Toddler activities

Tag: Toddler activities

Summer Fun - One Small Child

Toddler Summer Fun List

Summer opens up a whole new range of activities. Take advantage and make some great memories with your little one! Here’s a list of summer fun activities to enjoy together.

Summer Fun

Play with bubbles: It’s oh so fun to chase and pop bubbles! You can even make your own bubble solution.

Go to the zoo: Splurge on a stuffed animal from the souvenir shop.

Make a water blob: These look so fun and cool on a hot summer day!

Play with buckets of water and measuring cups: You don’t have to get too fancy to entertain a toddler. Get out your big bowl and let them dump away.

Make a splash pad: Set up a few sprinklers on some plastic for a refreshing summer activity.

Go to story time: Many libraries offer a free story time program. It’s a great opportunity to teach your toddler about sitting still and making new friends.

Fly kites: A classic summer fun activity.

Dig for dinosaur bones in the backyard: Plant some fossils for your little to find.

Go to the park: You could bring a friend, or make it a mommy date!

Play with shaving cream: Put food coloring in it, and now you can paint the sidewalk!

Pick flowers: Put them in a pretty vase on your table.

Go to a petting zoo: You know your littles would love this!

Play in the sand: Build a sand castle. Knock it down. Little ones love the new sensory feeling of sand.

Make mud pies: Just once!

Go to a beach: Play in the sand and splash in the water together!

Draw with sidewalk chalk: A fun and simple activity for your toddler.

Wash the car: Your little one will love sponging and hosing mommy’s car!

Go swimming: Check out the local pool for a day.

Eat a popsicle: Indulge in a cool mid-day snack.

Plant something: Visit it every day to take care of it and watch it grow.

Go park hopping: Have a whole afternoon to kill? Explore some new parks in your area. You may even find a new favorite.

Eat ice cream: What’s summer without a little ice cream? Make it even better by getting it from the big pink ice cream truck!

Run in the sprinklers: So fun!

Play ring around the rosie: Guarantee your littles will love this!

Watch fireworks: Snuggle up together for the show.

Wash their ‘car’: Shine up their little trike or cozy coupe! They’ll feel so proud and important.

Eat snow cones: Head to the local snow shack for a refreshing summer treat.

Chip away at frozen ice blocks: Freeze some little treasures in a big block of ice and let your little one dig them out.

Toddler Fourth of July Activities - One Small Child

Holiday Fun: Family Fourth of July Activities Pinterest Roundup

Are you looking forward to all the Independence Day celebrations as much as I am this year? It’s always fun to get together with family. My family loves to play games, do crafts and watch the fun firework displays. It’s a time that we can all get together and catch up with each other.

I have been in charge of my family party on the Fourth of July for several years now, and I needed a few new Fourth of July activities for all the kids this year. I have to entertain every age from toddler to teen, which can be challenging! Not to mention I’m short on time to prepare, and I really don’t want to break the bank. So I went searching on Pinterest and found some great ideas for kids of all ages. (Are you following us on Pinterest?) Most are very inexpensive and simple to prepare. I wanted to include a craft, at least one thinking activity and a couple ‘get up and move’ activities for each age group. Here’s what I came up with:

Fourth of July Activities for Toddlers

Let’s start with the little ones: I picked a straw fireworks paint activity for their craft from ArtsyMomma.com. For their thinking activity, I chose a simple felt build-a-flag activity from LittleFamilyFun.com. The get up and move activities are water bottle bowling from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and an awesome hand and foot-print flag from ParentMap.com. (Wouldn’t this be fun to involve all the kids and compare the flags as they grow each year?)

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Fourth of July Activities for Kids

Next up is the kiddos. I chose a fun can wind catcher for their craft from MamaOlie.blogspot.com. I scored with this free printable patriotic bingo from Makoodle.com for their thinking game. And for their get up and move activities, I chose a simple water bottle ring toss from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and fun can-do stilts from Spoonful.com. (To simplify decorating the cans, I may have construction paper to wrap the cans, and use star stickers instead of trying to let the kids paint the metal and let it dry, etc. Crepe paper would also be a less expensive alternative to ribbons for the wind-catcher.)

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Fourth of July Activities for Pre-teens and Teens

Now for the older kids. I’ve planned on all these activities at least entertaining the pre-teen kids, and I’m hoping the teens will jump in and enjoy them as well. I chose ribbon dancers for their craft (A little juvenile for a teen, I know. But their “not into crafts” anyway, yeah?) from theGoldJellyBean.com. I’ll use crepe paper for these as well. Their thinking activity is a word search from FourthofJuly2013.com. (I might also do a Declaration of Independence matching game I saw briefly on theRedHeadedHostess.com that would be more challenging for the older kids.) Their get up and move activities are a balloon dart game from RootsandWingsCo.blogspot.com and a fun scavenger hunt from PartyGamesNow.com. Whew! Glad that’s all figured out!

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The Challenge

Okay, here’s the monkey wrench. There is a very large, very fun fireworks display that is about 45 minutes away from our small town. After a day of food and fun activities, it’s always fun to go watch this particular firework display. However, we need to show up to claim our spot on the nice soft grass reasonably early. Otherwise we will end up with sleepy kids laying on asphalt or a big tree blocking our view. So, I need a few Fourth of July activities to take along, so the kids are entertained while we wait for the big firework show. Can I just say, Pinterest is a lifesaver? I saw this awesome pin from SugarBeeCrafts.com that is perfect! These games don’t take up a lot of travel space, and they’re very inexpensive. It’s nice that you don’t have to worry about something getting broken or left behind when packing away all the sleepy kids. (Honestly, I’ll probably end up tossing them in the trash on the way out.)

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I’m excited to try out all these fun Fourth of July activities this year! I’d love your input! Have you tried any of them? Do you have any other fun Independence Day games or tips?