Oregon Parent Here: indoor activities for toddler

[Anonymous]

As if 2020 wasn’t bad enough with covid isolation, now the tragic fires have left our air severely unhealthy. We’re inside the house and can go nowhere for days.

With my nearly two-year-old, we’ve done play dough, sink water play with colors, painting, played kitchen, cars, danced and did “circle time”. And it’s not even 10AM here.

Please, any in house suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Ugh I’m sorry, my prayers are with you. My family is in PNW too.
Bubbles
Coloring
Baking cookies (I know it’s a mess) what I do is baking prep while it’s nap time. I will have everything pre measured into bowls and then when it’s wake up time we can mix it all together.
Bath time with bubbles
Write letters to send to the local fire department
Forts

[Anonymous]

Ugh, I’m sorry. I don’t have kids, but I’m in Ashland and I really feel for you. I’m going crazy so I can’t imagine how kids and parents must be feeling.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, hugs OP.

- Obstacle courses with pillows and couch cushions

- Make ramps for his cars with big books and shoe boxes

If you want to buy indoor stuff, my 23 month old loves the caterpillar tube and Little People Animal Shelter.

[Anonymous]

I’m the queen of indoor activities lol so my most recent ones have been building forts like over the table and the couch, then we have a toilet paper obstacle course slash maze in the hallway, then lots of experiments with color drops and making slime and moon sand. We also play hide the duck where you hide a rubber duck and they have to find it. Then we do a lot of pirate and boat play like the bed is the big boat and you lose pillows aka smaller boats and you fish and and you then swim on the small boat it’s very active and if you get in it they do too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the queen of indoor activities lol so my most recent ones have been building forts like over the table and the couch, then we have a toilet paper obstacle course slash maze in the hallway, then lots of experiments with color drops and making slime and moon sand. We also play hide the duck where you hide a rubber duck and they have to find it. Then we do a lot of pirate and boat play like the bed is the big boat and you lose pillows aka smaller boats and you fish and and you then swim on the small boat it’s very active and if you get in it they do too.

What’s moon sand?

[Anonymous]

Treasure hunt around the house? Long “fun bath.” Making signs to put in the window. Set up a fort or tent.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Where in Oregon are you? Stay safe!

[jsmith123]

Your child would probably be entertained if you did chores and house projects and just included him or her. That way you can get some stuff done and pass the time. Kids that age love to "help". Just figure out small tasks they can do to be part of the project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the queen of indoor activities lol so my most recent ones have been building forts like over the table and the couch, then we have a toilet paper obstacle course slash maze in the hallway, then lots of experiments with color drops and making slime and moon sand. We also play hide the duck where you hide a rubber duck and they have to find it. Then we do a lot of pirate and boat play like the bed is the big boat and you lose pillows aka smaller boats and you fish and and you then swim on the small boat it’s very active and if you get in it they do too.

What’s moon sand?

Just sand and baby oil but it’s crumbly or flour and baby oil. I like to hide small things and the kid uses a toothbrush or painting brush to discover things. I’m most def not a Pinterest mom but there’s a million ideas there for indoors. Another fun one is water jumping experiment a paper towe between two pots with food coloring and the colors join and run up. We also used pots and pans to make a drum set and hit it with different things then that turned into cooking. Taping toilet paper to walls maze was awesome too.

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent in Seattle and following this thread. We haven't been outside in almost a week.

[Anonymous]

At that age I had a learning tower in the kitchen and kid would play in sink while I cleaned up the kitchen. A ball pit is good, and anything they can climb or slide is good too. I second the long bath times.

[Anonymous]

If your house has a space, this might be the time to invest in a small bounce house.

My kids used to like destroying things I built from magantiles at that age- it was a game of whether I could build small houses fast enough before they could crush them all

I’m so sorry, this must be such a challenging time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I’m sorry, my prayers are with you. My family is in PNW too.
Bubbles
Coloring
Baking cookies (I know it’s a mess) what I do is baking prep while it’s nap time. I will have everything pre measured into bowls and then when it’s wake up time we can mix it all together.
Bath time with bubbles
Write letters to send to the local fire department
Forts

Please do not do this. Let your kid measure, it's a great way of learning math, and teaching measurements. And, let them help clean up the mess. Sure they won't do as good a job as you that's fine you're teaching them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I’m sorry, my prayers are with you. My family is in PNW too.
Bubbles
Coloring
Baking cookies (I know it’s a mess) what I do is baking prep while it’s nap time. I will have everything pre measured into bowls and then when it’s wake up time we can mix it all together.
Bath time with bubbles
Write letters to send to the local fire department
Forts

Please do not do this. Let your kid measure, it's a great way of learning math, and teaching measurements. And, let them help clean up the mess. Sure they won't do as good a job as you that's fine you're teaching them.

I think PP suggestion of letting the 2yo mix is great. If missing is a mess imagine how much miss fir a 2yo to life a gallon of milk to pour to the 1/2 cup line.