Entertaining your toddler or preschooler on a budget - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by swishina 

Roll down the hill! Bonus of wearing your kids out really well.

 

What an awesome hill!!

I think one of my preschoolers' favorite cheap activities (that would keep them entertained for hours!) was making puppets out of lunch sacks and odd bits and pieces of this and that and putting on a puppet show for me...or dad...or grandma...or the neighbor...or the cat...or...!!  LOL 

Our Tupperware drawer provides tons of entertainment for our little one!

I saw online once to go to Home Depot and get a bunch of the Mickey Mouse paint samples.  Get two cards of several colors.  Then go home and glue them to plain paper.  You now have a match game for your kids for hardly any cost!

I have two little girls so sometimes I just get out of a bunch of my clothing items...silky shirts, scarves, shoes, etc, and just let them play with them.  They love it and I don't have to go out and buy new dress-ups!
 

Ok so I have a 2 year old little boy. One way I keep his attention is by putting in Dora the explorer music or barney music and dance, he loves dancing with me and will continue to dance as long as I do. I also take him to the park a lot, especially if he has an enormous amount of energy to run off. The mall here has a play area where other children are so if it's rainy that has been a good spot and he gets to interact with other children his age.....which is so cute! He also loves going to stores that have the car carts, he will stay in those things for hours. It has helped me to get my shopping done, I only wish every store had them. 

Oh my Goodness, My last post said there was a problem so here we go again. I love entertaining my son when he is restless or irritable by putting in Dora Music and Barney music, we dance and sing along to the songs. I also take him to local parks to run out his energy. That works so well but on rainy days our local mall has a toddlers play area and he can play there plus interact with other children his age. He is 2 and my older children are 11 and 12 so they are in their own little world. I also have found a way to entertain him while grocery shopping, a good amount of our stores have carts with cars attached, he will stay in that thing all day long.. On hot summer days we put up his kiddie pool and his step 2 water table. He loves splashing and having a great time. It also allows me to bring my laptop outside and do what I need to while he is chilling in his pool! I would love to win this for my son. Thank You for allowing me to enter

If it is nice outside we love sprinklers, chalk, bubbles, etc., but if the weather is a little yucky (rainy) we move the pool party inside and put our swimsuits on and jump in the tub.  You can make your own bath crayons to have fun in the tub with;

Soap Crayons:

1 3/4 C Ivory Snow Flakes
1/4 C Water
50 Drops Food coloring
Directions - Mix all ingredients. You can form them into shapes and let them harden or place in an ice cube tray to harden..

We also throw out beach towels and dry out on the floor afterwards.  Afterwards you could make sandcastles out of homemade moon sand:

Moon Sand:

Mix together:

4 cups sand

2 cups cornflour

1 cup of water.

You can also make homemade popsicles.  I use the plastic containers that are popsicle shapes from walmart, but you can also use icecube trays and your favorite juice.  Kids love them.  I was also going to try washable sidewalk paint this summer.  I found the recipe online. 

Washable Sidewalk Paint

½ cup of cold tap water

½ cup of cornstarch

16 drops of food coloring.

Gradually combine the water and cornstarch until no lumps remain. Next, mix in the food coloring, and store the washable sidewalk paint in a covered container until ready to use. To avoid separation, be sure to stir the mixture before using after storage.

I make sensory bottles and have my 3 year old help pick the color of food coloring and the objects we put in the sensory bottles. We also love to go outside or even inside and blow bubbles.
 

A great rainy day activity is cooking with your kids.  We love to make cookies - I have my 3 year old help with the mixing and measuring.  My 1 year old taste-tests for us :)  We also try and take advantage of the library story times. 

On non-rainy days parks are a must!  Bonus if they have a splash pad!