Used our new carpet cleaner for the first time tod Used our new carpet cleaner for the first time today and I'm in love. This rug doesn't show much dirt or stains which can be nice with toddlers and a dog. But that dirty water was after cleaning only half of the rug 🤮 And we do NOT wear shoes in the house.
 It brought our couch back to life and also got those yogurt finger prints from the feral toddlers 😜. All this to say if you have toddlers or pets that mini carpet clean ain't gonna cut it. It's time for an upgrade and Target has this Hoover Power scrubber deluxe on sale for $150 compared to $219.
#hoover #carpetcleaner
#momlife #toddlerlife #thestayathomecon
#cleaning https://www.target.com/p/hoover-power-scrub-deluxe-carpet-cleaner-machine-and-upright-shampooer-fh50141/-/A-51315115
Instagram post 18001626811553446 Instagram post 18001626811553446
When you value the peace so much you ignore the me When you value the peace so much you ignore the mess 🫣
First baguette bake in a long time. Not too shabby First baguette bake in a long time. Not too shabby 🥖 Husband approved ☺️ already gone. #thestayathomecon #breadmaking #baguette
Waking up to some "just because flowers". Now he's Waking up to some "just because flowers". Now he's speaking my love language 🥰😂🌹#lovelanguage  #flowers #thestayathomecon
Ever wonder what it would be like to shave your he Ever wonder what it would be like to shave your head? Check out my new post on the benefits of being a Bald Mama.
https://thestayathomecon.com/bald-mama-the-benefits-of-a-female-buzz-cut/
#baldisbeautiful #baldandbeautiful #baldmama #gijane #effyourbeautystandards #baldmom #thestayathomecon
Knew those kids were being too quiet. Red lipstick Knew those kids were being too quiet. Red lipstick on my new carpets. Why did she have to paint the bottom of her feet in it 😭?! Thank God for carpet cleaners! 🙏 Toddlers y'all 🫣 #messybaby #makeupmess #toddlerlife #thestayathomecon
Check out my very first blog post on The Stay At H Check out my very first blog post on The Stay At Home Con! I still have some kinks to work out and I'm learning as I go, but I couldn't be more excited to begin this journey. 
#thestayathomecon
#sahm
#momblogger #fakeittillyoumakeit #firstblogpost http://thestayathomecon.com/becoming-the-parent-you-were-meant-to-be/
#toddleractivities #diyactivitiesforkids #montesso #toddleractivities #diyactivitiesforkids #montessori #futureengineer #simplejoys #thestayathomecon
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Mom Hacks, Mom Life · April 27, 2023

28 Easy Toddler Activities

Needing some inspiration for toddler activities? Entertaining your toddler and encouraging them to use their imagination can be TEDIOUS.

Toddler Activities

Here are some tried and true, great toddler activities that I have personally done with my own two girls.

This post contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission (at NO COST to you), should you chose to buy anything after clicking a link to a retailer. Rest assured, I would never recommend anything to you that I wouldn’t recommend to my own Mama.

28 Toddler Activities

1. Magnets

Toddlers Magnets

I’m betting like most families with toddlers you have some fun magnets on the bottom of your fridge. Your little one probably loved them at first and is now kind of over them. Try a new location like the dishwasher, the front or back door or a cookie sheet.

2. Color Recognition Games

Toddler Sorting Activities

This one is for the color curious- pick one color and point out everything that color as you come across it. Make a game out of picking out their toys that are that color and putting them all together. This isn’t something to force, just have with it.

3. Stained Glass Window Painting

Toddler Painting

Put some paint inside a ziplock bag and then tape it to the window- covering the zipper so your little one doesn’t open it. Let them explore mixing the colors in a mess-free way that they can come back to over and over again. It won’t dry out and you can keep adding more paint. We’ve had one on our window for 2 months that my 1.5 year old comes back to all the time.

4. Unloading the Dishes

Toddler Chores

Both of my girls loved doing anything “grown up”. Take out anything glass or dangerous yourself and let them help with the rest. At 2 years old my oldest could practically unload the entire dishwasher, and she was happy to do so.

5. Window Markers

Toddler Art

Did you see those markers in picture #1? They’re window markers!!! We absolutely love these bad boys and have been using them for two years. Keep scrolling to see who cleans the windows 😉

6. Bubbles!

Toddler water toys

Put on a handy dandy waterproof smock and grab a beach towel, cause we gonna make a little mess.

7. Fun with gravity

Toddler fun

Take a box (I used a cereal box) and cut the corners in to individual rectangle boxes. Tape ’em to the wall and start dropping balls y’all. We had a bag of ping pong balls sitting around, but so many kids toys come with balls so I’m sure you have some lying around.

8. Baking… or not

toddler independence

Either bake together or if you are trying to create some space for your toddler to play on their own, then measure out some random ingredients that you don’t mind throwing away and let them get creative. You might want to do this in a sensory bin or isolate them to the kitchen table to contain the mess that will follow.

9. Explore Your Food

Toddler Science

Every year, in late winter, we take the seeds out of our veggies and fruits and see what we can get to grow. It’s important to use organic produce for this as some GMO products cannot be propagated from seeds. Don’t mind our little potty, it followed us around during potty training season.

10. Experiment with Growing plants

Toddlers and Nature

All those little sprouts are the seeds from our veggies. Tomatoes, peppers and a little onion sprout. My daughter loved checking on them every morning as they really come up so fast.

11. Painting Your Nails

Toddler and Mommy

My daughter desperately wanted her nails painted, but as soon as I would start she’d get scared. This happened over and over again for a week. Until, I let her paint my nails.

12. Painting Their Own Nails

Toddler painting nails

Then she painted her own nails. After this she wasn’t scared anymore. Just put down some paper, and make sure they are wearing something that can get messy. Also, if you are worried about the chemicals in nail polish, like I am- get something non-toxic like static nails. I also love this nail polish remover that actually makes your nails healthier with it’s oils and vitamins.

13. BOXES

box crafts

If your toddler is anything like mine, they LOVE BOXES! Any boxes really, but especially big ones. We’ve made houses, trains, planes, ball pits, etc. The box usually transforms from day to day. We color it, poke pipe cleaners through holes in the box. Even the dog likes it.

14. Sorting

toddler crafting supplies

Sorting, Dumping, Mixing! Toddlers love it. They also love everything texture and color. Also, googly eyes are a surefire win for any toddler activities.

15. Nuggets are GOLD

Toddler Nugget Comfort

The Nugget is our all time favorite toddler purchase. It has endless opportunities and if you have the space and money you might wind up with way too many sets. Parents seem to become way too invested in these, but for good reason.

Personally I would rather add complimentary items to our playroom, rather than many of the same. This one is definitely going to be on my radar for Christmas.

16. Washing Windows

Toddler cleaning

My daughters LOVE to wash windows. Mostly because they love spray bottles. But they really cannot get enough.

Haha, I didn’t notice when I selected this photo, but I guess the outdoor kitchen mud sink I was making was “in progress” at the time of this photo. I’ll have to write a how to on that one.

17. Doing Mommy’s Makeup

toddler makeup

Another grown-up thing that can double as a toddler activity.

18. Doing Their Own Makeup

Toddler and Daddy

Or Dad’s. Honestly kids just love to do makeup. Rather than buying the stuff marketed to kids I bought them adult makeup that has ingredients I trust but isn’t too expensive, also sooo much chapstick. Those kids makeup kits look horrible in my opinion. We also have a pretend makeup kit for when I can’t be bothered or when I’m trying to encourage independent play .

19. Doing The Laundry

toddler laundry

I think toddlers are naturally fascinated by the washer and dryer. Water, Spinning things, what’s not to love? Also, let’s tire these little munchkins out!

20. Baby Doll Baths

toddlers and bubbles

My kids are natural care takers. They play mommy, teacher, doctor, veterinarian all day long. Through some bubbles and a water friendly toy in the mix and you’ve bought yourself 20 minutes.

21. Play-doh/ Cookie Cutters

toddler baking cookie cutters, play-doh

I kind of pride myself on being resourceful. If your kids love play-doh it’s likely you have some of those shape cutters laying around. Go ahead and use em in the kitchen too. I’ve used them on sandwiches, fruits and veggies, and COOKIES.

22. Paint Til Ya Drop

Toddler Painting

Paper gets boring. Grab something random out of the recycling. Seriously, they will paint on anything- a box, toilet paper roll, a rock, anything.

23. Parenting Baby Dolls

Toddler Parenting

Some kids love to pretend to be adults. One of our favorite accessories is this baby doll carrier. I baby-wore both my kids constantly, so they associate it with part of the parenting job.

24. Giant Box Play Pen- Laziest Toddler Activity

Playpen

Got a giant box? Too lazy to make it into something cool. No problem, throw some toys in it. They will put so much junk in there to play with. Soon your kids will be buried in toys and happy for longer than they have any business being.

25. Controlled Chaos

toddler mess

Have something random like these straws laying around? Let them dump them out. Cut them in half. Put pipe cleaners through them. Thread pipe cleaners through a colander.

26. Chalk Inside

toddler chalk

If it’s crappy outside and the normal indoor things just aren’t cutting it. Break out the chalk and put something disposable down. Box, contractor paper, brown paper bags.

I hate to touch chalk! These chalk holders are the best and keep my toddler from snapping the chalk.

27. Bath Crayons

bath crayons

We love these bath crayons. They are easy to clean off and provide a creative outlet that most kids crave. Sometimes my girls will do this without any water in the tub. They will just take a bowl of water in to dip the crayons in. And we haven’t had any skin reactions, which I know is a concern with many products like this.

28. Obstacle Course

toddler obstacle course

There’s an endless list of ways you can make obstacle courses. We love making “lasers” with masking tape. Playing the floor is lava and using pillows to crawl across. For the littler ones, don’t underestimate the power of literally just sticking pieces of tape to the wall. They will pull them off and put them back on over and over again.

This post has been all about toddler activities. I hope you are inspired to try something new and get creative.

Check out my first post

which inspired this whole blog.

parenting

In: Mom Hacks, Mom Life

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Hi, Impact
Welcome to The Stay At Home Con. I'm a mom of two who spent over three years feeling like an imposter and a failure because I wasn't the person, mom or wife I wanted to be. Until I decided to take control of my life and embrace who I am and what I love. I hope you can take some of what you find on my page and embrace who you are, lean in to your strengths and find joy in the chaos of motherhood.

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Used our new carpet cleaner for the first time tod Used our new carpet cleaner for the first time today and I'm in love. This rug doesn't show much dirt or stains which can be nice with toddlers and a dog. But that dirty water was after cleaning only half of the rug 🤮 And we do NOT wear shoes in the house.
 It brought our couch back to life and also got those yogurt finger prints from the feral toddlers 😜. All this to say if you have toddlers or pets that mini carpet clean ain't gonna cut it. It's time for an upgrade and Target has this Hoover Power scrubber deluxe on sale for $150 compared to $219.
#hoover #carpetcleaner
#momlife #toddlerlife #thestayathomecon
#cleaning https://www.target.com/p/hoover-power-scrub-deluxe-carpet-cleaner-machine-and-upright-shampooer-fh50141/-/A-51315115
Instagram post 18001626811553446 Instagram post 18001626811553446
When you value the peace so much you ignore the me When you value the peace so much you ignore the mess 🫣
First baguette bake in a long time. Not too shabby First baguette bake in a long time. Not too shabby 🥖 Husband approved ☺️ already gone. #thestayathomecon #breadmaking #baguette
Waking up to some "just because flowers". Now he's Waking up to some "just because flowers". Now he's speaking my love language 🥰😂🌹#lovelanguage  #flowers #thestayathomecon
Ever wonder what it would be like to shave your he Ever wonder what it would be like to shave your head? Check out my new post on the benefits of being a Bald Mama.
https://thestayathomecon.com/bald-mama-the-benefits-of-a-female-buzz-cut/
#baldisbeautiful #baldandbeautiful #baldmama #gijane #effyourbeautystandards #baldmom #thestayathomecon
Knew those kids were being too quiet. Red lipstick Knew those kids were being too quiet. Red lipstick on my new carpets. Why did she have to paint the bottom of her feet in it 😭?! Thank God for carpet cleaners! 🙏 Toddlers y'all 🫣 #messybaby #makeupmess #toddlerlife #thestayathomecon
Check out my very first blog post on The Stay At H Check out my very first blog post on The Stay At Home Con! I still have some kinks to work out and I'm learning as I go, but I couldn't be more excited to begin this journey. 
#thestayathomecon
#sahm
#momblogger #fakeittillyoumakeit #firstblogpost http://thestayathomecon.com/becoming-the-parent-you-were-meant-to-be/
#toddleractivities #diyactivitiesforkids #montesso #toddleractivities #diyactivitiesforkids #montessori #futureengineer #simplejoys #thestayathomecon
#familytime #blanketfort #imnotaregularmomimacoolm #familytime #blanketfort #imnotaregularmomimacoolmom #playfulparenting #smallhousebigdreams #diycurtains #diyshelves #thestayathomecon

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