Toddler Sewing Kit

Something Ive been thinking about creating is a

Toddler/Preschooler Sewing Kit.

Sometimes I have sewing projects and my daughter wants to help so badly. Since there is no way I can trust her with a needle (even a totally blunt one), Ive been thinking of some alternatives.

This is what I plan to make a kit up of once I round up the supplies:

- Shoelaces (the ends work great for threading)
- Pipecleaners
- Strawberry Basket
- Postcards (that Ive put a line of holes in with my hole punch)
- Large Beads

Toddler Toy Gift Ideas

These are the toys that my 2yr old Toddler loves:

PLAY KITCHEN
- with pots, plates, cups, spatula, and a variety of food - some being the type that she can "cut" up.

BABY DOLL & ACCESSORIES
- Baby Doll with a couple clothing items, few diapers, soother, plate & spoon, magic bottle of milk & juice, a few blankets. Favourite large accessories: Cradle & Stroller

CRAFTS
- Give a box of craft supplies with items such as glitter glue, finger paints, stickers, feathers, pom poms, foam stickers, markers, etc. Also some items to be decorated such as unpainted wooden or plaster items like boxes, pictures frames, and tree ornaments.
Check out the dollar store for some cheap craft supplies!

ACTIVITY BOOK
- A book that has a variety of toddler activities & crafts is a great gift for both Mom & child

DRESS UP ITEMS
- Necklaces, Bracelets, Scarves, Hats, Purses, etc.
Check out a thrift store or dollar store for some great items

PLAY PHONE
- She calls Papa regularly on her play phone and tells him about her day

MR POTATO HEAD
- This gives lots of entertainment. Purchase a set with the potato family and then buy separate accessory kits. You could also use the accessories with playdough if you wanted.

Helping Make Meals

My toddler wants to be a part of what Im doing all the time. If I can find her jobs to do this makes life easier for both of us - although it does slow the process somewhat :-)


holding mixer or helping stir items



shucking corn - quite messy but took her quite a while

Other things she can do:
* Put items into the garbage for me
* Unload dishwasher and bring dishes to me to put away
* Feed the cat
* Pull potatoes out of the bag and hand to me to peel
* Wash potatoes, carrots, etc.

Activities While Staying at Someone's House

It is such a challenge to keep a toddler busy when you are staying at someone's house.

If they have kids then it is much easier as the kids will occupy your toddler and they'll have toys your child has never played with.

If there are no kids where you are staying - good luck! Even if I cart a whole lot of toys along, she will be more interested in all the new surroundings - including knick-knacks, books, souvenirs, and anything else that she shouldn't play with.

We're going to my father-in-laws next week. He's 86 and not fond of his granddaughter getting into everything. I'm desperately trying to figure out which toys & activities will keep her occupied the most.

He lives in Winnipeg so one afternoon will be spent at the Zoo and should be lots of fun for all of us. Another activity will be the Children's Museum at the Forks.

I've packed the following toys:
- crayons & coloured paper
- a few small blocks
- stacking cups (good for bath, sand, or livingroom play)
- baby doll with bottle, cup, spoon, dish, blanket)
- small ball
- many books (that I put away a few weeks ago)
- small etch-a-sketch
- cellphone

So what else can take up some precious time and keep her out of trouble??

• Water Play at sink or with a bucket on the balcony
• Sidewalk chalk (we have no cement in our yard so she should enjoy this I hope)
• Colouring
• Playground - hope to find one nearby
• Indoor Swimming Pool
• Paint with Water Book
• Paint Brush and cup of water for outside painting of deck or concrete. (see pictures below)
• toddler friendly websites such as

http://www.fisher-price.com/ and http://www.kidscomjr.com/ and http://www.noggin.com/ and www.nickjr.com

*this kept her busy for a good hour the first time I let her try it. she had fun "painting" everything in sight*

Utensil for Toddler

These spreader knives that you purchase for use with dips or cheese balls are great for a toddler to learn how to properly use a knife.

My daughter uses it to cut up her playdough and Ive also let her cut up her banana at snack time. They have no sharpness to them but will cut soft foods.

Bath Toys when staying at someone's house

Don't pack bath toys if you're staying over at someones house. You can probably raid their cupboards and find some neat stuff. (basically the same stuff I like to have my daughter use for playing in the sink full of bubbles)

Such as:
Funnels
Measuring Cups
Spoons
Measuring Spoons
Sieve
different sizes of tupperware

Create some bubble fun with homemade bubble solution and the above kitchen items!

If it's something they don't normally get to play with then they would probably be intrigued.

ALSO: Shaving Cream! Spray some on the bathtub wall and let them draw!

Her Play Album

One of the things that interests my daughter a lot these days is photos of friends & family. I had created it a year ago because many of her family members live far away and she doesn't see them often.

This album is just for her use, my albums of her are not yet trusted in her hands :-)

I used a simple 4x6 album that holds about 30 photos. I put in photos of her toys, our cat, a wedding picture, our house, and various photos Ive taken over her lifetime of friends & family.

This would be great for learning sign language as well if you used pictures like milk, bottle, bath, sleep, mommy, daddy, etc.

This comes with us when on road trips or flying as it holds her attention for more than 2mins.

Activities to Keep a Toddler Busy

My place of employment has announced a two month shutdown. This has upset many employees but for me & my spouse, it's a blessing in disguise! We'll get to spend some much needed quality time with our little girl. So now I need to find ideas to keep her busy & entertained, that means a list! Yay!

Hopefully we'll be able to take trips to our local Toy Library to see other Moms & kids and maybe spring will show up soon so we can head to the park! But for all the other days, this is my compilation of ideas:

• Dancing - she loves when we put on music and dance around the house


• Crafts: Paint w/ Water, Colouring, Painting


• Finger Painting with Pudding OR Yoghurt - yummy!
  
• Playdough - regular or homemade (see recipes)


• A sink full of bubbles and some tools (sieve, spoon, measuring spoons & cups, funnel, towels, smock)

  

• Balloons - inflate a couple and toss around
  
• Spray bottle of water & a dishcloth - help mommy clean the house! (I clean my windows with water and a special microfiber cloth. She gets to help and it is actually helping the windows get clean)
  
• Toy Wash - basin of soapy water (on a big towel), a scrub brush and some plastic toys. Fun for her & gets her toys cleaned up!


• Shaving Cream Fun: Fill a large ziploc bag with shaving cream foam. Add a few drops of food colouring. Seal & tape. Let child mix & manipulate. Later at bathtime, clip off the corner of the bag and they can have fun squirting in in the tub and drawing pictures in it.


• Greeting Card Puzzles: Using a few used greeting cards, cut out a square in each picture. Now the child needs to figure out which square fits with which greeting card.


• Flashlights in a dark room

• Indoor Sand Box: Tub of oatmeal or Rice (uncooked of course!). Play with it using small cars, spoons, funnels, etc.
  
• Sorting Laundry into same colours, matching socks, etc.


• Nature Hike - wonder around with a pail, picking up leaves & rocks & such. Perhaps making a collage later at home.

• Build a Fort - couch cushions, blankets, chairs, etc.


• Homemade Paint w/ Water using contruction paper & paint brush dipped in water


• Works of Art created and then mailed to family members

Im also going to try to put away some toys that she doesn't play with and then perhaps rotate them in a months time with others she's growing bored of.

There's also trips to the library, grocery store, swimming pool in a nearby town, playdates with friends, visits to Grandparents, and going for walks.

Do you have some more ideas for me??

Airplane Travel with a Toddler - Items to Pack

We recently took a trip to Mexico with our 18m daughter. I worried and worried about how she would be on the flight and where we were staying. She amazed us all at how great she was but I think it was partially due to my organization and preplanning of what to bring for her.

This is what worked for us:

• Gift Wrapped stuff (even if the items aren’t new)


• Small animals in a zippered wallet


• Books


• Stickers & sticker book


• Crayons and small notepad


• Fingerpuppets


• Magnetic Sketch Pad


• Paint with Water book and qtips.


• Stacking Cups (this was great for bathtime, beach, or airplane)


• Small Baby w/ blanket & bottle


• Lots of snacks in various baggies & containers


• Play Cell Phone


• At our destination I also purchased some cheap sand toys which I left there since they take up precious space and are easily replaced.

The trick is to have many things and don't bring them all out at once. Some items were in my carry on and others were in the suitcase to be played with later.

Here's some of our items we took -->


A month before our travels, I put away some of her favourite toys & books so that it would be fun for her to see them again.

I also set aside a number of books and couple toys to play with on the car ride to the airport (we have a five hour drive to get to a major airport) as I didn't want to dig out the plane ride toys and have them lose their appeal.

Since we were travelling with my parents, I also asked them to pack a small item or two in their carryons. This was fun for her to discover what Grandma & Grandpa had in their jacket pocket or purse.

* Be careful with small toys on the plane as they are easily dropped and then rolling down several seats ahead. I didn't let her play with anything that I would be upset at her losing.

On a previous flight with her (at 10m), she was in the dropping-game stage. I tied ribbons on to her toys that we would use on the plane so that I could hold on to them while she played (such as her phone, rattle, etc.)


Other Needed Items:

• Soother (brought a spare as well) with soother clip to keep from dropping on icky floor


• Small blanket for naps


• Sippy Cup with water


• Spare outfit for her


• A ziploc with diapers, cream, change mat, hand sanitizer and extra baggies (you don't want to bring the whole diaper bag to that cramped washroom)


• Wetwipes


• Anything you couldn't live without if luggage was lost - for us that was her sheepskin as that is what she sleeps on and is her comfort items.

(funny how my carryon used to be filled with all my stuff but now may have one item of mine)

Items I packed but didn't need (on this particular trip):
Toddler Harness - her legs weren't strong enough to walk for long periods and wasn't yet in the streaking-away stage.

Stroller - we brought an umbrella stroller but didn't need it. We brought a Hiking Backpack for her which got lots of use but wasn't sure if the stroller might be needed sometimes as well. I don't think we used it at all other than in the airport.

and of course packed more clothes than needed as she spent her days in a swim suit or diaper and washed a few items along the way.

It was a great memorable vacation. She had so much fun playing in the sand & water, can't wait for summer to come!