What are some fun things i can do with my 2yr. old daughter inside?

Question

she watches to much tv because we are inside alot with the weather. i would like to play with her but am unsure of what we can do.

Answer 1

Know that feeling, we've seen every episode of Mythbuster's on Discovery Channel at least three times. I have a 4-yr-old and a 21-month-old. I'm pregnant and sick and so I have very little extra energy but I have invented some stuff for them to do (most of it I wish I could do). We moved not too long ago and so we had a lot of boxes that were empty and half-empty. The kids were hopping into and out of them so my husband and I made a series of tunnels for them to crawl through. They play hide and seek in them and chase each other and the cats through them and when one of them falls apart it is just thrown out. They get a lot of exercise with them. I also take pieces of colored printer paper or construction paper and cut out shapes and large letters. We play a kind of tag where they have to find a circle, or an A or a blue spot etc and I chase them there. We also make it into Twister or a hopping game. They love this and you wouldn't believe how fast they learn stuff this way, now we are hopping around on planets. On weekdays that are really dreary, I ask my husband to toss our queen-sized mattress onto the living room floor and we spend the day wrestling, and I let the kids jump around and wrestle on it. Then come nap time, we turn on some quiet mood music and have a "sleepover" in the living room. It just breaks up the monotony of the week (on weekends we have a family tradition of watching cartoons and messing around cuddling and wrestling etc in our bed before breakfast in the morning). Putting in your favorite exercise tape/DVD or buying a music one that is fun to dance to is another activity my kids like. We also start growing plants this time of the year, they currently have a sweet potato soaking in some water. We deliver the plants to my parent's house becuse we live in an apartment. Sometimes I get magazines that will be thrown away from libraries and we cut out pictures and make collages of different themes. The kids learned to classify animals and plants this way. Hope one of these works for you.

Answer 2

there are some great websites on line that have recipes for homemade play dough, silly putty and more. My daughters favorite was oobleck. You take cornstarch and water and mix it. The two don't combine so the water sits on the top and the cornstarch on the bottom. It is so neat to see how it moves around. As an added bonus it makes you hands feel like new after you wash them off. Cookie sheets work the best for ooblek. Also, have her put on boots and snow pants and put some snow in the bath tub with some buckets, shovels and bath toys. This way she can plat in the snow but be warm at the same time. Another idea is to put finger paint inside a zip seal storage bag and allow her to make designs over and over again without the messy clean up. make a snack mix out of cheerios, raisins, dried fruit, etc. she can pour and mix the ingredients together. then before snack time she can't sort the different ingredients in to like piles. this is an activity she can grow with because she can count how many of each there are and find out which has more, etc.

Hope these help

Answer 3

I try to get out as much as possible without being outside. Sitting at home too much seems to make us all a little stir crazy. We go to storytime once a week at the library. We go to McDonalds (sometimes we eat there and sometimes we eat at home first and just get a drink or ice cream) and use the playplace. The mall that is fairly close to us has a (very) small play place but, my two year old LOVES it.
When we are at home I keep my little boy busy doing whatever I do. If i am washing dishes, he is washing dishes next to me up on a chair. He loves to help load and unload the washing machine with clothes and "fold" small things. He is a great stir-er when I am cooking. He has a toy vacuum that he uses when i vacuum.
We read alot, usually at least once during the day and once before bedtime. He is learning the letters of his name. I took two sheets of paper and wrote his name in big letters but, i cut the letters out on the second one. He matches the cut letters to the sheet of paper.
We go to noggin.com and play Maisy games and watch and dance to the videos from Jack's Big Music Show.

Answer 4

I think it's so disappointing there aren't more groups/playgroups/support for mothers, whether stay at home, single, working, etc. Being a mother is simply -HARD-!

I unplug the tv when my son gets too into the whole watching tv idea. It kind of forces him to play by himself, with his toys, its good for the imagination if a child has some time to just play alone. I try to buy toys that arent "one use" type toys, things that inspire pretend play, activity toys, etc. My son has went through all his tv show phases, elmo, diego, backyardigans, where instead of watching the show, we do OTHER things based off those shows, he pretends to be Diego, character toys, etc.
Hope this helps?!

Answer 5

totally there, the snow and cold make it hard ... with my daughter (2 and a half), we color, paint, play with play-doh, have dance parties, ring around the rosie, loobie loo, play dress up, she loves to help make cookies, muffins, etc.(by dumping into the bowl whatever you put in the measuring cup), build towers with megablocks, make masks out of paper plates or paper bags, do puzzles... it's amazing how you can fill a day. Good luck! feel free to email!

Answer 6

Arrange blankets over chairs and couches and make a fort. Try some arts and crafts. Any kind of imaginative play (e.g. school, house) is very good for her growing mind!

Answer 7

Bring out your pots and pans to make a band with your daughter or play drum together.

Take out your empty cardboard boxes to play house with her.

Enjoy!

Answer 8

kids generally find arts and crafts fun; try finger painting, or puzzles. coloring, even if all she does now is scribbles.