It’s Activity Box time! I got a little off schedule with sharing for February but hope to bring you simple and easy ideas you can implement with your kids all month long. I’m also going to share how I stretch these 5 activities out to last the entire month.
You can see 5 more activity box ideas here.
I love organizing our activities this way for a few reasons.
- I take some time on Sunday to put them together and then I’m SET for the week.
- Now that I have 2 active toddlers who play very independently most of the time I save my activity box for when I think they really NEED it (cranky, meltdowns, end of day etc.) and I have something ready up my sleeve!
- These boxes give ME time. Yes some of these activities require your attention and assistance but others will FREE UP YOUR TIME.
- I feel less guilt about ‘not doing enough’ with my kids. Something that used to weigh on me heavily. I head into the week knowing I have 5 fun, educational, sensory activities that my kids will do throughout the week.
+You can adapt these boxes for whatever age your children are
+You can start ‘activity boxes’ at any age! I’d suggest 12 months when they are sitting up and starting to move. It’s fun to put together boxes for this younger age set because they are so curious about any and everything! It takes a lot less effort on your part! Here are some ideas for younger toddlers!
+I’ve found that if I come up with 5 ‘new’ activities every month I can stretch them out by mixing in other activities into my boxes too. For example, toys that we rotate (glitter blocks, magnatiles, build-a-bouquet), sticker books, water colors etc. It stretches out the creative new ideas and we get to use them all month, though once I introduce something my girls will often ask for it day after day- and I oblige!
See more activity box ideas HERE and holiday activity box ideas HERE!
These are the boxes that I use, unfortunately shipping is no avilable but you can order online and pick up in store! These are similar and come in a variety of colors. Labels on these boxes are from Target dollar spot!
PLAYDOUGH INVITE: Rainbow & Shamrock Playdough Mats
We had a lot of fun with these, I even enjoyed making them and found it so relaxing, haha! Check out this post for more details and to get your free playdough mat printables to use!
BALL TUNNELS
Similar to our car & truck tunnels we’ve done in the past, but these are for rolling balls down the hall. Flora is very into balls right now and this is great hand eye coordination practice! Fold over the edges of the paper so they stand up and create a tunnel, just make sure the balls fit :)
Supplies used: Masking tape (or painters tape will work), cardstock paper, assorted balls.
KINETIC SAND GOLD COIN HUNT
Hide golden coins in kinetic sand and let your toddlers find them. You can adapt this for many ages by having them count, sort different sizes, you can even write letters on the coins with sharpie for letter recognition activities.
Supplies Used: Kinetic Sand, Scrapbooking Paper Box, Gold Coins, Plastic Scoop (Target Dollar Spot last year), Wooden Box (Craft store) .
Water Painting Shamrocks
This is another activity that is so great for the younger set, too! Use the playdough mat printable as a template and cut out shamrocks from construction paper. Let your toddlers “paint” them with magic water paint! For the youngest ages secure the shamrocks to the table with a piece of painters tape!
Supplies Used: Target trays (we use these for so much), construction paper, paint brushes, water.
Rainbow Water Play
One sure way to occupy my girls is with water play. It’s the most suggested activity around here and Piper (4) loved the rainbow element of this one! All I did was put a drop of colored food coloring in the bottom of several glass jars. I let Piper help me fill them to see what color they turned and gave them some bowls, eye droppers and a funnel. I also set out a little pile of gold coins that they had fun mixing into the water and playing with. Flora really enjoyed these. The girls contained the water really well with no spills on a big tupperware lid set on top of our new Ikea table!
Supplies used: Target trays, various small jars, food coloring, funnel, eye droppers.
Activity Box Ideas For March
VIEW THE COMMENTS