So we are in our 2nd locked down here in NSW. Seeing as I can’t photograph any newborns and babies I put my thinking cap on to create this small list!
For the next few weeks, you can’t catch up for play dates with friends, can’t visit play centres and visit your family. But it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun at home and have extra bonding time with your children! After all, these are the memories your child will treasure!
I’ve put together a list of some things to help entertain your young child in this time.
1. Build a Fort!
In his younger years, my son would love to build a fort in his room. I would help him secure numerous blankets to chairs, his bed and any other furniture in his room!
The fort kept him quiet for a long time!
So get building! Fill your fort with your child’s favorite toys, pillows and toys. Colour in, build Lego, do imaginative play and read books in the fort. I guarantee your child will have hours of fun!
2. Play Doh
 We’ve all grown up playing with play doh. From the age of two, mum would get out the play doh and we would build anything our minds came up with. Not only is play doh fun, it also encourages creativity, enhances hand/eye coordination, helps with strengthing the muscles by squishing and rolling the play doh. It is also a great calming activity when some down time is needed.
Supervision is always recommend as young children may want to eat the play doh and carry it around the house.
3. Read A few books!
Read a book or two … or ten!
Most small children love books. They often want to Read the same book over and over again. My kids loved any Hairy Maclary books. Their next favorite was Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the bus, I was really into it as well, lots of emotive reading and excitement would have them in stitches!
4. Play some games
 The right game will help boost your toddlers physical and emotional skills.
Here are some game ideas to try with your toddler
Simon says
Hokey Pokey
Parachute
Scavenger Hunt
Hide n Seek
Obstacle course
Try a few and see which one becomes your toddlers favorite!
5. Play with toys and dress ups
Tip out the cars! Get out the duplo! Get out the blocks and barbies! You may make a mess but it’s easy to clean up and also teach your child to pack away.
Your child may be entertain for 5 minutes or an hour! Build a tower with them, build it as high as you can and then let them knock it down (their favorite part!).
Let your imagination run wild!
Young children love to play dress ups. It’s a great for imaginative play, social skills and coordination skills. Let your toddler try dressing themselves. If you don’t have many dress ups make use of dad or mums over sized shirts, hats or scarfs!
6. Outside play
Have you ever noticed how much energy your toddler has? Do you wish you could tap into all that energy for yourself? Help your little one burn up that that energy by taking them outside to ride bikes, scooters or jump on the trampoline. These activities are all great energy burners, great for motor skills and a daily dose of Vitamin D, aka, the sun!
A few last words …
One activity that kept my kids busy was playing with pegs. They would clip the pegs onto the peg basket, this is a great activity to help strengthen hand muscles and for hand/eye coordination.
Lastly! Make sure to take photos of your toddler/child participating in any activities, you can share these with them as they grow older. they’re also great everyday memories to have to look back for yourself on once your toddler is a teenager … like mine! I love looking back at old photographs of my kids playing and interacting, it keeps those moments in my mind!
Lastly, if you have any activities that keep your child entertained, please share them in a COMMENT below!
Enjoy and have fun xx