Quarantine With a Toddler: Fun Activities from our Living Room
Quarantine life is quite the adjustment; quarantine with a toddler is wild, insane, amazing, beautiful, fun and yet makes you want to pull your hair out all at the same time. We are living in an era that is a roller coaster of emotions. No matter what, it won’t be easy but hopefully these activities will keep your child engaged, active, curious, and most importantly busy for hours at a time 🙏🏾🙌🏾💗 Something so simple as streamers worked like a gem!
The most important thing with any activity you do is to make sure everything you have is non-toxic down to the markers and crayons. Okay let’s get started!
Paper flowers!!!
We got this idea from kitchentableclassroom.com. This was great because we already had the 3 supplies at home: coffee filters, washable markers, and water. I dont drink coffee so I’ll have to thank the hubby on this one. We folded the filters in half and then double folded to a fourth. As a family, we all made designs using washable markers.
We sprayed water on the filters and let the colors run.
It immediately looked cool, but by the time it was dry it really looked fantastic. This was extra special because we made them for Easter. From there you can make a bouquet or paper flower crowns!
https://www.kitchentableclassroom.com/flower-tiara-coffee-filter-flower-headbands/
Finger (and feet 😂) paints!!!
This is one of our go tos! We do it about twice a week. Ophelia can keep busy doing this for an entire afternoon! Since it’s non-toxic there is no smell and it’s super easy to clean up! I just tape down computer paper and let her get to work. The finished product also makes a great gift for friends and family.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W9K45YG?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image
Pom poms!!!
These are so fun, but you have to be mentally prepared for them to be EVERYWHERE. Haha! It’s also a great tool to practice cleaning up by putting them all back 😂
She loves throwing them, putting them in and out the bag, counting with them, and we even made some artwork gluing the pom poms to construction paper.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FFM3DPB?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image&pldnSite=1
Chalk!!!
By far the easiest. Most parents already have chalk and it’s perfect on your daily outting for fresh air, the backyard, or a walk around the neighborhood. Melrose has lots of wing murals, so we were inspired to make our own angel wings.
Photo Books!
Ophelia loves seeing all her friends and family in book form especially since we aren’t able to see them in person. She knows everyone’s name (even the pets’) in our extended family. It is the cutest!
Family Flashcards!!
Ophelia just loves going through the family flashcards and saying each family member and pet! We get double the fun because we made duplicates of each, so we can play matching too! Lots and lots to do!
Dance Parties!!!
This queen LOVES to dance. She loves music, but really loves dancing along with her favorite artist. We use the you tube app on the Apple TV or you can play songs right from your iPhone or the radio. It puts her in the best mood and also completely wears her out! Success!
Our last resort... Selfies!!!!!
We actually have a lot of fun taking selfies and then looking back at our pictures together. Its great to avoid a tantrum or meltdown and we have the best time doing it! 🙏🏾🙌🏾💗
I want to leave you with some encouraging words while we are under quarantine from early childhood development specialist Sue Vivian who also happens to be Ophelia’s grandmother aka “Zuzu”
“For toddlers and preschoolers it is all about exploring and investigating the materials...state standards for art are all about ‘engagement and enjoyment in the arts’. Science which is ‘curiosity/initiative, cause/effect, notice/comment’. Cognition is all about ‘sorting/seeing patterns, flexible thinking, problem solving, and task persistence.’ I know! Seems crazy that little guys are doing this, but they are!!! It is amazing to me (and I have been doing this for 40 years!) to watch Phe do this in front of me...I really do love watching her concentration/her ability to focus while she is ripping streamers, etc. Research now thinks that ability (executive function) is the new IQ.”