to be in 5 places at once. Sometimes you will legitimately need a break. 


Without another adult in the home, all of these things require more of an effort to tackle. For those of us who pride ourselves on being independant and able (raising my hand here) it is hard to ask for help. 


It's important to identify who you can really lean on and how they can help early in the game. I know who to call about car trouble, home repairs, childcare, and running to the pharmacy when I'm home with a sick kid in a snow storm (that's a real life example for you). Seek out those people and keep them close.

3. Things Can Get Ugly, Allow Yourself Some Grace

I have cried, inexplicably, at the grocery store. I have yelled at my son over toys on the floor. I have fed my child fast-food 3 days in a row because I was too exhausted to cook. None of these things are "okay," but they will be much worse if I beat myself up over them. 


Parenting was not meant to be done alone, and while we are very adaptive creatures, adaptation takes time (and prayer and coffee). When these things happen, use it as a learning experience. What could you have done differently? Sometimes the answer will be nothing and that's okay too. If it involved your children, use it as a learning experience for them too. Mommy was feeling angry and made a bad choice. It's not okay to yell. I'm sorry. In the end they will still respect you even if they know you're human.

4. Know Your Priorities

There are things we need, things that are important, and things we would like. Know the difference. You cannot do everything. Do what you need to do, try to do what you'd like to do, let the rest go. My house is almost always a mess. I hate it. But I am only one person, so if we have clean clothes, clean dishes, and a disinfected bathroom, I can move on to the next task on my list and let the rest go.

This does NOT mean leisure activities shouldn't be a priority. I feel like this is a common misconception when we're trying to hold up all 4 corners of the world, we assume we have to get all the to-dos taken care of before we can do anything else. That is false and a recipe for disaster. Your children are depending on you and if you don't take the time to do whatever you need to do the recharge, they will suffer.

Everyone's priorities are different. I can't tell you what yours should be. But once you discover them, make reasonable daily goals and let the rest go. If number 18 on your to-do list doesn't get done, it doesn't matter. You are only one person.

5. Think About the Future

If single-parenting was sudden and unexpected, it's likely you are scrambling to find out how you're family will function, and that's important. But regardless of where you are in this perilous journey, it's important to look ahead and see what would be best for your whole family long term. 


Would it be best to try to increase your income to cover the difference, or downsize your home? Would moving to be closer to relative benefit your children? Would going back to school help your family long term? These are important things to consider, especially if the short-term answer is  one that is not ideal for you or your kiddos. 


I worked 60 hours a week for a while and missed so much of my son's first year it breaks my heart. I found a school that I love and can attend entirely online and decided it would be best for both of us if I continued my education. Short-term I feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends, but I know it is the best way attain my long term goal, which is to work less for more money and spend the rest of the time being a momma. 

I pray that this will help you in whatever single-parenting box you fit in. It is a process. It takes time, and often a whole host of mistakes, but you will come out stronger on the other side of the fire.

I'd love to hear from you! What would you add? What pearls of wisdom helped you navigate being a single parent? Leave a comment.

Blessings