How is the Toddler Forecast This Week?

Hopefully, the weather in your house has been fine without too many tornadoes this week! (see part 1 for context) I have seen a few storms on Facebook including flour and corn chips so it appears that it was not just my house that had bad weather from time to time. I remember one of the storms in my house where we had a whole kilo of flour dumped into the middle of the lounge room carpet!! Unfortunately, it was not one of my best parenting moments as I ended up shouting at my child and really losing my cool!! So hang in there parents if you need to remove yourself from the situation to calm down then do so, take some really deep breaths and then go back to sort out the situation. My child did learn to use the vacuum cleaner that day and thankfully flour on the floor was not a continuing event in our house.

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Parent You Can Do This!

Remember that you are not alone in this and that many toddlers will have their moments. I have learned that when my child would do these things there was often an underlying reason. Some times it can be boredom, or because of feelings that your child can’t express when it is a deliberate act (not just letting food fall on the floor). In reflecting on my flour storm I think it was caused by my child thinking that I was leaving them to go to work again!. What was happening that day was that we were getting ready to leave for a therapy appointment but my child didn’t see that. As parents we work really hard to give our child what they need but sometimes we still need to take a moment to see the world from our child’s perspective. The thing your child wants most in the world is you. Hopefully the following activities will give you some ideas on how to spend quality time with your child.

Play with Bubbles

Bubbles are a favourite will all kids that I know. Playing with bubbles is best done outside or in the bath but it can also be an inside activity as long as you are mindful of the environment as tiles and slippery hard floors do not mix with bubbles! Toddlers are still developing coordination and the ability to focus on blowing out of their mouths. So play with bubbles can help children to develop new skills. With bubbles, you can get wands that you dip into a tray and then lift the wand to blow the bubbles. This helps toddlers practice the hand-eye coordination and they need to observe the wand to make sure that they have enough bubble mix to blow (they will need help to observe this). You can also get bubbles where you dip the wand into the bottle to get enough mixture. The trick for toddlers with these is to learn not to tip up the bottle while they are getting mixture out. Another bubble toy that is fun and the type of indoor bubble play that I would recommend is with a bubble machine. The bubble machine can be placed up high on a bench or cupboard and then you and your child can have fun popping the bubbles as they fall.

Songs For Bubble Play

Singing songs while you play with bubbles is a great way to build your child’s vocabulary. I love the way Miss Nina shows the actions to her song and this is an excellent video for parents to use to learn the song with the actions and then use it when playing with their kids (by the way I’m not the Naomi she mentions this was just a coincidence!). This song bubble counting is loads of fun and will also help with learning to count. You could sing this song while popping the bubbles coming out of a bubble machine. This last song that I found is like a lullaby. You could use this for some relaxation time. Get your child to find a cozy space and lay down to relax while you watch the bubbles and sing this song to your child. Bubbles are also an excellent tool for distraction to stop kids from crying when they are upset or grumpy. This could really help the baby sitter next time you go on a date night with your spouse.

Bath Time

Another great way to play with bubbles is in the bath (great way to contain the mess). What kid doesn’t love a bubble bath? During winter when the days were short and the weather too miserable to go outside I used to put my kids in the bath at around 4 pm and make a comfortable spot for me to sit next to the bath. The kids would play for about an hour in the bath. They loved using pouring toys, floating boats, blowing bubbles at each other and just filling up old shampoo bottles with water or pouring water out of a plastic cup. This sensory play helped them to be more settled at dinner time and then I was able to get them to bed by 6 pm and have some time to relax with my husband in the evening.

Sandpit in a Box.

Another great sensory activity that your child may like to engage in is sand play. You may have a sandpit outside or a clam shell filled with sand. However, if you don’t have space for a sandpit you can make a sand tub out of a storage box and a bag of play sand from the hardware store. If you go with this type of sand play because you need to use this inside or on a balcony you may like to use a drop sheet for easy cleanup. If finance is tight for sand toys you may like to consider toys that are multi-purpose. For example, gardening toys can also double as sand toys. Or you may have old household utensils or plastic containers that can be used in the sand (please make sure that they are safe for kids to play with).

Well, hopefully, you have some more ideas on how to play with your toddler and feel free to leave comments below or connect with me on my contact page.

Here’s to some sunny weather in your home.

Naomi (see more about me)