8.30.2010

I Need Your Input Please!!

Ok Moms (and anyone else!) I need your input!! Mekonen has entered into that in-between stage in his toddlerhood. The one where he has pretty much "outgrown" all of his current toys but yet is still not ready for preschool stuff. We are leaving our very nice previous stage of activities that were fun and stimulating for us to do together, and also the ones that kept Mekonen engaged on his own. We need some new ideas!

We don't have a lot of extra cash to spend on new toys (so that will have to wait for Christmas), and we don't want our kids to be entirely dependent on commercialized toys with lights, sounds, and batteries either. We want them to learn to use their imagination in play and be creative.

Mekonen is still a little young for the arts and crafts stuff. Last week when we attempted to color he ate the entire green crayon and bit large chunks out of a piece of chalk. We are also not really doing TV for our kids either.

So I need your advice! We need your ideas on some new activities.
1. Activities that Mekonen and I can do together.
2. Activities that Mekonen can do on his own.

Can't wait to hear some things that you like! 

9 comments:

Danielle said...

Phoenix LOVES stacking things! I bought these 'milk can' sets at an outlet (like the ones that you see at a fair they stack them and throw the ball and hit them down) he loves stacking those and legos! He also LOVES trains! Will play with them for HOURS!!! My mom googled Thomas the Train sets I think and came across this clearance place that she has ordered a ton from! You can also get them at target! They are smaller and metal and connect together if you have more than 1! He also LOVES music! We got him some bath flutes at Walmart and a drum set at a garage sale and for Xmas last year a mixer and play guitar and he plays with them all the time toO!

The Arteagas said...

play doh! I think you can make it - but I also think it's pretty cheap. Nathan also likes putting things into containers. I've also been thinking of starting water color paints with him. Nathan wasn't into coloring at all either . . . . he, too, ate the crayons! Or would pull all the paper wrappers off, or one time he separated all the broken crayons from the nice ones - that kept him busy for a while (he did that on his own! must have some sort of o/c behavior - ha, ha!) Good luck! I find that Nathan changes just about day to day as to what interests him. sometimes he just plays with the magnets on the fridge too!

Molly said...

I would suggest anything that can be stacked/built upward at this age- great fun for a long time. Also, you could empty a couple bags of dry rice and dry beans into a container and give him a few cups to play with in there. Even at this young age my boys adored Hot Wheels cars, lining them up and driving them all over the house, and play-doh is a huge hit, always. Also different sized cups, bowls and a funnel at the sink or in the bath tub are highly educational and lots of fun for Mekonen's age. Just what popped into my mind. :)

Emily B. said...

Dawit loves chunky puzzles (with the picture under the puzzle piece),
coloring with the crayola markers that only work on certain paper, kicking/throwing a ball (99 cents at walmart!),
playing in water (baby pool? backyard hose?), dancing,
pushing his shopping cart around the block,
small slide in our living room,
playing a xylophone or on our piano,
patty cake, ring-around-the rosey, london bridges,
"helping" clean mirrors and swiffering the tile floors...

just to name a few :)

ps- no play doh in this house. It just ends up in D's mouth. Maybe we'll try again in 6 months

Emily B. said...

a few more-

Rock a by baby (he pretends to cry and says "Rock a dawit, mama!"),

Wearing silly hats and looking in the mirror

swing (park?)

washing dishes in the sink or bathtub (read: making a huge mess for mom to clean up later)

mini trampoline (find one for older folks that has a hand rail to hold onto while M jumps to music)

library story time?

texture station (bowls with different things in them- rice, beans, craft "fluffy balls", apple sauce).... but this is better done outside, naked, right before bath time :)

The Lowerys said...

I second trains. Learning to put the tracks and train cars together and pushing them around - hours of fun in our house (even is a usable toy into the preschool years). We also love chunky legos and those foldable tents and tunnels (got ours at Target)!

Us4 Cats said...

hi there. i came across your blog today from another ethiopia adoption blog.

i wanted to comment as well.

he is such a cutie.

i have joined to follow your blogs as well :)

Ginger said...

The book Unplugged Play is great as it has activity ideas for toddlers through about 10 years...none of which involve batteries or electricity.

Jennifer Hambrick said...

as a momma of two boys (ages 2 and 3) i second all the suggestions of trains, cars, blocks (both wooden and lego), and any kind of stacking thing. my boys take the stacking blocks and turn them into "garages" and make roads with blocks lined up for their cars. hours of entertainment! they also love their ride on cars that they push and fill the seats (which lift up) with rocks and sticks and leftover snacks =)

i personally hate play doh...but that is just the ocd side of me coming out =) they love it.

such a fun age you are entering into!