Screen Free- Our Favorite Toddler Activities

Motherhood is amazing.  No one is going to deny that but.. sometimes you feel just SO tired and over it.   The great babysitter  known as the TV begins to seem more and more tempting.  I'm still not a big screen time fan- Ophelia watches Daniel Tiger and has seen Frozen in two separate installments while she was sick, but I'm sticking with limiting it for her, and not letting Ralph watch anything until he is two.  So I decided to compile some of my favorite activities we do that are easy for me and fun for her!

1.  Water table- We have this one, and I love the simple wood look of this one.   Dumping water, filling up buckets, pouring it out, it's all good.  To switch it up sometimes I'll add bubbles, or dye the water a different color.  Giving her Barbies/dolls a bath in the water, or washing toys can seriously buy me an hour.

2. Sensory bins- I talked about these in this post, but fill up a container with... anything!  Rice, beans, sand, kinetic sand, shaving cream, or water beads are some of our favorites. Hide puzzle pieces (we love this one!) or toys for an extra little something.

3.  Paper/stickers- She has recently gotten super into folding paper, and seriously sat there folding and refolding some junk mail the other day to make "letters", so I tried giving her some paper and envelopes and it was a BIG hit.  Sticker books (we also love this one and this one) are also always huge hits.

4.  Doctor- I always feel like a major genius when I do this.  When I am the most tired at the end of the day and do not want to do anything but lay there I get out the doctor kit, and I am the sick guy.  I get to lay down with a pillow and a blanket, and she examines me.  Then she examines her dolls, then Ralph, and I get to chill out.  Ophelia's doctoring technique always includes a "haircut" so she plays with my hair and it is AWESOME.

5.  Forts- Building a fort always saves a cranky mood.  They're our go to in the winter, but we started making them outside this summer and they're pretty awesome there too.  Something about having your own secret space is so awesome for kids.  I'll add some books or paper & crayons in there and she's good to go.