please help - ideas hugely appreciated!!

[Ashley's Mummy]

Hi Mummies :wave:

Can anyone please suggest some activities to do with DD. Im a 28 year old (as of next sat the 14th) SAHM and my days are feeling rather groundhog dayish!! I would love some ideas for some new stuff to do with 19.5 month old DD!!

What do you all do at home? Indoors we play with toys, read books, watch dora or the wiggles etc on dvd - (she has many dvds), dance and sing, drawing and colouring with my first craola textas, play in her ball pit, help mummy clean and cook, play with pets - (2 cats, 1 dog and a fish), roll around on floor being sill together.

Outdoors we swing, play in sandpit, blow bubbles, play with ride on toys, chasey with the dog, kick balls, go for walks :ecomcity:

It seems like a big list on paper but in reality we still seem to have a fair amount of time were bored - or at least i am, maybe its just of doing the same darn things it just gets so repetitive. I feel like i may soon go round the bend. Dont get me wrong i adore doing all these things with DD we just need something new so i dont feel like im on a groundhog day!!

All suggestions are greatly appreciated and sending :hugs: and :kiss: in advance!!
Ashley's Mummy

[reAllytee]

Sheesh sounds like you do more than we do most days ... Now i feel guilty :o
I guess i would say mix it up a bit by maybe only having certain days that you draw or do arts & crafts then maybe another day you have a trip to the park & have a picnic lunch that way you both out for the majority of the day & she gets to see new things etc.
For us mornings consist of helping me clean & wash which means Boof destroys as i clean lol or a video like The Wiggles where we dance & sing then we often go out into the courtyard & do some gardening or go for a walk down to the shops but other days we are lazy & just play, draw or muck around the house. Usually by the time all of that is done etc its time for lunch so he has his sandwich & milk then if he wants some fruit he has this then we sit & have cuddles for 10mins or so depending on his mood otherwise he is ready for his nap so gets me to take him upstairs.
He sleeps for about 1.5hrs to 2hrs from 1pm through till 3pm im a bit naughty & if im tired i have a nanna nap myself :o Then when he wakes we have some time together again because like me he is grumpy when he wakes up lol so we sit & read a few books then he runs around upstairs while i do any tidying up that needs to be done like putting clothes & nappies away. Then once downstairs he has an afternoon snack so by about 4pm we are either ready to go for a walk if we didnt earlier in the day or we go & get the mail then come back for a run around the courtyard etc. Then we do whatever we are both happy doing Boof often lets me know in some way what he wants to do etc. Dinnertime is around 5.30pm then if Daddy has been at work its their time together till 6.30pm when its bathtime then 7pm is bedtime !
Oh & somedays all he wants to do is chase the cat lol so if they are happy enough i let them go !
I just vary it from day to day just like i have halved his toys so that one week he plays with one lot then it gets switched it means he doesnt get bored with them as easily. Also now that the weather is warming up it will mean i can set up his clam shell for his sandpit & wading pool. Ive also got him an outdoor blackboard which he gets at Christmas with a heap of chalks & paints etc which will also add to his fun.
I guess it is a bit like groundhog day sometimes but as i said i try to mix it up enough that something is always different for him.
Doubt that really helps does it but i will certainly be watching this for new ideas myself !

[Ashley's Mummy]

bump

[SnoozesWithCats]

We go out. A lot.

I'm thinking a bit like allyoo - you sound like you do far more things at home with her than I've ever done. I know I'm never going to be able to summon up the energy to do exciting crafts and organise activities in the home with them, so we go places where the exciting stuff is already happeining :)

This is our going out list:
Park
Other Park
Other Park :)
Feeding the ducks
Library (used to go to StoryTime which is great, but it doesn't fit with baby naptime and other activities these days)
Shopping
Swimming
Playgroup
Zoo
Museum
Other Museum :)

The last three work for us because of our particular location (inner city Melbourne) but the others should be a bit more generally useful. Personally I know I feel like c*** if we don't leave the house to do SOMETHING pretty much every day, even if it's only round the block, but the girls seem to enjoy it too

[CJJHRA]

perhaps you need to get out and go to playgroup, or story time at your local library if they have it. Swimming, kindygym, kindermusic... but they all cost.

walks in the park to feed ducks (if you have any)

I cant think of anything else.

[cwsmum]

Hi Mummies :wave:
Can anyone please suggest some activities to do with DD. Im a 28 year old (as of next sat the 14th)

The 14th is my birthday too :D (I'm turning 26)


What about playdough?
Goop?
Blowing bubbles with a straw in a big bowl?
Making giant bubbles? thread some string thru 2 straws and tie. Hold the straws and dip into bubble liquid then spread arms wide and wave thru the air to make bubbles.
Paint the fence? give child a bucket of water and a paintbrush, keeps them amused for hours.
Finger painting? on paper/table/windows...could also use shaving cream instead of paint.
Spud stamping? makes great wrapping paper :thumbsup:

I'm sure there's heaps more you could do too...I'll come back if I think of more :)

[the_queen]

I get this regular email newsletter thingo with idea's of stuff to do with kids - some of it wouldn't be age-appropriate for your little one. But some of it is great! One idea recently - put some food colouring in a bucket of water, dress child in old clothes, give her a paintbrush and get her to paint the cement outside. The rain washes it away (apparently - I haven't tried it so can't vouch for that).



It's from http://www.ChildFun.com Here's the last one I got:

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ChildFun's Daily Kid Crafts

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Visit our complete activity list to get thousands of free craft ideas!

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Today's Kid Craft:

Leaf Coloring

Paper towels cut out in leaf shapes, food coloring, water, bowls, and wax paper give each child two or three precut leaves and a piece of wax paper the children can choose which color they want to dip their leaves in the leaves can be dipped in more than one color so they can form new colors lay wet leaves on wax paper to dry and mount them just as they are.
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Our Family of Websites
ChildFun.com - A website built just for families with small children.
ColoringBookFun.com - Free printable coloring pages.
AFunCard.com - Free online e-cards for all occasions.
MyChildFun.com - Connect with other parents on our message boards.


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[Ashley's Mummy]

SnoozesWithCats i wish i was in central melbourne!!! :yes: WE LOVE MELBOURNE!!! We were over there recently on holiday and will more than likely be moving over when Dp graduates his second degree at the end of next year, there's a lot of work for him there, more than here unless he goes to the mines and he doesnt (nor do i ) want him to do that . :ecomcity:

anyway cheers for the tips mummies, i think i do need to find more stuff that gets us out of the house. There just doesnt seem to be a lot...at least that doesnt cost a lot.....
i dont know... Maybe im just high maintenance or something, i get easily bored! lol

[cwsmum]

That looks like a great site

[reAllytee]

Oh yes the food colouring in water works a treat !
We did this when i was little & it just washes away in the rain !
I just joined to get updates from the museum here in Sydney so i got sent out a booklet on whats happening through till Christmas & there are some great things as well as them doing age appropriate workshops for kids even the littlies !
Anyways your getting some more great info here hopefully your days take a different path !

[Ashley's Mummy]

thanks for all the ideas girls..

i do like the painting the fence with water idea!!!!! i think shes just a little bit too young still for paints (oh i can imagine the mess) lol, wont be much longer though.

the queen - that site looks great thanks heaps :hugs:

oh and cwsmum - happybirthday to us!!!

[Ashley's Mummy]

going to get some paint brushes today!!!

[spring]

We like to catch grass hoppers & put them in our bug house & watch them jump around.

I pull a chair up to the sink & let DD do the less breakable dishes. Its also good to put a bath mat down on the floor underneath.

Go to the pet shop & look at the animals.

Now the weather is getting better we have been swimming a fair bit.

& thats all I can think of at the moment that hasn't been said.

[Tea Lady]

Do you have a toy library near you? Ours is my lifesaver!

You could see if you can get any big boxes from your local electrical store - we have a dishwasher box that I cut doors and windows in and it's a big hit.

My DD (20 months) loves her doll - she just has a pov plastic one but she likes washing it in a bucket with a washer and wheeling it in the pram. She also lives for playdough (especially using shaped cutters) and she is really into her pretend kitchen. We managed to get a toy one cheap, but before we had that I made her a microwave out of a cardboard box and she played with that quite a bit. She loves tipping things into different containers (water, sand, whatever) and painting with food colouring paint (on paper) - I need to supervise this one constantly!

We're just getting into Duplo and she loves the train set we've got at the moment.

I find that rotating toys and getting new ones (ie cheap from the op shop/ garage sales/ newspaper) makes a huge difference - she gets bored with what she has all the time.

I also go out alot too - more for my sanity than because she likes it :o

I hope that's some help. :)

[mamesmumma]

if you want more crafty things and things outside you can combine the two. I used to teach 2-3 yrs english - not real teaching just kindy class only in english so the kids get used to it and hopefully pick up on it. Anyhow they loved going outside so I would look on the internet (google search for kids crafts, esl crafts, esl activities) and find stuff that was seasonal, educational good for outdoors.

eg. Go for a walk outside and pick up any leaves or sticks and things that look interesting - come home and glue to paper for piece of arwork.

There are all sorts of age range ideas. But I would recommend to all the mums who are looking for some educational crafts to search under esl (english as a second language) as well because there are so many educational ideas for teachers like me that are totally useful to english speaking mums.

[Ashley's Mummy]

thanks ladies, weve had a fun week. ashy has loved painting the fence!!! :yelclap: And yesterday we went and checked out toddler town - that was great too - she really enjoyed herself!!

Today we are having My aunty and uncle visit. I havent seen them since i was 3. They live inengland and have finally gotten over for a visit - only took 25 years - lol anyway- have a good day everyone!!! :hugs:

[Tea Lady]

Just thought I'd add I discovered a great thing the other day - DD was getting stroppy in the shopping trolley so I got some of those prestik coloured sticky spots (they also have stars) and now I tear off a strip of them at a time to give to her when she's bored and she'll spend ages sticking them on things............ and the packet was only about $1!! :D