Toddler in lockdown. No turning to playdates, the soft play or play parks to burn off all that energy. The stage Oscar is at he doesn't understand what is going on but he can definitely tell something is different. The first few weeks we managed to keep him occupied but the longer lockdown has continued I wanted to find new and interesting activities for him to try.
Along with a few purchases of new toys like cars and play doh these are a few of our favourite activities.
BAKING
Getting messy and eating the icing from the bowl... what would a toddler not love about this? We have turned to baking at least once a week. Along with the fun of mixing I think it does help him understand little things like having to put them in the oven and wait for them to be ready. He is working on skills when he is putting icing onto the cakes and making sure they are all nicely covered. The end is the most fun. I mean look at Oscar at the end, a messy toddler means they have had fun!
SALT DOUGH
A little keepsake to remember this mad time in our lives. A little more messy play but it basically makes 2 different activities with the making the dough and then the painting. So we did dough one day, painting the next. Perfect. The salt dough is easy to make -
All you need is -
1 cup of Plain Flour
Half a cup of Salt
Half a cup of Water
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and add the water until it turns into a ball.
We then decided to make it into something for Oscar to look back on in years to come and we can tell him all about lockdown.
Then here comes the boring part... in the oven for 3 hours (low heat).
Cool and then paint!
GARDEN FUN
We have been so lucky with the weather, can you imagine all this during the winter? The garden has become like an added room to the house. The amount of games and activities we have done in the garden is crazy. Collecting leaves, twigs, pine cones and anything else he can find from the garden.
Playing football and we even bought him a tent to hide out in. Since lockdown begun Oscar has become really interested in all the little things he has seen outside. Bees, birds and bugs are his favourite new words.
All these small things he has learnt since the beginning of lockdown are so big in his development, I have seen such a massive difference in him with his speaking and his understanding of playing and learning.
Hope this helps any mums needing a few new activities to try out with their toddlers.
Chloe x