I hope you are all doing okay, now that schools and some nurseries are closing I know that many many people are feeling very anxious so please go easy on yourself funky fans.
Take some time out for yourself, spend some time outside if you can and keep in touch with loved ones and friends as much as possible over the phone and internet. This really helps us stay grounded.
Anyway here are some more ideas for you to do with little or no prep with your toddlers!
Make a funny face with things you find outside
My 18 month old loves doing this and it is super easy! Go in to the garden or go on a walk and find bits and pieces you can use to make a face.
Children love faces so this is bound to go down well.
You can make it happy or grumpy and get them to copy it.
Add whiskers and make a cat, give it a really long tongue or big elephant ears. Laugh and giggle and let the worries of the world get forgotten for a bit!
On your marks, Bake!
Yes you can totally bake with a toddler, they love mixing, pouring, cracking eggs and stirring and you can make anything you fancy. Biscuits, fairycakes but my favourite currently is bread in the slow cooker!
Super easy, all you need is flour (if you can find any these days!) yeast, sugar, salt and warm water.
Follow a basic recipe online and then pop all the dough on a floured surface and let your little one go to town punching, kneading and rolling.
It’s a great exercise for them and a stress reliever for you!
Once you are done, pop it in the slow cooker for 2.5 hours and then eat it hot with butter as a treat.
Throwing stones in water
Nothing more simple than this but for some reason this entertains little ones for ages!
Find a deep puddle, lake, river, pond or if you can’t go out fill up the paddling pool or bath and find things to throw.
If you are using your bath I wouldn’t suggest throwing stones, use balls, bath toys and apparently oranges! My son found throwing oranges in the bath hilarious!
If you are outside you can make a game of finding stones and filling a bucket or your pockets with stones.
See how far they can throw the stones, how big the splash can be or if they can throw multiple stones at once. I promise you, you will get bored of this long before they do!
Also can I just point out my sons neckwear. He hates having his coat zipped all the way to the top and I don’t want his neck to get cold.
Scarves are just not workable as they fall off and are not safe so the Funky Giraffe Scoods are the perfect solution! They work so well, keep his neck lovely and warm and are comfy for him to wear on all our outdoor trips. Plus they look cute too!
Pouring and scooping
Small children love filling up buckets with water or pretty much anything, especially when it involves a spade or a scoop.
Fill up a tray with soil if you are in the garden, or sand, or water. I found some very out of date oats in a cupboard so I used those.
Add a bucket and a scoop and even a couple of cars and trucks and let them play.
You may need to start them off so they know what to do but they will soon get in to this and it means you can get a few minutes to yourself while they entertain themselves.
I hope these give you some more ideas for the days ahead and please let me know what you are doing to entertain your little ones.
One final suggestion is to find one of the live classes running daily and do that every morning. This is a great way to anchor your day, give you some routine and it’s great fun.
We did a tumble tots session today and my son loved it, although it made me oddly emotional! But still it was good fun, good exercise and a great way of having fun together.
Stay safe and healthy funky Fans!!