Toddler Games (Toddler Busy Book by Trish Kuffner)

TODDLER GAMES – RAINY DAY PLAY

Ice Cube Bags

Water Ice Cube Tray 3 Ziploc Bags Red, Yellow and Blue Food Coloring

Mix water and food coloring (enough for two ice cubes of each color) and pour into an ice cube tray. When frozen, place a red and a yellow ice cube into one Ziploc bag, a red and a blue ice cube into the second Ziploc bag and a yellow and a blue ice cube into the third Ziploc bag. Younger children will enjoy moving the ice cubes around in the bags, while older children will enjoy watching what happens when the two colors melt together.

Bottles and Lids

Collection of Bottles and Lids of Varying Sizes

Save small plastic bottles with screw-type lids. Your toddler will have lots of fun matching lids to bottles, putting the lids on, taking the lids off and starting all over again. A bottle collection is also great fun for the bath or for water play outdoors.

Fun With Tape

Simple as it may seem, a small piece of tape can provide young children with a lot of enjoyment. Collect a few different kinds of colorful plastic tape, masking tape, double-sided tape and so on. Your toddler will sometimes enjoy using tape in place of glue when making a collage.

Pieces of Tape

Give your young child one or two pieces of tape to play with. She may try sticking them together, to herself, to you or to other objects around the house. Be sure to watch her if you’re worried about the tape sticking to precious books or papers that may be in her path.

Indoor Sandbox

In The Preschooler’s Busy Book, I suggest making an indoor sandbox by filling up a cardboard box or plastic baby bathtub with puffed wheat or rice cereal or uncooked rice. Here are some alternatives that may be purchased fairly inexpensively in bulk. They provide an interesting sensory experience for toddlers.

Water Softener Salt Shredded Paper Birdseed Cedar Shavings Dried Beans Deer Corn Oatmeal Foam Packing Peanuts Cornmeal Potting Soil (if you’re brave)

Children enjoy playing in the sandbox with cups, spoons, bowls, buckets, scoops, shovels, cars and other toys and containers. A funnel and scoop that can be used to fill an empty plastic soda bottle with sandbox material will also be a hit. An old sheet, shower curtain or plastic tablecloth placed under the sandbox makes cleanup a little easier.

Monkey, Monkey!

Too often parents focus on the bad things children do, while letting the good slip by without comment. This is a simple way to reinforce and reward cooperation and kindness.

Plastic Linking Monkeys

Hang a plastic monkey on the wall in a place where you can add more monkeys to make a chain. When you catch your child being especially kind and cooperative (that is, playing quietly with siblings, helping out without being asked, picking up toys without being reminded and so on), reward her with a monkey to add to the chain. When the last monkey is hung, treat the whole family to an ice cream sundae, video rental or special afternoon of games.

Mini Mask

Paper Scissors Pencil, Markers or Crayons 25-Cent Coin

Cut a small (4 to 6 inch) square of paper. Place the coin in the middle of the square and trace around it. Draw eyes above the circle and a mouth below it. Be creative in adding eyelashes, eyebrows or a funny mustache. Cut out the eyes and nose and put the mask on your child’s face by placing the center hole over her nose.

The Toddler’s Busy Book By Trish Kuffner