Hi mamas,
I need ideas for "active" things to do with my 2 yr old when it's cold and dark outside. Right now we're just doing reading/arts & crafts/puzzles after dinner, but she's getting really restless and has a whole lot of energy left before bedtime. We used to go for a walk around the neighborhood, but I'm not as comfortable having her running around outside when it's dark. There's not really a place to "play" in our subdivision...it's all sidewalks and driveways, and I"m worried that cars won't see her if it's dark. We'll play "chase" around the house, but we're really limited on space so it's hard to do. What has worked with your kids?
We live in a small townhouse so no yard to speak of. That's why I'm leery out outside in winter...we literally only have driveways and sidewalks (next to roads with a decent amount of traffic) to "play" on.
Oh, and any ideas that daddy can help with (he's not really big on "dancing")? :)
Edit: Thanks for the great ideas so far! We're trying not to have to pack up the kids to "go" anywhere. Mostly looking for something to fill the 2 hrs between "after dinner" and "bedtime." We usually get home around 6pm from work/daycare and her bedtime is somewhere between 8:30pm and 9pm (although bath happens around 8pm). I'm usually taking care of the 3 month old, so we're just trying to have her burn off energy (usually with daddy).
Great ideas mamas! I'm definitely putting some of these ideas into rotation! We did "animal parade" (walk like a crab, hop like a frog, etc) and a "jump over these objects" course last night. She isn't coordinated enough to do some of the stuff you guys listed, but I'm soooo happy to have some fresh ideas. I love the obstacle course idea since you can always change things up!
And yeah, it sucks where we live. The nearest playground is 5 miles away, so no walking there for us! And a one car garage doesn't leave much space for "riding" toys..even with the car out. Good thing i have all of y'all to help me out...my husband was just going to give up and just let her watch tv (not that it wears her out!).
We sometimes will blow up a balloon and play with that for a bit. I also bought my son a balance bike last year and he learned to ride it in the house where it was a little less painful when he fell over on the carpet with his bike. He could putter it through the whole house while he was learning.
I have this great snowsuit for my son that has reflectors on it. Makes it much easier for drivers to see the little guy when we go out after dark.
We often do "dance party" after dinner. The boys love it. We crank up the tunes and we all go wild dancing. It's lots of fun.
My brothers and I used to set up a "restaurant" in the basement. One brother was the cook, I was the waitress, and the other brother was the busboy. We set up "tables" around the house, had pretend (or our parents) customers, and the fun would begin! I take their order, run down to the kitchen to tell the chef, and we would all help prepare the fake dinners in the kitchen, take them to the customers, then clean it up, tally the check, etc. We would do that for hours. It wore us all out. I guess we had a fast-paced business and were very successful. :)
When my 5 year old was that age we used to play a bowling game (monster bowl) in the hallway. also, marching band - everyone get an 'instrument' and do a marching band around the house. Also you could set up a treasure hunt (take photos of things around the house and print them out), or is that too advanced (sorry cant remember that age)? or you could build a fort out of the couch cushions and blankets.
Good luck getting through the cold dark winter!
Batting several balloons around is great fun. Also, you can put different things in balloons, like rice, a P. or a lug nut to make different sounds-the P. actually makes the balloon "act different". Home made play doh used to keep my kids active for long periods of time and isn't as messy as the stuff you get from the store. Just mix flour, salt, aloe and water together, add food coloring and wala! Kids that age love to squeeze stuff through their hands. Make peanut butter play doh if she tends to put stuff in her mouth. HAVE FUN!
I would find the closest park and walk hand in hand to that park playing follow the leader as you go(I have a set of blinking pins that we pin to the coat my son wears2 on the back one on the front and 1 on the hat). As long as you won't freeze to death, dressed appropriately finding a park in a near by subdivision shouldn't be too hard and the large motor is great and will get you and her a workout that is much needed. If the great outdoors in the cold and dark isn't your thing then I would play an active game of simon says or get one of the videos that requires her to follow along with activity or join a gym that has activities for kids and a big play area(Lifetime fitness does). Or do silly dance time with her, I know Dad isn't into dance but if it means a sleepy girl so he has alone time with his wife you may see a change of what he is willing to do.
Play music and dance!
Pop up tent..and put a few little toys in it.
We like to play "hide and seek" in the house sometimes after dinner. It gets the kids moving, and because we live in a split level house they work their muscles running up and down the stairs.
I throw all the pillows from the couch on the floor and then we take running jumps onto them and jump off the couch onto them. We also set up obstacle courses (go under the chair, jump over the pillow, put a piece of tape on the floor and have them follow it etc ....) or follow the leader with lots of running and jumping. Of course, this also wears the parent out! ;)
Dance party! Turn on some music and dance together. I do this with my kids still and they love it (they are 7 and 4).
Get some board games you can play together, some crafts or coloring pages, play hide and seek.
Dance parties
Exercise videos (my kids love to exercise along side of me)
Pull her in a sled when there's snow on the ground
Drive to a nearby, well-lit park with a hill and go sledding and play in the snow
Drive to a more walker-friendly neighborhood and walk around and look at Christmas lights
Walk around the mall, especially one that has a play area
one of my favorite things to play inside it sock tag. You crawl around and try to take off the other persons socks. It is exhausting.
set up obstacle courses going under, over, around, through various things
make a tent out of a sheet and table
get the cars out of the garage and let her do ride on toys in there
put pillows on the ground by the bed and let her jump onto the pillows from the bed
put pillows in a row and have her jump from pillow to pillow
buy Baby Songs ABCs and 123s DVD and do those activities with her
buy yoga for kids DVDs and do those with her
there are some wii games that are for that age that are active, check reviews on amazon to see which are really good and which aren't...
buy a small climber or slide and put some pillows under it and let her play on that, if you already own one and use it outside clean it up and bring it inside
go for a walk with flashlights
Do you all have a backyard? I would put up lights out there for the outdoor walk and play,purchase sam e lights that can be attached to her hat, hood and jacket. Target sells them with the bike merchandise.
For inside a small trampoline would came in handy. A rocking horse on springs. Aindoor slide. Figure out the outdoor situation Children
Children really. Need very active play
There is a great game called hullabaloo that gets kids active and it can take up an entire back yard or just a small living room space. Plus, it is a really silly game that helps work on categorizing things like colors and foods.
http://www.amazon.com/Cranium-16518-Hullabaloo/dp/B00008M...
So worth the money!!!
We go run around at the McDonald's Playland, Barnes and Noble kid's area or Chucky E. Cheese. My son doesn't eat the food but we burn off a lot of energy and see other kids/people!
Indoor play areas like if your mall has one. We go to our library children's section. Or barnes and noble childrens area.
Try a beach ball- they're light enough to bop around and have fun with.
I know you said she's two- but what about games like Twister? She wouldn't have to twist, but maybe jump on the color spun, or even jump from red to red to red.
Bean bag toss games- they make lots of letter/numbers ones out there- or you could even make your own.
Exercise/yoga DVDs are great ideas. Even on the computer- I'll bet you could find a short yoga/exercise video approp. for 2 yr olds. Which makes me wonder- are there any "games" on the computer that encourage physical activity, too? Hmmm...might have to search for that for myself! There might even be books like "Elmo Says" (kind of like Simon Says) that encourage activities to read and then do.
Even art projects- the concentration and excitement involved in a simple painting project usually wears out my little one!
I love the ideas you've already gotten! I'm SO bookmarking this question! :)
Have fun burning off energy!
We use the jumping on pillows idea a lot. And we love our pop up tents, too.
