Category: activities

2015 · activities · diy · easter · how to · LuLu · play · toddler

Easter Activities for your little loves!

JustBindyLeave a comment

Ok… was anyone else aware that Easter is like this weekend???? 
Wow – that came up fast – like it’s April – April! I was just saying I can’t believe it is March and now it is April!!!
I am not even joking I forgot about Easter, like I knew it was coming – I had my decorations done, but I totally didn’t realise it was so close! I just had to do some quick Easter shopping on Monday with Mum for my brothers & their lovely girlfriends! 
Luckily I have had LuLu’s gift done for awhile and we are putting the finishing touches on her big special gift we have made her! (She doesn’t get chocolate for Easter – so she gets gifts) I can’t wait to show you all after Easter what we made her!! 
Anyway today I come to you with some cute activities to do with kids over the Easter weekend.
The weather here in Toowoomba is looking fairly miserable (I am not complaining, I love the cold & drizzly days!) some of these are perfect indoor activities! Others I didn’t get a chance to do yet, because of the weather! 


Foam shapes on the a window/glass… 

Cut out a large foam egg out of a big sheet of coloured foam (this is harder than it looks, drawing a free hand oval is a nightmare, especially on foam lol) I just used an exacto knife to cut out the shape & I got my foam sheets from Spotlight for a few dollars. I also picked up some smaller Easter themed foam shapes from there too. To make the foam stick to the glass, just lightly wet them. LuLu loves pulling them down and putting them back on and moving them around. For more kindy aged kids, letting them put stickers or glue craft supplies to an egg shape you’ve cut out could also be fun. But for LuLu’s age she is just happy with the foam shapes. You can even cut out smaller shapes for them to decorate the egg with me. All you need is water!

Colouring in books & stickers…
This idea is nothing ground breaking, LuLu loves her colouring books, crayons & stickers. I like giving her themed stuff for holidays and we talk about what the picture is of and what colours she is using. I picked up an Easter colouring book for just a few dollars from Woolworths and the stickers are from our local cheap store. 


Wooden bunnies…
I did buy these the other day (Kaisercraft) in hopes of spending today painting and decorating them with LuLu today, but like I said it’s not painting weather today. It’s very cold and damp. But with these bunnies I was just going to give them a white undercoat and then let LuLu paint them with whatever colours she likes. If the weather fines up before Easter & we get the time we will be doing this activity! (I will post photos on my instagram; @Modernwifelife31 if we do!) 


Making Easter cards…
This is another activity I was meant to do today and take photos of it but it isn’t happening because paint, cold weather and toddlers are not a fun mix! But the idea is to create a bunny shape with her little hand and write “Somebunny loves you” (lots of ideas on Pinterest!) 


Reading Easter books…
Last year LuLu got a lot of Easter books as gifts and she is getting more this year, we’ve been reading a lot of Easter stories lately and also talking about the true reason for the season!


I hope these ideas have inspired you to have some fun this coming weekend or just given you an idea on how to entertain your little one even just for 20 minutes so you can enjoy a cup of tea and an Easter Egg in peace! 

Hope you are all having a beautiful week!

2015 · activities · diy · how to · LuLu · recipe · toddler

Colourful Sensory play for toddlers… D.I.Y simple recipe!

JustBindyLeave a comment

Hello!
I come to you today with another boredom busting idea for toddlers. 
I always am searching for new and fun ideas to keep LuLu entertained because when Trent is working it’s just her & I at home, she doesn’t go to daycare – I am solely responsible for helping her learn & keeping her entertained during the days at this stage in her life, I came across this idea on good ol’ Pinterest – because lets be honest here, everyone gets their ideas of this amazing website.
(If you aren’t following me already click HERE to see my page!) 
Anyway onto the idea to keep your little one entertained…
Coloured spaghetti.
This is more of a sensory play activity but also can help in teaching colours and using utensils.
Now making it is super simple and really you just need some time to do it. 
I used a cheap packet of Homebrand spaghetti (less than $2 I believe!) & a few drops of some food dye I had in the cupboard.

  1. Cook it as you do pasta…
  2. Once cooked, drain/wash it & let it cool.
  3. Divide the spaghetti into separate zip-lock bags or if you don’t have any bags, just use separate bowls.
  4. Add a few drops of food colouring to the bags and gently massage to evenly disperse the colour.
  5. Once all pasta has been coloured, I left it for an hour or so just to really soak in.
  6. Before giving it to LuLu to play with I rinsed off any excess food dye.
We just mixed 3 colours together in a giant bowl & I gave her a pasta spoon and some containers to scoop it into. As she picked up the noodles I told her what colour they were. This activity can be played inside if it is too hot or cold outside, I just laid down an old towel to protect my floor. Ideally though this would be fun outside, perhaps before some water play!
(I found the pasta lasts in the fridge for just over a week, but by 2 weeks I would be tossing it out – if it’s been in the fridge for a few days I would just re-rinse it under cool water to help separate the noodles in case they’ve become a bit sticky) 

How do you keep your little one entertained? 
Let me know what you do to help your little one learn & have fun?
For more ideas please click HERE. 
Enjoy!

2015 · activities · LuLu · play · toddler

3 fun & simple boredom busting toddler activities!

JustBindy1 Comment
“A child’s creativity is only limited by their parents’ willingness to clean up after them.” – Robert John Meehan. 

Hello!

I thought I would drop in and do a quick post about some activities for toddlers. 
Yesterday my girl was a bit off and needed a bit of distracting and fun (I think her darn teeth are being awful!) 
She normally is great at independent play and will sit in her play room while I do my jobs around the home, but yesterday that all went out the window, I was pulling out all the stops for entertainment as none of our regular games seemed to please her, but that’s alright everyone has off days! 
So I went overboard on the fun activities & I thought I would share these ideas with you all, because honestly sometimes it’s hard thinking of new things to do! 
None of these are ground breaking games but LuLu really enjoyed them and they help pass the time well.

  • Our first idea was to build an inside cubby/fort. Super simple, everyone knows how to do this. Grab your dining chairs & throw a sheet over them (I used a fitted sheet so it stays on better & we used a double size), we threw in a bunch of pillows and a blanket and hung out. We chatted to bubbas, sang songs and read books! (This morning we woke up & Mishka decided to make it a cat bed!)
    • Secondly, we headed outside to do some hand washing and bubba bathing! I filled up a giant Tupperware bowl with water and some dish soap (for bubbles) and gave LuLu a stack of wash clothes and doll cloths and let her do some laundry and she also bathed her water safe baby doll. Then we headed inside where she hung out all the laundry on a makeshift clothesline. (I used an over the door clothes hanger, I just propped it up in the window sill – worked perfectly!) 
    • For our last activity while LuLu had her afternoon nap, I cut up some fruit for her afternoon snack and I also whipped up some super simple homemade paint (recipe can be found HERE). So when she woke up she could have a snack and then do some painting! I had my paint in the fridge for awhile so it went a bit thick but LuLu loved squeezing it in between her hands & making a mess!! (Great sensory play!)
    So I hope these ideas give you some inspiration,  I encourage you to get outside and play. I spend everyday with LuLu, so we are always looking for new games & activities to play, so if you have any suggestions please leave them below in a comment, Facebook me or Tweet me! I would love to hear what you do with your little one!
    Have a fun day!!


    “Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning.” – Diane Ackerman