"Big", "physical" secretly educational activities

[Kizmet]

Im looking for activities that I can do with my 18 month old. She is bored with playing with her toys. Will happily sit and draw for a while, paint for a while, play with play doh for a while but she just isnt all that interested. She is an extremely active and "spirited" child and I think she would benefit so much from hands on things to do. We are cooped up inside as none of us have been well plus it is on and off raining here and she is just so bored!

My ideas are:
*buying a fish tank-she loves fish, she could help feed them, clean the tank etc plus learning about different types of fish, different shapes, sizes, colours etc

*Buying half a wine barrel and letting her have her own garden. We can plant things, water them, watch them grow etc..


Does anyone else have any other ideas? Dh isnt particularly keen on either of these! What do you think of maybe if I went to spotlight or somewhere bought some of those photo frames, boxes or mirrors you can decorate and then some odd craft bits like feathers , beads etc and we decorate them? Or if we went to the beach she could pick shells and then we could make them?

Do you think that would work? Im after things we can do together but are hands on and will keep her interested and most importantly HAPPY!!!

[lukaelmo]

How about a sandpit? I tend to think of any type of play as educational, and you could fill the pit with buckets and spades, bulldozers and other such toys...

[reAllytee]

Set up a container as her craft box with all odds an ends eg. used toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, coloured cardoboard, pencils, crayons, odd bits of material etc then grab some glue, glitter etc then let her run wild with it. Yes it can be messy but hilarious fun too !

Sandpits are great & if you cant build one just grab a clam shell from Big W or Kmart for her. The good thing is that with summer coming up the lid can be used as a wading pool ! Boof has even used his to play with through winter. He fills his watering can up & waters the plants, floats boats & leaves etc.

Get her a little gardening tool set that she can potter around with. This is another thing Boof loves especially the watering can lol.

What about a wooden train set ? Yes its sorta a boys toy but seriously she may love it. Ours keeps Boof enthralled for hours. Plus you can keep adding to them if you get one that can do so with specific pieces etc.

Another thing we do is fill a plastic bucket with some water & dishwashing liquid so he has bubbles to play with & he 'washes up' some of his plastic plates etc. This also then doubles with a paint brush for him to 'paint' with. Boof paints the house for us lol.

[Chickadee]

Another thing we do is fill a plastic bucket with some water & dishwashing liquid so he has bubbles to play with & he 'washes up' some of his plastic plates etc. .
A variation on this is to turn it into a treasure hunt. Drop a bunch of small plastic toys or some shells, smooth stones, etc into the bucket. She won't be able to see them through the bubbles but will be able to feel them with her fingers and can 'discover' them as she lifts them out.

Practice throwing & rolling balls. Cheap and cheerful bowling pins can be bought for around $10, we use our inside actually.

DD was drawing on a chalkboard at that age. We simply bought a sheet of chalkboard from Bunnings and would lay it down or prop it up to play, then slide it away under a bed after. White chalk are easier to clean up. Red chalk seems to taste the best :rolleyes:

[Kizmet]

Thanks for the ideas everyone !

Was having a small breakdown moment this morning :laughing:

Brilliant Ideas! Cannot wait to go out and get everything ready for a craft box and buckets and things like that :thumbsup:

We have a sandpit out the back which she loves playing in but she has been so sick lately I have been keeping her indoors plus the weather was so unpredictable today!

She has a chalkboard, we are a bit iffy about her with using chalk as she has a past history of wall drawing and carpet drawing :hair: :laughing:

I just made a massive list of activities i found when googling today if anyone is interested it is here http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=118975

[reAllytee]

K - Also go & grab the Crayola range of 'washables' this is the only way Boof is allowed crayons, paints etc otherwise our house would be ruined !

[Kizmet]

K - Also go & grab the Crayola range of 'washables' this is the only way Boof is allowed crayons, paints etc otherwise our house would be ruined !

have I told you lately that I love you :laughing: :laughing:

[FishFace]

make a picture with contact.

Buy rolls of contact paper.
and some whit paper or carboard.

Cut out shapes and let her make a picture by sticking the sticky contact shapes anywhere.

You can call out the names like square, circle , triangle.