Fun, indoor activities to do with the grandparents?
The holidays are quickly approaching, and that means family visiting time!
One thing that always seems to be a problem is what to do with our "indoor time" at the relatives house. The kids won't be bringing their usual arsenal of toys, and I don't really want to just sit them in front of the TV for the week.
Of course, we'll be going out during the days if the weather is nice, but there's always some pretty large blocks of time left over (before & after dinner, for example.)
I'd love to hear some suggestions for what the kids could do with the Grandparents, indoors, during these times. Reading, crafts, games?
Our kids are 2 1/2 years old, and 10 months.
3 Answers
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Coloring/art supplies- construction paper, pompoms..., playdough, building blocks(could be made up of tissue boxes, TP rolls, cereal boxes anything, making forts- always a hit and all you need is a sheet/blanket and some chairs or table. Depending on the ages, even a simple cooking activity- mixing, measuring, stirring, rolling, cutting, eating! What about making pasta necklaces? There are lots of creative ideas using regular household stuff- you just have to look at it another way. Have fun!
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One thing that my kids have loved is playing with goo. Mix a box of corn starch with 1-2 cups of water until it is the consistency of runny pudding. It isn't quite a liquid, isn't quite a solid. They just like how it feels and will easily play with it for 30-45 minutes. You can put things in it. Your 10 month old is probably too young for this.
Making secret potions -- grab a bunch of stuff from the cupboard and mix them together.
At 2.5 your child may well like pouring water from one container to another. Get containers that are different sizes and shapes and s/he can practice pouring and get some sense for tall thin containers filling up faster than short fat ones. Give your little one a sponge a little water and s/he can get the sponge wet and squeeze it out. Or just put some water in the tray of his/her highchair and let him/her splash around.
Baths have always been a big hit.
Using tape. At 2.5 one of our kids liked to tape utensils to walls, decorate the couch, cover pieces of paper.
For 10 months, you could toss out a bunch of kitchen stuff -- funnel, spatula, potato masher, etc. It's around that age they start liking to put things into containers, so get a box and some random, non-choking-hazard things your kid can put in there.
They'll probably be pretty happy exploring the new places so I wouldn't worry too much about them being bored.
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Puzzles! You can get age appropriate ones at the local walgreens or equivalent for a few bucks so you won't mind leaving them behind. The grandparents love putting puzzles together with my kids.
