Activity Ideas Needed for Children Under Two....

Imaginative play...access to books....things they can attempt to count and sort...build and create with. Much of this is stuff you can make too.

I do home childcare (all my 7 daycare kids are 3 and under in age) and some of the most used and loved toys are things I have made. Old formula cans filled with things. File folder games I have laminated..sequencing cards too (like a 3 or 4 part thing, such as baking cookies or getting dressed).

We save milk and juice type jug tops...a few of my daycare parents remember to save them for me as well. We have quite a few now. They are great for doing counting things, for pattens and sorting (early math)..for putting a few into those old formula (or peanut cans..I have a few from some cookie recipes I just made)...they clank and make noises for instruments.

Make a flannel board (get rolled felt from the fabric store and any old piece of thin wood....one of mine was recycled from the backing of an old bookshelf that we just made an open shelf instead)..then just stretch the felt over and staple gun it to the wood. Really really heavy duty cardboard works too if you have access. You can make one large one for the wall or make a few lap size small ones. Then make felt pieces for them to act out stories (or you to tell some simple stories)..or just random pieces for them to make things up..sort of like paper dolls in a way. You can also buy them on line. I make many of my simple shaped ones from the large puzzle pieces I have..trace and cut out with sharp scissors.

Also another thing I am making soon...a friend has one....a tent made to fit over a regular old folding table. The square for the top piece, and the side portions...then one side, you put a zipper in it, so You can zip it up..or just finish the cut edges and make tie backs (then no one is getting trapped inside with it zipped up..just flaps like a teepee then).

Have a large variety of things like Little people toys (I buy the small pieces at garage sales and thrift stores, clean them well with bleach water, etc...but mine are all one size...the one older size, non choking, that they made for many many years before they started messing with the sizre and dhape of them)...plus Duplo Lego's. Those 2 things, along with my tiny, very plain wooden toy kitchen and alot of sturdy toy food...and cheap dollar spot (target) baskets...Oh My they love baskets with handles..we have about 20 in my playroom )..these are the most overall played with things in my full playroom. The More simple things...which I prefer. Then they really use their imagination.

We also have some great simple dress up career outfits I got thru Discount School Supply..the toddler set. ( http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail...) They are fabric and wash up great. They love to just wear the smocks cuz they have pockets on them and they can put their "stuff" in them. Alot of pretending and making stuff up going on. We don't watch much TV..and I almost never do worksheet type stuff...occasionally for matching activities, but thats just not my thing. We do hands on activities, we bake and we use our imaginations. Its what works for us!

Good luck....

Actually, unstructured play is what they need most of all. It's fine to do some activities with your kids, but especially small children need to be put in a safe area with toys and non-dangerous items to PLAY -however they will. It goes further in brain development than anything. Here's a great link to an NPR story on it today:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1921...

Use art supplies -again -not completely structured -to help them learn colors, shapes, counting, etc. Play doh, paper, safety scissors, glue sticks, markers and glitter!

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One thing that my kids LOVE is playing with dried beans. I bought several bags of dried pinto beans and put them in a large bin. I threw in cups, ladles, spoons, small bowls, etc and my two kids will sit there and play forever! I laid down an old shower curtain to keep the spilled beans from getting all over the place. My son is only 14 months old so I watch him closely so he doesn't put any in his mouth. Unstructured play is best for kids this age and even though we adults don't really see it, they are learning. It's all about exploration at this age. Another thing that I did with my daughter when she was younger was lay out a large beach towel on the kitchen floor and fill up a large bowl or bin with water and, the same as the beans, I gave her cups, spoons, bowls. I haven't done it with my son because he is a L. more rambunctious than my daughter and I really don't want a watery mess all over the place! Also, the library is great even if you don't go for story times.

I used to put the twins in the bathtub (without water, in their clothes) and let them draw with bathtub crayons. Tape paper to the high chair tray and let them paint or use play dough.

My twin nieces are 18 months old and here's what my mom does when she has them:
- takes the plastic cookware/bakeware out of the cabinets and place them all around the house- each room they find something new to play with!
- SUPERVISED... play doh is great for sensory and fine motor development
- board books
- blocks (soft edges) to stack and build
- chunky cars to push
- Mega Blocks are great and they will still love them well into preschool!

duck duck goose. finger painting. playdough. rice,sand,or oatmeal in a bin with some cars and toys. at teaching stores there is games for color matching and counting with the little color rubber counters in a bin. They have animals, food. I have seen them at learning stores, teacher stores. just thinking of what they do in preschool to get ideas for stuff to do :0)