Over the past couple months I've been reading a few books on toddlers: Things to do with Toddlers and Twos, The Toddler's Busy Book, and Super Baby Food. The first two I found at the library in desperation and the third was included with the stack of boxes (and boxes and boxes!!!) of baby and toddler boy clothes we received from a co-worker of S's. It's been fun to implement some of those ideas and find ways to use random stuff around the house to quickly keep BOTH my kids busy learning about the world around them. Here are a few of the things I've tried out, as well as a few ideas I've come up with, complete with pictures if I ever get around to downloading and posting them. ;) (I liked Things to do more for Lil'S because it was more applicable to his age and elaborated on toddler development; The Toddler's Busy Book had more activities for ages two and three, although many of them were things that H would still get a kick out of. I also liked Super Baby Food for its collection of frugal living tips. I haven't yet read Tightwad's Gazette, but I'm sure they share a number of great ideas. Of course, it again leaves me wishing I had enough skills to sew--or even enough whatever it is I'm lacking to actually sit down long enough to do the sewing I can do--but ah, well. Maybe someday.)
bubbles in a bag:
zip-top bag + water + dishsoap = 15 minutes of toddler happiness
Of course, you have to watch for leakage every now and then, but if it's a good brand of bag, this item can be left on the counter and tossed to the child whenever you need a moment to finish something up without "assistance".
dishwasher:
Let him help put clean utensils in the kitchen drawer; you stand there and praise him while putting them in the right places in your holder ;). Sure, it's not as efficient as doing it yourself, but if you wouldn't even touch it otherwise since you'd be involved in something else with him, you might as well do it with him and the have the job get done.
Let the kid take off with the empty bottom shelf = 15 minutes of toddler happiness, excepting intermittent points when the big shelf gets stuck on kitchen chairs, etc., in our narrow kitchen.
hand vac = 25 minutes of toddler happiness
Lil'S can't hear any vac in our house without running and begging to use it too. When I'm done with it, I pass it off to him and let him run down the battery. So, it does cost a bit in electricity, but it keeps him happy and me free to do something I need to do, and I know he'll be busy the whole time the battery's still running. (I also avoid tantrums if I wait until the vacuum battery is dead and the vacuum is discarded. ;) ) Oh, and there's the added perk of him occasionally successfully vacuuming escaped bits of food or tracked in debris. That always make me happy too.
oil/water bottle
drinking bottle + water + mineral oil + food coloring + super glue = varies
He got more excitement from kicking the thing than watching the bubbles and waves, but H enjoyed the cool liquid effects for a few minutes. I think I needed a different bottle, like a clear kid shampoo one that's wide and narrow. However, it's much better than a ball for learning early kicking skills because it rolls straight, rather than every which way! :)
bathtub toys
I seriously want to toss out our cool squirty toys that are growing mold in them in favor of a small collection of "toys" like these. And, from the Super Baby Food book, I'm looking forward to getting mesh-bagged oranges so that I can use the mesh bag as a bathtub bag. (Or maybe I have one hiding under my kitchen sink.) I have a plastic tub for toys stacked in the closet, but as there's a little distance between the tub and closet and as I have to wait for toys to dry before putting them in the plastic container, unlike a mesh bag over the tub, it's more likely a couple toys will just hang around the bathroom counter or floor from bathtime to bathtime. A mesh bag hanging on the curtain rod will improve the chances of the toys actually being put away as well as free up the use of the plastic box (such as for the craft materials I need to remove from my nightstand to make room for infant care supplies over the next few months) and the shelf it's sitting on.
yogurt cup with a hole in the bottom = 30 minutes of toddler happiness
2 cups, each with a hole in the bottom = at least 20 minutes of t.h., because now he could pour from cup to cup!
small bulb syringe + cup = at least 20 minutes of kindergartener happiness
squirting air bubbles into the water, squirting water into the cup, etc.
*beware of child removing bulb part and toddler putting it in his mouth
cool mom tool: pastry blender
So, I actually had to buy one of these because I don't bake often enough to already have one on hand, but I think the 2.50/3.50 I spent on it is already worth the fact that I can mash a hard-boiled egg (for egg salad) with it in six seconds flat. It was recommended for mashing up soft fruits for baby, and I'm looking forward for figuring out other uses for it as well.
cool snacks: anything dip-able . . .
Like banana slices dipped in the wheat germ I got on clearance and have had sitting in the fridge growing old the past year. Nice to finally get that being used! I called the wheat germ "crunchies" when offering them to my friend's food-avoiding three-year-old, and she ate the whole banana. Sunflower seed butter, honey, yogurt, etc. also work great.
Yes, I caved and bought Lil'S a bottle of $6 sunflower seed butter. I figured if he's going to be jealous about my and sister's peanut butter sandwiches and lacking in good nut proteins for at least one more year (allergist says not till age three :( ), I might as well get him some kind of substitute that's good for him and quick and easy for me. And, the baby food book kept talking about sneaking in seeds, so it rubbed off on me as well.
Continuing on the kid foods concept. . . . The Super Baby Food author actually recommended skipping the little, hand-sized food mill and opting for your everyday pastry blender, regular blender, and food processer for baby food prep. She talks about making large batches of food that you then refridgerate/freeze in individual portions. I did some of that with H and less with Lil'S 'cuz I'd often just take too long and sometimes it would just go bad 'cuz I'd forget it, but I'm considering giving it another try. (I also did weekly mac'n cheese or pasta and sauce before my brain disappeared with this pregnancy. One pound of pasta and one jar of sauce gave me lunches from Monday-Friday.) If I don't start this next little one on solids until 6 months, as is now recommended, I'll really only have more like 4-6 of the major food prep sessions. Not too bad.
S is really great at that kind of thing--he's taken over our bulk meat cooking--so it's easy for me to just say, "Hey! S can totally do this!" However, as I already think/say this for way too many things, it's really something I'm going to have to figure out and tackle on my own if it's going to get done. . . . Okay, realistically, I think he's still going to have to be there helping me stay focused and organized in order to get it done! Anyway, Super Baby Food outlines monthly, weekly, and daily ways to sneak food prep into your typical everyday activities--that are supposed to be done but often aren't around here--in quick and efficient ways, so I have the feeling that if I can do even some of the ideas in the book, not only would it be easier and cheaper to feed baby boy much healthier foods, but I also just might get a few more other chores done around this place as well. ;)
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