Keeping Your Toddler Entertained

I know every mother would like to have more free time. It just takes a little thought, but you can keep you little one entertained fairly easily. Toddlers are curious little things and as you know, most of them are little balls of energy. Focus that energy and curiosity into a fun, interesting activity. Here are a few things I do with my toddler when I just need a few moments to get some things done -- vacuum, wash dishes, read the newspaper, have some tea, etc.

Snack time is always fun at our house and keeps her entertained while she is munching. I give her things like graham crackers, peanut butter, sliced apples and some cereal (cheerios or fruit loops) in small amounts and tell her to make me something before she eats it. It is always amazing to see the pictures or sculptures she comes up with at her young age.

Somewhere along the line someone passed along this idea to me, and I must share! When my daughter gets tired of the same snack time ritual of making edible artwork, I change it up and give her a few small cups laid out on the table. Then I give her some Fruit Loops or Luck Charms and tell her to match colors or marshmallows in the cups before she eats them. I will usually put one of each color in each cup so she has a guide to follow. This one is fun and it helped her with colors and shapes/pictures. Then when she's done she carries the cups around, eating out of them individually until her snack is gone!

Toddlers are very curious by nature and can bored easily if they are not stimulated. To keep my daughter interested in what she's got, I keep a few toys at the top of her closet, out of sight for a month or so. When I notice that she isn't playing with certain toys as often as she used to, I switch them out with one from her closet. The seem new and interesting to her all over again.

Typically we buy in bulk and I am always left with containers for this and containers for that. One day my daughter was being particularly rambunctious while I was trying to straighten up the kitchen. We usually buy a big container of cheese puffs from Sams and I had an empty one sitting on the counter. I washed it out (as I always do) and an idea struck me. I immediately grabbed my scissors and cut a few holes (different shapes) all around it. I then grabbed a few of the blocks and things my daughter had laying around and stuffed them inside and closed the lid. As she came around the corner of the kitchen I started shaking it. Her eyes lit up bigger than ever before. She immediately grabbed it from me and rolled it across the floor. A couple of the blocks came out, so she grabbed it and began stuffing them back inside through the holes. This kept busy for a good half hour or more and allowed me to get the kitchen clean and get some vacuuming done as well. Just be careful about the size of something like this as I noticed my daughter had attempted to stuff our kitten inside of the container with her blocks.

If all else fails, I let her make a band in our kitchen. You know...potts and pans, plastic bowls, wooden or plastic spoons, the whole nine yards. When I'm doing things like vacuuming, or laundry, the noise isn't so bad and she loves me for letting her beat out her energy in her "band". I love giving her this option when she's playing because she is usually worn out afterwords and I can get her cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie with me while I read (and she falls asleep).