Need Ideas for Toddler toys or boxes

[doubleportion]

I have seen posts listing Lakeland boxes but not much else about ideas for toddlers. Lakeland items are not really in our budget and we don't have a store near us. I usually look for things at convention or pick up items from Rainbow Resource.

I have a just turned 2 yr old who is becoming quickly more and more underfoot. We got the Lauri toys and preschool manipulatives for my ds 4 when he was 3, but frankly he was not very interested in them. And I have a feeling that his younger brother won't be either. Any ideas of things to have on hand for a busy 2 yr old that are low mess and interest holding?

Thanks,
Edie

[ALB]

My experience is that lots of things work well for a time, but they eventually lose some of their appeal. So, unless you want to continue buying more and more things, I'd just buy a few (math manipulatives, puzzles, etc) and then throw a few homemade things together when the inspiration hits. I tend to get motivated in spurts, so I'll prepare a bunch of things at a time, and use them as long as they hold interest. A few ideas that I found online and were a success here: hiding a few cars in a box filled with curly pasta noodles for your ds to dig out and play with; a muffin tin or ice cube tray with dried beans and a tablespoon and teaspoon; a large box of uncooked rice with a shovel and a "digger" truck; make a racetrack out of masking tape on the floor to use with cars (great LHTH prep); paintbrushes with water and colored paper (no paint); chalk and black paper; empty tupperware containers and some plastic spoons; homemade playdough and a plastic knife; a large jar filled with two of a kind of various objects (Q tips, legos, bottlecaps, yarn, whatever) to match together; a container of old buttons to sort by color. I found that if I can change things up at all, it suddenly becomes more appealing. Sometimes we use beans, sometimes rice, sometimes colored pom poms, etc. Sometimes he gets the liquid measuring cups, sometimes the dry ones, sometimes tongs, sometimes tweezers, and so on.
I am a confessed neat freak and I have to admit that seeing rice fall on my clean floor drives me a little batty, but I am trying to relax more and be okay with some little messes in the process. One trick I found is to use cheap disposable table cloths and spread that on the floor first. After it gets some holes or becomes too messy to bother with, I just throw it away and use another.
Another idea that I'm sure you've come across by now is to rotate toys. This really works! If it's been long enough time since they've seen it, they'll probably want to play with it even if it is a boring baby toy .

[John'smom]

If I were you, I'd get some of Trish Kuffner's books, as long as you're not opposed to doing some things up on your own. There's a ton of ideas in there and you won't be out a lot of money. The two I'd suggest are The Toddler's Busy Book and The Preschooler's Busy Book. I got mine at the 1/2 Price Bookstore. I don't know if you have one near you. Oh, and right now it looks like Paperbackswap has the Preschooler one up to request. Oh, and you could check your library too. HTH.

[doubleportion]

Sorry, did need to mention that we have food allergies in our home. So most of the food type crafts that would be used are not a good idea at our house. We are gluten, dairy, sugar and a whole lot of others things free home. I do make my own gluten free playdough.

Edie

[tjswaine]

A few things my 2 year old loves are:
~ sorting pompoms into an egg carton
~ putting large beads onto pipe cleaners
~ placing stickers on a foam shape or paper
~ sticking magnets to cookie sheets
~ coloring and cutting paper
~ gluing various items to paper
~ playdoh
~ washing her doll in a small tub of water

[doubleportion]

Thanks for the ideas, ladies! I am going to write these down so I can have a list when I start collecting things after Christmas. Can never have too many ideas or things to do for a two year old!

Edie

[my3sons]

Those toddlers keep us on our toes, don't they?!? Here are a few past threads that may help too:

What to do with toddlers while schooling:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=198&p=33557
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4987&p=36744#p36744

In Christ,
Julie

[blessedmom]

I don't have lots of ideas. I have a sweet 18 mo ds, after 3 girls. i am noticing real fast how differen boys and girls are!
One thing my ds likes is to play with the manipulatives the girls use for math. He is allowed to play with them, but only in his high chair.
I don't know how long this will last, but he actually asks some days to get in his high chair to play with the bears (or another manipulative). that buys me some time on those days.

[Heart_Mom]

I don't have lots of ideas. I have a sweet 18 mo ds, after 3 girls. i am noticing real fast how differen boys and girls are!
One thing my ds likes is to play with the manipulatives the girls use for math. He is allowed to play with them, but only in his high chair.
I don't know how long this will last, but he actually asks some days to get in his high chair to play with the bears (or another manipulative). that buys me some time on those days.

I have a 17 month old son, and we do the same thing! He LOVES to use pattern blocks, cubes that snap together, etc. For him it's a treat because the items are smaller than things I normally let him play with. (Since I'm right next to him, I can keep a close eye one him, but one does have to be careful!)

[Carrie]

Edie,

We tried to have a highchair time each day for our kiddos when they were that age. We also attempted a playpen time and a play at the table time each day. Here's just a few ideas we used in the past for our highchair time for our busy, busy boys at that age:

1. Save the plastic eggs that snap together from Easter and place a Cheerio or other edible object inside each one. Then, have the child open and eat them, or if possible have the child put the object in and then take it out.

2. Do paint with water books in the high chair. Tear one page out of the book and tape it to the high chair tray. Give the child a small plastic container of water (flatter is better than taller, so it doesn't tip) and a paintbrush to paint on the water, and watch the colors appear on the paint with water page. Often the paper ended up so saturated, you couldn't see the picture but the time it gave me was worth it!

3. Cheerio books you can get at almost any book store. These have an indented spot to place a Cheerio in on each page creating a scene. We bought them for our first son (who is now a freshman) and have had them for each child ever since. These work great in the high chair as well. Simply give the child a small cup of Cheerios to place on each page, reusing the Cheerios as they go. Then at the end they can eat them (or eat as they go sometimes too.)

4. Tape a white piece of paper to the highchair tray and sprinkle a bit of kool-aid or Crystal light powder on the page. Then give the child a paintbrush and some water and let them paint the powder.

5. Give the child a singing book to look at while in the highchair. Ours have the buttons you can push down the side and sing different songs or make noises.

6. Try having the child look at a pile of lift-the-flap books with very large flaps while in the high chair. Some of my boys liked this better than others!

7. Use dot paint markers. These markers have paint inside them and make paint dots on paper when pressed down. Just tape a paper to the high chair and let them dot away! Make sure the paint is washable though, as they often dot the tray and themselves!

8. Magnetic train cars to push around on the highchair tray work well if you happen to have any of those. Each of our boys have loved these.

9. Sometimes a combination works too. Start with one highchair item and when the child is finished do another one. We tried for 15-20 min. in the highchair at a time mid-morning.

For our boys' table time, we have used 5 different tubs (that slid under my bed for storage when not in use). We numbered the tubs Day 1, Day 2, Day , Day 4, and Day 5. Each day we took out a different tub and the boys had to play with the items in the tub. I just placed things in each tub that we already had on hand. By placing them in the tub to only come out once each week, the items seemed new and exciting. Then, if anyone ever gave us something new, I placed it in a tub. Tub items included puzzles, books, toys, short books on tape/CD, etc. We set the timer and required the boys to play with the items in the tub for 20 min. at this age.

Playpen time amounted to a singing tape/CD with toys in the playpen. My boys were required to stay in the playpen for 20-30 min. at that age. When they outgrew the playpen, we moved it to time in the child's crib. Then, later we began assigning an older child to play with the younger one during that time instead. Once the child was not such a danger to himself, we switched this time to being playtime alone in his room. This happens around age 4 at our house.

For time with another child at this age, we had the older child have an assigned card with an order in which to do things with the younger child. The card for each day usually included some of the following:

1. Read two board books to the child.
2. Do 1 or more fingerplays with the child. ( I had a list and taught the older child how to do them.)
3. Walk around with the child in the house and point to and name 10 objects, having the younger child repeat back the name of each object.
4. Count from 1 on up to... (whatever is most appropriate) with the child, having the child repeat each number after the older one says it.
5. Sit on the floor and roll a soft air-filled ball back and forth. Then, stand and bounce it back and forth. Last, gently throw the ball back and forth.
6. Stand back and toss beanbags or rolled up socks into a laundry basket.
7. Follow along in a book with an audio book while having the younger child sit next to the older child or on his/her lap.
8. Play with an assigned toy. (I assigned a different toy to each day, so the older child knew what to play and where to play it.)

Anyway you get the idea. Hope this helps!

Blessings,
Carrie